What you need to know
- A customer reached out to Dbrand for support on X (formerly Twitter) and got more than they bargained for.
- The company, which makes skins, cases, and accessories for tech products, made a joke about the customer's name in a quote reply viewed over seven million times.
- A day later, Dbrand offers an apology — somewhat — for the comment that it called "a huge fumble." The company also offered the customer $10,000 with "no strings attached."
Case and accessory makers for mobile devices can't stay away from controversy in recent months. After Casetify came under fire for allegedly stealing Dbrand's custom designs, Dbrand is now involved in a scuffle of its own.
The company, known for its device skins and snarky online presence, made a joke about a customer's last name after they asked the company for support. Dbrand's original post on X (formerly Twitter) has been viewed over seven million times and was called out by users in replies as awful, unprofessional, and racist.
In light of the backlash, Dbrand offered the customer $10,000 and a personal apology, the company shared today.
The fiasco started when Bhuwan Chitransh reached out to Dbrand on X about a MacBook skin purchased from the company that showed signs of discoloration.
In a reply, Dbrand's customer support account (@robot) said: "Like most surfaces, dirt and grime can accumulate on the surface of a skin over time. You can clean it using a microfiber cloth lightly dampened with isopropyl alcohol." The account also stated that the customer should send an email to Dbrand if there are any further issues.
Afterward, Dbrand's main account — followed by 2.3 million X users — quote replied to Chitransh's original request for help with the following response:
The company originally had a bullish response to the backlash that followed. While opinions of Dbrand's joke varied, there seemed to be a consensus in the replies to the company's original post that the comment was offensive. One user told Dbrand to "keep the same energy in the apology tweet," to which the company replied "no." Dbrand's official account continued to post memes and snarky replies to the controversy on Tuesday, April 9.
Dbrand posted an apology on Wednesday, April 10, admitting that the company "made fun of a guy's name" and "it was a huge fumble." The brand also offered the customer $10,000 "as a gesture of goodwill" and rejected claims that the move was hush money. "To clarify, this offer has no strings attached," Dbrand said in a DM to Chitransh. "We just want to make amends for our lapse in judgement and the chaos that ensued in your world."
Well that escalated quickly.1. Yes - we made fun of a guy's name. It was a huge fumble.2. We apologized to him directly and offered him $10,000 as a gesture of goodwill.3. We've been poking fun at customers on social media for over a decade now. We're not going to stop, but…April 10, 2024
However, whether Dbrand is actually remorseful for its comments is up for debate. "We've been poking fun at customers on social media for over a decade now," it said in the so-called apology post. "We're not going to stop, but maybe next time you'll be the one who gets $10,000."
Android Central contacted Dbrand for comment about the controversy, but the company did not get back to us in time for publication. We will update the article once we have more information.
