I'm pretty sure I've had every defect EXCEPT the cracking chrome... but none of my phones have lasted long enough to happen, and they get nothing but gentle pocket time, with nothing else in my pocket.

Bad earpiece (yay early build phones)
Raised home key
Keyboard failures
Screen failures
Unevenly lit keyboard backlight
Loose slide
Creeking back case

I've accepted the issues on any phone I get, unless it prevents me from using the phone, or will cause further damage. An unevenly lit keyboard? Big deal. I may even let cracked chrome slide.

My Helio Ocean had a much more durable slide mechanism than the TP has, but the form factor was a little different, and the slide seemed to be much more robust because there was more room to work with. The TP slides like 75% of the device, while the Ocean barely made 50%. Additionally, there were a few reviews which gave a "solid-feeling slide mechanism" as a plus for the Ocean. I'd imagine it's on the "better-than-average" part of the scale.