Asurion vs retail store insurance

[SweetSaudade]

Hi,

Not sure where to post this but hopefully someone here will know what I'm talking about.. Took my mom into a Verizon retail store to upgrade her phone (basic phone) and she was offered insurance that was from a different provider and rather than paying a monthly fee for it, it was something like $100 for 2 years. I don't know what that insurance company or program is called so I can't research it. Does anyone know? I'm trying to find out what they cover and whether or not they give refurb phones or new ones. For some reason I have it in my head that the guy said they'd be new phones and after going through like 7 or 8 replacement phones this year with Asurion, I'm very curious about this. But I can't rely on my memory..

Thanks!

 

[titans30dude]

Where did she buy the phone? Coperate or best buy or verizon third party retailer like wireless zone?

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[SweetSaudade]

It was a third party retailer.

 

[sledge007]

I bought my phone from a third party retailer as well. The difference in their insurance (read:warranty) policy was that it ONLY covered manufacturer defects...not things like loss, theft, accidentally drove over with a dump truck, dropped in the bathtub etc, etc. Personally, I went with Asurion. They are extremely fast in sending out replacements, usually a couple of days at most.

 

[titans30dude]

I have asurion too but most third party insurance does not cover lost/stolen..i have adurion and i have had great luck.

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[SweetSaudade]

I've had Asurion too and this past year went through 7 different refurb replacement phones - I was curious about this other deal because I could swear the guy said the replacements would be new and not refurb.. I will have to make a trip back there and check it out again.. Whatever I get will def have to cover lost/stolen - lost my very first blackberry way back and still haven't completely gotten over it.. At the time I had Best Buy's "black tie" coverage which didn't cover it and I had to use an upgrade to get a replacement phone.

 

[tyson.clarke]

I work for a premium retailer, we sell protect cell here, which is pretty good. I'll give you a run down of the pros and cons for both Asurion and this particular third party seller.

Asurion's big plus is overnight delivery, and they have a great online user interface which you don't have to be an authorized user to make a claim. Nice if you aren't authorized, but just want a phone.

The replacement cost is usually more by about 10% minimum. They also allow you to pay monthly and have that directly billed to your account. Not claims though, that has to be paid immediately.

In the long run, Asurion is more expensive than our particular third party vendor. All protection vendors use refurbished product, unless it is very new and there have been no returns.

Protect Cell is great too. Over the length of ownership, it is cheaper than a monthly Asurion option, there is also a monthly option available with protect cell, but you'll probably never hear about it because sales reps don't get paid on it
It is also way more expensive.

These guys don't do overnight delivery for replacements, but if you ask them to, they will usually do it, they just let you know it is a request only, not a promise.

They cover everything just like Asurion -lost wet stolen etc. They don't care. They just want any remnants of the broken phone back so they can use it for parts or as a replacement.

The big value with these guys is Buy Back. If your phone is in good shape in the first year, and you haven't made a claim, you can sell the phone back to them for up to 50% of the FULL retail price...Not the contract price, which is pretty sweet. Same thing with the second year, except it is 25%. Which would probably cover the cost of the plan (in some cases more).

This is cool cause even the "dark Lord" of carriers, Verizon, allows an upgrade at 20 months. You can buy your new phone, sell your old one back to protect cell.

Cons are the user interface online sucks, you have to call in if you want to make a claim with any kind of speed...Which I guess really isn't that big a deal.

The delivery time isn't stellar being two day Ups.

With cheaper claims, cheaper overall (though it does hurt more upfront) membership, and device Buy Back, I'd say protect cell is a really good deal if you don't have dozens of phones lying around the house.

Asurion has its advantages too, mostly that you pay for it monthly in your Verizon Bill, and overnight shipping.

All, I repeat, ALL of these guys are going to send refurbished product unless it is really, REALLY new.



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[SweetSaudade]

Thanks so much for the info tyson.clarke! Very helpful!

 

[titans30dude]

Yeah thanks tyson for the info i learned something today

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