TEP price with Sprint going up on July 24th

[NxTech3]

i see that other people making bogus insurance claims are making me pay more, and i also see that my taxes pay welfare when im not getting anything for it. its life, you dont like the increase, remove TEP. Im pretty sure if you got your bill and you didnt even look at the break down totals you wouldnt even notice the extra dollar, hell taxes and surcharges could fluctuate a dollar every month. Its not a big deal in my opinion. I recommend TEP!!!!!!!!

 

[FreudSlipped]

i see that other people making bogus insurance claims are making me pay more, and i also see that my taxes pay welfare when im not getting anything for it. its life, you dont like the increase, remove TEP. Im pretty sure if you got your bill and you didnt even look at the break down totals you wouldnt even notice the extra dollar, hell taxes and surcharges could fluctuate a dollar every month. Its not a big deal in my opinion. I recommend TEP!!!!!!!!

Well, as you posted in an earlier post "Im in Sprints employ so ill keep it and sell more TEP!!! ", you obviously have an incentive to "sell more TEP." You really should add the employee disclaimer when you're spending other people's money.

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

i see that other people making bogus insurance claims are making me pay more, and i also see that my taxes pay welfare when im not getting anything for it. its life, you dont like the increase, remove TEP. Im pretty sure if you got your bill and you didnt even look at the break down totals you wouldnt even notice the extra dollar, hell taxes and surcharges could fluctuate a dollar every month. Its not a big deal in my opinion. I recommend TEP!!!!!!!!

Nope...I don't have TEP. I pay attention to where my money is going, why it's going, and adjust constantly to keep as much as I can so I can buy other things that I want. I can't see paying someone else enough to buy another phone in 3 years. If I happen to break mine, I'll buy another one, and probably a different case too. Enjoy your TEP. As I said in another post, if that's what you want, there's nothing wrong with it. I was merely pointing out that other insurance rates are nowhere CLOSE to what people are paying for their phone insurance. I see you had no rebuttal to that. Your welfare comparison has no merit in your argument either since everyone pays taxes, but TEP is a choice. Are you implying you'd make TEP mandatory if you were a member of Congress?

Thanks for pointing out he's also a Sprint Employee, Freud Slipped...

 

[Mikey47]

...The Pre didn't come close to hurting Asurion...They insure way more phones than just the Pre. .....

You missed my point. Earlier your examples were on specific models and that is what I was addressing. You're right, the Pre didn't hurt Assurion overall, but if you looked at just the Pre in microcosm I bet it did -- they most likely paid out more than they took in. Of course they made up for this on other models where they took in way more than they paid out.

The other part nobody talks about here is the Insurable Risk Scale that ALL insurance companies use. Claim a phone every year, and watch your auto, renters, homeowners insurance go up at renewal. They will deem you higher risk if they check the claims filed. They WILL check that datapool if you file a car accident claim. If they see you claiming phones all the time, you will be assigned a higher risk score, and pay higher rates. Insurance companies don't give you anything for free. The people filing claims for smartphones all the time just jacked YOUR rate up 13%. You don't see it though, and that's sad.

So, are your really saying that Assurion is sharing their data of your claims with other insurance companies? So if I claim a phone loss my auto insurance rates are going to go up? I find this hard to believe....

Nope...I don't have TEP.

If you don't have it, what does it matter to you if it goes up to $16 a month?

 

[FreudSlipped]

Disclaimer: I am paying TEP on three phones. I will be dropping it for all three phones in July.

Insurance companies rarely get into financial trouble because of losses on the insurance side. It's usually the investment side of the company that can jam them up. They calculate the loss ratio based on past market trends and then add on their margin for profit. Top it off with anticipated expenses, including the fees paid to the carriers and commission paid to sales reps. The Law of Large Numbers is the Theorem that Insurance writers rely on:


Insurance: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics | Library of Economics and Liberty

"Insurance works through the magic of the law of large numbers. This law assures that when a large number of people face a low-probability event, the proportion experiencing the event will be close to the expected proportion. For instance, with a pool of 100,000 people who each face a 1 percent risk, the law of large numbers says that 1,100 people or more will have losses only one time in one thousand."

The following article explains why TEP isn't as great a deal as many think it is:

Is Asurion Cell Phone Insurance Worth It? - BusinessWeek

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

You missed my point. Earlier your examples were on specific models and that is what I was addressing. You're right, the Pre didn't hurt Assurion overall, but if you looked at just the Pre in microcosm I bet it did -- they most likely paid out more than they took in. Of course they made up for this on other models where they took in way more than they paid out. I only look at the bottom line when it comes to insurance comapnies, and determine for myself if they are providing a true and accurate service, or if they are ripping myself and others off in the process. When it's the latter, I scream really loud as I believe we need comprehensive insurance change in this country, just like Tort Reform.




So, are your really saying that Assurion is sharing their data of your claims with other insurance companies? So if I claim a phone loss my auto insurance rates are going to go up? I find this hard to believe.... ALL Insurance companies have the same data they can look at BEFORE issuing a policy to you. It is the Insurable Risk Database. I don't know their actual name for the database, but if you file ANY insurance claim, it goes in there, and ALL insurance companies can look at it. Most do when they are selling you an auto insurance policy. If you already have one, you're probably safe unless you start getting tickets, or get in a wreck they have to pay for...then they will look in there see you can't drive, can't even walk and carry a cell phone, so they will take your rates as high as they can in hopes you pay or move soemwhere else so they don't have to insure you. Insurance likes to TAKE money, not dole it out. You can't debate my numbers I gave you when you said I pay the say amount for other insurances, so you are arguing semantics?



If you don't have it, what does it matter to you if it goes up to $16 a month?

It matters to me because I don't like to see people getting ripped off. Why do you like to defend them so much? Do you get a commission for every policy sold?

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

Disclaimer: I am paying TEP on three phones. I will be dropping it for all three phones in July.

Insurance companies rarely get into financial trouble because of losses on the insurance side. It's usually the investment side of the company that can jam them up. They calculate the loss ratio based on past market trends and then add on their margin for profit. Top it off with anticipated expenses, including the fees paid to the carriers and commission paid to sales reps. The Law of Large Numbers is the Theorem that Insurance writers rely on:


Insurance: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics | Library of Economics and Liberty

"Insurance works through the magic of the law of large numbers. This law assures that when a large number of people face a low-probability event, the proportion experiencing the event will be close to the expected proportion. For instance, with a pool of 100,000 people who each face a 1 percent risk, the law of large numbers says that 1,100 people or more will have losses only one time in one thousand."

The following article explains why TEP isn't as great a deal as many think it is:

Is Asurion Cell Phone Insurance Worth It? - BusinessWeek

You beat me to this style post...Since my numbers didn't seem to matter, or people couldn't wrap their heads around them I was going to go with cold, hard facts next...lol

 

[NxTech3]

Well, as you posted in an earlier post "Im in Sprints employ so ill keep it and sell more TEP!!! ", you obviously have an incentive to "sell more TEP." You really should add the employee disclaimer when you're spending other people's money.

No matter if i work for them or not, i would have Insurance on my device, wether it was ATT,VZW, or any other carrier that offers it. I dont like telling people they have to pay 35 dollars or 400 dollars to replace the phone if they dont have TEP, most people that come in cant afford the deductible let alone the replacement cost of a new phone. So yea i will spend other peoples money, but wisely. Im sorry that not everyone can afford 300 bucks for a new phone at the drop of a hat like some of you in this thread, so ill take the cheaper way out. Everyone knows Insurance is a scam for the most part, no matter what kind of insurance, health, dental, vehicle... Im sure you guys have all that kind of insurance though just based off the necessity. Its up to the individual user to determine whats necessary. Im not bashing the people who dont have insurance, its your choice. The numbers are solid, im just saying what works for some doesnt always work for others. That being said, MORE TEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mikey47]

It matters to me because I don't like to see people getting ripped off. Why do you like to defend them so much? Do you get a commission for every policy sold?

I WISH I got a commission (not involved anywhere other than the consumer end)....

In the past 5 years my family and I have had to take advantage of TEP three times. Once on my wife's dumb phone, once on my daughter's dumb phone, and once on my (same) daughter's Epic 4G. On the two dumb phones, they were replaced for free by Assurion even though both incidents were physical damage beyond any warranty. The last my daughter's Epic 4G, destroyed the screen by dropping it on the driveway. I checked at that time and cost of replacing the Epic from ebay was between $200 - $300. Assurion replaced it for $100. Therefore the $7 a month paid on that phone for 4 months ($28) saved me between $72 and $172.

Once the price of replacing a device, through ebay, craigslists, etc., get nearer to $100 then is the time for dropping TEP on that phone. When I had my Pre after 1 year I dropped TEP because I could replace it myself for almost the same cost as the deductible.

I know some people are carrying TEP forever even though they could replace their phones for $100 or less, that to me is not wise.

 

[FreudSlipped]

You beat me to this style post...Since my numbers didn't seem to matter, or people couldn't wrap their heads around them I was going to go with cold, hard facts next...lol

LOL. Very few people are going to read all the info at the first link I posted. Their eyes will glaze over after the first few sentences, and rightly so! The only ones who read it all will probably be the people who, like me, had to sit through class after class on the topic while clinging desperately to their coffee. They will read it because somewhere in the dark recesses of their mind, they will believe that there will be an exam on the subject that will count for 30 percent of their grade.

 

[Paul627g]

I don't mind the increase because I have taken advantage of the TEP plenty of times between myself, wife and my oldest daughter. I just wish they didn't recently change the policy on screen crack replacements.. A few months back if it was cracked, no problem you get a refurb or new screen. Now they say anything over 1 inch is not covered by the TEP. Problem is most phones now sport at least a 3 1/2 inch screen or bigger so when they do get a crack with that much screen its gonna crack big..

I know they changed it because it was an easy "out" people were using to get phones replaced but it really penalized those who weren't scamming the system.

Why I'm mad? I took my daughers Pixi in the other day for a screen crack, out came the ruler by the tech.. He's like it measures 1.5 inches, not covered.. Told it would cost me $100 to get a new one, for a phone I got for free.... So now since I'm only 6 months into my daughters contract, no upgrade for another 6 months I'm basically burned on this...

Thats just my story, so I do support the $1 increase for the TEP but certain things like the screen replacement changes aggravate me for the money we spend.

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

I WISH I got a commission (not involved anywhere other than the consumer end)....

In the past 5 years my family and I have had to take advantage of TEP three times. Once on my wife's dumb phone, once on my daughter's dumb phone, and once on my (same) daughter's Epic 4G. On the two dumb phones, they were replaced for free by Assurion even though both incidents were physical damage beyond any warranty. The last my daughter's Epic 4G, destroyed the screen by dropping it on the driveway. I checked at that time and cost of replacing the Epic from ebay was between $200 - $300. Assurion replaced it for $100. Therefore the $7 a month paid on that phone for 4 months ($28) saved me between $72 and $172.

Once the price of replacing a device, through ebay, craigslists, etc., get nearer to $100 then is the time for dropping TEP on that phone. When I had my Pre after 1 year I dropped TEP because I could replace it myself for almost the same cost as the deductible.

I know some people are carrying TEP forever even though they could replace their phones for $100 or less, that to me is not wise.

Your last 2 paragraphs make PERFECT sense...Especially the last one...TEP or any of the insurance policies are great if your phone is at high risk and will probably need replaced within a year due to damage. MOST people don't have issues though, but buy the insurance based on the people who get a commission or have some other incentive for selling you the insurance. I think it should be presented as an option at the time of sale, and dropped. Both Best Buy and Sprint have gone as far as to just ADD it to my final sale the last 2 times I've bought a phone, and I had to expressly tell them to take it off before signing my contract. That's insane.

I just can't get my head around the price they want for it so I go without. I just wanted to point out the Cost:Return ratio on different insurance policies.

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

I don't mind the increase because I have taken advantage of the TEP plenty of times between myself, wife and my oldest daughter. I just wish they didn't recently change the policy on screen crack replacements.. A few months back if it was cracked, no problem you get a refurb or new screen. Now they say anything over 1 inch is not covered by the TEP. Problem is most phones now sport at least a 3 1/2 inch screen or bigger so when they do get a crack with that much screen its gonna crack big..

I know they changed it because it was an easy "out" people were using to get phones replaced but it really penalized those who weren't scamming the system.

Why I'm mad? I took my daughers Pixi in the other day for a screen crack, out came the ruler by the tech.. He's like it measures 1.5 inches, not covered.. Told it would cost me $100 to get a new one, for a phone I got for free.... So now since I'm only 6 months into my daughters contract, no upgrade for another 6 months I'm basically burned on this...

Thats just my story, so I do support the $1 increase for the TEP but certain things like the screen replacement changes aggravate me for the money we spend.

Exactly...they increase the rate to justify the higher costs of repair and replacement and then change the rules to exclude having to repair or replace the item that was driving up the cost in the first place! It's a LEGAL shell game!

 

[PapaNoHair#AC]

It will continue to climb because of the sheer numbers of people who break their phones. I use my homeowners insurance to cover mine. Renters insurance will cover it too most of the time, and it would be a brand new phone instead of a refurb. The insurance companies are making a killing with their supply of refurbs.

Perhaps I was just lucky but when I replaced my old Pre thru Asurion I received a new one - not a refurb.

 

[RkyMtnHigh]

Perhaps I was just lucky but when I replaced my old Pre thru Asurion I received a new one - not a refurb.

You will at first. They buy a pool of new ones, and then as yours gets sent in, they repair it and return it to the pool. When all the new ones are used, they start issuing the refurbs.