Dropped my Galaxy S4 in the toilet, won't charge?

[mhinc]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

I got a iSkin case for free from Rogers which the sales associate told me was a good case. The alcohol was free on my part since I wasn't the one hosting the party, and I'm not a teenager. You're not stating the obvious, you're being rude and idiotic. Get off your high horse.

It's apparent no matter what I say, you still know it all and own the world. Maybe when you grow up you will understand that preventative measures would save you money in the long run, which was my point all along. And based on you getting THAT stupid drunk that you dropped your phone in the toilet, would only make sense even more to get a case that was somewhat water proof. You got lucky this time in paying for just a repair which was STILL more than a case would have cost you and would have prevented water damage period. I would laugh the next time you do this and your phone is destroyed completely and you come back here whining that your broke *** had to spend 500 to get an entirely new one after arguing how stupid it was for me to suggest a case on your college broke budget.

 

[anon(41665)]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

What are you talking about??? What you said made ABSOLUTELY no sense! How does what you said even remotely have anything to do with me suggesting spending $40.00 on a semi water proof case to avoid spending money on a repair or an entirely new phone???

I could be way off (and I also find what her or she wrote to be a bit confusing) but I think he or she is suggesting that they saved "$1000.00" over a span of many years (13) by NOT purchasing insurance and/or phone covers and rather asking for possible fixes online (i.e. the rice trick) for careless actions that may have resulted in phone damage. If I missed the point, my apologies.

In my opinion, its kind of a silly way to look at it. If I go 13 years without an auto accident, then I guess the right line of thinking would have been to NOT have insurance since it would have saved me tens of thousands of dollars? I realize my 20-40 dollar cases and 7 dollar a month insurance over the course of many phones and years would indeed add up to a lot, but I prefer the peace of mind.

 

[monsieurms]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

I could be way off (and I also find what her or she wrote to be a bit confusing) but I think he or she is suggesting that they saved "$1000.00" over a span of many years (13) by NOT purchasing insurance and/or phone covers and rather asking for possible fixes online (i.e. the rice trick) for careless actions that may have resulted in phone damage. If I missed the point, my apologies.

In my opinion, its kind of a silly way to look at it. If I go 13 years without an auto accident, then I guess the right line of thinking would have been to NOT have insurance since it would have saved me tens of thousands of dollars? I realize my 20-40 dollar cases and 7 dollar a month insurance over the course of many phones and years would indeed add up to a lot, but I prefer the peace of mind.

I hesitate to say anything at this point, but...

I generally won't purchase insurance because the prices are ridiculously inflated (I've heard of some better deals of late, but also some outrageous pricing in the past) and I am pretty good at taking care of my stuff. If someone is the type who can never find their car keys and needs a car repair every 3 weeks due to some minor scrape or fender bender, they may understandably have a different answer, but I've made declining insurance into a sound economic decision over the years. That is just a matter of calculating $$$ and realizing the degree to which they exploit us. Then, you've also got to get REALLY unlucky. Losing the phone in month 2 of a 2 year contract--ouch. Destroying it in month 20 of a 2 year contract--yawn. Pretty close to getting rid of it anyway and how much was it worth at that point? Things depreciate quickly. Overpriced insurance, versus the relatively small possibility, based on my track record, of getting banged is an easy answer for me. Insurance costs often seem to me to rise to the level of scam. Insurance, extended warranties--generally not worth the bucks. (I don't recall offhand an insurance article, but consumer publications are chock full of warnings about extended warranties and how overpriced they are..) By taking a small risk that some catastrophe will occur early in my ownership of the device, which is the only significant financial risk, I've made out like a bandit by declining insurance. If one day I get clobbered and have to write a check for $500, so be it. I'm still ahead. WAYYYYY ahead. The $500 won't end my life. It is a reasonable self-insurance risk.

Cases are quite another matter. That I heartily recommend (although I'm not sure there are too many folks with pricey waterproof cases).

• For one thing, cases in general are relatively cheap. Unlike insurance, the cost of keeping the case does not go on forever. It is finite and fixed. An Otterbox Commuter is a nice case with drop protection for reasonable money (on Amazon, you should be able to pick them up for roughly $25)

• . For another, they can add value if you resell the phone--either because you have one to toss in, or better yet because they kept the phone pristine. In a sense, they pay for themselves.

• For a third, if the case protects you it is not just a matter of $$. You also avoid the incredible inconvenience of suddenly losing a phone temporarily and without warning. Depending on what happens, you may have re-setup your whole phone, etc. PITA.

• For yet another good reason, in a serious enough matter you could also lose irreplaceable data, too.

That is a laundry list of good reasons to have a case, and money is not always the determining factor. Insurance plans, by contrast, whether you have them or not, don't fix all those problems. They only address money. As noted, that is just a straight-up economic projection, which is why I come to a different conclusion there..

 

[mhinc]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

I hesitate to say anything at this point, but...

I generally won't purchase insurance because the prices are ridiculously inflated (I've heard of some better deals of late, but also some outrageous pricing in the past) and I am pretty good at taking care of my stuff. If someone is the type who can never find their car keys and needs a car repair every 3 weeks due to some minor scrape or fender bender, they may understandably have a different answer, but I've made declining insurance into a sound economic decision over the years. That is just a matter of calculating $$$ and realizing the degree to which they exploit us. Then, you've also got to get REALLY unlucky. Losing the phone in month 2 of a 2 year contract--ouch. Destroying it in month 20 of a 2 year contract--yawn. Pretty close to getting rid of it anyway and how much was it worth at that point? Things depreciate quickly. Overpriced insurance, versus the relatively small possibility, based on my track record, of getting banged is an easy answer for me. Insurance costs often seem to me to rise to the level of scam. Insurance, extended warranties--generally not worth the bucks. (I don't recall offhand an insurance article, but consumer publications are chock full of warnings about extended warranties and how overpriced they are..) By taking a small risk that some catastrophe will occur early in my ownership of the device, which is the only significant financial risk, I've made out like a bandit by declining insurance. If one day I get clobbered and have to write a check for $500, so be it. I'm still ahead. WAYYYYY ahead. The $500 won't end my life. It is a reasonable self-insurance risk.

Cases are quite another matter. That I heartily recommend (although I'm not sure there are too many folks with pricey waterproof cases).

• For one thing, cases in general are relatively cheap. Unlike insurance, the cost of keeping the case does not go on forever. It is finite and fixed. An Otterbox Commuter is a nice case with drop protection for reasonable money (on Amazon, you should be able to pick them up for roughly $25)

• . For another, they can add value if you resell the phone--either because you have one to toss in, or better yet because they kept the phone pristine. In a sense, they pay for themselves.

• For a third, if the case protects you it is not just a matter of $$. You also avoid the incredible inconvenience of suddenly losing a phone temporarily and without warning. Depending on what happens, you may have re-setup your whole phone, etc. PITA.

• For yet another good reason, in a serious enough matter you could also lose irreplaceable data, too.

That is a laundry list of good reasons to have a case, and money is not always the determining factor. Insurance plans, by contrast, whether you have them or not, don't fix all those problems. They only address money. As noted, that is just a straight-up economic projection, which is why I come to a different conclusion there..

Even an Otterbox defender would survive a toilet drop for the time it takes to reach in and grab it. and they are about 40 bucks. Insurance plans I have never purchased, nor was that even brought up above in the first place

 

[zm115]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

Even an Otterbox defender would survive a toilet drop for the time it takes to reach in and grab it. and they are about 40 bucks. Insurance plans I have never purchased, nor was that even brought up above in the first place

Holy jesus. You are the most unhelpful person I've ever encountered, and this is big considering I work in retail. I have an iSkin case, which isn't as fabulous as an Otterbox, I'll admit that. But I'd rather be able to eat for a week than shell out that money for a case. I'm a major klutz, and my iSkin has saved my phone numerous times from drops etc. I went into a store today and an Otterbox case costs $59.99. I'm happy with my case, and you're a useless little sh!t.

 

[anon(41665)]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

Holy jesus. You are the most unhelpful person I've ever encountered, and this is big considering I work in retail. I have an iSkin case, which isn't as fabulous as an Otterbox, I'll admit that. But I'd rather be able to eat for a week than shell out that money for a case. I'm a major klutz, and my iSkin has saved my phone numerous times from drops etc. I went into a store today and an Otterbox case costs $59.99. I'm happy with my case, and you're a useless little sh!t.

Lol. Not that it matters, but just an FYI - an Otterbox Defender runs $29.99 on Amazon.com for the black case and 36.00 for the other colors. Free shipping even. I knows that still more than an iSkin and if its even saved your phone one time from a drop its certainly more than paid for itself. (Sorry - I know I'm belaboring things...just saying).

 

[zm115]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

I haven't got a credit card for online purchases but if I ever have spare money lying around that I'm not using to pay off loans or rent I'll buy one maybe.

 

[garublador]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

In my opinion, its kind of a silly way to look at it. If I go 13 years without an auto accident, then I guess the right line of thinking would have been to NOT have insurance since it would have saved me tens of thousands of dollars?

You're not using the same comparison I did. Figure out the absolute maximum your car insurance could pay you for an accident and compare that with how much you've spent. Then consider if it would be possible for you to pay it yourself without insurance. If you consider uninsured driver coverage and medical coverage you can get in the hundreds of thousands pretty quick. With a phone you can just get a cheap, used phone (which you might get from your phone insurance, anyway) or even use an old phone you already have and only spend a fraction of what you did on the previous phone. With the car insurance you can't choose to get cheap medical care.

The order of magnitude difference in cost and necessity between a smartphone and an automobile and medical expenses makes a gigantic difference. In any case the insurance company will always come out ahead. We all know that, and if it weren't that way insurance companies wouldn't exist. Statistically, you're always better off without insurance. However, the risk is completely different when you compare gadgets and automobiles. With a gadget (phone, TV, tablet, PC, etc) the worst that can happen is that we need to dip into the discretionary fund we presumably have to get a new one or a cheaper one. You might have to get a cheaper phone, a smaller TV, live without a tablet or get a cheaper or used PC. With an automobile, the worst that can happen is you and your family are stuck in financial ruin for the rest of your life. The risk for losing a gadget isn't anywhere near that of what you could lose in an automobile accident so it's not worth spending money on alleviating that risk.

The cost difference is very big, too. You can buy a new phone for less than the deductible for many auto insurance policies. It's not even worth using auto insurance for events that cost as much as a smart phone. Phone insurance is like paying extra for no deductible on your car insurance.

Phone insurance is more like those extended warranties they always try to sell you at electronics stores than it is like car insurance. You'll have a hard time finding someone who knows much about personal finance who also recommends buying those extended warranties or phone insurance. The risk is something that can easily be handled on a personal level.

If you prefer the peace of mind, why not set up your own savings account and put the money for insurance into that? You'll get both the peace of mind and the extra money.

 

[mhinc]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

Holy jesus. You are the most unhelpful person I've ever encountered, and this is big considering I work in retail. I have an iSkin case, which isn't as fabulous as an Otterbox, I'll admit that. But I'd rather be able to eat for a week than shell out that money for a case. I'm a major klutz, and my iSkin has saved my phone numerous times from drops etc. I went into a store today and an Otterbox case costs $59.99. I'm happy with my case, and you're a useless little sh!t.

Have you even READ the entire thread? I was just making a suggestion about Otterbox. ANY case would have helped this guy! THAT was the point. And my other point was even though he stated he was a broke college student, he is also a stupid one that would rather DRINK not EAT, than buy a case.
HOLY JESUS zm115! Try reading before you stick the other foot in your mouth next time.
My entire point was CASE = GOOD, NO CASE = Stupidity Maybe you will understand that

 

[mhinc]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

You're not using the same comparison I did. Figure out the absolute maximum your car insurance could pay you for an accident and compare that with how much you've spent. Then consider if it would be possible for you to pay it yourself without insurance. If you consider uninsured driver coverage and medical coverage you can get in the hundreds of thousands pretty quick. With a phone you can just get a cheap, used phone (which you might get from your phone insurance, anyway) or even use an old phone you already have and only spend a fraction of what you did on the previous phone. With the car insurance you can't choose to get cheap medical care.

The order of magnitude difference in cost and necessity between a smartphone and an automobile and medical expenses makes a gigantic difference. In any case the insurance company will always come out ahead. We all know that, and if it weren't that way insurance companies wouldn't exist. Statistically, you're always better off without insurance. However, the risk is completely different when you compare gadgets and automobiles. With a gadget (phone, TV, tablet, PC, etc) the worst that can happen is that we need to dip into the discretionary fund we presumably have to get a new one or a cheaper one. You might have to get a cheaper phone, a smaller TV, live without a tablet or get a cheaper or used PC. With an automobile, the worst that can happen is you and your family are stuck in financial ruin for the rest of your life. The risk for losing a gadget isn't anywhere near that of what you could lose in an automobile accident so it's not worth spending money on alleviating that risk.

The cost difference is very big, too. You can buy a new phone for less than the deductible for many auto insurance policies. It's not even worth using auto insurance for events that cost as much as a smart phone. Phone insurance is like paying extra for no deductible on your car insurance.

Phone insurance is more like those extended warranties they always try to sell you at electronics stores than it is like car insurance. You'll have a hard time finding someone who knows much about personal finance who also recommends buying those extended warranties or phone insurance. The risk is something that can easily be handled on a personal level.

If you prefer the peace of mind, why not set up your own savings account and put the money for insurance into that? You'll get both the peace of mind and the extra money.

No one was talking about phone insurance!!! Only YOU brought that up. We were talking about preventing damage and having to pay out 600 bucks for a new phone by simply protecting your phone with a 40 dollar case! That's it!

 

[garublador]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

No one was talking about phone insurance!!! Only YOU brought that up.

Doomsday did and I responded to it. I'd recommend actually reading all posts in the thread.

We were talking about preventing damage and having to pay out 600 bucks for a new phone by simply protecting your phone with a 40 dollar case! That's it!

But you have to protect all your phones with a $40 case and it was only $80 worth of damage. You don't know ahead of time which phone you'll break or how much it will cost. If he only damages one out of every three phones in this way then the cases are more expensive than the fix. I'm on my 7th cell phone, so that's $240 worth of cases (my latest phone hasn't made it all the way through it's life yet) with zero payout. Even if I had an $80 repair I'd still be ahead.

The argument is paying for preventative measures vs. reactive care. Considering everything I wrote about insurance and warranties (preventative care) and how it applies differently to gadgets than it does to automobiles, it's not worth the preventative measures that cost money unless you know you'll use them. If you know you'll drop your phone a lot then cases like that are a good idea. If you don't have a history of dropping them, then chances are you'll come out ahead by not using them. Saying he would have saved $40 with a case doesn't take into account the fact that he doesn't know whether or not he'll damage his phone. You have to look at more than just one instance to make any sort of financial recommendation that makes any sense.

 

[zm115]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

For someone who's all like 'HAVE YOU READ THE THREAD?!' maybe you'd have picked up that the op, aka me, is a girl and not a he. I didn't pay for the alcohol, because I'd bought groceries that day and couldn't afford it. You didn't suggest it, you acted all high and mighty because *you* may have an Otterbox, and I'm clearly an ***** for not having one. I did not pay for the booze, so HOLY JESUS mhinc! Try reading before you stick the other foot in your mouth next time.

AND I DO HAVE A CASE. It's the next best thing to an Otterbox, so calm down. I repeat, I. DO. HAVE. A. CASE.

 

[mhinc]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

For someone who's all like 'HAVE YOU READ THE THREAD?!' maybe you'd have picked up that the op, aka me, is a girl and not a he. I didn't pay for the alcohol, because I'd bought groceries that day and couldn't afford it. You didn't suggest it, you acted all high and mighty because *you* may have an Otterbox, and I'm clearly an ***** for not having one. I did not pay for the booze, so HOLY JESUS mhinc! Try reading before you stick the other foot in your mouth next time.

AND I DO HAVE A CASE. It's the next best thing to an Otterbox, so calm down. I repeat, I. DO. HAVE. A. CASE.

Well hopefully you are smarter next time before you get tanked and drop your phone in the toilet and come whining for help here for your stupidity

 

[mhinc]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

Doomsday did and I responded to it. I'd recommend actually reading all posts in the thread.

But you have to protect all your phones with a $40 case and it was only $80 worth of damage. You don't know ahead of time which phone you'll break or how much it will cost. If he only damages one out of every three phones in this way then the cases are more expensive than the fix. I'm on my 7th cell phone, so that's $240 worth of cases (my latest phone hasn't made it all the way through it's life yet) with zero payout. Even if I had an $80 repair I'd still be ahead.

The argument is paying for preventative measures vs. reactive care. Considering everything I wrote about insurance and warranties (preventative care) and how it applies differently to gadgets than it does to automobiles, it's not worth the preventative measures that cost money unless you know you'll use them. If you know you'll drop your phone a lot then cases like that are a good idea. If you don't have a history of dropping them, then chances are you'll come out ahead by not using them. Saying he would have saved $40 with a case doesn't take into account the fact that he doesn't know whether or not he'll damage his phone. You have to look at more than just one instance to make any sort of financial recommendation that makes any sense.

Wow! Let me spell it out for you..Since you obviously can't comprehend simple logic...
With a $40.00 case. The $80.00 in damage wouldn't have happened. How much more simple can I make this>

 

[garublador]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

Wow! Let me spell it out for you..Since you obviously can't comprehend simple logic...
With a $40.00 case. The $80.00 in damage wouldn't have happened. How much more simple can I make this>

What you don't seem to understand is that the $40 for the case is a guaranteed loss. You aren't guaranteed to save any money when you buy one. You'd have to save at least $40 in damage on every phone you have for it to be worth while. There's no way to know if that's the case with the information in the OP.

Plus, your numbers are off unless you can show a place where you can buy a waterproof case for $40. At $60, you're betting $60 that you'll make $30 by dropping your phone in water (most places seem to sell them for about as much as the cost of the repair). It's just not that great of a bet and the loss is only on the order of tens of dollars. The kicker is that you have control of the odds. You have ways of preventing the damage other than the case so it's very easy to tip the scales to your advantage.

 

[Greg Jenkins]

Lol... what a rude little man

 

[bubbbab]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

Yeah, I get that. I'm just taking a jab at all those critiques of the S5. Some of the "under the hood" advances can be critically important. They just don't seem to get any attention until disaster strikes.

We just switched to S4's three if them. S5 is nice but the only issue I has with it was that it's too big in my hand. Aside from that we'd have gone rat way.

Samsung Galaxy S4 And 4.4.2 Switched from Z10 July 26.2014

 

[bubbbab]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

Have you even READ the entire thread? I was just making a suggestion about Otterbox. ANY case would have helped this guy! THAT was the point. And my other point was even though he stated he was a broke college student, he is also a stupid one that would rather DRINK not EAT, than buy a case.
HOLY JESUS zm115! Try reading before you stick the other foot in your mouth next time.
My entire point was CASE = GOOD, NO CASE = Stupidity Maybe you will understand that

I think the post was that assessments are often more accepted if you were to filter your comments a little and avoid the harsh negatives. I'd agree that not having a case is less than wise but likely now a lesson that has been learned well.

Samsung Galaxy S4 And 4.4.2 Switched from Z10 July 26.2014

 

[ajl]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

We just switched to S4's three if them. S5 is nice but the only issue I has with it was that it's too big in my hand. Aside from that we'd have gone rat way.

Samsung Galaxy S4 And 4.4.2 Switched from Z10 July 26.2014

The S5 is too big for you, but the S4 isn't? It's a .1 inch difference. Hmm..

 

[bubbbab]

Re: Dropped my s4 in the toilet, won't charge?

The S5 is too big for you, but the S4 isn't? It's a .1 inch difference. Hmm..

.1 in screen size yes. The phone itself is quite a bit bigger. I'm a power user for sure and a one hander. Ummm with my phone I mean

Anyway three of the four of us came to Samsung from the z10 and I thought that was big compared to years dog legacy BB devices. S4 is max for me for me.

Samsung Galaxy S4 And 4.4.2 Switched from Z10 July 26.2014