Insurance/Protection - Verizon vs Best Buy

[icebike]

Squaretrade trade people! End of conversation.

Their accidental loss or damage protection beats all. Their prices start off with 2 year coverage, so remember to do the math.

 

[goldkear]

No no no no! Do not get best buy. They will repair your phone instead of replacing it, this took 3 weeks for me. You have to pay if you want a loaner phone and it won't be a smartphone. They do not cover loss or theft. I canceled my insurance with them for my dinc and will never go back. Total rip off.

I would rather have asurion, the company vzw uses, because they'll replace it no matter what and worse case scenario you'll be without a phone over a weekend. You will get a refurb though, and it might not be the same phone. They are kind of expensive though, with the deductible, so I've been trying to find another option, squaretrade seems legit.

 

[mysterx]

Okay okay, now I'm second guessing getting insurance from big red or BB. About these e-commerce insurance sites (Squaretrade & Protectcell), have you ever filed a replacement claim with them? I just wonder about turn-around time with a web-based insurance option versus a brick and mortar store?

-me

 

[brinox]

You might want to take a look at squaretrade.com. They also have a 30% off coupon code offered. Typically much less than VZW.


Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk

I tried squaretrade with my Nexus One, and I won't be getting a squaretrade warranty for my phone ever again. The problem I had with them was I dropped my phone in the snow, and the earpiece speaker no longer worked, and at the time I was using the phone part of my phone regularly...

Squaretrade provides dollar amounts of coverage for whatever you bought the plan for, and in this case, they arranged for me to send my phone back to HTC for repairs, quoted the cost of repairs (~$250). I was "insured" for up to $600 but after this repair, I would only have $350 dollars left of the dollar coverage. Furthermore, once the dollar amount has been met, the contract is considered fulfilled. So you might be buying the 2 year coverage, but its 2 years OR $600 (in this case) of repairs or replacement costs.


After really looking into Asurion and how reliant I am on my phone, the VZW TEC option was a much better option simply because i'll always know I have a replacement phone within a couple days of filing a claim, and aside from more than two claims per calendar year, there wont be any surprise charges for buying a new insurance plan when the previous coverage runs out

 

[iandouglas]

BestBuy has the better insurance plan. You don't have to pay a deductible or wait for anyone to send you a phone. You can go right into the store and get a replacement on the spot.

Not for my Nexus S. They wouldn't replace it on the spot a few months ago, they had to send it back and I was shipped a refurbished phone, not my own phone repaired. Good thing I back up frequently. I was without my Nexus S for about 5 days.

 

[Bob61]

I don't know about all of you worried about warranty, must not treat the equipment well or something. In the 20 years I've had cell phone (going way back to the original brick phone), I've NEVER had to worry about any phone being replaced under warranty. I have had 5 phones on my line now for the past 4 years as well (includes my kids). If just in those 4 years I was pay $7 per month for warranty I would have paid $1,680 and never made use of any of it. Over the 20 years I would have dropped close to $5,000 just to insure my cell phone.

My thought is if I need to replace a phone I'll snag a used phone off of Craigslist or Ebay that is in great condition. Let's face it the phone that is released today will be on CL or Ebay for $200-250 in a matter of a few months. Since manufacturer covers the first year I really won't need to worry about getting a replacement unless I do something stupid and break it or lose it. Based on people saying they'd have to pay a $160 deductible, I can practically by a great condition used phone for not much more than that. If that time should come I've got well over $5 grand (and growing each month) in my pocket to spend should I find I need to replace a phone.

 

[DanSan]

ok ok... I'm going to give you the run down here at least on the BB plans.

It does NOT cover lost/stolen

there is NO deductible

it covers accidental damage/normal wear/cracked screens/water damage. all damage must be within reason, some stores will turn u down if its completely ed, run over, caught fire, etc.. also accessory replacement (done through 1888-best-buy)

PREPAID cell phones get exchanged in store. (boost mobile, virgin mobile, etc, etc)

POST PAID/CONTRACT phones are replaced with a refurb that usually take 3-5 days to come back to the store. Majority of the phones work like this, I said majority but I haven't seen one in awhile that doesn't. Its called, Rapid Exchange.

Within a few hours of your phone being checked in at the store (I've seen sometimes less than 4 or 5 hours), the refurb is already being processed and on its way to being shipped, thats why its a rather quick turn around time. only waiting time is shipping time..

You keep the battery/SIM card/SD card, while the phone and battery door get sent out.

You can leave a deposit for a loaner phone, but you don't have to. most are $50 but i've seen some loaners at $100 or $150.

Only time it takes longer is if the phone is on backorder or they don't have supply of refurbs. In either case the guy at geek squad has 3 options. they can either offer you a substitute that will come instead of your phone (if it at all prompts for it, doesn't happen often), set the phone on backorder which obviously means you won't see it for a bit or they can set the phone under a "repair" which means they will actually repair the phone instead of replacing it with a refurb.

They offer it in either $10/month options or up front cost of $200 i believe.

 

[anon(40376)]

Some of these new startup non-insurance companies such as Protectcell worry me. No re-insurance, no AM-Best rating (naturally since they are not an insurance company). Who is to say they will be around in a year or two?
There were some Auto extended warranty companies such as Warranty Gold that screwed a heck of a lot of people a few years ago.

 

[420board]

Squaretrade has been around FOR A LONG TIME, no need to worry there. They do a lot of stuff (condos, home appliance, electronics, and more).

 

[legendarydog]

square trade does sound like the best but - the retail value of the device is probably close to $600 and they cover up to $600. so if something happens to my device once, will I still be covered if something happens again? (I'm referring to a reply that someone made earlier where they said it's 2 years or when you use up the $600)

 

[420board]

square trade does sound like the best but - the retail value of the device is probably close to $600 and they cover up to $600. so if something happens to my device once, will I still be covered if something happens again? (I'm referring to a reply that someone made earlier where they said it's 2 years or when you use up the $600)

You know I haven't used them for phones so I cannot say. But amazon shows good reviews which is a good sign:

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: SquareTrade 2-Year Accident Protection + Warranty (Cell Phones)

 

[eljoker]

Some of these new startup non-insurance companies such as Protectcell worry me. No re-insurance, no AM-Best rating (naturally since they are not an insurance company). Who is to say they will be around in a year or two?
There were some Auto extended warranty companies such as Warranty Gold that screwed a heck of a lot of people a few years ago.

Protectcell has been around for years, I sold it for 3 years, you have to buy it at a Protectcell retailer. Never had an issue, matter fact I made claims for customers and sometime when they didnt have the product they would give me there CC number (protectcells) and buy a phone at full cost from my store for the customer and only charge them the deductible. Now thats customer service.

 

[jackiedunn]

Verizon 9.99 insurance is for IPhones - other Smart Phones are $6.99 with a $99 deductible. I used to have Verizon program and now have Best Buy. No deductible is nice (Best Buy) but it's 9.99 per month you have to go into the store and give them your phone to send off. You can pay $50 deposit to get a "loaner phone". Unfortunately I live 30 minutes away from the closest Best Buy. You also are heavily encouraged to make a Geek Squad appointment - my Best Buy only has these appointments available after 2pm daily - I wanted to go during my lunch but now I have to drag my kids up there after school. He said I could do in earlier but I just have to wait until they have time to talk to me and that appointments get priority. Oh, and then I'm sure I'll have to make the trip a second time once my phone is ready.

All in all, I have had better experience with the Verizon program - you enter a claim, pay the deductible, they overnight you a replacement and you send yours back to them. The whole "fighting the Geek Squad crowd" is a poor way for them to handle this process.....and I'm just waiting for them to tell me my cracked screen will not be covered since it's not normal "wear and tear". If they do that when I go into the store today I will absolutely lose it.