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Insurance? Squaretrade?

I have the option to purchase squaretrade insurance/warranty for $99 since I bought from letstalk (instead of $124 by going directly to squaretrade).
I still don't understand how this works. Do you just pay the $99, then you can get a new phone even if you get something as simple as a small scratch on your current phone? Do you have to send the old phone back or can you just sell it for parts (assuming it's damaged).
I've never had phone insurance before, but I'm highly considering it because of the dust issue on the HTC sensations.
If you guys know of any other insurance, please let me know too. I've only had the phone 6 days so I have plenty of time to purchase insurance from anywhere.

brian85 said:
I have the option to purchase squaretrade insurance/warranty for $99 since I bought from letstalk (instead of $124 by going directly to squaretrade).
I still don't understand how this works. Do you just pay the $99, then you can get a new phone even if you get something as simple as a small scratch on your current phone? Do you have to send the old phone back or can you just sell it for parts (assuming it's damaged).
I've never had phone insurance before, but I'm highly considering it because of the dust issue on the HTC sensations.
If you guys know of any other insurance, please let me know too. I've only had the phone 6 days so I have plenty of time to purchase insurance from anywhere.
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Read my thread about TMO's premium handset protection. It also covers malfunctions(warranty replacements)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1135836

brian85 said:
I have the option to purchase squaretrade insurance/warranty for $99 since I bought from letstalk (instead of $124 by going directly to squaretrade).
I still don't understand how this works. Do you just pay the $99, then you can get a new phone even if you get something as simple as a small scratch on your current phone? Do you have to send the old phone back or can you just sell it for parts (assuming it's damaged).
I've never had phone insurance before, but I'm highly considering it because of the dust issue on the HTC sensations.
If you guys know of any other insurance, please let me know too. I've only had the phone 6 days so I have plenty of time to purchase insurance from anywhere.
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Click to collapse
Squaretrade does nothing if your phone gets lost or stolen. They cover just about everything else with a $50 deductible and roughly a 5 day turnaround.
The insurance t-mobile uses is Asurion and I have used them in the past. If you have a claim, you will need to go through Asurion for the claim and it takes 1 business day (T-mobile is not involved). Personally, I did receive my replacement on a Saturday after I filed a claim at 9PM on a Friday night. The big problem with Asurion is you only get 2 claims per 12 months and the Sensation has a deductible around $150 (it's still not listed on Asurion's site) plus a $5 fee.
The nice thing about Asurion is you get a replacement phone no matter what. Not to mention all they want back is the phone. You get to keep the accessories and battery from your old phone. They also will let you keep your old phone, but they charge another $250+ and it may be considered insurance fraud.
You can see the details on T-Mobile's site: http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm23694.xml

mycomputerisjunk said:
Squaretrade does nothing if your phone gets lost or stolen. They cover just about everything else with a $50 deductible and roughly a 5 day turnaround.
The insurance t-mobile uses is Asurion and I have used them in the past. If you have a claim, you will need to go through Asurion for the claim and it takes 1 business day (T-mobile is not involved). Personally, I did receive my replacement on a Saturday after I filed a claim at 9PM on a Friday night. The big problem with Asurion is you only get 2 claims per 12 months and the Sensation has a deductible around $150 (it's still not listed on Asurion's site) plus a $5 fee.
The nice thing about Asurion is you get a replacement phone no matter what. Not to mention all they want back is the phone. You get to keep the accessories and battery from your old phone. They also will let you keep your old phone, but they charge another $250+ and it may be considered insurance fraud.
You can see the details on T-Mobile's site: http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm23694.xml
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It's $130.00 deductible for the Sensation.

Asurion?

Anyone here suggest having it from T-Mobile?
It's $7.99 a month...
Is it worth it? I don't get my phone stolen or lost... I always take care of my phones..
Input before bashing!

it's completely user preference.
Ask yourself this when trying to decide: "is $ worth it to me in the event that something unfortunate happens to my phone? Do I want to spend $$$ to buy a new one if the problem is not covered by the original warranty?"
Some people have horror stories in dealing with asurion others no problem at all... And remember, the plan does not specify that you'll get a brand new, unused phone, just a comparable phone....so you could end up with a refurbished phone after you're deductible...and who knows if it was ever fixed in the first place!
For me personally, I go with the middle tier insurance (4.79/month+130ded) for the first year because chances are that if I start having problems after that, I'm just gonna go in and get new phone and renew my contract at that point.

I got it but that's b/c i work for t-mobile and I've heard so many unfortunate stories
I take care of my phone as well but it's technology...anything can happen

Have a look at SquareTrade. Way cheaper and covers damages. If they can't fix it, they'll pay you the price you paid for the device. They charage a $124 fee for 2 years of coverage, zero deductible.
Search around online, you probably can find a coupon code to help you get 20-30% off the regular price SquareTrade would charge you for coverage.
Asurion's deductible alone is about as much or more than Squaretrade, plus you'd have to pay Asurion $8/month on top of that.
SquareTrade's protection is also transferable if you sell/give the device to someone else. (Sure to help your resale value on Ebay . )
But ultimately, if you don't have a history of damaging devices, you could save more by simply not buying insurance you don't need. The device does have a 1 year manufacturer's warranty. And there are many cell phone repair shops these days that don't charge much.
So it's up to you. Good thing is that you have plenty of options to choose from.

Asurion is NOT good insurance! You pay a monthly fee of around $8 and then a $100 (or $150 not sure which) deductible to actually get the phone replaced and they CAN still send you a refurbished phone as a replacement. So you pay for the phone twice and still may get a used POS! Don't waste your money. The standard warranty is a year with just about the same coverage (you just can't be at fault for any damages to get fixed).

I haven't checked out squaretrade yet, but imo a comprehensive insurance is a must. No matter how well u take care of ur phone accidents can happen and so can theft. To my knowledge, warranty only covers manufacturing defects, not incidental damage/theft.

Check your house insurance, mine is covered up to £700 for loss or damage, no excess to pay....

jdelforge5684 said:
I haven't checked out squaretrade yet, but imo a comprehensive insurance is a must. No matter how well u take care of ur phone accidents can happen and so can theft. To my knowledge, warranty only covers manufacturing defects, not incidental damage/theft.
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I would not say a "must". But worth considering if you have a history of issues. I used to buy it all the time, and after almost 10 years of never using it I stopped buying it and still was going just fine without it. I did get it on my Sensation though, because I got a very good deal from SquareTrade when I brought the Sensation through Ebay. The deal I got was <10% of what I paid for the Sensation, which is a price less than replacing it with a used one 2 years from now and less than I'd have to pay a repair shop to fix most any issue. So I'll get the insurance when I can get get a very cheap deal on it. Otherwise, I'll self insure, as in not buy it.
I'd certainly never use Asurion though. They got enough of my money in the past. In a year $8/month is $96 + $100(or higher) deductible = ~$200. So to pay about $200 or so for a refub of the same device is pretty terrible of a deal IMHO.
My old HD2 is the first device I've had that broke do to issues from drops over time, it's SIM slot broke after 16 months of ownership, that would have costs me about $225+ through Asurion, just to get a refub HD2 to replace it. I can get a nearly brand new HD2 for that price off Ebay tonight. But I didn't even want another HD2 16 months later, I wanted something new, so I sold the used broken HD2 on Ebay. The HD2 and it's SIM card with the Transformers movie fetched me almost $150 which went torwards Sensation accessories and more than paid for the SquareTrade coverage. I could have used that money to buy an HD2 in better condition if I desired, or paid less to get the broken HD2 repaired. But in no way does the math ever work for me to use Asurion ever again. If car insurance or home owners insurance were 50% of the price of the device new or 100% of replacement with a used version of the same, people would cry it was fraud.
kjt57 said:
Check your house insurance, mine is covered up to £700 for loss or damage, no excess to pay....
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For the vast majority in the USA, they won't cover a cell phone. And usually if they do, the deductible is as high as the price of the phone if not higher.

GET IT. I have it over 5yrs since I had my tmobile wing & even if you take care of it something could happen example my hd2 messed up when the electricity went out in my house the phone was connected to the tv and after that phone kept getting random boots. Just get it best investment you could do for your phone.

DEDUCTIBLE IS $130 for the Sensation according to Asurion website and literature.

I gladly pay $8 a month knowing that each year I can have my phone replaced twice. Lost, stolen, damaged no questions asked. Each time I have paid my $130 deductible I have received a brand new in box device. I have used it about 4 times now. They even send u a Sim card and it usually arrives the next day after u male the claim. But I will look into this other company u guys r talking about
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA Premium App

Your right $0 deductible for squaretrade but once Ur care plan is considered fulfilled you need to drop another x amount to cover you new device...
So to me that's the same as paying Asurions deductible.
Not to mention I paid a subsidized price for my sensation and if I was to buy another one I couldn't get it for that price again. So does that mean I'm screwed?
Coverage Amount For replacement payments:
You are covered up to the maximum value you paid for the item. Once we pay out that amount, your Care Plan is considered fulfilled. If you would like coverage on your new item, you need to purchase a new warranty for it.
For Repairs:
The Care Plan is good for multiple repairs, up to the maximum value of your item. Once the cost of repairs meets the full purchase price of the item, your Care Plan is considered fulfilled.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA Premium App

Verizon insurance options and costs

I spoke to a rep yesterday that said the insurance with Verizon has two different plan options, $7 or $10, with the latter providing coverage for if the phone is lost. The rep was unsure of the deductible. Does anyone have details of the insurance options, or the best type of insurance to get at the lowest rate?

jinforthewin said:
I spoke to a rep yesterday that said the insurance with Verizon has two different plan options, $7 or $10, with the latter providing coverage for if the phone is lost. The rep was unsure of the deductible. Does anyone have details of the insurance options, or the best type of insurance to get at the lowest rate?
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Lowest rate would be if you just bought a 2 year protection plan and paid it all up front. (I guess it's a higher rate but you only pay once). They offer 2 yrs protection for $160 at best buy for the s6 so I'm guessing it's something similar to that at verizon though maybe cheaper as best buy charged 8 a month if you wanted a monthly version.
Sent from my SM-G920V using XDA Free mobile app

jinforthewin said:
I spoke to a rep yesterday that said the insurance with Verizon has two different plan options, $7 or $10, with the latter providing coverage for if the phone is lost. The rep was unsure of the deductible. Does anyone have details of the insurance options, or the best type of insurance to get at the lowest rate?
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I am a district manager for verizon pm me if yoi have any questions and want a correct answer

jinforthewin said:
I spoke to a rep yesterday that said the insurance with Verizon has two different plan options, $7 or $10, with the latter providing coverage for if the phone is lost. The rep was unsure of the deductible. Does anyone have details of the insurance options, or the best type of insurance to get at the lowest rate?
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Use Squaretrade, it's $99 for 2 years and only $75 deductible.
Sent from my SM-G920V using XDA Free mobile app

I believe there are 3 different insurances that Verizon offers.
WPP - Wireless Phone Protection ( ~$7.00 ) Covers lost, stolen, or accidental damage.
TEC - Total Equipment Coverage (~$9.00) Covers lost, stolen, or accidental damage and includes extended warranty after the 1 year manufacturers.
TMP - Total Mobile Protection (~$11.00) Covers lost, stolen, or accidental damage and includes extended warranty plus "A team of certified Tech Coaches who provide support for Verizon devices."
TMP is worthless. I would always choose TEC because of the extended warranty. Extended warranty is for as long as you have the device and you pay for it monthly.
I am almost positive they all have the same deductible. Used to work for Verizon once upon a time.
Hopefully this helps.

JB EaZee said:
I believe there are 3 different insurances that Verizon offers.
WPP - Wireless Phone Protection ( ~$7.00 ) Covers lost, stolen, or accidental damage.
TEC - Total Equipment Coverage (~$9.00) Covers lost, stolen, or accidental damage and includes extended warranty after the 1 year manufacturers.
TMP - Total Mobile Protection (~$11.00) Covers lost, stolen, or accidental damage and includes extended warranty plus "A team of certified Tech Coaches who provide support for Verizon devices."
TMP is worthless. I would always choose TEC because of the extended warranty. Extended warranty is for as long as you have the device and you pay for it monthly.
I am almost positive they all have the same deductible. Used to work for Verizon once upon a time.
Hopefully this helps.
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This is correct. They used to only charge $5.18 for WPP, which is what I always got as I typically got a new phone once per year and never used the extended warranty.

Thanks for all the good info. The rep that sold me my phone said the only option was the $11 one since it was an expensive phone. I logged into my account and sure enough it's the TMP. I buy my phones off contract about once a year so I'm thinking WPP is what would be best for me. Anyone else agree? And can I downgrade to it if I go into a store?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I've had WPP for years. It's a pain to be an extra charge on my bill but I've used it twice so it's paid for itself. Square trade is good but doesn't cover for most devices.

Glitch4583 said:
I've had WPP for years. It's a pain to be an extra charge on my bill but I've used it twice so it's paid for itself. Square trade is good but doesn't cover for most devices.
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Unless it changed, after 2 claims they cancel your insurance.

Thanks for the info everyone. Any idea of the deductible with Verizon?
EDIT - deduct = $149.
WPP seems to make sense for me as it covers everything except warranty.

Total cost of ownership.

Wow, I probably should have done more research on this. Just got my first bill.
So for anyone else researching, the total cost (on AT&T) for an S3 watch over 3 years is $1068. And it's actually 21.50/month don't get fooled by the fake $10/mo quote.
$249 purchase price
$45 "activation" (lol)
$10/mo device fee
$1/mo "service fee"
$10.50 taxes/fees/mo (yes, you read that right that's over a 100% tax you're paying)
Over 3 years that adds up to $1068. My guess is only about 25% of people will still be wearing their S3 after 3 years.
It's kind of a rip-off, I probably wouldn't have bought if I'd thought about it a bit more. Caveat emptor. The big problem is the over 100% monthly fees and taxes.
$10 sounds reasonable, $20+ doesn't really and I would have probably balked. My own fault, I guess, but make sure you know this.
EDIT: OK, as I was fuming about this I checked my order email and due to corporate discount they were supposed to waive the $45 activation fee. They didn't, I assume because they are scumbags and just wait to see if you notice the incorrect charge and call. I called and they took it off, so that's.. umm.. nice I guess?

Ha yes. Same kind of experience. ATT rep told me it would be 10 bucks too and I would just share data off my unlimited plan for my phone. I signed up for the pre order of the watch at 349 out right so it was not on contract. Due to pre-order the $40 service activation was supposed to be waived. Got my bill sure enough it was on there. I chat with an AT&T rep over IM on their site. I did get the fee waived but still what a pain in the butt it raised my bill over $50 not 10. Will have to see what it is next month

Having taxes and fees that double the monthly bill does seem excessive... But, if you view the S3 as essentially a phone, its reasonable to expect to pay $20-30/mo for it's plan. If it's just a companion device for your smartphone, then fork over the extra $100 to buy it outright and cancel the plan.
The biggest complaint I have with regard to this watch is the eSIM, which restricts the carriers it can be used with, eliminating the possibility of using on an inexpensive MVNO plan.

Yeah. So, buy the bluetooth, non-LTE version and save about $768 over that same time frame.
Sent telepathically

Mobile Insurance

What is everyone using for insurance since there is no UH-OH protection. I had vzw total on my HTC 10 and they said it would still be covered, but it's up to asurion what they would send as a replacement device. I was thinking about squaretrade. Any ideas?

If you've got wells fargo, their CC offers mobile phone insurance when you pay your bill with it.
https://www.wellsfargo.com/credit-cards/features/cell-phone-protection/
Cellular Telephone Protection is subject to a $25 deductible per claim and a maximum of 2 claims per 12 month period. The maximum benefit limit is $600 per occurrence and $1,200 per 12 month period. You will receive no more than the value of the original phone or a replacement phone with similar features and functionality, less a $25 deductible. This benefit does not cover cellular telephones that are lost. This protection is only available when cell phone bills are paid from your Wells Fargo Consumer Credit Card.
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Never had to make a claim yet, but I guess it gives me a peace of mind.

ckupsco said:
What is everyone using for insurance since there is no UH-OH protection. I had vzw total on my HTC 10 and they said it would still be covered, but it's up to asurion what they would send as a replacement device. I was thinking about squaretrade. Any ideas?
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That's funny, I've been contemplating creating this very post. Unfortunately gone are the UH-OH days and what sucks even more is that you can't even spend money on purchasing one like Moto extended protection plan.
I purchased the U11 through the US HTC.com (which offers NO protection). I could return phone and purchase new phone from US Amazon as well as add on the Square Trade extended accident protection. This costs money up front as well as a fee when you make a claim and in all totals ~$150 US but at least it's protected. My carrier won't help out and sends me letters that state I'm using a non-T-Mobile phone that's not covered.
Bottom line is that I REALLY don't like not having an accidental plan on my devices and am looking for a solution.

You can add squaretrade to an HTC purchased phone. I did it earlier today so I could use the phone20 code to save $20
Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk

Another thread offered up https://upsie.com/