Database Info

Converting a Mogul into a Touch Pro for $50 or less!

First off, this thread is a hypothetical. I need advice on the Sprint hardware replacement and insurance claim replacement processes and what they generally entail. This thread may traverse into the murky grey area between the black and white of right or wrong when it comes to insurance phone claims and defective hardware replacement. Please don't waste your time informing me of this or criticizing any possible manipulation of the hardware replacement techniques Sprint will employ should the necessary trigger be made.
I have a Sprint Mogul. I have a SERO account. I will be approaching my 2 year resign and upgrade date this summer. I pay the full $7 total equipment protection/insurance. The Sprint Mogul is now at End Of Life (EOL). Apparently, according to some reports I have seen, reps are telling customers with failed hardware replacement tickets that they can get a refurb'd Mogul (if supply allows) and if not they will get a TP. In addition, now that the mogul is EOL, an insurance claim should technically get you a TP for $50 because the Mogul supplies are dwindling and who really wants a phone that's discontinued anyway.
The question is: What is the cheapest -or- most likely to be successful method for getting a touch pro replacement? I have a ticket open on my phone (with no action taken by me to take the phone to a store for inspection) for some potential radio issues. Thus, there is some past documentation for my phone which lends credibility to some potential hardware issues having been experienced and documented. In all honesty, I have been having some issues with my phone recently but they don't rise to the level of dead ear piece or broken keys which usually equal a traditional hardware replacement. If I call Sprint and say my data speeds are not where they should be and my phone drops and lot of calls, behaves erratically, and loses a charge very quickly - what will the Sprint rep's next course of action be? Send in the phone for testing, at which point a free replacement will be sent ONLY if legit hardware defects are found? Replace with a TP regardless of legit hardware issues being found? Will they send the replacement immediately and then charge you according to results of inspection of old phone? How does this process work? Anyone with experience, please chime in. Conversely, if I would happen to lose the phone I could make a claim and pay the $50 premium. This would most likely result in a TP replacement and I probably would not settle for less.
Finally, there has been some recent litigation against lock-line for its rather shady practice of filling claims with refurb'd phones. Hopefully, the publicity and heat will end this practice.
A class-action lawsuit filed in Miami in August contends that the coverage is deceptive because consumers often receive cheap, used or refurbished phones as replacements. The suit names lock\line, Nashville-based Asurion Insurance Services and Signal Holdings in Wayne, Pa., as defendants. -- Jill Metzler, a spokeswoman for DST Systems Inc. in Kansas City, lock\line's owner, declined to comment on the litigation. DST Systems has signed a definitive agreement to merge its lock\line subsidiary into Asurion Corp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has anyone had experience with this? They have already settled some class action suits based on these practices. I am hoping they have started shying away from refurbs until new bull**** documentation is drafted to get around ripping people off.
Thanks in advance for your experience and/or inside information on how this process works. Please don't reply if you have no valuable information to share and I also don't want to hear any opinions or general thoughts on the undertaking this hypothetical proposes.

okay, i used to work for service and repair for sprint and i can tell you this:
-Aside from the sprint store HAPPENING to have an extra touch pro in their seed stock (not likely) and HAPPENING to come across a sprint employee that just really really wants to do you (instead of himself or somebody in the store otehrwise) a favor and switch out your mogul for the TP......there's absolutely no way this is going to happen
let me take you back to the days of the Audiovox (aka HTC) PPC 6700. This thing had to be one of the most horrible and unreliable WM phones out there. We had floods of these phones coming in when they were new, and still had (last time i worked for sprint) floods of them coming in now that they are old. Asurion and Sprint stores alike keep massive stock of discontinued phones dating back to some of the first sanyo and UTstarcom phones sprint carried (pre-digital era we're talking about).
i've personally had customers coming into sprint (or going through asurion) no less than 15 times for the same phone with the same problem over and over and over again. They'll keep recieving a 6700 until they decide to upgrade.
A) Because you're only going to get what you've got insured. When your house blows up, they dont upgrade you to a mansion.
B) Any sprint employee that somehow gets a current model smartphone as an EXTRA in it's seedstock will definitely take or give it to somebody they know as an upgraded replacement....
C) Asurion (especially with problem-prone HTC devices) carries huge stocks of these phones and will have them to you in no less than a week.
Now.....when the TP becomes old news and the regular store stock is converted into Service & Repair seed stock...then you've got yourself a fighting chance....but until then:
your only option of upgrading is upgrading. Whether you con the retentions department into giving you an early upgrade by threatening them of going to another carrier, or are a good enough customer that they give you an extremely discounted Touch Pro.....there's only one way out
Moral of the story: Befriend your local sprint service and repair rep.

oh, and that bit about refurbished phones.
NOT going to go anywhere, and if it does......say goodbye to affordable phone insurance. People are too stupid to realize that they are getting a ****ing steal for 7 dollars a month, especially considering that the average customer with TEP (in my experiences) were in multiple times a year, if not a handful.
sprint, especiaily, gives stellar service and repair without having to deal with asurion and most of the time you will have no deductable BECAUSE they are reusing parts.
want a new phone ? great, then see that best buy insurance for the iphone that costs upwards of 15 dollars a month with a huge deductable? that's what insurance will look like for you.

I agree with Whitesox311. If they didn't have Mogul's in stock and couldn't get any, then you might be upgraded, but a TP is still doubtful. They try to upgrade you to a "similar" phone, in other words, whatever the cheapest pda is that they have that is close in specs. You might get a Sprint Touch, possibly a Diamond, but the TP is the most expensive pda they have and their flagship phone, so it is highly unlikely you'll get one.
They will probably have new and refurb Mogul's in stock for a while still, even if it is EOL for retail.
People with the Apache were trying to do this when the Mogul came out and most of them didn't have any luck because they had plenty of Apaches left to give out.
So as long as you have a legit claim, then go through the proper channels, but don't try to abuse the TEP by using it as an upgrade program.

whitesox311 said:
okay, i used to work for service and repair for sprint and i can tell you this:
-Aside from the sprint store HAPPENING to have an extra touch pro in their seed stock (not likely) and HAPPENING to come across a sprint employee that just really really wants to do you (instead of himself or somebody in the store otehrwise) a favor and switch out your mogul for the TP......there's absolutely no way this is going to happen
let me take you back to the days of the Audiovox (aka HTC) PPC 6700. This thing had to be one of the most horrible and unreliable WM phones out there. We had floods of these phones coming in when they were new, and still had (last time i worked for sprint) floods of them coming in now that they are old. Asurion and Sprint stores alike keep massive stock of discontinued phones dating back to some of the first sanyo and UTstarcom phones sprint carried (pre-digital era we're talking about).
i've personally had customers coming into sprint (or going through asurion) no less than 15 times for the same phone with the same problem over and over and over again. They'll keep recieving a 6700 until they decide to upgrade.
A) Because you're only going to get what you've got insured. When your house blows up, they dont upgrade you to a mansion.
B) Any sprint employee that somehow gets a current model smartphone as an EXTRA in it's seedstock will definitely take or give it to somebody they know as an upgraded replacement....
C) Asurion (especially with problem-prone HTC devices) carries huge stocks of these phones and will have them to you in no less than a week.
Now.....when the TP becomes old news and the regular store stock is converted into Service & Repair seed stock...then you've got yourself a fighting chance....but until then:
your only option of upgrading is upgrading. Whether you con the retentions department into giving you an early upgrade by threatening them of going to another carrier, or are a good enough customer that they give you an extremely discounted Touch Pro.....there's only one way out
Moral of the story: Befriend your local sprint service and repair rep.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with what you say and it sounds realistic. However, one thing has changed since when the TP came out. The Mogul is now EOL. I think the odds are better now than they were in Oct. or Nov. Just today @ PPCgeeks a member posted that he put in a replacement and they sent him a TP free of charge. Even the refurb'd supplies that Asurion and stores have should be drying up eventually. The life cycle of the mogul was shorter than the apache. I dont expect as many units in the retail channel. I have seen other recent reports (only a few) of customers getting TP's because mogul inventory was depleted. It may be wishful thinking on my part but I think that Mogul being EOL definitely helps.
whitesox311 said:
oh, and that bit about refurbished phones.
NOT going to go anywhere, and if it does......say goodbye to affordable phone insurance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No offense, but this statement shows how little you know or have researched. They have SETTLED numerous class action suits for this very practice. Asurion has already paid for fraudulent and unfair claims practices. There are signs that they are shying away from issuing refurbs in certain instances due to the publicity and lawsuits. It is legitimized in their ToS and EULA but the consumer is fighting back (and winning). So again, what you say sounds realistic but being a former employee of a Sprint store (or whatever) doesnt make you an expert on anything. The factor you keep under valuing is that Mogul supplies (especially at random repair stores) will be drying up now. They have little other option but a TP if they cant source a refurb'd Mogul. Asurion probably has a larger back stock of mogul refurb's though.

Or.....
you can get the best buy htc touch pro for $199, and sell your mogul on ebay for $100-150 and you have done it legit.
It may cost you 50-100 this way but it works.

i guess we got it made on at&t..free warranty and free device upgrade after 3 or 4 warranty exchanges..who needs insurance? just dont break your phone physically (and why would you..because we all baby them) and youll never have to pay for a device again..

whitesox311 said:
oh, and that bit about refurbished phones.
NOT going to go anywhere, and if it does......say goodbye to affordable phone insurance. People are too stupid to realize that they are getting a ****ing steal for 7 dollars a month, especially considering that the average customer with TEP (in my experiences) were in multiple times a year, if not a handful.
sprint, especiaily, gives stellar service and repair without having to deal with asurion and most of the time you will have no deductable BECAUSE they are reusing parts.
want a new phone ? great, then see that best buy insurance for the iphone that costs upwards of 15 dollars a month with a huge deductable? that's what insurance will look like for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm...Best Buy's insurance on the TP would be 9.99 a month with no deductible. I don't know why the iPhone insurance would be relevant? There are no deductibles for Best Buy insurance, and they do give you a brand new phone.

Worked for me at Puerto Rico... ...Just 50 bucks, no contract extension...

you can do what i did and 2 other people did we had our moguls replace over at ppcgeeks they have a thread about filling out a form and getting a tp here is the website http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=53327

I got upgraded to a TP
Well on Sunday, I dropped and cracked my Mogul screen, did a claim on the assurian website, and got a Brand New Touch Pro on Tuesday in the mail. $50 and it did nothing to my contract, no extension. I will be getting the new Palm when it comes out.

Warranty Exhange

Does anybody know if AT&T is starting to exchange the fuze for the new tilt 2. I'm talking insurance exchange or warranty exchange. Anybody know something about it, or they still have the fuze on stock?????

wisocabeza said:
Does anybody know if AT&T is starting to exchange the fuze for the new tilt 2. I'm talking insurance exchange or warranty exchange. Anybody know something about it, or they still have the fuze on stock?????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They still have the Fuze in stock :/
I called so many times, it's not even funny.
Here's something that might pique your interest. Couple of minutes ago, I saw this thread about people impatiently waiting to exchange their Tilt's to Fuze's. The Fuze was available in the Warranty Department approximately three weeks after it was officially launched.
It was an interesting thread to read. It seemed like many were purposely destroying their Tilt's to get them warrantied to Tilt's again, just to "extend" the warranty period since each warranty carries 90 days. The "best method" suggested was removing the USB cable while updating, and then playing dumb about it, lol.

fuze has a 1 year warranty. let me know if anyone has figured out a way. >.>

It's a nightmare trying to get a replacement through Warranty. I'm on my fourth Fuze now, because I have had legit warranty claims. They decided to upgrade me to a Tilt 2, sent me seed stock instead of a new phone kit, so I have a Tilt 2 without a battery or software. I called about that, they were supposed to send me out my new phone kit with a Tilt 2 in it yet again, sent me a Pure instead. Now I'm waiting for them to send me a battery for the Tilt 2 that I already have cause they don't have any new phone kits in stock for the Tilt 2. Though, I'm kind of tempted to try out the Pure, just because I can't hear anything on my Fuze as is and have some very important stuff coming up with work where I need to be able to hear customers. Ugh, AT&T can be a nightmare to deal with. I'm actually really tempted to switch to Verizon, Sprint, or T-mobile right now.

jjensen0331 said:
It's a nightmare trying to get a replacement through Warranty. I'm on my fourth Fuze now, because I have had legit warranty claims. They decided to upgrade me to a Tilt 2, sent me seed stock instead of a new phone kit, so I have a Tilt 2 without a battery or software. I called about that, they were supposed to send me out my new phone kit with a Tilt 2 in it yet again, sent me a Pure instead. Now I'm waiting for them to send me a battery for the Tilt 2 that I already have cause they don't have any new phone kits in stock for the Tilt 2. Though, I'm kind of tempted to try out the Pure, just because I can't hear anything on my Fuze as is and have some very important stuff coming up with work where I need to be able to hear customers. Ugh, AT&T can be a nightmare to deal with. I'm actually really tempted to switch to Verizon, Sprint, or T-mobile right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on my 4th Fuze as well. How did you get them to even send you the Tilt 2? They just kept on saying it's not available yet.

Just got the right CSR that put it through, and you have to be very nice to them. Just asked about comparable phones, he suggested it - it has to be their idea and recommendation. Still trying to get a battery from AT&T, they say they're out of stock, Warranty called a couple stores close by couldn't find one, but on the website it doesn't say they're out, but it's unlikely they'd send me a new one, heaven forbid. I've got three phones in my possession right now, my screwed up Fuze, a new in the box Pure and the Tilt 2. I'm worried they're going to screw up and bill me for all of them full price, even though they have assured me that won't happen. When I worked in collections years ago for them, saw that happen all the time, even when the phones were sent back in time, it was always a pain to sort out.

Being a ex at&t store manager let me tell you how the XBM (exchange by mail) process works.... If you have a defective device that is within its warrant period which is 1 year from the date that you started your contract at&t will switch it out at no cost to you. The phone cannot be water damanged, or physically damanged (there pretty strict about this). I have had customer who there definition of physical damange was different from what at&t thought and they ended up getting charged full price for the phone. so be very careful. They don't usually take anything that has been dropped or have deep scratches. Basically has to look ok where they can sell it again as a refurb or something. Secondly the only way they will send you out a different device is if you had to same problem with your current one. Its call the 3 strike policy. You can't just ask them for a new one you kinda have to play it off like you can't stand the fact that you keep getting messed of phone of that model. Lastly they will give you options to pick from whatever they have in stock that is the best match for what you have. At times they might not have anything and have no choice but to upgrade you to a newer one. I seen it happen a lot where they just upgrade you to a new device. When the 8300 curve came out a lot of ppl i know was calling in lying to say it was messed up just to get the gps verison 8310 which came out 4 months later. I would't advise anyone to do this unless it is a real problem with the phone. They keep records of every return that you do and can terminate your service if they feel like your trying to cheat them. The tilt two is a great phone tho hard to choose. There's some third party website that i might can direct you too if you want a tilt for a good price but you have to be able to upgrade and sign a two year contract. I got mines for free and just had to sign a contract that's it. And it at&t prorating terminations fees it wasn't big deal for me. thanks

and if i have insurance on the account, i pay $5 monthly, does they still have the fuze on stock.

Chances are that they have plenty of refurbished Fuzes in stock. It's not wise to try to scam the system just to get a new phone to have a new phone. It just makes it harder for people with legit reasons to get theirs replaced.

If you want to do a insurance claim instead of a warrant exchange they are two different things. The insurance is handled by a third party called asurion or something like that. Where warranty exchange is done by at&t themselves. If you decide to go with the insurance claim you will have to pay a $125 insurance deductible which is non-refundable. If you want to do the XBM then you wont have to pay anything as long as your phone is not water or physically damanged. If it is like stated above you WILL be charge full price for the phone they will read you a agreement of the terms and condition before they send out your phone. For both of the process above you have to send back your original device unless for the insurance its lost/stolen. Even if you have insurance and your phone is messed up you still would have to pay the $125.

and yes they more then likely have a lot of fuze in stock still. It would take at least a month or so before they will be getting the tilt 2. They will have some in stock but it would be for ppl with the tilt 2. At&t also has a policy where if its under 30 days you have to take it back to where you got it from before they will exchange it thru the mail. So it would be at least 20 days or so of the release date of the tilt 2 before at&t worries about exchanging that out for ppl with the tilt 2.

cant sweet talk em? "hey baby, lookin mighteh fine... fine as wine *wink*"

At&T Warranty Exchange Unfair
la0xboix7o4 said:
Being a ex at&t store manager let me tell you how the XBM (exchange by mail) process works.... If you have a defective device that is within its warrant period which is 1 year from the date that you started your contract at&t will switch it out at no cost to you. The phone cannot be water damanged, or physically damanged (there pretty strict about this). I have had customer who there definition of physical damange was different from what at&t thought and they ended up getting charged full price for the phone. so be very careful. They don't usually take anything that has been dropped or have deep scratches. Basically has to look ok where they can sell it again as a refurb or something. Secondly the only way they will send you out a different device is if you had to same problem with your current one. Its call the 3 strike policy. You can't just ask them for a new one you kinda have to play it off like you can't stand the fact that you keep getting messed of phone of that model. Lastly they will give you options to pick from whatever they have in stock that is the best match for what you have. At times they might not have anything and have no choice but to upgrade you to a newer one. I seen it happen a lot where they just upgrade you to a new device. When the 8300 curve came out a lot of ppl i know was calling in lying to say it was messed up just to get the gps verison 8310 which came out 4 months later. I would't advise anyone to do this unless it is a real problem with the phone. They keep records of every return that you do and can terminate your service if they feel like your trying to cheat them. The tilt two is a great phone tho hard to choose. There's some third party website that i might can direct you too if you want a tilt for a good price but you have to be able to upgrade and sign a two year contract. I got mines for free and just had to sign a contract that's it. And it at&t prorating terminations fees it wasn't big deal for me. thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My husband’s Motorola Tundra was in his pocket. The phone started to burn him while it was in his pocket. There were no incoming calls. He immediately removed his phone and set it down for about thirty minutes. He tried to power the phone up but to no avail. I called AT&T to exchange the phone since it was only about eight months old.
I was told by the Warranty Exchange department that if there were any liquid damage the warranty would be void. Upon looking at the litmus indicator I noticed there were pink speckles. I did not want to pay for a phone that was obviously defective and not abused by my husband.
Therefore, I called AT&T again and explained again that the Tundra was not exposed to water. The representative told me that nothing could be done by AT&T until my next billing cycle when the new phone would be charged to my account. I was told not to worry and go ahead and send the phone in and a Commitment Call would be made to clear up the situation on the next billing cycle if AT&T did not hear from me.
I did receive the new Tundra and returned the damaged phone. The damaged phone was returned to me indicating that the liquid damage indicator was removed. I DID NOT REMOVE THE INDICATOR! I was charged $210.
In the meantime, I called Motorola. The Motorola technician told me that the litmus paper could have been activated by a leaky battery.
I telephoned AT&T today and the $210 was reduced by half. I spoke with three levels of representatives indicating that I did not feel paying anything was acceptable by me based on the principle of this matter. Our original Motorola Tundra was only eight months old and obviously defective. I feel that AT&T is basically accusing me of being dishonest because the liquid damage indicator had pink speckles. What other alternative did I have but to send the phone in since we use it in our business. I accepted the reduction for the cost of the new Tundra with hesitation. It is not so much the money but the principle of this issue. I am a very dissatisfied customer.

They're horrible about running over people. I never understood their reasoning... I would see people get full out replacements for nothing, when they hardly ever paid their bill and had like ten charged off accounts, then on the other hand, you would have customers that had been with them ten years through the various names and such, always paid on time, they wouldn't do anything for them. Dollar is number one for AT&T, as with any company, but their practices are kind of screwy, you are at the mercy of whomever you speak to. I got lucky I got a noob. He wasn't burned out yet and I was very patient and nice to him, he genuinely wanted to help. If you get someone that's been there for years, they've been long hardened and are difficult to deal with - they just want to meet their stats and get their shift over with. Call center location can also have something to do with it, people are different in different areas. I would have customers call up, ask which call center I was located and hang up if it wasn't the one they wanted. Then again, I would have people ask which call center I was located at wanting to kill me, too... Anyway... The people don't generally don't care what's right, it depends on how you deal with them, you have to kill them with kindness, you're at their mercy, not really AT&T's. I would still fight for that full credit, too, but kill them with kindness. Customer care can credit more than collections can, and are more apt to hand it out. If you have to go through Warranty for it, that one's generally alot harder, they tend to be a pain in the arse.
I got Warranty to credit me $50 bucks today for a battery which I had to order through the site and they reimbursed me since they couldn't obtain one for me. One day soon hopefully I'll be using my Tilt 2, it sure is a purty paper weight right now.

I'm actually waiting for the Tilt 2.
I'm on the 4th FUZE, and the last time I spoke to them. They said the next time I run into an issue, they should be able to swap out the FUZE for another phone.
I'm still having the same issue with the 4th Fuze, tons of dropped calls.
I'm holding off calling because I really want the Tilt 2. From what I have been told by people on this forum, and the people at AT&T usually the excahnge group gets refurb phones in about 30 days after the release date.
Now the confusing part is... would the release date be the 8th, when the phone hit the Premiere site, or the 18th when it hit the retail channels.
I'm waiting patiently...

Well if i was at&t i wouldn't have to worry about any XBM until 20 days after the release date. I would go by the 8th one b/c if ppl who had there tilt 2 for more then 30 days and have a warranty issue with them at&t would have to switch them out since it is past the 30 day period and under the 1 yr warranty. I would wait a lil longer to be on the safe side unelss your happy with gettin another fuze.

la0xboix7o4 said:
Well if i was at&t i wouldn't have to worry about any XBM until 20 days after the release date. I would go by the 8th one b/c if ppl who had there tilt 2 for more then 30 days and have a warranty issue with them at&t would have to switch them out since it is past the 30 day period and under the 1 yr warranty. I would wait a lil longer to be on the safe side unelss your happy with gettin another fuze.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm FUZE'd out.
Maybe i'll call the 10th and see if they have any TILT2 in stock.

I have had six (6) warranty exchange Fuzes over the last four months. This was for a legit warranty claim.
During my call last week the CSR suggested I get a Tilt2 instead of another Fuze.....then the CSR found out that the Tilt2 was not in stock. The CSR had no idea when the Tilt2 would be in stock and suggested calling each week on Wednesday.....why wednesday?
Anyway, A brand new Pure appeared at my door step today......I called ATT about the appearance of a new phone. Apparently, the CSR sent me the Pure as a replacement device.
I don't want this device and will be returning it for a Tilt2, when they have it in stock.

Molal said:
I have had six (6) warranty exchange Fuzes over the last four months. This was for a legit warranty claim.
During my call last week the CSR suggested I get a Tilt2 instead of another Fuze.....then the CSR found out that the Tilt2 was not in stock. The CSR had no idea when the Tilt2 would be in stock and suggested calling each week on Wednesday.....why wednesday?
Anyway, A brand new Pure appeared at my door step today......I called ATT about the appearance of a new phone. Apparently, the CSR sent me the Pure as a replacement device.
I don't want this device and will be returning it for a Tilt2, when they have it in stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you called today (wednesday)?

g2tl said:
Have you called today (wednesday)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your phone that you want is not in stock they will send you whatever that is close to it.

Horrible Customer Service Experience Tmobile

I want to put as much emphasize on this story as possible because I really want some useful advice. 2 days ago my phone was stolen. Since then I have been trying to get a phone because I run a business and by now 3 days I have lost half a grand easily.
Last month I switched my phone from a 2 year contract to a prepaid month to month plan. At this point tmobile does not offer insurance on the phone any longer. This is important because after paying $140 per month for this phone with insurance, the month I switch to the $50 per month plan it is stolen and tmobile says, "o well".
I said can I buy a new phone? They said no because you still owe us money for switching the phone to prepaid and $150 on the actual phone itself. I did not pay the money to switch because the previous month I had the money the lady on the phone said she would take care of it which I thought meant since I never actually left the company they werent charging me to change plans...not the case after all, but do not find out until my phone is stolen.
I had an HTC Amaze for the record. So I went home and called tmobile. I was on the phone about 25 min before the connection became so bad I asked for them to call me back. They got the phone number and then never called. I had been transferred 7 times by this point. I called back and explained I was very frustrated. They transferred me to a specialist. This lady had me on hold about 20 min. Finally she said we resolved the $200 fee but you still have to pay the $150 on the phone. I paid the $150 and she asked me if I want to buy the new phone now? I said no because I wanted the phone immediately so I would go into the store to buy it.
I got to the store and they said I still owed $200. Even if the $200 fee was resolved he told me I cannot get the discount on the phone I wanted and that I have to pay the full price of $600 because they do not give a discount on their phones more than 1x per 2 year contract! Even on a new line. So I was going to buy a cheap phone and he said he could keep my old number and use this cheap phone until I could buy the phone I wanted later. I told him the Staples accross the street sold phones if I could ask them if they sold me a phone for cheaper they could activate it. He said it would probably only take me 30 sec to go check and to see.
I got back to the tmobile store in about 2 min and he had gone on his lunch break. I waited about another 20 min before another associate helped me who did not have the same deal with a cheap phone he told me about. In stead of $160 total for everything he wanted to charge me $200 for everything. I was there for 2 hours and by this point I am extremely upset and I want to leave tmobile.
This is not my first bad experience with tmobile. I have been unhappy since I joined. There is no complaint department. You have to write out a letter and mail it in. I left out some details of why I am so upset because the bottom line of the story is I am just completely unhappy with tmobile. They treat you like you are nothing without them, and will be fine without your business. This may be true but I have been paying almost $150 per month for almost 9 months and now they want me to pay $200 when I am not even leaving their company, then my $600 phone which is fully paid off is stolen they not only do not help me, but they are rude and go on lunch after he told me to go ahead and check which would only take a matter of seconds. I ran to the store and back and he was on a 30 minute lunch, I am just unhappy with the whole company. I will not even go into details of when I was having trouble with the phone during the previous 9 months.
What I want to know is how do I leave a phone company without paying their fee. Its not right, I am leaving because their service is so unsatisfactory in my area, and now I need help they not only do not help but want to charge me full price to get my line back. If I switch to another company can I still keep my same number? I need the same number for my business and I would much rather not stay with this company. Could anyone recommend any links with information, or which service providers you prefer? Thanks.

I love T-Mobile

So last week was not good for me, I damaged my spen. My bad luck didn't end there. 3 days ago I spilt water which water on it and as a result was water damaged. So I am going through all my options, I didn't get insurance (it wasn't offered, I probably would have declined anyways) I was contemplating buying another one through eBay using PayPal credit. I was contemplating sending it in to Samsung for out of warranty repair. I then thought to call T-Mobile. I was honest that my phone is water damaged and know that it voids warranty. They put me on hold, spoke with supervisor. They added insurance and ordered another phone. I am still responsible for $250 which will be on my next bill. I get to keep the damaged phone ( I asked) so what that means Is that I get to sell the phone and pay off the deposit T-Mobile is asking for.
I have been with T-Mobile for 3 years and bought many phones through them. Doing what they did makes me feel appreciated as a customer. Life happens, but it's nice when stuff like this happens.
Life is good

Great experience man!

I've been with T-MO 13, maybe 14 years, and there's a reason. Always been treated more than fair and sometimes a little too good. Glad to hear they're keeping it up.

Have to agree. Over the last 9 years it's been a fantastic experience, great pricing, and "above & beyond" customer service. I don't ever see myself leaving T-Mo unless some crappy merger ruins it all.

Me too 14+ years.

You may be able to keep the old phone, but it will more than likely have the IMEI blacklisted. Standard procedure for insurance replacements. If that's the case, you can sell it over at Swappa Boneyard for a quick buck.

md1008 said:
So last week was not good for me, I damaged my spen. My bad luck didn't end there. 3 days ago I spilt water which water on it and as a result was water damaged. So I am going through all my options, I didn't get insurance (it wasn't offered, I probably would have declined anyways) I was contemplating buying another one through eBay using PayPal credit. I was contemplating sending it in to Samsung for out of warranty repair. I then thought to call T-Mobile. I was honest that my phone is water damaged and know that it voids warranty. They put me on hold, spoke with supervisor. They added insurance and ordered another phone. I am still responsible for $250 which will be on my next bill. I get to keep the damaged phone ( I asked) so what that means Is that I get to sell the phone and pay off the deposit T-Mobile is asking for.
I have been with T-Mobile for 3 years and bought many phones through them. Doing what they did makes me feel appreciated as a customer. Life happens, but it's nice when stuff like this happens.
Life is good
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So... You can add insurance within 14 days of a new phone purchase. You are clearly within that timeframe from the note 5 release. No device verification is required as you can do it over the phone. Im not surprised at all as assurion absorbs the cost, not tmobile. Good for you though. Glad you didn't end up eating that 700 comedy of errors.
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

No one has had a better experience than me.. so last year i was going through a tough time. Lost my job and i just got my phone syolen.. t-mobile offered to get me a new and bill to account.. i got the note 4 diwn payment was 380 i believe once my bill came i still had no job i calked and explain the situation.. they said pay aleast 50$ so we can keep your service avtive till next bill. So now i have 380 plus tax plus another 13 for first month than my normal bill. I was up over 500 for my next bill. I told them tbh idk if i can afford it. Maybe ill mail yhe phone back... long story short. My next month bill was only 80$ i check online ant it said i only owed 300$ for the note 4.. so i dint have to pay the down payment. that's why i would never leave tmbile
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

I haven't had any crazy experiences like you guys. I just love the whole uncarrier movement. They really are doing an excellent job putting the customer first while not sacrificing their bottom line entirely.
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

I think they also gave you the replacement of your Note 5 cause it's been out for less than a month, so they would have only made 8 dollars off of you if you did get the insurance. They lose out on 8 bucks for the first month, but now you'll have a new phone, an insurance plan for the remainder of the time you have that phone, and they have a happy customer.
They wouldn't risk losing a monthly paying customer over 8 dollars. Nice story, I unfortunately don't have one yet, just came to read.

I could always cancel insurance but I am probably not going to at least not for a little while.
I was wondering will the old note Imei be blocked? Technically T-Mobile isn't doing insurance claim, they are ordering me a brand new note and giving me 450 credit leaving me responsible for $250.

md1008 said:
I could always cancel insurance but I am probably not going to at least not for a little while.
I was wondering will the old note Imei be blocked? Technically T-Mobile isn't doing insurance claim, they are ordering me a brand new note and giving me 450 credit leaving me responsible for $250.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yess it agould be blocked.
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

Tmobile has been very good to me, never hesitating to credit my account for things. My Z1s was stolen after I got my Z3, before I could ship it back to Tmobile. I couldn't afford to spend the money to have the insurance replace it, I wound up having to pay for it. I got to a point where I could afford the insurance, but I was out of the 90 day window. Still had like 250 due on it, and they credited my account to make up the difference between the insurance replacement and the balance due. Was amazing.

i work for t-mobile and ill be honest. if you have to send the damaged phone back then they kinda ripped you off and ill tell you why.
you most likely are on JUMP! On Demand which is a lease program so "technically" the phone isnt yours yet. The device hasnt been out for 14 days yet and as someone earlier stated you have the option to add insurance within 14 days of purchasing the device. Insurance is $8 a month. On the Jump On Demand program you can upgrade the device 3x per 12 month period. If you go to do an upgrade you have to trade in your current device and switch it out. But if there is any damage they charge you 250 but still let you upgrade. With insurance they only charge you 175 and you just send them the damaged phone back after they send you the replacement. But your supposedly not suppose to be able to upgrade to the same device. So i honestly dont know lol. Either way you could have just added the device protection and just paid the company 175 and had a phone sent to you in 24 hours.

bradbutter said:
i work for t-mobile and ill be honest. if you have to send the damaged phone back then they kinda ripped you off and ill tell you why.
you most likely are on JUMP! On Demand which is a lease program so "technically" the phone isnt yours yet. The device hasnt been out for 14 days yet and as someone earlier stated you have the option to add insurance within 14 days of purchasing the device. Insurance is $8 a month. On the Jump On Demand program you can upgrade the device 3x per 12 month period. If you go to do an upgrade you have to trade in your current device and switch it out. But if there is any damage they charge you 250 but still let you upgrade. With insurance they only charge you 175 and you just send them the damaged phone back after they send you the replacement. But your supposedly not suppose to be able to upgrade to the same device. So i honestly dont know lol. Either way you could have just added the device protection and just paid the company 175 and had a phone sent to you in 24 hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a question for you, I just got the Note 5 and I told the sales guy I wanted to go from jump to jump on demand but I'm not sure if he actually switched me. Is there some where on MyTmobile that will tell me if I have jump on demand or do I need to go in to a store or call? Thanks!

bradbutter said:
i work for t-mobile and ill be honest. if you have to send the damaged phone back then they kinda ripped you off and ill tell you why.
you most likely are on JUMP! On Demand which is a lease program so "technically" the phone isnt yours yet. The device hasnt been out for 14 days yet and as someone earlier stated you have the option to add insurance within 14 days of purchasing the device. Insurance is $8 a month. On the Jump On Demand program you can upgrade the device 3x per 12 month period. If you go to do an upgrade you have to trade in your current device and switch it out. But if there is any damage they charge you 250 but still let you upgrade. With insurance they only charge you 175 and you just send them the damaged phone back after they send you the replacement. But your supposedly not suppose to be able to upgrade to the same device. So i honestly dont know lol. Either way you could have just added the device protection and just paid the company 175 and had a phone sent to you in 24 hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was told I could not make a claim although I am sure Asurian would be none the wiser. I am happy with the outcome. Even if it was $50 extra. Plus I still get to keep the old phone which should take care of the money I owe anyways.
I am thinking of sending it in to Samsung and see what they quote me for. If they want $300 and they send me back a brand new phone I can flip it for double.

And I am expecting my phone tomorrow. They ordered next day delivery via UPS. Either way I am happy

md1008 said:
I was told I could not make a claim although I am sure Asurian would be none the wiser. I am happy with the outcome. Even if it was $50 extra. Plus I still get to keep the old phone which should take care of the money I owe anyways.
I am thinking of sending it in to Samsung and see what they quote me for. If they want $300 and they send me back a brand new phone I can flip it for double.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that sounds cool then if you dont have to send the phone back. that means you still would have all 3 upgrades and a new device for 250 which isnt bad at all ... good job lol
shanda5303 said:
I have a question for you, I just got the Note 5 and I told the sales guy I wanted to go from jump to jump on demand but I'm not sure if he actually switched me. Is there some where on MyTmobile that will tell me if I have jump on demand or do I need to go in to a store or call? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should be able to call customer care but from everyday experience they usually dont know what they are talking about unless theyve been around for a while. They read scripts and guidelines where as a sales rep in store deals with everyday problems first hand. but to switch from jump to JOD you have to just basically start your payment plan over. you cant just switch it or jump into JOD.
i.e., if you had a note 4 and owed 500 on it. and wanted to get the note 5 on JOD , you would have to pay off the entire 500 and just keep your note 4 on your account monthly and be paying for 2 phones. Or you can trade in your note 4 and lets say they give u 300 for it . you would stil be responsible for 200 of the note 4 but you would be in the new JOD program where u can change the phone 3x in 12 months regardless of how much you owe, where as with JUMP you have to have the 10 insurance feature and pay half your phone everytime you want to upgrade

I'm on Team T-Mobile. First service providers that I'm pleased with.
* Coverage and data speed in my city is A-
* Jump 1.0
* 2 Unlimited Un-Throttled 4G LTE Plan for $100
* On a business account I call them for whatever, I've never waited more than 1 min to speak with an American customer service rep
* SIM Unlock on a brand new financed phone! SIM Unlocked my GS6 and Note 5 on Day 1

I'm glad to hear this. I work for a sprint dealer (worst carrier out of the 4, I'm well aware. Lol) and their customer service are a bunch of idiots (I only know because I have to talk to them for customers all the time). Terrible experience most of the time with their care. AT&T has always had great customer service but I don't do phone payments on devices I can't use how I want to use them. (Locked bootloaders). Just switched to tmobile this month. The service has already been great. Hopeful that it stays that way. Thanks for sharing your story. And try not to damage your phone again. Lol maybe just keep the insurance this time around.
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

Insurance of choice?

Looking at the insurance options it seems to be between ATT, Samsung, and SquareTrade. For those who have insurace what did you pick and why?
from what I can see:
ATT:
Pros: Low Monthly ($8.99), Covers loss and theft, I believe you, I believe you are certain to get your original color?
Cons: Initial high deductible until it slides, not covered under the $89 screen repair
For ATT is it as simple as walking into a store, filing a claim, and walking out with a new one?
Samsung:
Pros: $99 deductible always, Someone comes to your house either same or next day I believe
Cons: High monthly payments ($11.99), Does not cover loss and theft, No guarantee of phone color
SquareTrade:
Pros: Low Monthly payments (I read someone said it was $7), Also read it was a low deductible like $70
Cons: Does not cover loss and theft. Too good to be true? Slow claims? I really dont know anything about this company so if someone has had experience with them it'd be helpful to know!

Guitarboarder28 said:
Looking at the insurance options it seems to be between ATT, Samsung, and SquareTrade. For those who have insurace what did you pick and why?
from what I can see:
ATT:
Pros: Low Monthly ($8.99), Covers loss and theft, I believe you, I believe you are certain to get your original color?
Cons: Initial high deductible until it slides, not covered under the $89 screen repair
For ATT is it as simple as walking into a store, filing a claim, and walking out with a new one?
Samsung:
Pros: $99 deductible always, Someone comes to your house either same or next day I believe
Cons: High monthly payments ($11.99), Does not cover loss and theft, No guarantee of phone color
SquareTrade:
Pros: Low Monthly payments (I read someone said it was $7), Also read it was a low deductible like $70
Cons: Does not cover loss and theft. Too good to be true? Slow claims? I really dont know anything about this company so if someone has had experience with them it'd be helpful to know!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just my two cents and I never used the protection plan before, just had a few phones break during the warranty period. Looks like at&t closed their device service centers, so everything is done by phone and shipped to you. I've had appointments on evenings and sundays to replace dead phones that was nice. Here's a something I put together if I decide to. at&t has extended their enrollment for the protection plans until the end of June if you missed out.
I need to update my signature too, M9 was about die....

Silverexp said:
Just my two cents and I never used the protection plan before, just had a few phones break during the warranty period. Looks like at&t closed their device service centers, so everything is done by phone and shipped to you. I've had appointments on evenings and sundays to replace dead phones that was nice. Here's a something I put together if I decide to. at&t has extended their enrollment for the protection plans until the end of June if you missed out.
I need to update my signature too, M9 was about die....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea I ended up going with att. thats a good speadsheet though. thanks for the share!

I have used Square Trade for many years for all my family phones, laptops/PC's, even a Keurig machine. Have had to claim a couple of times and they are very reasonable & super fast. One family member's iPhone screen cracked, initiated a claim, took it to local Genius Bar (isn't that name just a hoot), and uploaded PDF copy of the receipt, had full reimbursement from Square Trade into my PayPal account in less than 24 hours. No problems using this service at all. If device can't be fixed, or if repair facility wants to replace rather than repair, Square Trade reimburses the full cost. Just have to look at which service level and desired deductible you want.
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA Premium HD app

Subscribed. I'd love to hear more on this.
I have always purchased AppleCare+, Samsung Protection Plus or On-Guard by Assurant ect for my devices. I have enjoyed paying a one time fee and having coverage for 2 years and not being gouged with a reoccurring monthly fee. I've never had to make a claim but I feel great comfort in knowing I am covered.
I've never had carrier insurance such as AT&T's, mostly because I usually have several devices at any given time and swap my SIM often, and was told once ( most likely erroneously ) that once I swap my SIM into another phone the insurance is no longer valid for the original device.
Looking at what AT&T's insurance offers it seems outrageously expensive. I can't imagine anybody is actually paying for that. $229 deductible?!? Thats batshlt crazy!
I paid $129 for AppleCare+ for my iPhone 7 Plus. Deductible is only $29 for screen replacement and $99 for the entire device. Those are incredibly reasonable prices. My Note 5 was $129 with a $99 deductible.
When I purchased my Galaxy s8+ in store the AT&T sales associate was pushing the insurance really hard. I declined several times always planning on buying Samsung Protection Plus. I was pretty upset when I got home and saw that Samsung Protection Plus is not offered for the s8 and s8+. Instead we get Samsung Premium Care for $11.99 a month with no option to pay for the full 2 years. That means you are paying $306.03 I'm really not too happy about that.
I have several SuareTrade warranties. Have only had to make a claim once, on a 60" Plasma TV. They were super fast about accessing the situation remotely and ended up replacing it with a brand new, much nicer full array LED. I have to say I was pretty happy with how SquareTrade handled it. Maybe I'll give then a shot at my s8+. I'd rather do that than pay $306.03 to Samsung or a ridiculous $229 deductible with AT&T