Vent. What is the point of having insurance on your cell phone?

[DisneyFansInLINY]

My cell phone broke on Friday. And the insurance company wants to charge me $199.99 as my so-called deductible for a refurbished phone. They do not have my phone, the Samsung Galaxy S3 and have to give me the Samsung Galazy S4. And I have to pay $200 for it and it's not even brand new!

Not to mention the hassle they put me through to file the damn claim. First I went to the AT&T store. They told me I had insurance on my phone and to go to the Asurion website and/or call their number. It was the weekend so I went online to fill out their form that claims it only takes 10 minutes. Well halfway through the application, I was notified that I had to call them. But since it was 8pm on Saturday, I had to wait until Monday.

So yesterday I called them and gave them a bunch of information only to be told that I had to fill out papers and fax them along with a copy of my photo id, a picture of the back of my phone and a copy of my bill. I fax them everything and receive an email that they received my paperwork.

Then I get an email this morning to finish my claim online. So I go to finish it and again receive a message to call them. I call them and am transferred to Verizon not AT&T. I inform the rep who transfers me to AT&T and then I get hung up on. I repeat this and again am transferred to Verizon and then am transferred to AT&T and hung up on.

So then I call Asurion for AT&T direct and finally speak to someone who informs me that I owe $199.99! I am completely annoyed by now and speak to a supervisor who does nothing to ease my frustrations. So I tell him to transfer me to AT&T to cancel my account. I then hang up and call my husband when I realize that he will probably kill me if I cancel his phone without telling him lol. So now I am without a phone since last Friday and we leave for Disney on Friday.

 

[pryncess527]

That sucks!

You might try contacting your homeowners or renters insurance -- I recently discovered our iPhones are covered as computers under our homeowners insurance policy. Of course, the deductible may be high enough that it's not worth filing a claim on that policy, but might be worth looking into.

 

[burnurcomputer]

Go buy a pay as you go phone with data from a place like Walmart. Either that or put your SIM card in a cheaper phone until they can give you a galaxy 3

 

[kymom99]

I have never taken the insurance. in fact, the last 3 phones I bought, Verizon added the insurance without asking me. I promptly cancelled it. If any of us is unlucky or careless enough to damage our phones, we will activate one of the many old "dumb" phones we have in a drawer. I dropped my brand new phone in the pool a couple years ago and I used an old one until i was eligible for a new one. That's just how we roll around here.

 

[wiigirl]

That sucks!

 

[kydisneyfans]

Same thing happened to us through Verizon.

Went to claim insurance on a cracked Iphone and found the deductible to be higher than out of pocket cost at the Apple store.

We promptly dropped the insurance.

 

[GagesMama]

The insurance offered by the phone companies aren't "worth it" to me. We bought our last 2 phones (each - me and my husband) from Best Buy on our at&t account. We purchased Best Buy's insurance. $10/mon, phone replaced/fixed, no questions asked, no deductible. This is the best deal we've found. My husband is very rough on phones and has his replaced pretty much once every 2 months. I hardly ever need anything fixed, but I still don't mind paying the $10/mon just in case.
If you have an upgrade available on your phone plan, go to Best Buy. See what offers they have. I paid $1 for my Galaxy S3 with my upgrade then took on the Best Buy insurance. Definitely better than paying $200 for a used phone and still having pretty pointless insurance.

 

[pigletto]

We got the insurance on our phones when we started our 3 year contract. Yep 3 years. When my phone stopped working at 2 years and 9.5 months, it was going to cost me as much to replace my now almost 3 year old model as it was to get a new contract and an all new phone. Lesson learned. I ended up getting an Otterbox. A little pricey for a case, but it will protect my phone from being dropped (and already has).

I agree OP, they are are a total waste of money.

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

That sucks! You might try contacting your homeowners or renters insurance -- I recently discovered our iPhones are covered as computers under our homeowners insurance policy. Of course, the deductible may be high enough that it's not worth filing a claim on that policy, but might be worth looking into.

I don't think we have either. We don't own a home and we live with my in-laws. But thank you for the suggestion.

Go buy a pay as you go phone with data from a place like Walmart. Either that or put your SIM card in a cheaper phone until they can give you a galaxy 3

Hmmm I will have to look into this. My husband is contacting AT&T to see what he can work out. We are unhappy with our cell phone service as it is. And this is the last straw.

I have never taken the insurance. in fact, the last 3 phones I bought, Verizon added the insurance without asking me. I promptly cancelled it. If any of us is unlucky or careless enough to damage our phones, we will activate one of the many old "dumb" phones we have in a drawer. I dropped my brand new phone in the pool a couple years ago and I used an old one until i was eligible for a new one. That's just how we roll around here.

I wish I had an old phone that wasn't broken. But with 2 little kids, phones get smashed lol

That sucks!

Yep. And my son and I have colds and my daughter has strep throat. My husband and I leave Friday a weekend of F&W. The kids are staying with my in-laws. Hopefully by Friday we will be well and I will have a phone. As I feel bad leaving them as it is. And now without a phone, it just makes me feel even worse.

Same thing happened to us through Verizon.

Went to claim insurance on a cracked Iphone and found the deductible to be higher than out of pocket cost at the Apple store.

We promptly dropped the insurance.

Yep. It is all just a big ripoff. I didn't even know I had insurance to begin with. I went to the AT&T store and they told me I had it and to file a claim. I guess I am naive because I thought it wouldn't be anymore than $50.

The insurance offered by the phone companies aren't "worth it" to me. We bought our last 2 phones (each - me and my husband) from Best Buy on our at&t account. We purchased Best Buy's insurance. $10/mon, phone replaced/fixed, no questions asked, no deductible. This is the best deal we've found. My husband is very rough on phones and has his replaced pretty much once every 2 months. I hardly ever need anything fixed, but I still don't mind paying the $10/mon just in case.
If you have an upgrade available on your phone plan, go to Best Buy. See what offers they have. I paid $1 for my Galaxy S3 with my upgrade then took on the Best Buy insurance. Definitely better than paying $200 for a used phone and still having pretty pointless insurance.

Oh wow! That is great to know! Unfortunately, I am not eligible for an upgrade until spring of 2014

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

We got the insurance on our phones when we started our 3 year contract. Yep 3 years. When my phone stopped working at 2 years and 9.5 months, it was going to cost me as much to replace my now almost 3 year old model as it was to get a new contract and an all new phone. Lesson learned. I ended up getting an Otterbox. A little pricey for a case, but it will protect my phone from being dropped (and already has).

I agree OP, they are are a total waste of money.

A definite lesson learned. I kept looking at the prices of a case and decided I was fine without one. But now I know. 2 year olds and smartphones without cases do not mix lol

 

[GagesMama]

You can still check with your carrier (or the Best Buy guy). Some companies offer a percentage off if you're close to an upgrade but not there yet. It's a really crappy situation, but you do have options for the future.

 

[njmom47]

My dd called AT&T when she found out about the Iphone 5 and was told that we could do upgrades online in less time than usual. Honestly, we go to the store and they've done upgrades at 18 months (once even at 16 months). She said they charge it to your account (monthly bill) and it comes in the mail. Don't know if that's true. We don't have insurance on our phones either. Seriously, by the time you pay $5 a month for 24 months, times 3 (for the kids smartphones) it's quite ridiculous. We also have purchased the 99cent phones the last couple of times.
Good luck. I really have not had any issues with AT&T.

 

[DianeV]

You should look into SquareTrade. We had no problems with a claim we filed

 

[Colleen27]

I was fortunate to run across an honest salesperson when I had a contract phone... He explained that the insurance would be useless in my case because the deductible was higher than the retail cost of my phone. Sure enough, in the fine print that's been true of every phone I've had since too... Unless you have a highest-end phone like an iPhone and break it before your upgrade period comes along it isn't going to do any good, but most places have no problem selling you $200 deductible insurance for your $50 flip phone.

If I felt I needed insurance on my phone I'd get it at Best Buy and purchase their protection rather than what is offered by the carrier. We've had nothing but good experiences with them (including two protection-plan replacements on a portable gaming system) and they offer a no-deductible, any-reason replacement insurance.

 

[Green Tea]

How old is the phone? If its fairly new, call the credit card company you used to buy it.

Reason I know to do this? DD broke her new cell phone and the credit card company paid to replace it.

 

[DisneyFansInLINY]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions and advice. My husband spoke to AT&T and negotiated with them. They are giving us a $150 towards the phone.

Then he spoke to Asurion and told them it wasn't fair that they were charging $200 for a refurbished phone that isn't even the model of the phone I originally had. So the customer representative agreed that the situation was unique and is sending me out a brand new S4! Total cost= $50! Yay!

But I still do not like the insurance getting $200! And so next time I am taking a pp's advice and going through Best Buy.

 

[jrmasm]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions and advice. My husband spoke to AT&T and negotiated with them. They are giving us a $150 towards the phone. Then he spoke to Asurion and told them it wasn't fair that they were charging $200 for a refurbished phone that isn't even the model of the phone I originally had. So the customer representative agreed that the situation was unique and is sending me out a brand new S4! Total cost= $50! Yay! But I still do not like the insurance getting $200! And so next time I am taking a pp's advice and going through Best Buy.

Double check but I'm pretty sure Best Buy has changed their insurance policy for smartphones. I believe it now has a salty deductible and a limit to the number of phones you can have replaced.

 

[ORDisneyfans]

Glad it worked out for you. We are fairly new to AT T and not sure we will upgrade with them again. Cellular store warranties are worthless! However, I have used square trade on laptops with no problems and would not hesitate to buy a phone warranty from them.

On a side note, my DH recently broke his Iphone speaker and I called filed a claim with American Express and they credited my account within 24 hours for the purchase price of his phone! No paperwork or proof needed. They extend the manufacturers warranty by double or up to an additional year. Many credit card companies offer this and most people do not even realize it.

 

[tikilyn]

Another thing to think about best buy insurance is if you pay for the insurance up front you will get a discount on it. We paid 169.00 for the two years instead of the 10 a month (240.00). It's quite a savings. My sons iphone insurance through best buy was more expensive but I don't remember what we paid.

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

My daughter dropped her brand new smart phone last fall. We called Asurion, I paid the $99 deductible and she had her new phone the next day.

Not a hassle at all.. And $99 was cheaper than buying a new phone.