Develop Bugs

Total Equipment Protection

I have this on my phone plan. Do you think it's worth it to keep it? Also I've rooted my phone, will this matter?

It's a $500 phone, insurance will cost you $84/year your choice, I'm keeping it though.
Sent from my HTC EVO 4G.

Jeffaray said:
I have this on my phone plan. Do you think it's worth it to keep it? Also I've rooted my phone, will this matter?
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Depends entirely on if you will end up utilizing it. Genetally speaking it's a rip off. Do you know what the deductable is? It's a lot. For the average chance, burning cash.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I do not know the deductible. The insurance just carried over from my previous phone. If I ever break it and have to use the insurance to replace it, do you think it will matter that I rooted it? Because if it does, then obviously I'll cancel it
Sent from my EVOot using XDA App

If you break the phone and its replaced by the insurance company its $100. I don't think it really matters if its rooted or not if you get it replaced by the insurance. If you go to the sprint store for them to fix i think it would matter if its rooted.
Sent from my HTC Evo 4g using Tapatalk

Lemme put it to you like this:
New EVO: $500
Insurance (deposit and all that): $7 per month ($87 annually)
Insurance deductible: $100
So if you brick your phone, it's lost/stolen, smashed, what have you, after 12 months, it will cost you $187 to replace it. That's $313 less than retail.
Even if you replace your phone after two years, (and let's say the cost of the EVO drops from $500 to $400, and you don't want to renew your contract and thus get a new phone quite yet), it will still cost less ($274, therefore $126 less than retail).
And yes, you can get your phone replaced if you brick it. How? Just go to Sprint, tell them that you lost your phone or that it was stolen. Congrats, you now have a spare battery, charger, and Micro SD card!
Seriously, it's a good deal as far as I'm concerned, just talking numbers.

drmacinyasha said:
Lemme put it to you like this:
New EVO: $500
Insurance (deposit and all that): $7 per month ($87 annually)
Insurance deductible: $100
So if you brick your phone, it's lost/stolen, smashed, what have you, after 12 months, it will cost you $187 to replace it. That's $313 less than retail.
Even if you replace your phone after two years, (and let's say the cost of the EVO drops from $500 to $400, and you don't want to renew your contract and thus get a new phone quite yet), it will still cost less ($274, therefore $126 less than retail).
And yes, you can get your phone replaced if you brick it. How? Just go to Sprint, tell them that you lost your phone or that it was stolen. Congrats, you now have a spare battery, charger, and Micro SD card!
Seriously, it's a good deal as far as I'm concerned, just talking numbers.
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If you want to talk numbers, you must consider the odds of breaking the phone. Its not guaranteed that you will break the phone. If you have say 4 phones(family plan) and they all have insurance. Then Your family end up breaking one of the phones in this 2 year period. Total cost? 4 phones x 24 months x $7 tep charge + $100 deduct = $772. Cost of retail? $499 or so. In this scenario, insurance isn't worth it. If however, 2 of the 4 phones break, the cost is then $872...getting closer to that mark...
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Thanks for all the quick responses. You all have been a lot of help.

Jeffaray said:
Thanks for all the quick responses. You all have been a lot of help.
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It boils down to Sprint being able to take advantage of the aggregate combined with a general misunderstanding of statistics. For a given year, the question boils down to "do yoy have a greater than 25% chance of breaking your phone."
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

someone mentioned that they got their EVO added to their renters insurance.

Helped Out My Son
Well, my son dropped his EVO two weeks after getting it. The screen shattered and it was replaced for the $100 deductible. So, with three EVOs on our plan we just need another break/loss in the next couple of years to be in the money.
If I was a betting man, I would bet that my Offensive Lineman will sometime break his pone in the next two years, so for us it is helpful. It all depends (as stated earlier) on the statistics. Insurance is all about shared risk ... thanks for sharing his risk if you participate

I'm going to make this a story problem for my math students this Fall.

SilverZero said:
I'm going to make this a story problem for my math students this Fall.
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Haha, I like that.
I myself like having Sprint's insurance for the sole fact of if I ever do really damage my phone or drop it in water, etc. I can get a new one for the 100, and who doesn't like a bright new shiny phone. ... And lets say i just damage everything but the screen, i would remove my old scree to have as a backup. Or maybe even sell.

Don't forget they may give you a refurbished phone.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Also account for 'being able to sleep at night'. If having insurance makes you sleep easier at night, then go for it.

vbyt said:
If you want to talk numbers, you must consider the odds of breaking the phone. Its not guaranteed that you will break the phone. If you have say 4 phones(family plan) and they all have insurance. Then Your family end up breaking one of the phones in this 2 year period. Total cost? 4 phones x 24 months x $7 tep charge + $100 deduct = $772. Cost of retail? $499 or so. In this scenario, insurance isn't worth it. If however, 2 of the 4 phones break, the cost is then $872...getting closer to that mark...
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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For me, I'm the only person on my plan, and I work Facilities and Maintenance, meaning I'm constantly running around inside, around, and on top of a building, around heavy machinery, crawling through a plenum, and so on. The chance of me breaking or dropping my phone? Pretty high. And considering that it's not the best-paying job around, having insurance just seemed like the smartest move.

drmacinyasha said:
For me, I'm the only person on my plan, and I work Facilities and Maintenance, meaning I'm constantly running around inside, around, and on top of a building, around heavy machinery, crawling through a plenum, and so on. The chance of me breaking or dropping my phone? Pretty high. And considering that it's not the best-paying job around, having insurance just seemed like the smartest move.
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agreed, probably a good play on your part considering your situation, but you cannot say it is a good deal to someone else just because it is good for you. Everyone has to assess their own situation.

novanosis85 said:
Don't forget they may give you a refurbished phone.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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Pretty much guaranteed to get a refurb. Although those do tend to be just as good.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

ok so if we say we "lost" our phone and get a new one for $100 from insurance, will the "lost" one still be a functional phone to connect to wifi n stuff or do they remote auto kill it? If they do auto kill, is there anyway to prevent them from doing so?

ReallyShawn said:
Well, my son dropped his EVO two weeks after getting it. The screen shattered and it was replaced for the $100 deductible. So, with three EVOs on our plan we just need another break/loss in the next couple of years to be in the money.
If I was a betting man, I would bet that my Offensive Lineman will sometime break his pone in the next two years, so for us it is helpful. It all depends (as stated earlier) on the statistics. Insurance is all about shared risk ... thanks for sharing his risk if you participate
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You'll have lost money.
In your case:
7x3x24+200 = 704
This would appear to put you ahead, untill you realize that a refurb will be costing sub 300 in a year. Depreciation is a *****.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Found replacement phone

I recently found my Evo that I had lost several months ago and had replaced with Insurance from Sprint. It's been deactivated by Sprint and I want it reactivated by Sprint so I can give to my sister. Will they let me do that? Or will they only allow me to have one activated at a time for some stupid corporate-gain reason?

when you report a phone stolen or lost sprint blacklist the ESN preventing anyone from activating it again. This is in place to prevent insurance fraud and dissuade anyone from stealing your phone (more so the former).
I doubt sprint will activate your lost phone on a different account.
Won't hurt to call them and tell them you "found your lost phone" and see where it goes from there.

If you speak to a supervisor and just be totally honest and sincere about what happened, they have the discretion to remove the block...
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

I thought I read somewhere that Sprint only gives a bad esn if the phone was stolen, not lost.
However, I read it somewhere on xda, and you all know how rumours fly around here. It could also be something that was once true but has since changed.
Honestly, it seems like bad info to me, but it might be something worth looking in to.
If it's in good working order but does have a bad esn, you could sell it and at least get your deductible back.
(from... Evo/MIUI/Tapatalk)

jasonleb1 said:
I recently found my Evo that I had lost several months ago and had replaced with Insurance from Sprint. It's been deactivated by Sprint and I want it reactivated by Sprint so I can give to my sister. Will they let me do that? Or will they only allow me to have one activated at a time for some stupid corporate-gain reason?
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So what was the outcome? I'm curious as to what sprint did for you.

You should claim lost on your current phone so your brother can have it 2 months later when you do find it.
Once insurance is filed your claimed phone becomes the property of the insuring company. It no longer belongs to you.

whatsitsnamenow said:
You should claim lost on your current phone so your brother can have it 2 months later when you do find it.
Once insurance is filed your claimed phone becomes the property of the insuring company. It no longer belongs to you.
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You're an ass,you can't just jump to the conclusion that he's lying about losing it and finding. Once again You're an ass.

i want to say it will not work but from experience i would say you should give it a try.
my buddy owns a sprint store with his brother and when evo first came out one of them got. so the other one wanted a evo as well because it was his birthday so his older brother filed a missing claim and turned it off and used a replacement phone for about a month or 2 and when the new phone came in he gave his brother one evo and he kept the other.
he is still using the phone to this day.
its a hassle but it did work (for them atleast)

Evo4eva said:
You're an ass,you can't just jump to the conclusion that he's lying about losing it and finding. Once again You're an ass.
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I can jump to any conclusions I like. Plus where in my response did I said the op is lying. I am just giving him a scenario.

Joey_UFC said:
i want to say it will not work but from experience i would say you should give it a try.
my buddy owns a sprint store with his brother and when evo first came out one of them got. so the other one wanted a evo as well because it was his birthday so his older brother filed a missing claim and turned it off and used a replacement phone for about a month or 2 and when the new phone came in he gave his brother one evo and he kept the other.
he is still using the phone to this day.
its a hassle but it did work (for them atleast)
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Besides it being a hassle, now we all know that your buddy is totally cool with lying and fraud. Maybe if he had better ethics he'd do better business and be able to afford to just buy the things he wants legally. Just a thought.

SilverZero said:
Besides it being a hassle, now we all know that your buddy is totally cool with lying and fraud. Maybe if he had better ethics he'd do better business and be able to afford to just buy the things he wants legally. Just a thought.
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i could of told you that

[Q] Sprint, root, and total equipment protection/manufacturer warrenty

I recently rooted my Samsung epic 4g and installed cm7. By rooting my epic I knew I was voiding my manufacturer warrenty and that if my actions bricked my device that was on me to replace it. However, I am on the Sprint network and have been paying for "Total Equipment Protection." Two days after installing a new rom, I noticed my screen was highly distorted and by the end of the day the screen would only flicker. I discovered that the flex cable for the slide keyboard was worn and was in need of being replaced. After reading several posts on this website about sprint serviceing rooted phones with hardware problem, I decided I would call sprint and get some more information on the topic. The CSR informed me that sprint isn't really so hard on people with rooted phones and that any sprint repair center would still fix my phone under total Equipment Protection as it was damaged due to normal wear and tear of a piece of hardware. Acting on this information I went to the nearest repair center. When i went to check in my phone for service, I told the tech the phone was rooted and I was told that they would still service it. He told me that no, they wouldn't service it and he would make sure to flag my account and void my warranties. Now, a few days later, I have been too three repair centers and have been refused at all three. In fact, when i offered to pay for the service out of pocket, I was informed that my money "has no value here" and i should leave. I should add that I was very polite to the tech. Today I called Sprint again, and explained the situation. The rep told me that they should have serviced my phone under the total Equipment Protection "because with that, you could smash your phone with a hammer outside the store and it would still be covered ( with deductibles of course). ". So here I am, I had to get a new phone because corporate Sprint says one thing, but local Sprint stores say the opposite.
Is there any sort of formal policy letter released by Sprint to address this complete breakdown of communications? I keep seeing people refering to it, but after all this Id love to get my hands on something.
I'm not sure where this thread should actually go, sorry if its misplaced, I just figured this is something that should be addressed if for nothing else, to prevent a situation like mine from ruining someone else's day .

Searched the Epic 4G sub forums using the keywords "root policy", and the result was halfway down the first page.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1227396

That's crap I feel for ya that's a load of bs but it is usally smarter to play stupid than tell them straight up its rooted I hate local reps who think their The Ultimate Being of all things righteous and technilogical....
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TexasEpic/Biggoron3.png
Sent From My Cyan Samurai

Sadly with the flex cable crapping out on me my screen wouldn't work or I would have odin back to stock, but I didn't feel comfortable flashing it blind :/

brianjones9110 said:
Sadly with the flex cable crapping out on me my screen wouldn't work or I would have odin back to stock, but I didn't feel comfortable flashing it blind :/
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Coulda cleared ur sd card of rooted files and "tried" odin back to stock and let it brick.
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TexasEpic/Biggoron3.png
Sent From My Cyan Samurai

brianjones9110 said:
Sadly with the flex cable crapping out on me my screen wouldn't work or I would have odin back to stock, but I didn't feel comfortable flashing it blind :/
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Oops. Accidentaly hit thanks. Just try odining blind and if it bricks oh well, don't tell sprint you odined.
-Marcusant via Tapatalk

At this point its too late, the rep at one of the stores blacklisted my device and banned it from the network as if it was reported stolen. I have been on the phone with sprint all morning and they have refused any form of service, insurance, credit, anything. At this point I'm leaving Sprint. Very unfortunate as I've been with them since January 07.

brianjones9110 said:
At this point its too late, the rep at one of the stores blacklisted my device and banned it from the network as if it was reported stolen. I have been on the phone with sprint all morning and they have refused any form of service, insurance, credit, anything. At this point I'm leaving Sprint. Very unfortunate as I've been with them since January 07.
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That's a load.......
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/TexasEpic/Biggoron3.png
Sent From My Cyan Samurai

brianjones9110 said:
At this point its too late, the rep at one of the stores blacklisted my device and banned it from the network as if it was reported stolen. I have been on the phone with sprint all morning and they have refused any form of service, insurance, credit, anything. At this point I'm leaving Sprint. Very unfortunate as I've been with them since January 07.
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Wait for what exactly? That's ridiculous...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

ac16313 said:
Wait for what exactly? That's ridiculous...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
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Because he is rooted... that is absolutely ridiculous... my local sprint store has serviced my phone on more than one occasion... and me and him were both running the same rom! That's crap man!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

Emailed sprints ceo and hoping something comes of it, like maybe a policy letter from the ceo could get the local stores to do there job. Either way, ill upload a copy of the email conversation when i hear back from him or his assistant.

Email Sprints CEO with a copy of their own handling policy for root devices. Basically they are told to flash it to stock firmware. If problem persists, repair or replace the device and "note" the device was rooted. If unable to flash stock firmware, "note" device was rooted and replace the device. Nowhere in their own policy does it state "you have the right to refuse service to a rooted customer and blacklist their device" or anything of the like.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

A few months ago the screen slowly started turning red on my epic, then purple, then black. You could still see a few lines of pixels right along the edge showing the screen was on, but otherwise it was useless.
I went to the sprint store and had them look at it. I mentioned it was rooted, the guy said no problem, it looks like a hardware issue covered under your warranty. They ordered me a new epic, but since it was a couple weeks out on backorder, they sent me to another store that went ahead and replaced my screen for free (other store had an extra one for that use) while I waited for a new phone. After the repair I would have canceled the new phone, but the wifi and cell signal took a drop from having the phone opened. Long story short, at the end of the week, my replacement arrived, they set it up, and I was out the door. Gave them my rooted/ROM'd/overclocked epic4g and they gave me back the battery and SD card. They even gave me a free water bottle.
This cost me $0, a couple hours, and was nothing but a good experience. The guy there said they never turn rooted phones down for unrelated hardware failures. A separate store in Colorado helped my mother set up PDAnet tethering on her phone so she could check her email on her computer without paying for wifi tethering. Never seen a company so committed to their customers, at least in my experience.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

One recommendation that I can offer u is, report this issue to the fcc, and send a copy of ur email to the fcc right to sprints ceo. And emphasize that u did report to fcc. Major customer service complaints do get handled by the fcc. And also state that u felt discriminated against.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

Omg LOL I was literally just in the process of researching what kind of FCC complaint I could make LOL but thanks for the effort to assist me, I do appreciate it. As an update, I haven't heard backfrom Dan Hesse but I'm still waiting.

Continue sending him an email. Do it as many times as u need to. That needs to get his attention and resolved appropriatly. Sprints main focus now is "customer satisfaction". Also, if u were able to get the names of the reps that caused u this problem, place that in the email as well. Be specific on every detail of the occurence. This will show to the ceo, factual evidence and discrimination. Also, report it to the better business bereau. They accredit all compaines.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

Sprint is no longer concerned with customer satisfaction. Those days are passed. They are only concerned with saving their business now. That is why they locked down on moving upgrades and releasing people from ETFs. I have had several drawn out arguments with Executive office and they won't budge.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

ac16313 said:
Wait for what exactly? That's ridiculous...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
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theres always more to the story. were blind on one side here.

You should go back to the store and get the techs name. That guy should lose his job and testicles.

Best Buy insurance is a SCAM!

The Best Buy employee who sold me the Sprint S3 managed to convince me to drop Asurian, and go with BB coverage. He said it covers EVERYTHING the Asurian plan did, aside from being lost or stolen. I ran through a dozen scenarios, including what would happen if I dropped it puddle literally five minutes after leaving the store. I told him I was worried that since it was such a new phone, Best Buy would not be able to swap it out very quickly.
I was reassured by the salesman, two colleagues, and even the manager on duty, that if there was no stock, I'd simply get a brand-new replacement phone, instantly. In any scenario that required sending off the phone, (maximum of 2-3 days,) I'd have a similar/identical phone as a loaner.
ha-ha.
None of that is remotely true. 8 days after buying my Sprint S3, a friend spilled some water on my phone. When I took it in, they said it would take 30+ days to have it sent off for 'repair.' Since the phone was so new, I was SOL. (The exact scenario I laid out for the salesman, manager, and colleages.) To make things worse, they said that they only cover SOME water damage. If their "non-biased" repairman decides it experienced too much water damage, they simply deny the claim and send your useless phone back. Gee, I bet that Best Buy repair technician is really fighting for me, huh? :/
Now it has been two weeks, and I am still borrowing an old, water-damaged phone from a friend that only manages to squeak out 2-3 hours of stand-by per charge. I have called numerous times, and visited several stores, and I get the same thing. "I'm sorry that the salesman told you those things, but this is in fact our policy--if you read the fine print." YES, I have had a half-dozen people tell me about the fine print, of which I never saw any legal documentation before signing up. I suppose that is partially my fault, but they did not give me that opportunity. I feel that I should have recorded them.
One of my co-workers used to work for Geek Squad and says I just have to wait for them to deny my claim, which can take 30+ days, then I can go in and RAISE HELL, and eventually I will probably get some sort of replacement.
TLDR People DO NOT SIGN UP FOR BEST BUY INSURANCE!!! If I was still using Asurian, I would have had a BRAND-NEW phone at my house the following morning. No questions asked, done deal. Yes, there is a $199 deductible, but with the BB insurance, there's basically a $758 deductible, plus a 30-day waiting period.
Very annoyed at BB right now. I feel 100% conned, and l definitely wish I stuck to the Asurian coverage, which is what my gut feeling told me to do. Learn from my mistake and avoid BB coverage.

Thanks for that info... it makes me feel good about my decision to say no several times to the sales person who tried hard to sell me on it.

I have to say Sprint has done me no wrong in the insurance world. On average I go through two of each of my phones. Sprint replaces them with pretty much no questions asked, although the repair center knows who I am. They know that I hack phones, or whatever you want to call it, and they are cool with it.

My buddy dropped his evo 3d in water today and we went into bestbuy. They dont carry the evo 3d anymore so it was a pain in the ass from the start. They look up the repair info and say oh it could take 10 to 30 days to get your phone back. Then they offered him a loaner which has a $50 deductible. I stepped in and basically said thats bull****. You claim your insurance is better then sprints? If this was sprint hed only b a day without a phone. I understand hed have to pay a deductible but he needs his phone. I then said if this was sprint hed probally be getting a god damn s2 as a replacement. He acted as if he didnt care so as im sitting there i see this couple both buying a one x and i hear the rep ask if they want the insurance and they both talk it over so i walked over and said excuse me i hate to be nosie but i just want give you a heads up that what hes not telling you is you pay more a month then your cell provider probally charges but then when you have an accident like my friend hear just had and drop your phone in water when you come in they dont exchange in store like they make you believe they offer you a loaner which your insurance dose not cover and is $50 and ship your phone off to a service center with about a 3 week timeframe til when youll get it back. I then went back over to the geek squad ******* and said out of curiosity how much money did this store just lose because of me lol he thrn told my buddy to come fill out his insurance form and told me to wait somewhere else lol
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

Different story for me,
I cracked my Evo 3D screen. I brought it and they took it no questions asked. They told me the new one would be ready in 3 days. It was, and the phone they gave me was basically new. (Used, but in a new housing).

This thread is making me nervous about keeping my bb insurance.

I was also thinking about dropping my sprint insurance, but a story like this makes me think twice! I have never had a problem with sprint and getting my phone fixed. I have had my screen crack and they would send me another phone with no deductible. Maybe it has changed, but I'm thinking just staying with sprint.
Sent from my White Gs3 using tapatalk 2

wow thanks for the heads up! i almost went with it too

Glad I read this
I have had some complaints with Sprint/Assurion over the last decade but once the dust cleared, they always came through. I was thinking of BB insurance but I am glad you cleared it up for me.
Maybe I will go in there and f* with them. Get them to pitch me their sales line, record it and write it down. Then I will present ti to them for a signature and if they say they never said that, I will play the recording.
I ALWAYS record my service calls to Sprint. Once I had a "senior" tech feed me some BS about the cause of my ongoing phone issues. (it was an issue that was the same on three identical phones yet they told me it was a "phone" issue) Finally I transcribed one of the conversations and sent it to corporate. I was sent a brand new White box EVO (with no request to return mine). I was then called by an "Elevated Issue" specialist from Kansas who resolved that my profile was corrupt on the Sprint server.
Problem solved and an extra unlocked EVO that I gave to my wife.

I'm a best buy mobile sales rep, whoever handled your case messed up. I've had two people come in with broken s3 and with both of them I pulled a brand new one off the shelf and gave it to them. I have the S3 my self so i made sure that would be the case.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

I would like to point out that we don't normal pull phones off the shelf right away, most of the time we send out out and a replacement comes in 2 to 4 days. It's only cause it's so new that we give out new in box phones
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

All insurance is a scam....lol. tc
Sent from my cm_tenderloin using xda app-developers app

I bought a phone through Best Buy along with a protection plan/ESP plan. Never had to redeem the Plan with them, but after hearing stories from multiple former employees from Geek Squad and normal salesmen and women, I will never buy anything from Best Buy again, knowing how badly I am getting ripped off. Ive had good experiences with BBuy before, but lets just say Im not a fan by any means ^_^ I did, however buy the protection through Sprint. Being such an expensive device, i jumped on it when the Sprint rep offered it

Liquid_Cool said:
All insurance is a scam....lol. tc
Sent from my cm_tenderloin using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly....but on average all insurance is a losing proposition for the buyer. It has to be for the insurance company to make money. The rule that smart money people go by is to never buy more insurance than you need. If you can afford to absorb the loss, don't insure it. Over time you will pay more for the insurance than you will have paid for the loss.

Could also be hit or miss with replacements and such. Best Buy is in the mist of financial troubles also high up people stepping down.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/best-buy-chairman-steps-down-134928590.html
Sent from My Epic Ice Cream Sandwich With Sprinkles!!!

I've had nothing but good experiences with best buy insurance. I'm thinking the rep messed up.

BKinney said:
I would like to point out that we don't normal pull phones off the shelf right away, most of the time we send out out and a replacement comes in 2 to 4 days. It's only cause it's so new that we give out new in box phones
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
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Are you saying that best buy doesnt have Sprint GS3 refurbs to give out yet? I cracked my screen two weeks ago but haven't taken it in yet because i didn't want a refurb since i've only had the phone a few weeks..

I just took my AT&T GS3 in to BB last week with a cracked screen. I was told it would be sent out for a 2-3 day "rapid exchange". I was also told that the fact that the device was rooted and running a non-official JB ROM would not be an issue with BB or GS.
I returned the next day with my GS1 to have the service switched over and to send the GS3 back. When the GS guy was processing the return he said it was odd. I asked him what. He said that instead of the exchange, my phone was being sent to Samsung for repair and it would take 10+ days...
Are you saying that they could just give me a new one off the shelf instead of making me wait? Also, do you think the rooted and non Samsung software will cause an issue with the Samsung repair center?
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium

I would think that rooting your device is going to be a problem with Samsung. I've never heard of geek squad refusing to cover a rooted phone but that is up to the manager.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

ScrapMaker said:
The Best Buy employee who sold me the Sprint S3 managed to convince me to drop Asurian, and go with BB coverage. He said it covers EVERYTHING the Asurian plan did, aside from being lost or stolen. I ran through a dozen scenarios, including what would happen if I dropped it puddle literally five minutes after leaving the store. I told him I was worried that since it was such a new phone, Best Buy would not be able to swap it out very quickly.
I was reassured by the salesman, two colleagues, and even the manager on duty, that if there was no stock, I'd simply get a brand-new replacement phone, instantly. In any scenario that required sending off the phone, (maximum of 2-3 days,) I'd have a similar/identical phone as a loaner.
ha-ha.
None of that is remotely true. 8 days after buying my Sprint S3, a friend spilled some water on my phone. When I took it in, they said it would take 30+ days to have it sent off for 'repair.' Since the phone was so new, I was SOL. (The exact scenario I laid out for the salesman, manager, and colleages.) To make things worse, they said that they only cover SOME water damage. If their "non-biased" repairman decides it experienced too much water damage, they simply deny the claim and send your useless phone back. Gee, I bet that Best Buy repair technician is really fighting for me, huh? :/
Now it has been two weeks, and I am still borrowing an old, water-damaged phone from a friend that only manages to squeak out 2-3 hours of stand-by per charge. I have called numerous times, and visited several stores, and I get the same thing. "I'm sorry that the salesman told you those things, but this is in fact our policy--if you read the fine print." YES, I have had a half-dozen people tell me about the fine print, of which I never saw any legal documentation before signing up. I suppose that is partially my fault, but they did not give me that opportunity. I feel that I should have recorded them.
One of my co-workers used to work for Geek Squad and says I just have to wait for them to deny my claim, which can take 30+ days, then I can go in and RAISE HELL, and eventually I will probably get some sort of replacement.
TLDR People DO NOT SIGN UP FOR BEST BUY INSURANCE!!! If I was still using Asurian, I would have had a BRAND-NEW phone at my house the following morning. No questions asked, done deal. Yes, there is a $199 deductible, but with the BB insurance, there's basically a $758 deductible, plus a 30-day waiting period.
Very annoyed at BB right now. I feel 100% conned, and l definitely wish I stuck to the Asurian coverage, which is what my gut feeling told me to do. Learn from my mistake and avoid BB coverage.
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Call 1800 best buy .. or look for the best buy price match thread, there an email for the presidential escalation department. They will be able to help you. They helped me with a similar situation. It contact an attorney, they love class action law suits. The reps told me it's at most a five day turn around. Even if there is fine print since its an oral sale they can be held legally responsible
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Just lost my E4GT, need help with TEP.

Hey guys, I have TEP and was wondering what they're replacing our phone with now. I'm asking because a few years ago I used to have a Mogul and needed to have that replaced, but they gave me another phone.
Anyway, has anyone gone through the process recently?

JSarella said:
Hey guys, I have TEP and was wondering what they're replacing our phone with now. I'm asking because a few years ago I used to have a Mogul and needed to have that replaced, but they gave me another phone.
Anyway, has anyone gone through the process recently?
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It'll be a Epic touch 4G most likely.. but who knows.. I've heard some people recently say that they wanted to force an htc evo design on them.. do the claim online and it should tell you as you do the process.

That's what happened to me today.. They tried to fool me into believing the HTC Evo was a comparable phone to the Galaxy S2.. When I wouldn't budge they tried to get me to upgrade to the S3 by paying $260+ to buy out my contract and upgrade by signing another two year contract.. I'm pissed off.. I mean why do I pay insurance for?
Sent from another Galaxy

Ha that's why I think phone insurance is such a joke. Better of just saving that money and buying a used phone out right. All of my android phones have been used purchased on eBay or Craigslist and have never had any problems.
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I made a claim on mine the other day and they sent me an Evo 3D which wasnt bad but I just came from the 4G and wanted soemthing different so I complained a bit and they are now sending me a E4GT but I have to wait 5 days

My guess is that Sprint is going to run out the stock to Boost and other MVNOs... I know ours has been on back order status for MONTHS!

garwynn said:
My guess is that Sprint is going to run out the stock to Boost and other MVNOs... I know ours has been on back order status for MONTHS!
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so you think i won't be able to get another Epic Touch?

JSarella said:
so you think i won't be able to get another Epic Touch?
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If you raise enough of a stink, probably... but I'd say they're trying to run that stock out before the holidays. (More S3s, more $$$)

My screen shattered on my black E4GT a couple weeks ago. TEP offered me an original EVO 4G. I said no way, that's a two+ year old phone. They then offered me an EVO Design or a Motorola Photon. I refused. Four different people, including two people from their "Resolution Team" said there was nothing else they could do. My phone wasn't available. Fourth person offered me a supervisor. Within 30 seconds I was offered a white E4GT. Fine by me. UPS delivered it about 18 hours later.

jimmywisdom said:
My screen shattered on my black E4GT a couple weeks ago. TEP offered me an original EVO 4G. I said no way, that's a two+ year old phone. They then offered me an EVO Design or a Motorola Photon. I refused. Four different people, including two people from their "Resolution Team" said there was nothing else they could do. My phone wasn't available. Fourth person offered me a supervisor. Within 30 seconds I was offered a white E4GT. Fine by me. UPS delivered it about 18 hours later.
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New or refurb?

Just call and talk to them.
Be persistent but don't try demanding anything from them or you will end up in a 10 call 20 person runaround.
Know your facts and f they try to offer you an inferior device call them out.
Remember... you will catch more bees with honey than vinegar.
Good Luck!

brooksyx said:
Ha that's why I think phone insurance is such a joke. Better of just saving that money and buying a used phone out right. All of my android phones have been used purchased on eBay or Craigslist and have never had any problems.
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It kinda is but if a month in your phone gets destroyed its totally worth it. No ones getting a Galaxy SIII straight out for 150 bucks etc. I lost my last phone the month after I took insurance off it. Bought another on ebay for like 30 bucks until my contract was up (not a smart phone).
The real idea long term when there are little to no replacements available is you have A phone that in general runs most of the software you had before. But yeah its often idiotic the choice they give you and it takes some doing to get a comparable phone. Your alternative choice is buying a phone for 100 bucks of Ebay that is nowhere near what you had, or just going without a phone altogether.
When insurance was introduced most phones didn't even do what these phones did there was less to lose, maybe your phone couldn't run this jar or that jar that was about it. Its a little more problematic now.

sigh, these guys suck.
I've tried talking to them, all they give me is the option to get a Nexus S 4G, the phone from which I paid 200 bucks to upgrade from. The E4GT is backordered, and they said a minimum of 7 days till they have a possibility of it being back in stock.
I don't understand how they can screw a customer who's had TEP for ages like this.
I'm going to give Executive Support a call, let's see what they can do.

They tried to pull that crap with me when I TEP'd my phone due to a faulty screen. They sent me an EVO 4G and said that it was the most comparable phone they had in stock. I told them I wasn't going to take a phone that was 2 years old when mine had just came out. They said it was all they could do and that they would be sending out the replacement phone within 24 hours.
A couple of days later I got my replacement phone, sure enough, it was an EVO 4G. I shipped it back, and here I sit with my faulty E4GT.
TL;DR TEP is garbage and you might as well outright buy your phones.

email Dan Hesse's office and file a complaint.

jefbal99 said:
email Dan Hesse's office and file a complaint.
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I don't have that email lol, i'll pm you for future reference.
But after two weeks of this, I finally got a E4GT, but the replacement they sent sucks, the GPS doesn't work at all, and the screen is really dim, they said they're sending me another replacement, but lets see how long this one takes.
At least I can make an receive calls for now/get my email lol. I'm canceling TEP after this, it's not worth the amount of money that I'm paying.

Tep cs is so easy to bs.. Im extremely anal about my phone if i get one mark on my phone i call them give them a reason bs excuse, i also master reset my phone to make sure they seen ive tryed that to "fix" my phone.... Lol... Ive learned what and what not to say to them... Once you figure them out its easy.. Same with otter box... I get a new case like every 2 months lol
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