insurance?

[rastoma]

And doesn't Asurion only allow 2 insurance claims per year? How did she get 4 replacements in 4 months??

Yes, only 2 claims a year. I too am curious how she got 4 replacements. It must be Asurion because BB's plan doesn't cover lost and he specifically mentioned lost.

 

[Aero1]

My mother has broken/lost her evo 4 times in 4 months. You know what it would cost to replace a phone 4 times in 4 months. 299x 4= 1,200 bucks. You know what it really cost us? 28+100 bucks= 128 bucks. So I could be out another 1000 bucks. Or I could have gotten insurance. .

a) ALL THE MORE reason why others should not be buying insurance, they are subsidizing your absurdly high loss rate directly!

I have had an average of four lines for 15 years. If I had paid insurance (about $7.50 per line month with tax that would be: 7.50 x 12 months x 4 lines x 15 years or $5,400. I have spent maybe $2000 on replacing unwarranted phones.

And your math is off, you paid $400 in deductibles! Like most people buying extended warranty / insurance you are forgetting huge items of cost, in your case you underestimated your cost by $528/$128 or a factor of 4x.

Facts:
1) the average person loses money on phone insurance, otherwise the insurance companies would be out of business.
2) due to ebay replacement costs have really dropped, and they also keep dropping for any given phone. Clean ESN Palm Pre is $80 on ebay now.

 

[Aero1]

And doesn't Asurion only allow 2 insurance claims per year? How did she get 4 replacements in 4 months??

By making up the story, as people who rationalize often do. Insurance threads on phones are filled with bogus anecdotes by people rationalizing. My guess is they are paying the money have not used the insurance and are rationalizing. If they had used the insurance they would KNOW they spent $400 on deductibles, not $100, and they would know Assuron would have told them to jump in a lake.

This all fits in "buyer's remorse." People spend large amounts on tech and then are sold a bill of goods about protection their "investment" when tech is never an investment and falls as fast in value and replacement cost as yesterday's fish.

Buyer's remorse drives spending on monster cables, extended warranties and ssnurance. No one should ever be buying extended warranties, and phoen insurance makes sense for only a tiny minority. With Sprint and smartphones, two major changes in the past 18 months have made insurance make even less sense, the fact that Sprint now warrants smartphones itself without insurance, and the increase in deductable to $100. Combine that with the trend toward very high efficient secondary markets (ebay) and the cost benefit becomes very high except for those with an extremly high and well above average risk (people who work in the rain, high schoolers, the clumsy, people in highly physical jobs) of damage to their phone.

 

[Stringyquark]

I was am idiot and bought my epic fromm a sprint store.still waiting on my rebate. I bought the insurance just in case. I figure $ 30 bucks for 4 months. Then I figure after christmas I can find a new (or used) phone for $ 200 or so. Might be a waste but if I do something stupid it might help.

 

[AndroidSPCS]

I was am idiot and bought my epic fromm a sprint store.still waiting on my rebate. I bought the insurance just in case. I figure $ 30 bucks for 4 months. Then I figure after christmas I can find a new (or used) phone for $ 200 or so. Might be a waste but if I do something stupid it might help.

That sounds like a good plan.

My Samsung Moment was my very first Android phone so I had no idea what to expect, so I paid insurance for 10 months before finally cancelling it. About $70 down the drain...

At least it gave me peace of mind for my very first android phone. Now I realize what a waste of money it is since my Moment was just fine.

 

[nchargreed]

For those of you who are strategically getting insurance, are you aware that you DO NOT NEED full coverage and that Sprint offers an Equipment Replacement Program for $4/mo???? (covers loss and theft with a $100 deductible)

Your phone is already covered under its warranty against mechanical failure and defects for the first year. So why buy extra insurance??

So, if you have some strategy about keeping the insurance for a couple months and trying to get a used Epic on ebay, be smart and don't buy the FULL insurance, its unnecessary.

 

[Stringyquark]

I know it's bs but for $30 just for peace of mind. Not planing on needing a new phone but should something happen (got forbid!) I figure after christmas I can replace it reasonably once the new shine rubs of the galaxy s line. I know it's a stupid waste but how else is the insurance company going to make money if it's not for smart people like me making very stupid decisions. Lol. I may drop the extra side of the insurance save my broke ass $ 10.

This is MY epic 4g galaxy S smart phone, although there are many like it, this one is MINE.

 

[Aero1]

For those of you who are strategically getting insurance, are you aware that you DO NO NEED full coverage and that Sprint offers an Equipment Replacement Program for $4/mo???? (covers loss and theft with a $100 deductible)

Your phone is already covered under its warranty against mechanical failure and defects for the first year. So why buy extra insurance??

Has sprint changed its policy? because as of a couple of months ago you could NOT buy the loss/user damage replacement service separately

 

[nchargreed]

Has sprint changed its policy? because as of a couple of months ago you could NOT buy the loss/user damage replacement service separately

Don't know about any policy change but I do know that I asked about it a week ago and I could get just the ERP. Of course, they don't TELL you about it, but if you ask, you can get it. They have 3 programs: Total equipment protection $7/mo, Equipment Service and Repair $4/mo and Equipment Replacement $4/mo

Now, one caveat, you CANNOT upgrade to FULL COVERAGE after your 30 days unless there is an open enrollment (which is think is crap!) I don't think I should be forced to pay for Service and repair when its covered under warranty, however, if I don't buy it I forfeit my rights to coverage once the warranty expires.