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Sprint vs Best Buy's insurance

If best buy is a hassle because they try and fix it first, why not always just say you lost it (when it's broken) to skip that. Or does best buy not cover lost phones
 
If best buy is a hassle because they try and fix it first, why not always just say you lost it (when it's broken) to skip that. Or does best buy not cover lost phones
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Answered in thread already.
 
hambonewc said:
dont go with BB insurance! trust me! i dont want to get into the whole story but a friend of mine had it for his instinct. best buy took his phone to repair it and didnt give him a replacement until 2 and a half months later. he only got it back because he recorded his conversation a rep who stated "if the phone cant be repaired in 30 days we will replace it" he played this to the regional manager of BB over the phone. she freaked out and he had a new phone an hour later.

that is a very condensed version of a story that is even more ridiculous.

sprints insurance is awesome. ive used it many times. deductible only applies if its damaged or theft/loss. any defect of the phone is covered with no deductible.

you will jump through many hoops to get your phone repaired/replaced with BB insurance
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I don't know what crappy best buy you went to but this sounds pretty suspect. The 30 day rule is written in the agreement you sign if she actually kept her copy. Add to that geek squad automatically junks out the claim after 30 days. This isn't an individual store thing, it automatically gets triggered in the system. I really doubt the regional manager "freaked out" lol since it's a well known policy.

That said, they do not just replace your phone on the spot, they send it in and its either repaired or replaced within 30 days. I didn't know this and was pissed to have a loaner for 30 darts.

Now, why I got it again despite this: what they don't tell you is thwart when your claim is junked you don't just get a replacement, you get store credit for the entire full purchase price of the phone to be used for a new phone. You can get any phone with it. This is how in my rare case, I got a new evo as a replacement for free (sans $80 for 8mo of insurance). Not being a premier member, I wasn't eligible for an upgrade for another 14 months! Just realize that if you go with best buy, the geek squad guy will call you and tell you that he has a new phone waiting for you. He won't tell you that you can get any other phone you want on that carrier. Oh and if you decide to downgrade, they will give you store credit for the difference. Say you don't want your evo, you get $600 credit and buy a $400 flip phone, you get that 200 difference on a gift card.

In the end its a matter off preference. With best buy you are stuck with a pos loaner till you get your phone back and it doesn't cover loss or theft but you can potentially switch phones or upgrade with out any additional cost to you.

Oh a couple more things: yes you can make as many claims as you want. How it works is that they replace your phone and end your warranty. Then you simply opt back in for another one and just keep paying 10 a month. Rinse and repeat as many times as you want, however you could be without a phone for a month at a time so that discourages people from abusing this. Also they gave me the option of paying for all 2 years in advance at a dicount rate. If you make a claim they will refund you the difference (amount minus 10 per month and not automatically, i had to ask). If you never make a claim thry will credit your best buy account with double points for every dollar on your rewards card (free member card, not charge card) which is useful if you shop there often but pointless if you don't.
 
SquareTrade has been mentioned by someone here and I have it on my TV and HD Cam. Will probably get it on the phone too. As mentioned, it's a lot cheaper (with coupons) and it covers accidents and spills. I rarely lose my phone so theft isn't a concern for me.
 
Manufacturer defects are covered by HTC's warranty, are they not? So when comparing Best Buy and Sprint's insurance policies, we should only be looking at damage or loss/theft.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
To make it short, NEVER will I get any warranty through BB, much less spend any money there. Even if it is a manufacturing defect, they will send it off for them to repair. My wife was without her Pixi for over a month with a cheap loaner phone and it came back broken still. Then wanted to give her a cheap Curve as a replacement. Also it takes 4 attempts at a month each before they issue a new phone.
 
baizej said:
To make it short, NEVER will I get any warranty through BB, much less spend any money there. Even if it is a manufacturing defect, they will send it off for them to repair. My wife was without her Pixi for over a month with a cheap loaner phone and it came back broken still. Then wanted to give her a cheap Curve as a replacement. Also it takes 4 attempts at a month each before they issue a new phone.
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Again, if it takes over 30 days, you get a new phone period. If its under 30 days then you have to send it back again.

Tip for anyone with BB insurance: if its a defect and not your fault and the phone doesn't have water damage, take it to sprint for the first year. Do NOT take it to best buy unless its your fault or the one year warranty is up for the reason stated above.
 
My son had a HTC Hero insured with BestBuy (Black Tie Service, bring it in get a new one), after three months he had problems. They shipped his phone off for repair, it took 37 days and much compaining before they gave him a new phone. They also wanted to charge him for a loner phone (but he had a extra sprint phone).
 
The only time you have to pay a deductible with Sprint insurance is if you physically damage the phone...drops, cracks, etc. If the phone charger port stops working, screen backlight starts to dim, touchscreen gets unresponsive, etc, you can just call and they'll send you a new one. You'll get your replacement in about 2 days. With Best Buy, they MIGHT swap the phone out in store, or they'll send it off to their depot center to repair and/or run diagnostics. They'll give you a loaner, but of course it will be the most basic phone ever. Probably the Zack Morris phone.

The good thing with Best Buy is that once the Evo 2 or some equivalent is released, you can usually do a warranty exchange and they'll give you a new one.

I personally still like Sprint's better.
 
I really think the theft protection is there to take advantage of people that dont realize their phone can be tracked via gps or when it connects to a tower. basically the second you turn on a stolen phone, you are easily tracked. the sprint one is cheaper so that one gets my vote
 
I have an Evo now, but had the Pre for the last year. I had sprint's insurance for 7/month. During the year I had my Pre, I had it fully replaced twice. I didn't pay anything for the replacements....just took it in and they ordered me a new one.

I had it replaced once because the power button wasn't working well (but was working) and once because the volume buttons stopped working. I was surprised how easy it was to get my phone replaced. I would never consider dropping the 7/month.
 
bandagraph said:
I have an Evo now, but had the Pre for the last year. I had sprint's insurance for 7/month. During the year I had my Pre, I had it fully replaced twice. I didn't pay anything for the replacements....just took it in and they ordered me a new one.

I had it replaced once because the power button wasn't working well (but was working) and once because the volume buttons stopped working. I was surprised how easy it was to get my phone replaced. I would never consider dropping the 7/month.
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But during the first year, they would have had to do that anyway, with the insurance or not.
 
I was wary of buying Sprint's insurance when I had a centro. A couple of returns later, and I was damn glad I got it. It wasn't even a consideration for me when I priced out the Evo, I just baked it into what I would pay.
 
J03 said:
I don't know what crappy best buy you went to but this sounds pretty suspect. The 30 day rule is written in the agreement you sign if she actually kept her copy. Add to that geek squad automatically junks out the claim after 30 days. This isn't an individual store thing, it automatically gets triggered in the system. I really doubt the regional manager "freaked out" lol since it's a well known policy.

That said, they do not just replace your phone on the spot, they send it in and its either repaired or replaced within 30 days. I didn't know this and was pissed to have a loaner for 30 darts.

Now, why I got it again despite this: what they don't tell you is thwart when your claim is junked you don't just get a replacement, you get store credit for the entire full purchase price of the phone to be used for a new phone. You can get any phone with it. This is how in my rare case, I got a new evo as a replacement for free (sans $80 for 8mo of insurance). Not being a premier member, I wasn't eligible for an upgrade for another 14 months! Just realize that if you go with best buy, the geek squad guy will call you and tell you that he has a new phone waiting for you. He won't tell you that you can get any other phone you want on that carrier. Oh and if you decide to downgrade, they will give you store credit for the difference. Say you don't want your evo, you get $600 credit and buy a $400 flip phone, you get that 200 difference on a gift card.

In the end its a matter off preference. With best buy you are stuck with a pos loaner till you get your phone back and it doesn't cover loss or theft but you can potentially switch phones or upgrade with out any additional cost to you.

Oh a couple more things: yes you can make as many claims as you want. How it works is that they replace your phone and end your warranty. Then you simply opt back in for another one and just keep paying 10 a month. Rinse and repeat as many times as you want, however you could be without a phone for a month at a time so that discourages people from abusing this. Also they gave me the option of paying for all 2 years in advance at a dicount rate. If you make a claim they will refund you the difference (amount minus 10 per month and not automatically, i had to ask). If you never make a claim thry will credit your best buy account with double points for every dollar on your rewards card (free member card, not charge card) which is useful if you shop there often but pointless if you don't.
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What you talking about ? BestBuy does not give you the Evo less store credit . They give you a phone that can do similar things to your original phone . I tried to get an EVO from them coming from a Hero and Not 1 but 3 different best buy mobile told me I could not do it since it would be an Upgrade . Is a hassle going through bestbuy ..
 
ramonini said:
What you talking about ? BestBuy does not give you the Evo less store credit . They give you a phone that can do similar things to your original phone . I tried to get an EVO from them coming from a Hero and Not 1 but 3 different best buy mobile told me I could not do it since it would be an Upgrade . Is a hassle going through bestbuy ..
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My gf's brother in law is a mobile manager here (but not my local best buy so i didnt get any special perks from him) and thats what he told me the policy was. They will try to give you the same phone but i confirmed with the manager that when the junk your claim they give you store credit towards the purchase of a different phone.

I was only 8 months into my palm pre (14 mo from upgrade eligibility). They sold the palm pre and evo for $600 so the mobile manager took the store credit, walked me over to the mobile department and used the credit to "buy" me an evo. Thats the official store policy. Like i said, they kept calling me saying that the got me a new pre when all they actually did was put the 600 on a card and put it aside. Maybe they are supposed to discourage against it but sine i knew the policy going in they didnt fight me at all. To tell you the truth, neither the regular mobile guy or regular geek squad guy was even familiar with the policy. Once they turned me over to a manager (GS and mobile) they confirmed everything and it went really smooth.

UPDATE:

Ok so i checked my reciept. Sure enough the policy is not on there like my gf's bro in law said. I went and checked out the terms online. This is what it said:

http://www.geeksquad.com/gslibrary/.../terms_and_conditions/20080914/20080914TC.pdf


 
gt33 said:
u don't need to worry about theft so much if you install mobile defense, that app tells you where your phone is exactly down to the house
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LOL, it software right? So if the "thief" pulls the batttery or erases all data it's useless. So much for "not worrying" unless you just leave it somewhere and are lucky enough to go back and find it still waiting for you.
 
J03 said:
Again, if it takes over 30 days, you get a new phone period. If its under 30 days then you have to send it back again.

Tip for anyone with BB insurance: if its a defect and not your fault and the phone doesn't have water damage, take it to sprint for the first year. Do NOT take it to best buy unless its your fault or the one year warranty is up for the reason stated above.
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yea but once they give you a different phone you have to contact bestbuy mobile because when you go and make a claim they will see that is not the phone they sold you . They try to screw me like that when i made an exchange through bestbuy in my first 30 days .. It got sort out but is better to be safe than sorry ..
 
I didn't read this whole thread just skipped to the bottom to give my 2 cents, I recently had palm pre Issues. The screen cracked so I went In and was told I had to go through insurance. I told him that it was cracked not wet so he proceeds to tell me that within the past month Sprint changed the policy...they only cover manufacturers defects and sometimes not even that. Anyways the manager did me a favor and swapped It for me after I threatened to move to Verizon. During the next 3 days went through 4 phones because refurbished sucks. Best buy gives brand new, and if when you take your evo In for a problem the evo2 is out, you get that. Best buy 1 Sprint neg 100!
 
Sprint doesn't cover manufacture defects?? Sure brand new person who just shows up to post misinformation.
 
stevent76 said:
This isnt true. When i was getting my Evo at Best Buy, a women was getting a refurbished iPhone. She was pissed because she was told she was getting a new phone as well. They told her it would act the same as new. All this happened right before they asked me if I wanted their protection plan.
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It is true, the Iphone is the only exception. All Iphone replacements are refurbs. ALL other phones are new.
 
I would say Sprint Insurance... here is why: Last summer is was pushed into the pool with my phone in pocket (drunken stupor). That night I filled out the necessary info online and paid the deductable ($100). The following day the phone was overnighted to me with a prepaid container to send the damaged phone back. i sent it back, as directed. The experience was fast and easy. $7 a month is the premium.
 
Best Buy Plan
$10 per month.
Covers all damage under normal use(all depends on how you word what happened to the phone, it would not cover using the phone from a helicopter, it falling out and getting smashed by a tank for example, but it that happened and you just 'dropped it' it's covered)
Does NOT cover loss/theft
Unit is sent to a repair center, which hasn't been the greatest at speed. After 30 days after ARRIVING at the service center, if it is not on the way back to Best Buy, the phone is replaced in store with the same/comparable model. In the mean time a loaner is issued provided a deposit is paid for.

Benefits over TEP:
No deductible ever
No limit to number of claims, but if the phone is 'repaired' 3 times, on the 4th repair, the phone will be sent to service with a No Lemon request and exchanged quickly. The previous 3 repairs MUST be hardware, so if the phone is sent off and is just factory reset, this will not count towards one of the 3 repairs.
While your phone is broken, you can get a loaner phone with a $150 deposit. The phone available for this is at the discretion of the BBY Mobile employee issuing it, but it usually will NOT match the specs of the phone being repaired. With sprint, you will be out of a phone until the replacement is received, usually the next business day but delays may occur.

Downfalls of BBY/GSBTP:
30 day turn time before replacement minimum.
$3 more than TEP.

Mileage may vary.

Edit: Currently the EVO is not repairable, when the system does not allow an item to be sent out, it is exchanged on the spot. DO NOT BUY BTP FOR THE EVO UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT IT WILL STAY THIS WAY. One would assume their repair center will be able to repair the EVO in the future and this will change.
 
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