We purchased our cell phones thru Best Buy the last few times and have been paying their Geek Squad Protection (9.99/mo per phone) for the last few years (and canceled our Verizon insurance). I recently upgraded my phone in August and about a month ago we were all playing in the culdesac one evening. I had my phone on the hood of my husbands car and someone called me and it vibrated off onto the driveway. My screen cracked. Yes, I know, stupid me. I recently talked to Best Buy about it and they said drops are not covered on the plan. Either is water damage. Basically, only normal wear and tear and manufacturers defects. Like if you have the same problem 4 or more times, they will replace the phone. To get my screen fixed, it would be $150, which is out of the question. When I told my husband, the drop wasn't covered, he decided he wanted to cancel the protection plans since it is costing us $20/month for 2 phones.
I'm just wandering, do most people carry a protection plan on their phone when you can only upgrade every 2 years?
Oh my gosh, yes. I have Verizon and I don't know what I'd do without it. I've had occasion to use it to replace my own phone two or three times. We've used it on other phones twice. Very well worth the money considering replacing them out of pocket would have cost hundreds of dollars.
I do but I really should get rid of it. I keep my phone in an otter box, ugly as sin but you can play catch with the phone and not hurt it. Mine is 12 a month and it does cover accidental damage. Still that is 144 dollars a year and the deductible is a 100 and why am I not on the phone canceling it instead of typing this!!
I generally don't like extended warranties and protection plans but we do have a plan for our daughter's iPhone. My husband and I do not have coverage for our phones though. We like to live dangerously and take chances😉
No - no insurance. That's silly! 10/month?! And there's a shop near me that replaces broken screens for $50. Best buy has horrible prices and service. What a scam!
when we got our iphones it was a flat rate for 2 years to buy insurance. so you pay it up front. I want to say it was $125 per phone. Yup we got it. I have had to use phone insurance twice. One time I dropped my phone in a cup of milk. It actually worked for 9 months after that but due to water damage it had to be insurance. And another time I jumped into a pool at my Aunts house when a baby feel in (ok she was 3). Phone was in my pocket. Havent had to yet but just in case............*knock* *knock*
No, I don't even know if Virgin Mobile offers it. If I damage the phone (I dropped mine in a deep puddle in a parking lot) they will replace it, but I think it's a one time thing. You send in the phone minus the battery and the back cover and they send you one back minus those things. Unfortunately I found out about the warranty after I had already purchased a replacement phone, but now I know it's there in case I do need it. I don't know if they cover the iPhones or the Galaxy phones the same way, we have Kyocera Rise phones.
that is so ODD because i have the best buy insurance on mine and my daughters iphones - and the ONLY thing that is not covered is theft. she dropped her phone and the back of it cracked, and they replaced it. that is the only reason i went with the slightly more expensive insurance with best buy instead of through at&t - no deductibles and everything is covered. i will tell you - that the FIRST guy in the geek squad sent me away and said the "back" is not covered. so i marched over to the cellphone area and asked them to give me a copy of what my insurance covers. i know you said you pay 9.99 but i am paying 15.99 per month. vs. the 6.99 cost of staying w the at&t insurance. as soon as i told them what is my $16/month paying for? i was told EVERYTHING was covered. they sent me back over the to geek squad and the guy profusely apologized and put in the order for our new phone. ps - i only got that insurance because my daughter is 11 and i was afraid of her breaking the phone.
We do have an extra coverage on our daughter's IPhone 5 through ATT. She is almost 19 and she has had an IPhone since they came out. We have used the warranty in the past and she has ended up with a brand new phone more than once, once dropped in toilet at school, once it just stopped working, once it was stolen at school, BUT, we were able to get a new one at the discounted price via the warranty.
Hubby and I also carry IPhone 5 through ATT and we do not have the extra coverage on ours.
FWIW... A cracked screen can be replaced for less than $100, although in some circumstances, it will void part or all of the original warranty. There is a small shop here and my hubby has had his screen replaced twice as well as the battery. He refuses to use a case, therefore, his is the one that gets cracked.
The ATT store is located in the same shopping center and the associates at ATT will tell you to go to the Cell guy for repairs.
Check around and I bet you can get a screen repair for less than $100 and your phone will be perfect again.
We have 2 iphones. if you have been paying $20 a months for the last few years (to me a "few" is 3 or more) than you have paid $720!!!!! And now they wont replace your screen. boooo
We do not get the extra protection. They hardly ever cover ANYTHING, and as you can see you have paid enough into your protection plan to buy, brand spankin' new, a couple of new phones!!
Oh man....that would piss me off.
L.
I do have protection on our phones but do not pay for it. If anything goes wrong and the phone is not covered by regular "protection", then I can get a new one from my credit card. As long as I pay my monthly bill with my credit card, I am covered. I always see what the coverage is before buying any type of protection. Regular wear and tear is not worth 420 a month and mfg defects are usually covered by the mfg especially during the first year.
We have the Believe program through U S Cellular. I've had a dozen or more phones replaced. They replace any broken phone there are conditions of course but they are fair.
For instance I dropped my new phone in mashed potatoes and gravy...yes, my arm twitched and I lost control of my hand for just a moment. They replaced my phone. It got lost a few months later. We did the insurance claim and I got a new one. Then we found the missing phone. It had been "paid off" so it can't be used at all. So we let the kids use it to play games on all the time.
We have had excellent service through U S Cellular and this program.
No.
I had a friend that just got his screen replaced for less than $100 and if you get the screen off the Internet it would be less than that. That's less than the insurance and less than his "protective" cover that didn't work!
No, we never pay for insurance or extended warranties. Waste of money over the long run.
If you want coverage and you want it to cover accidents like dropping it into the toilet, etc. look into SquareTrade. It's a one time charge for 2-3 years of insurance.
For example, to cover my Kindle it would be $44.99 for 3 years, which breaks down to $1.25 per month.
You have to get a policy within the first month of getting your new item though.
I didn't used to, but I bought a plan for my current phone. We have Verizon and got our last upgrade at Sams Club. I got a Galaxy 4G and my husband got an iphone 4. The phones themselves cost 97 cents each with our 2 year plan. But the Verizon kiosk at Sams Club had a special warranty plan that ended up being $100 after rebate. It covers EVERYTHING, even water damage. It also guarantees a buy back with your next upgrade in 2 years. The buy back could be worth over $100 so it was worth it to me. Much better deal than the Verizon insurance plan.
You might be able to find a used phone on ebay that you could activate to replace your phone until your next upgrade. Sometimes you can even sell a damaged smart phone for a decent price to someone who does repairs and resells the phones.
We have the Best Buy and Sprint. What one doesn't pay for the other does. Hubby dropped his phone and it was run over in a mall parking lot. We got a new one. I dropped my phone several times and the last time the screen broke. It was replaced.
It depends on what and who uses the phone. I am not going to brag about any water damage came close a couple of times.
I usually try to buy those covers that are cushioned to keep me from busting up the screen.
Good luck in your decision.
the other S.
We did get insurance on my son's iPhone but the deductible is $200. Uh, no thanks. We cancelled the insurance, sold his water-damaged phone for $80 via Gazelle, threw in an extra $20 and got a used something or another for $100 total.
We have iPhones and don't have the insurance
No, I don't. My husband dropped his new phone after 6 mos of having it, and cracked the screen to pieces. I just went in and bought a used one off ebay for less than what it would be for the insurance (that wouldn't cover it) or screen replacement charges. Someone is always upgrading their phone to something new and leaving the almost new to us scavengers. lol
They have screen repair places in the malls here and it costs around $20. I have applecare+ on my phone, only because I tend to use it. I've dropped the phone in the toilet, my three year old has thrown it on the concrete, etc. My husband dropped the carrier insurance on every phone because it didn't cover the accidental stuff. That insurance isn't worth it. On top of what we were paying, a replacement refurbished phone was an additional $150 - I could go on ebay and get it for less than that (insurance premiums + deductible).
