My rant about cell phone insurance.

Any one else feeling ripped off?

By HG_Eliminator on August 14, 2011 1:50:36 AM from

As of lately I'm starting to get annoyed with my cellphone insurance carrier.

Let me explain, I bought 2 years ago a LG dare. I lost it while at work last year, so I had the MRS call the insurance carrier for my Phone to get me a replacement. " I was currently working out of state and had no access to the insurance carriers number much less a phone to call them, I had to borrow a co workers phone to Call the Mrs" they tell her the Dare was discontinued and told her If I did not like the LG voyager "downgrade" of a phone they sent me I could call them up and get a LG chocolate3 touch instead.

Next day the Voyager shows up at my room, external broken screen and all. I call them using the internal screen and buttons telling them the phone was received broken, after about 20 min of doing tech support stuff to try and fix the messed up external screen, I tell the lady that I would prefer the Chocolate touch screen promised to the Mrs if I did not like this phone, she said sorry this is no longer a warranty issue and is now a tech issue and she could no longer send me a chocolate replacement. I was livid.. the next day the replacement voyager shows..

I use this one unhappily for almost a year until the charging port decides to fall off. The mrs uses thier online claims service and another busted voyager is sent, I call them back today and say " this is the 3rd Voyager in a year, Can I now get the chocolate 3 you promised last year?" She says I'm sorry sir but I only show you getting 2 of the LG under the Tech side of ur warranty and will have to have 3 returned phones before we can switch you to another make of phone. I am spitting nails at this point. I realize at this point if this phone coming works I will be stuck with the crappy thing forever.

They downgrade me to a 2 megapxl camera phone with no 3.5mm head phone jack on which none of my peripherals work, "Car charger,Usb cable,custom noise reducing headphones with Call capability. From a 3.1 megapxl multi media phone, and are seemingly making me go thru their entire stock of broken voyagers before I can get something comparable to my old dare.

Im really feeling ripped off at this point..

Yes I could go and sign another contract and get a new smart phone etc. but It's not the point.. If that's the only way to get another phone comparable to what I had before then why buy the stupid insurance?

Any one else have issues with their Phone insurance carrier?

+332 Karma | 26 Replies

I have been lucky to not have needed to deal with it. I had my old nokia N73 for 5 years and eventually replaced it just because I wanted a cooler phone.

Sorry to hear of your troubles [e digicons]:'([/e]

Mooo........

........thud

I just go with the cheapo Tracfones so I don't have those problems. Phone cost me $20...then every time I drop $20 on it for service I get 60 x 2 minutes and 3 months of service. It has a camera...bluetooth...internet....voice mail...pretty much all I need...which is really just to make a call.

And yeah....sounds like your getting ripped.

Dunno why your so surprised that you are getting the old run around. The telco's have been ripping people off for years with their phone plans and charges so it makes sense that they would rort the insurance side of it too. On a side note LG phones lately have become pieces of shit and no where near as durable and useful as their previous models. I will stick with my trusty Nokie E63 which does everything i want and if it does crap out on me, well i only paid $170 for it, so i will throw it away and get a new phone.

Yes I could go and sign another contract and get a new smart phone etc.

If you actually buy the phone outright rather than getting a subsidized one, AFAIK you generally don't need a contract even from major carriers. Prepaid carriers are also starting to support android models (a good choice as long as you need the data more than voice and will be in good coverage areas).

Quoting kryo,

reply 4

Yes I could go and sign another contract and get a new smart phone etc.

If you actually buy the phone outright rather than getting a subsidized one, AFAIK you generally don't need a contract even from major carriers. Prepaid carriers are also starting to support android models (a good choice as long as you need the data more than voice and will be in good coverage areas).

Good point kryo. I knew this, but I shouldn't have to go buy a new phone or sign a contract to get a decent replacement for my lost phone since I bought the insurance.. kind of defeats the purpose of having the insurance in the first place..

Well, much like those warranties they sell at the register in the store, phone insurance is there to make them money, not to provide a useful service to you.

Personally I just be careful with my phone (it's either in my hand, in my pocket, or charging on my desk at home) and don't invest more in it than I'm willing to replace (my LG Optimus was about $200 when I got it, they're around $150 now).

Granted that counts me out of the $600 phone market, but I prefer not having any kind of long-term commitment for a utility (which is just silly IMO).

And people wonder why my phone is always one of the free ones...

quoting post

I tell the lady that I would prefer the Chocolate touch screen promised to the Mrs if I did not like this phone, she said sorry this is no longer a warranty issue and is now a tech issue and she could no longer send me a chocolate replacement.

BS, frankly. Should be able to hold out for what you were promised.

Quoting HG_Eliminator,

reply 5

HG....chuck the phone...AND its Insurance into the bin.

Write it off as an eddykayshun expense.

Get something cheap enough you can survive its loss...and let the Insurers con someone else instead....

I will probably end up buying the Iphone 4, as I use my phone for a camera as well as portable entertainment at work. I never lost one before, so is not a common occurrence for me. Is actually the first time I have ever needed the insurance policy ,so I found my self perplexed at the handling of the whole thing.. tho next time I think I will forgo the the insurance and save the monthly cost toward a new phone.

i would've posted to this thread a few minutes ago but i wanted to finish my pizza first.

hge, i feel for ya. i dealt with att over insurance 2 or 3 years ago and it wasn't a pleasant experience.

get the iphone 4, dude. i have one and had to get the first one replaced due to a sensor issue. apple replaced it promptly. a few months ago, i accidentally sent my phone thru the wash cycle. as you can guess, it was worthless afterward. even though the damage was due to fault of my own, apple replaced it for free. i was expecting to pay $200 for a replacement. their customer service is pretty damned good, in my opinion.

Quoting MadDeez,

reply 10

i wanted to finish my pizza first.

oh sure.. rub it in.. [e digicons]:'([/e]

Good to hear you have had good experiences with Apple, thx

Stay away from the iPhone. Get yourself into a decent Android phone.

Better luck next time, bud...

Telcoms and insurances are all major rips.

You might take a peek at this: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20087222-266/are-you-overpaying-for-smartphone-data/?tag=nl.e404

OT... but for home, take a look at this: http://www.ooma.com/products

Quoting DrJBHL,

reply 13

insurances are all major rips.

Agreed. Anyone want to talk about car insurance?

Ah car insurance. I do hope I'm the average person they talk about in the commercials. I could just switch back and forth saving every time until they owe me money! /OT

hmmmmmm. i'm guessing kona has never used an iphone. i'm not going to knock droids. even tho i have one, i'm still not going to knock them. let's just say the iphone is better.

Just stay with one carrier for a while the benefits are next to limitless......

I've been with the same carrier for 18+ years now and I get pretty much everything/anything I want. Hardware upgrades are never an issue, I'm still on a very old heavily discounted plan with no contract at the moment. The next time I want something I'll just remind them again how long I've been with them and no problems.

As far as the OP getting screwed like that......always make sure you note the date/time of each call, the person you were talking to and the call particulars. Of course if it had been me and they promised an upgrade if not satisfied with the downgrade I would have not accepted the downgrade for a year before getting on their case again. The squeaky wheel get's the oil as my dad used to say......and I can be squeaky as hell! hehe

Quoting MadDeez,

reply 16

hmmmmmm. i'm guessing kona has never used an iphone.

I have. Don't care for them. iPhone 4 is known to drop calls.

The cell phone insurance doesn't make any sense, anyway, because of the deductible. The deductible can wind up being half the price of the phone. It's like, why even pay premiums? Plus if you're like me and you lose your phone, you can just eat the cost yourself. The point of insurance is when an earthquake levels your $250,000 house or you need $100,000 quadruple bypass surgery. So your $200 phone fell in the drainage sewer, bleh, it's called "upgrade opportunity".

As far as auto and home insurance, USAA is the not just the best; it's the *ONLY* insurance company. Don't even shop around. USAA just opened up eligibility to everybody. Just get them and be done.

Yeah - Whatever. They just send you to Progressive.

"USAA auto insurance isn't available to you — but we still can help.

Our mission is to serve military service members and their families. Even though USAA auto insurance isn't available because of membership requirements, we can still can help you get insured today. The USAA General Agency has worked with Progressive Insurance for more than 20 years to provide options for members who aren’t eligible for USAA auto insurance."

??? Maybe the open eligibility thing hasn't come into effect yet. ?

you guys need to simplify and go with Track phone-- like I have.

I am looking at getting insurance on the next phone since my wife has managed to lose one and swim with another in the space of 2 years. But given your experience, I am going to look a lot harder at it.

Quoting Jafo,

reply 8

Get something cheap enough you can survive its loss...and let the Insurers con someone else instead...

That's what I did... a $29.95 and 1 year's pre-paid credit with Vodaphone for $29.95... stuff the idea of buying credit that expires every month, what a friggin' ripoff. Not having any telco telling me they'll wipe the slate clean if I don't happen to use what I PAID for.

As for insurers, well they're parasitic and right down there with scum sucking, low-life bankers... profit it their only concern and "eff you" if you need to claim. Just ask the victims of the Qld floods who are still struggling to rebuild their lives because insurance companies refused to pay out on 'flood cover' policies/claims.

Yup, f**K insurers AND bankers.

It's in the Insurer's interest to try as hard as they can to AVOID paying out on claims...as the more payouts the less profitable they are.

Simple economics.

Sometimes you are required by Law to have Insurance for various things....and then it's simply an Impost. I pay Professional Indemnity Insurance every year...and if I don't I'm deregistered and cannot practise. Prior to the requirement I had the better part of 30 years practice without someone wanting/needing to sue.

Money for nothing and your chicks for free.....

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