Thursday, at parent/teacher conferences, I sat on my phone and broke the screen.
Not just the glass, but the LCD.
Not a problem. I pay for Sprint’s repair plan.
Little did I know that Sprint–in their infinite #$!$%#$%–considers a phone unrepairable if there is more than one crack on the screen. That effectively means that any broken screen is a total loss.
It’s good to know my $4/month has been wasted.
Other than a phone I had stolen last year, I still own every phone I’ve ever owned. None have had water damage or anything catastrophic happen to them, so I didn’t get the replacement side of Sprint’s insurance plan.
To summarize:
- I broke my phone in a way that Sprint won’t fix, even though I pay for the fixit plan.
- My phone costs $600 when you aren’t signing a new contract.
- My phone has the most expensive LCD to replace at the moment.
The Total Equipment Protection program costs $11 per month. Given my history, that’s a waste of $11, though it would actually be a waste of $7, since I have been happy to pay $4 for the repair plan.
$7 per month since I got my first smartphone in about 2008, means I’ve saved $420 in insurance fees I haven’t used.
Today, I paid $298 to replace the LCD on my phone. That includes overnighting the part to the shop since it’s not stocked and I’m leaving town tomorrow.
An insurance claim from Sprint comes with a $150 deductible.
All told, I’m $270 to the good.
Would I get the insurance if I were signing papers today?
Probably not. A $7 monthly bill doesn’t hurt, while a $300 surprise does, but that’s why I have a repair fund.
Do you have insurance on your phone? Have you used it?
Just goes to show you that the phone insurance is only for people who will get dropped by it because they break their phone every 6 months to a year. Stinks it broke but at least you saved money.
I have a $100 virgin mobile smartphone, and didn’t opt in to the insurance that was $5/mo. Good choice in hindsight, since I would be out $180 by now.
I never go for the extra insurance coverage on TV’s or computers or any electronics. I figure I can pay out of pocket if a $300-500 device dies on me after a few years. I bet I have saved enough by foregoing the extra insurance to pay for a few $500 device replacements out of pocket by now!
Seeing how these phone/laptop/tv insurance are full of exceptions & loophole (not in your favor) I never take an insurance… But I also never buy the latest model of any devices. By staying 2/3 years later than the trend, I get decent performances/quality while paying a more decent price (and also avoiding all bug that come with fancy new devices)
I avoid any electronic warrenty. I think it’s not worth it in the long run.
Paying for insurance on anything you can afford to cover yourself is generally a sucker bet. Unless you know something they don’t – like being particularly accident prone or something.
I’m also a bit confused at your math. Here’s what I’m interpreting from your post, am I missing something?
– $420 (insurance fees you paid)
– $150 (deductible you paid)
+ $298 (Repair cost – benefit received)
—————————–
– $272 -> Amount you have paid, but received no benefit for
My daughter has lived with a cracked iPhone for over a year. While her service plan has been up for a while, she’s been waiting until she could get the cost of a 32G phone down to an affordable amount. Verizon actually has iPhone 5’s still available, but you have to ask for them. It was $199 with a contract but we paid for it for her 20th birthday present. Now…the phone functioned, but we sometimes couldn’t understand what she was saying….the damage was near the bottom. She was quoted almost $200 to fix her screen, but chose to wait. In the end the new phone (she would have probably wanted anyway) cost the same as fixing the old phone would have cost 18 months ago.
I get the free with a contract phone. I really don’t care as long as it works in an emergency. I loathe cell phones. The only reason I keep mine charged is in case my daughters text me from college. 🙂