Massively damaged phone. Have TEP. Will Sprint replace in store?

EtherealRemnant · #1 (**permalink**) 10-02-2008, 04:54 AM

Anyone have any experience here?

Long story short, my Mogul is jacked so bad that even the pins for the battery are toast. Very long night.

If I go in to a Sprint store, what are my chances of walking out with a Mogul? I'm more than willing to pay my deductible but it is totally *NOT* possible for me to be without a phone for the 24-72 hours it takes for an Asurion replacement to arrive.

Will Sprint replace the phone in-store for me and file the insurance claim or am I just screwed?

I'm so pissed off right now that you just wouldn't believe... I can't even get my PC to recognize my microSD card even though the card seems to be totally fine based on looks. I'm hoping its just my adapter because if I lost all my numbers, I'm straight up SCREWED...

Anyway, can someone shine some light on this? I'm freaking out... I won't make it even a day without my phone!!!

desitdt · #2 (**permalink**) 10-02-2008, 06:17 AM

im not an expert so anyone feel free to correct me, but if you have TEP you should be able to go in and get a referbished phone. If your local store is out of referbs, then they will eather ordr you a replacement or give you a new one. If they dont have any in stock you could always go to another store around you and see if they have any. I havnt been here long, but that is what i think will happen.

**Baffles** · #3 (**permalink**) 10-02-2008, 07:47 AM

Wasn't the rule for TEP that it's only covered if there is no mainboard or water damage? So as long as the main board in the phone is fine, they should give you a new one (I think)

Damdifino · #4 (**permalink**) 10-02-2008, 07:52 AM

Not to pour condensation on your coordinated marching event but why would anyone get themselves painted into such a corner? These phones should be relied on as merely a convenience, not a lifeline. I used to work for Sprint and, seriously, it made me ill watching the business types lose it when they found out that their bread and butter was now toast. Part of the reason that I left their employment. Lecture over. As for the insurance, to set your expectations, Sprint gives you a number for the third party insurance company. You call. Tell story. They send refurb. That was how we did it back in the day. You can always purchase a phone and return it before the 30 day (or whatever it is now) trial period is over.

ebbtide · #5 (**permalink**) 10-02-2008, 11:09 AM

Nope. TEP (the $7/month) will cover everything. EVERYTHING.

My dog ate my mogul. My dog is a 85lb pitbull. The entire thing was destroyed. Mangled. Think "Will It Blend?!?".. I called and had a replacement within a day.

There is a deductable. And they'll only give you a replacement like 3 times a year (to keep you from saying "i lost my phone" every week and selling them on ebay)..

superevilllama · #6 (**permalink**) 10-02-2008, 12:45 PM

well I just walked out of my sprint store a few days ago with a brand new mogul in the box. They were all out of refurbs. I originally took my phone in for the usb charging port falling out. The technician mentioned that in the beginning of September their policy actually changed a bit to either exclude or charge for certain types of damages to the phone. (This time he did not charge me). So I would take it in very soon to ensure you get it replaced and if they say anything about the policy, since its new, just say you were not aware.

Take care of your new one!

ltam20 · #7 (**permalink**) 10-02-2008, 06:07 PM

The change to the damages was that the lcd screen is no longer covered and you have to pay the deductible if yours is damaged. I took mine into a repair center cause some of my buttons were broken. They ordered me another one and swapped it out for me no charge because of the TEP. I was able to keep using my phone until the replacement came in.

PhantomApolyon · #8 (**permalink**) 10-02-2008, 06:08 PM

I guess I should chime in here because I sell/repair for sprint full time.

There are 2 scenarios WITH TEP(I really wish sales reps would take the time to explain this stuff because customers could understand the policy they sign up for):

#1. Equipment Service & Repair (General Maint., Defects, wear & tear, hardware faliure, etc)<-- In Store
#2. Equipment Replacement (lost, stolen, water damage, discresionary physical damage) <-- Asurion

NOTES:

Physical Damage is GENERALLY NOT covered in store(ex: cracked or busted screens, flip phone in 2 pieces, etc) YES, I know it used to be but it was always against policy. We just used to have leinency we no longer have for physical damage

Liquid Damage is NOT covered in store.

Board Level Damage is NOT covered in store.

Board Level Faliure IS covered in store by means of an advanced exchange as long as it wasn't subject to excessive abuse(rare)

*gets off the soapbox*

The biggest thing to keep in mind is ask yourself, "would this be cost effective to fix if I owned a repair center" If the answer is no, assume you wont have an immediate replacement(excluding board level FAILURE), sometimes you'll be wrong but its a good rule of thumb.

EtherealRemnant · #9 (**permalink**) 10-04-2008, 02:28 AM

So the replacement Mogul Asurion sent me... Wow.

Turn it on. Right away, I notice the white spot (worst I've ever seen) and the fact that the whole bottom left side of the screen has LED backlight bleeding into it. I figure meh, whatever, if it works who cares? So it powers up... get to the calibration screen... tap the screen... nothing... tap it again... nothing... finally I pressed so hard that I was afraid it would break the screen and the arrow moved to the top-left corner... proceeded through the hard presses til it installed the software and reset... once the Today screen was up, I noticed that the bottom right corner of the LCD was totally warped (just like the last replacement they sent me ironically) and I tried using my thumb to tap on the start button... Lets just say that you have to press about TWICE as hard on this screen as you do on the Touch to get a response!

Called Sprint... they credited me the 65 dollars (50 deductible plus 15 for Saturday shipping that I paid) and I'm calling Asurion tomorrow to do battle. Wish me luck.

I swear that they must just take these phones, replace the housing and the top cover for the LCD panel, then mark them as "refurbished" and ship them back out...

EtherealRemnant · #10 (**permalink**) 10-04-2008, 03:52 PM

Just got off the phone with Asurion's resolution team. No argument required. They are sending me a brand new Mogul that I should get Tuesday or Wednesday.

They apologized profusely. Their policy is that any remanufactured phone should not be able to be visibly picked out as a remanufactured phone. Any defects, even cosmetic, qualify for a replacement. The fact that the touch screen wasn't even responsive automatically grants me a new in box Mogul. I didn't even bother to activate the other one. Guess I'm using a Katana for a few more days.