Speaking as a "well informed individual"
.. something screwy is going on there. I would say someone messed up and tried covering it up unfortunatly. the TEP is Total Equipment Protection and this covers everything. And if you were charged a $50 ded. for your replacement then either you would had to have filed an Insurance Claim through Asurion or you were with a Rep at the store and they filed one online with you still there and aware of what they were doing. But when "we" order phones there is no charge for TEP replacements. TEP covers everything and in store replacements don't cost unless you have no ESRP (Equipment Service and Repair Program). So if they told you "There is always a $50 charge for replacements" then this is false. If they told you "There is a $50 ded. for filing an insurance claim" then this is true. So based on what exactly they told you and whether a claim was filed will tell whether the $50 charge was correct. Any more questions just lemme know.