Warranty on TP2 -- Is it worth it?

[boredandtattooed]

anyone that tells someone NOT to get insurance is giving bad advice... set the 7aside for the upgrade?? r u kidding? thats 84bucks a yr.. 168 after 2 yrs.... uhh, what phone is he gonna buy for 168?? not many nice ones.. and youd still be paying full price if something happens to it...

spend the money for insurance.... spend the money on a feakin TP2... if you cant afford it, then save for it, dont tyalk about how to scam it..... TONS of us have paid, heck some paid well over 500bucks even

and: what does the vxw extended warrenty cover?
does it cover usb ports screens and/or keyboards?- your manufacturer warranty at a minumum covers that kind of stuff, u technically dont even need insuarnce or anything to get those fixed... insurance just makes it so u dont have to wait weeks for HTC to return your phone

[AVakil]

I think you guys are right, an extra 7 bucks a month won't kill me. maybe i should drink one less beer a month (i live in nyc).

[boredandtattooed]

NYC huh, gee if your a smoker, just cut out one of those $9 packs of smokes out a month even LOL

[AVakil]

haha -- only one vice for me.

I think you guys have convinced me that it's worth it. So from what I understand there's a $50 deductible, is there anything that it doesn't cover? or is it complete coverage? no matter what i do to the phone, it's a $50 deductible and I get a refurb?

How has the quality been of the refurbs in your opinion?

[land2634]

Definitely worth it. Just wanted to clarify that I wasn't seriously telling you to set aside $7 a month. My basis for saying that was if you are expecting the insurance to be an upgrade program for you. If that's what you're going into it expecting, you will probably be disappointed. That's the only reason I said that. The 7 dollars is worth what you get all things considered.

[haus]

I thought the deductible was $100 now for smartphones.

I don't usually buy insurance. I keep several spare smartphones lying around (I buy older generation ones on Ebay that will still meet my needs) and the last time I dropped a cell phone was in 1997 on some carpeting. If I net out the money I spent on "spares" from the money I've saved by not buying insurance, in my particular case I'm ahead, but I understand that's not realistic for everyone.

That said, if I picked up the TP2 tomorrow I would probably insure it given the extraordinarily high replacement cost, at least for a while. ($650 BIN on Ebay right now). Don't forget to factor in that deductible, which I assume is payable if you damage the phone but not if it's a mfr defect. But as others have said, I would not buy insurance with the aim of getting an upgrade in a couple of years out of it. That's not the purpose of insurance. Otherwise my car insurance company should be getting me a new TSX right now after driving my 'teg for 15 years.

It's funny, though - if you were with verizon that $168 you'd save over 2 years would actually get you pretty close to the $199 price of the TP2 as the "latest and greatest" phone, assuming existing customers qualify for that deal after 22 months, etc. Sprint and T-mo charging $350 for the thing seems to be sort of a new trend in lowering subsidies. If the Ebay (and other secondary market) prices reflect the carriers' pricing as a market force, then the cost of self-insurance will go up. TEP becomes more attractive, and (hey, look at that) ARPU goes up.

The insurance decision is a fascinating one to me, given everything that comes into play and the variation in user experiences. I've only had one phone replaced (ever), a Motorola V710, which big red replaced on the spot for me (without insurance). I think it was a "known issue" which helped. Yet some people here go through anywhere between 3-8 phones. I know I'm going to get torched out the window for saying this but I'm always wondering what the h these people do to their phones when I read stuff like "I've gone through 8 replacements". Wow.

[chong67]

You cant think of it as wasting money. You ever think of health insurance or car insurance as a waste and save that money and perhaps it will help you pay for it down the road? I know if I get sick, I hope my $5 million will cure me.

I am paying $11 a mth for insurance for my phone. If it died, I go to Sprint store and the next day I get a refurb one. Otherwise, you might have to sent it back to HTC to get it fix and wait for many weeks.

I do know my phone will die from heavy use. My phone gets so hot when it tether and I chat alot (MSN/Yahoo/Skype) using the phone. I now have the Treo Pro and will get the TP2 soon.

[AVakil]

haus and Chong67 -- Very insightful, thank you both.

I would have loved to have my Mogul replaced 14 months in when the keyboard started to go bad.

[aaronpoweruser]

vzw's deductible is 89 and im just getting the extend warranty cause for 2 a month they give u a new one on the spot with no deductible if its a manufacture defective or inoperable(which to use is bricked :]) so that covers usb ports n that kind of stuff n water damage if they dont look to closely n if i crack the screen i think i can get a new one on ebay for less than 89 and put it in my self