Buyer Beware: Insurance may not be worth it. Verizon doesn't honor loyalty. I report, you decide.

[Che26m]

Asurion Insurance may not be worth it, and Verizon doesn't stand by it's loyal customers. 

I've had a Motorola Droid (Original) for 2 years, and my contract just ended this month (March 2012).  My Droid's screen no longer accepts my touches.  After several reboots, battery removals, resets etc, the phone still won't recognized screen touches.  The Verizon rep at the store didn't know how to deal with it either.  "Sorry dude." was the reply.

We went over options of getting a new phone like the iPhone 4s or Droid Maxx etc, or doing an insurance claim. (I'm waiting a few months to see if the iPhone 5 is going to be worth another 2 year stretch). I was informed by the rep in the store and a rep on the phone that I would have to pay a deductible of $89 if I wanted to go that route.  So here's where I have an issue.  If I've had a phone for two years that by this time is obsolete, no longer sold and the model is worth a fraction of its original value, and if I've paid 6.99/mo for 24 months ($167.76), does it make sense for me to pay an additional $89.00 (= total of $256.76) deductible for a rehab'd old Droid?  Which is what was explained to me I may get.  "We have no control over the phone you receive". (new or refurbished)  So for me it's definitely not woth it.

I tried explaining this to the Verizon rep in the store and on the phone and they weren't sympathetic or possessed business savvy enough (or had the permission).  I was referred to Asurion, (as expected) and the Asurion rep jumped the price of the deductible up to $99.00.  The Verizon phone rep, and the Asurion phone rep both repeated to me several times "according to the contract that YOU agreed on, we will charge you $89.00/$99.00..."  The Verizon rep dumped me off on Asurion saying it's their insurance contract so I'd have to deal with them, since I didn't want to pay the deductible. The Asurion rep was just as "pass the buck" with "it's a contract you agreed to with Verizon not us," mentality.   Right away I called back to Verizon to get rid of my $6.99 insurance and they deleted it off my account. 

Even when I informed them that I'm no longer under contract (I was even nice about it) and can go anywhere else the reply was "that's your decision."  Too bad for Verizon that they don't stand by their customers. Too bad for Verizon wireless their attitude is "if you want to leave, don't let the door hit you on the way out." I can tell this was something the reps are trained to say and say it often; their responses were automatic, sounded rehearsed and robotic. 

I've been with Verizon for over 4 years (at least) so this attitude is a bit of stab in the back.  It's not good Verizon chose not to honor loyalty and stick by a customer who has completed at least two contracts.  Good news is, in this competitive environment, I can go anywhere for a phone, and service. 

I can understand if you just bought a phone that's normally $500.00 retail (no contract) and it went bad.  Paying an $89-$99 insurance deductible is possibly reasonable depending on the circumstances, but not in my situation nor in other loyal customer situations in similar situation. 

My take on it is;  find out about the manufacturer's warranty on a phone first before buying a phone.  The amount you'd pay for monthly insurance and deductible costs may not be worth it.  You may be better off having the manufacturer replace the phone, or just buying a new phone anyway.  Again...depending on your circumstances. 

Good news is, I'm no longer under contract and looking around.  My girlfriend is with Sprint and they've replaced two defective phones with NO CHARGE at all.  Looks like I'll be looking at Sprint's website after this. 

[pollix11]

Hi,

  In my personal experience with Assurion, I had an awesome experience.Granted, this was maybe two years ago, but I had a Blackberry 9600 Bold and ran over it with a lawnmower. I called Assurion and in 24 hours I had a brand new 9700 BOLD in my hand. They actually upgraded my device. I think it's well worth they few dollars a month, you never know at what point in your contract you might break or lose your phone.

    As for Verizon, I don't really get your beef.. your insurance is through an entirely different company.. do you want them just to hand you a new phone? Not only that, but you are due for an upgrade, why don't you just spring for the Maxx, it's an awesome phone! It's getting ICS this year, you are already an android user.. I just don't get it.

I'll never leave Verizon, they have the best coverage, incredible data speeds, I've never had a bad interaction with thier customer service.. but whatever, enjoy all of that awesome coverage and Wi-Max or whatever network they use now, I'll be rocking out with my Maxx, at 12 Mbps!

[Grothka]

Something is missing somwhere. If the touchscreen just stopped responding with no damage, that would be covered under warranty and would not require a deductible (seeing as you had been paying $6.99 for the total equipment coverage). So either there was damage that you didn't mention, or whoever referred you to asurion didn't understand what was going on.

[Che26m]

I would ask the same question you did, and the answer is "no" the phone was not damaged.  It's beyond the phone's warranty period, so they said I'd have to make an insurance claim. 

[Che26m]

Your questions are answered in my original post.  Thanks for your reply.  🙂 

[commonsense101]

Where does Verizon play a role in this at all

You said

"So here's where I have an issue.  If I've had a phone for two years"

That is one year past the manufactuer's warranty, it is common place with every elecontric you buy

Something isn't adding up, did you have Total Equiptment coverage for 6.99 or just WP for 5.99? If you had TEC you should be enttiled to a replacement device

What did you want verizon to do? I mean i guess let this be a lesson learned in how insurance works..Your girlfriends phone, is it 2 years old as well?

[Che26m]

Thanks for your reply:

I've worked in the insurance/banking industry for over 10 years.  In my personal experience, when a member/customer/client files a claim, that we may have an issue with, but they make a good argument where we should reconsider what's in our contractual agreement or policy due to certain circumstances, etc, we've always looked at several things:  Is the customer right, do they have a point?  Do they have a legitimate issue that we can consider when making a decision?  How long have they been with us?  What's a good decision to make for the customer and for us?  Do we want to retain them as a client?  Etc etc.  Many (not all) companies, large and small will look at a specific circumstance and what surrounds it and make a decision that is sometimes contrary to their own policy or on a contract.

Do we follow policy and shut the door on this person, and lose their business, or do we make an exception because we know they have a good case, retain them as a client and grow as a company?  Knowing it takes months and $$$ to win customers and seconds to lose them.  Sometimes all you have to do is ask and sometimes you just may get somebody to reconsider a decision.  When I was an underwriter we'd call it "common sense" underwriting, or "situational underwriting".  If it makes sense, then do it, regardless of the contract or policy. 

When it comes to customer loyalty, competition and knowing that customers can go anywhere with their business, many businesses will make things happen when they can to keep a customer and keep up a business relationship that works for both parties.  The farsighted companies are more apt to do this, the nearsighted companies don't.   

With regards to Verizon being one company and Asurion being another, while true, in my personal experience, exceptions can always be made even if the companies are split.  Always. 

The good news with this is, I have my old flip phone working now.  I've dropped over $40-$50 from my monthly bill.  🙂  As for hand-held mobile internet access I get through my iPod Touch.  WiFi hotspots are everywhere, and free.  At least the places I go to. 

But I have several months till the next batch of quad-core superphones come out, and I'll be shopping carriers to see who has the best, phone, service and price.

[commonsense101]

Customer service isn't just giving away the business..

Loyalty doesn't mean anything these days to a large company, call your light company and see if they care if you have been with them for 4 years, 2 year or 12 years..

Often customers can't go anywhere, a lot of markets in the united states are dominated by verizon. And often people run a small business or have sick family members and can't roll the dice that their service "might work"

And verizon is somewhat flexible, but a $500 phone on an account that has an upgrade available, has insurance replacement as an option and is 48 weeks outside of the warranty is out of the question.. I mean don't you agree? If you do it for one person, 100 people want the samething, then a thousand.. then a million..The policy is in place to protect the company from itself.

"With regards to Verizon being one company and Asurion being another, while true, in my personal experience, exceptions can always be made even if the companies are split.  Always. "

Its not split, its just two total separate companies, they have nothing in common. Its like Verizon and Fedex, they have contracted out service.

Verizon facilitates the warranty for you so you don't have to send your phone off to motorola and be without a phone for 2-3 weeks, they don't even hold the warranty they just work as a middle man, and insurance is the same.  Every cell phone carrier i've had works the same way

As far as dropping down to the flip phone, you want to be careful there.. If you want to keep unlimited data you need to activate a smart phone in the next 14 days or you will have to go to the tierd plan

Verizon will never be the cheapest, it usually has comparable devices.. service is the real question

[rcschnoor]

It amazes me how people can either sign up for something and not read/learn about it, or just assume that the terms will be ignored if they file a claim.

If I have a $500 deductible on my car and get in an accident, I will be paying that $500 deductible if my car is 1 month old or 10 yrs old. NO DIFFERENCE and my Honda dealership is not going to intervene with my insurance agent to see if "something can be done"!!!!!!!!

And yes, Assurion is a SEPARATE company from Verizon. They also provide insurance for other cellular providers such as

AT&T Cellular One Cellular One San Luis Obispo Clear Clearwire Comcast Dobson Cellular Edge Wireless Boost Mobile Virgin Mobile USA

MetroPCS nTelos Palm Rural Cellular Sprint Time Warner Cable T-Mobile Tracfone Verizon Wireless

[jerry122]

My man you have me concerned. I just added Asurion's $6.99 plan for my Droid Incredible. My Droid is experiencing problems with the power port and I am expecting the phone to stop charging. My question is are you saying that I am not covered for this mechanical problem?