Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AppleCare+ vs. VZW Warranty vs. Geek Squad. vs. SquareTrade
- Thread starter willmtaylor
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
In the OP for SquareTrade, it mentions, "Finally, a $50 deductible applies to all claims".
This may not be entirely accurate. Unless they've changed their terms and aren't disclosing it fully on their site, they do state that "There is a $50 deductible for any accidental damage claim on an iPhone." (click on the "iphones & cellphones" menu item along the left hand "coverage details" section)
It's my understanding that if the damage is because of normal wear/tear (ie. home button not working, screen stops working, etc), there is no deductible.
I had my home button stop working (only about 50% of the time did it work) and I paid no deductible. They shipped overnight a replacement phone and I sent mine back to them.
This may not be entirely accurate. Unless they've changed their terms and aren't disclosing it fully on their site, they do state that "There is a $50 deductible for any accidental damage claim on an iPhone." (click on the "iphones & cellphones" menu item along the left hand "coverage details" section)
It's my understanding that if the damage is because of normal wear/tear (ie. home button not working, screen stops working, etc), there is no deductible.
I had my home button stop working (only about 50% of the time did it work) and I paid no deductible. They shipped overnight a replacement phone and I sent mine back to them.
That's referring to the standard AC warranty included with all iPhones, which doesn't cover accidental damage, NOT AC+ which does cover accidental damage and which this thread is discussing. (I believe, but be sure to let me know if this is incorrect.)
----------
It took a little digging on their SquareTrade's FAQ, but I did discover that you are correct. I'll be adding the following to the OP shortly:
Last edited:
Now I'm confused. First of all, I thought Apple Care was Apple Care. Are there different kinds of Apple Care Protections Plans?
Secondly, I think you're quoting Square Trade?
iPhones do not come with the Apple Care+. All devices get 1 year of standard Apple Care. There is the Apple Care and then there is AppleCare+. An additional extension warranty ($99 for 2 years and $49 per incident of replacement, up to 2).
Make sense?
Of course I quote them; the OP has quotes/paraphrases/summaries from all of the companies I sourced for it.
Great thread. I have been trying to figure out which warranty I should get for the past couple of days and this really helped, thanks!
So I'm definitely going to get Applecare+ when I get the iPhone 5. Does anyone think it's wise to get another third party insurance that covers lost and theft?
I'm currently on a pre-paid plan with Boost and I'm going to switch over to Verizon once the pre-order is live. From past experiences with carriers I've lost phones and I just want to have a backup plan just in case instead of paying the full price for another phone if I do lose it. Any advice?
I'm currently on a pre-paid plan with Boost and I'm going to switch over to Verizon once the pre-order is live. From past experiences with carriers I've lost phones and I just want to have a backup plan just in case instead of paying the full price for another phone if I do lose it. Any advice?
Apples replacement procedures make it just not worth it to have a warranty...you're talking about a maximum $50 savings on a damaged phone if you have 1 incident over its lifetime...2 incidents makes it a decent savings with AppleCare+ but a rip off with any of the others. Why is this?
Apple will replace a damaged iPhone for $200. No questions asked. So your options are: spend $100, then another $50 IF you break your phone
Verizon's scam plan
Or pay $200 ONLY IF you break your phone.
You're taking a $50 gamble on the fact that you won't break your phone, or $100 gamble that you will...so I guess it comes down to, how much do you trust yourself?
----------
Also just realized Verizon will literally charge you for the FREE features of iCloud if you're dumb enough. Wow. Just wow
Apple will replace a damaged iPhone for $200. No questions asked. So your options are: spend $100, then another $50 IF you break your phone
Verizon's scam plan
Or pay $200 ONLY IF you break your phone.
You're taking a $50 gamble on the fact that you won't break your phone, or $100 gamble that you will...so I guess it comes down to, how much do you trust yourself?
----------
Also just realized Verizon will literally charge you for the FREE features of iCloud if you're dumb enough. Wow. Just wow
I, personally, wouldn't pay extra for this. Just go Dave Ramsey on the situation: save the money every month that you would be using on the ultra-expensive lost/stolen insurance. That way if you ever need it, you'll have it, and if you never need it, you've got extra $$$.
However, if you insist on paying for that feature/coverage, you're better of NOT buying AC+ & just going with VZW's expensive, rip-you-a-new-one warranty if you're that worried about losing your phone, b/c that's the only one that covers lost/stolen devices.
Problem is, you're pretty much paying for a new one anyway b/c the service is so damned expensive.
You should note that the AppleCare+ does battery replacements for free for the two years, normally like $79+service fee (not sure about the others, but sounds like SquareTrade will do this too if they cover wear and tear with no deductible?). One accidental damage replacement and one battery replacement would save you $130+, two accidents and one battery would save $280.
And there's also the $29 you'd save on *each* telephone support calls after 90 days complimentary included, though I would be surprised to make a single one of those personally (but it would be smart for some others like friends, parents, bosses).
And there's also the $29 you'd save on *each* telephone support calls after 90 days complimentary included, though I would be surprised to make a single one of those personally (but it would be smart for some others like friends, parents, bosses).
Last edited:
Ok. Good to point out. I added that (parenthetically) in the AC+ description.
Thanks,
will
Before reading this, was going to get Best Buy, but now I just think it's too expensive. I'll probably get AppleCare+ but might hold off for a month or so (I think this is allowed?) and buy it later.
Glad it helped you out.
BTW, you have 30 days to buy AC+ & if you purchase it after purchasing your iPhone, you must take the phone to a store to be inspected before they will cover it.
Happy hunting.
Does the $199 Apple charges for Out of Warranty Replacement give you a phone with the same storage you previously had? On the Apple website, it seems to indicate that the replacement phone would be 16 or 32 GB. I'm probably going to get a 64 GB version. This would make a huge difference for me, in getting a Warranty or not.
Don't forget that after the first year apple won't replace or fix non-accidental issues either. I had to pay $200 for a refurb phone when my two month out of warranty iPhone 4 just quit charging. In addition to the two accidental replacements you get regular warranty service for the full length of the contract.