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Apple Care Warranty vs Best Buy Insurance...Both for iPhone 3G

M

MrGadget28

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 16, 2009
129
0
Which of these two are better for insurance? I bought my iPhone basically last month and have been using the $15 per month insurance from Best Buy. The reason I bought this insurance was because I'm not sure if I could trust Apple. I think they might make me buy a whole new iPhone.

If I wanted, could I purchase the Apple Care extended warranty now or is it too late?

And which insurance is better?
 
Well depending on when you bought your iPhone 3G, you have a 1 year or 2 year warranty. That's a warranty though. So if the phone misbehaves on Apple's half they will replace it. If you drop it in water and it doesn't work, then you are out of luck.
 
Again, Apple Care is a warranty service, it's not an insurance....


Warranty deals with defects in the equipement, not damage that you caused - whether intentional or accidental.

Insurance covers items when the s$$t hits the fan, so to speak. If you're worried about damage, go with insurance. I do recommend getting your phone covered by an insurance company, such as the one your car insurance is through, you'll pay $40-60 per year to cover your iPhone. $15 per month is excessive.
 
Revelation78 said:
Again, Apple Care is a warranty service, it's not an insurance....


Warranty deals with defects in the equipement, not damage that you caused - whether intentional or accidental.

Insurance covers items when the s$$t hits the fan, so to speak. If you're worried about damage, go with insurance. I do recommend getting your phone covered by an insurance company, such as the one your car insurance is through, you'll pay $40-60 per year to cover your iPhone. $15 per month is excessive.
Click to expand...

$15 a month is expensive but in the end it's $180 a year. If my iPhone breaks, I'd have to pay full retail price for another 16GB which is about $600 or $700.

So the insurance saves me a few hundred dollars in the end. I'll stick with the insurance, since it includes accidental damage.
 
I have had absolutely NO problems with Apple replacing any of my products. Let's see, the first thing I brought to them was my iPod Photo, which wasn't holding a charge and they promptly replaced with an iPod Video because the iPod Photo was discontinued. In the past year I've brought in my Macbook Pro a few times ( for little things that bugged me ) like charging problems, and a dead pixel in the screen ... what did they do? Replace the battery, then replace my charging connection, then replace my screen ... ALL FREE OF CHARGE. Finally, I've brought in my iPhone once. It was because I was having problems with signal strength ( When my girlfriends old, beat up BB Pearl on ATT was getting great service ) and they replaced it right there no questions asked.

So I don't think you have to worry about Apple taking care of you, their customer service is outstanding ... but if you're expecting them to replace it when you drop it in the toilet or crack the screen ... You're looking for an insurance policy.
 
Revelation78 said:
Again, Apple Care is a warranty service, it's not an insurance....


Warranty deals with defects in the equipement, not damage that you caused - whether intentional or accidental.

Insurance covers items when the s$$t hits the fan, so to speak. If you're worried about damage, go with insurance. I do recommend getting your phone covered by an insurance company, such as the one your car insurance is through, you'll pay $40-60 per year to cover your iPhone. $15 per month is excessive.
Click to expand...

Yea, I forgot about the insurance if you call your insurance company, but 15 a month is way too high IMO.
 
xbuddycorex said:
I have had absolutely NO problems with Apple replacing any of my products. Let's see, the first thing I brought to them was my iPod Photo, which wasn't holding a charge and they promptly replaced with an iPod Video because the iPod Photo was discontinued. In the past year I've brought in my Macbook Pro a few times ( for little things that bugged me ) like charging problems, and a dead pixel in the screen ... what did they do? Replace the battery, then replace my charging connection, then replace my screen ... ALL FREE OF CHARGE. Finally, I've brought in my iPhone once. It was because I was having problems with signal strength ( When my girlfriends old, beat up BB Pearl on ATT was getting great service ) and they replaced it right there no questions asked.

So I don't think you have to worry about Apple taking care of you, their customer service is outstanding ... but if you're expecting them to replace it when you drop it in the toilet or crack the screen ... You're looking for an insurance policy.
Click to expand...

Sure glad I have the insurance
Saves me 100s of dollars
 
MrGadget28 said:
Sure glad I have the insurance
Saves me 100s of dollars
Click to expand...

Yep insurance can be beneficial! I have mine through Progressive and I pay $49 per year. Guess what I get a new iPhone if it's damaged; I also have Applecare if there's a defect that creeps up.


I also 100% agree with another poster - Applecare is phenominal when it comes to customer service.
 
Best of Both Worlds

i had trouble deciding which to choose too--overpriced warranty or expensive insurance. luckily, i stumbled upon Squaretrade and checked it out bc of the good reviews (www.squaretrade.com/iphone. I discovered you can have your cake and eat it too!
Its cheaper than applecare AND covers spills, drops or water damage. its a piece of mind you definitely need but the question, i suppose, is how much for that piece of mind? Squaretrade fits the bill for me. :D
 
MrGadget28 said:
Which of these two are better for insurance? I bought my iPhone basically last month and have been using the $15 per month insurance from Best Buy. The reason I bought this insurance was because I'm not sure if I could trust Apple. I think they might make me buy a whole new iPhone.

If I wanted, could I purchase the Apple Care extended warranty now or is it too late?

And which insurance is better?
Click to expand...

HOLY CRAP! NEITHER!!

Both of those are way to expensive. Just go to your personal insurance provider (State Farm for me) and have them insure your iPhone. Anything at all happens (stolen, broke, etc) they give you credit to go buy a new one. For me this insurance is only $30 bucks a year. So please go do that vs... $180 dollars a year.
 
english06 said:
HOLY CRAP! NEITHER!!

Both of those are way to expensive. Just go to your personal insurance provider (State Farm for me) and have them insure your iPhone. Anything at all happens (stolen, broke, etc) they give you credit to go buy a new one. For me this insurance is only $30 bucks a year. So please go do that vs... $180 dollars a year.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about homeowners insurance. Doesn't it have a deductible? And if you make a claim, you rates go up.
 
english06 said:
HOLY CRAP! NEITHER!!

Both of those are way to expensive. Just go to your personal insurance provider (State Farm for me) and have them insure your iPhone. Anything at all happens (stolen, broke, etc) they give you credit to go buy a new one. For me this insurance is only $30 bucks a year. So please go do that vs... $180 dollars a year.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about homeowners insurance? Doesn't it have a deductible? And if you make a claim, you rates go up.
 
english06 said:
HOLY CRAP! NEITHER!!

Both of those are way to expensive. Just go to your personal insurance provider (State Farm for me) and have them insure your iPhone. Anything at all happens (stolen, broke, etc) they give you credit to go buy a new one. For me this insurance is only $30 bucks a year. So please go do that vs... $180 dollars a year.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about homeowners insurance? Doesn't it have a deductible? And if you make a claim, your rates go up.
 
No, these are separate riders, usually they have no deductible. You won't see an insurance premium increase unless you start using this insurance coverage once per month.
 
MrGadget28 said:
$15 a month is expensive but in the end it's $180 a year. If my iPhone breaks, I'd have to pay full retail price for another 16GB which is about $600 or $700.

So the insurance saves me a few hundred dollars in the end. I'll stick with the insurance, since it includes accidental damage.
Click to expand...

With that reasoning, you are just the sort of person that Insurance Companies simply love :). Just think for a minute, if you don't have the misfortune to lose, have stolen, accidentally damage your phone (and the vast majority DON'T!) you have effectively wasted $180 p.a.! Don't forget, insurance doesn't usually cover actual faults of the 'phone - such as sticking switches, malfunctioning sockets, unresolvable crashes etc - these are covered by the manufacturers warranty and Applecare is the most economical way of extending this cover.

For complete cover, the best way is to insure against damage etc by adding the 'phone to your home "contents" insurance plus Applecare to cover any eventuality of problems with the 'phone itself (hardware/software).

Finally, don't forget that Applecare also offers FREE telephone support - whatever the problem.
 
not just a warranty

Revelation78 said:
Again, Apple Care is a warranty service, it's not an insurance....


Warranty deals with defects in the equipement, not damage that you caused - whether intentional or accidental.

Insurance covers items when the s$$t hits the fan, so to speak. If you're worried about damage, go with insurance. I do recommend getting your phone covered by an insurance company, such as the one your car insurance is through, you'll pay $40-60 per year to cover your iPhone. $15 per month is excessive.
Click to expand...

This was copied from the Apple Care site.
Overview
Service and support from the people who know your iPhone best
Every iPhone comes with one year of hardware repair coverage through its limited warranty and up to 90 days of technical support.1 AppleCare+ for iPhone extends repair coverage and technical support to two years from the original purchase date of your iPhone and adds coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage due to handling, each subject to a $49 service fee plus applicable tax.

It clearly states that "two incidents of accidental damage due to handling is covered and subject to $49service fee". In my opinion incidents of accidental damage = S$$t hit the fan. As someone who was foolish enough to actually purchase the Best Buy insurance and having dealt with them this week regarding an issue with my iPhone I would definitely purchase Apple Care over what Best Buy refers to as insurance. Apple Care provides accidental coverage (true it's only twice) at a reasonable rate and you are not inconvenienced with a 3 or 4 day wait for your replacement to arrive!

.
 
Good grief!!!! You are answering a 4 year old thread!! Everything has changed since then!!.............. :eek:
 
notsomuch said:
This was copied from the Apple Care site.
Overview
Service and support from the people who know your iPhone best
Every iPhone comes with one year of hardware repair coverage through its limited warranty and up to 90 days of technical support.1 AppleCare+ for iPhone extends repair coverage and technical support to two years from the original purchase date of your iPhone and adds coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage due to handling, each subject to a $49 service fee plus applicable tax.

It clearly states that "two incidents of accidental damage due to handling is covered and subject to $49service fee". In my opinion incidents of accidental damage = S$$t hit the fan. As someone who was foolish enough to actually purchase the Best Buy insurance and having dealt with them this week regarding an issue with my iPhone I would definitely purchase Apple Care over what Best Buy refers to as insurance. Apple Care provides accidental coverage (true it's only twice) at a reasonable rate and you are not inconvenienced with a 3 or 4 day wait for your replacement to arrive!

.
Click to expand...

Great job newbie.
In other breaking news, the World War 2 is over...
 
Best Buy iPhone insurance

Do NOT buy. Worst scam ever. They do not replace the phone upon issue. They make you buy a loaner phone (I got an old beat up Blackberry) not even an iPhone. $50. Then you have to come back and pick up repaired phone. You have to sign your life away that the beat up loaner phone would not be damaged while wait for repair. Insurance was not what was sold or expected from company.
 
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