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iPhone 5 getting replaced with 5S through Asurion

alexmarchuk

alexmarchuk

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 28, 2007
695
271
New Jersey
I can't find any related cases, but here it goes. I have never bought Applecare+ or the carrier insurance for any of my phones and when I lost them or broke them I just bought a new one full price off contract. After losing 3 iPhone 5's I figured I'd tack on the $6.99/month insurance from AT&T several months ago.

I had a small minor chip on the top left of the phone which only ran down an inch and curved leftwards back off-screen - yesterday I dropped it at work and at around 3pm I called Apple to schedule a Genius appointment and was aware of the $149 display replacement available and confirmed this with the store before I walked in. Within the timeframe of 3pm-7pm I had realized the insurance I had on only my line and went to AT&T at the mall to see what they could do. They said call or visit the website to file a claim. So I figured, $149 for a screen replacement or just $200 for a full device replacement - no brainer.

I wanted to do this process as quick as possible, entered all information necessary (security check, description of the event that damaged the phone, etc) and I just noticed the small detail in my replacement device - they are shipping me a 32GB Silver 5S, now I assumed this is because only the 5C, 5S and 4S are currently available and the 5 has been discontinued... Very interesting, I am not complaining at all and just wondering if anyone else has had the same result through this carrier insurance add-on.

Relevant image attached. I have to wait till Tuesday, no biggy, unfortunate things always happen to occur to me on weekends. So now just waiting for the arrival so I can send my damaged device back.
 

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I've been researching since yesterday and from what I have come up with most of them were disappointed with the service they provided - but these date to mid-2013 and back so maybe they got their act together and maybe, just maybe I was in luck that the 5 is no longer sold in retail stores.
 
My wife recently hopped back onto our account with ATT and they were offering the open insurance program. The sales person said that is was actually fairly common for people to get an upgraded phone as a replacement. It just depends what they have ready and available at the moment. If they don't have exactly what you should be receiving, they send you something better.

We decided to go this route because my wife drops her phone all the time. Her screen (top right corner) is cracked (the one we insured was her 5 since that's what she has been using, though I went through the effort of getting her a gold 5S on launch... go figure), but that didn't stop AT&T from insuring it for us.

The rep went as far as to say that he did this for all of his family because some of their phones will "likely have accidents". While we didn't necessarily need the salespitch, I am sure it is working on a ton of folks.

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alexmarchuk said:
I've been researching since yesterday and from what I have come up with most of them were disappointed with the service they provided - but these date to mid-2013 and back so maybe they got their act together and maybe, just maybe I was in luck that the 5 is no longer sold in retail stores.
Click to expand...

The rather peculiar thing about this (for me) is that they didn't just replace it with a 5C. But anyway, that's rather awesome!
 
lordofthereef said:
My wife recently hopped back onto our account with ATT and they were offering the open insurance program. The sales person said that is was actually fairly common for people to get an upgraded phone as a replacement. It just depends what they have ready and available at the moment. If they don't have exactly what you should be receiving, they send you something better.

We decided to go this route because my wife drops her phone all the time. Her screen (top right corner) is cracked (the one we insured was her 5 since that's what she has been using, though I went through the effort of getting her a gold 5S on launch... go figure), but that didn't stop AT&T from insuring it for us.

The rep went as far as to say that he did this for all of his family because some of their phones will "likely have accidents". While we didn't necessarily need the salespitch, I am sure it is working on a ton of folks.

----------



The rather peculiar thing about this (for me) is that they didn't just replace it with a 5C. But anyway, that's rather awesome!
Click to expand...

Indeed it is! I am not one for "scamming" the insurance company because I know way too many people who would claim the phone as "lost" and offload it on craigslist and receive a brand new one for the same $200, but I am going to wait for arrival and some what reserve my judgement but I hope for nothing but the best!
 
My assistant manager had the same thing happen when he lost his 5 last month. He also has AT&T. Never heard of asurion doing that for the other carriers.
 
titans1127 said:
My assistant manager had the same thing happen when he lost his 5 last month. He also has AT&T. Never heard of asurion doing that for the other carriers.
Click to expand...

Precisely the reasoning for my question, seemed quite out of the ordinary for Asurion's previous reputation. I will definitely update the outcome of this claim as soon as I can.
 
antiprotest said:
How did you lose three iPhones? Just curious.
Click to expand...

They weren't all "lost" per say, but one I did truly lose in a NYC cab and never got back, then one I got stolen which I had left it charging for a half hour and the other one was just lost in the wilderness. This would have been my fourth 5 but now it's a 5s.
 
alexmarchuk said:
Good for Apple and you! Was this after they discontinued the 5? Or just because the constant warranty exchanges were enough?
Click to expand...
Both. My 5 was long out of warranty so I paid the fee. Then kept getting POS phones so apple upgraded me to a 5s unlocked whichever color I chose too.
 
AndrewR23 said:
Both. My 5 was long out of warranty so I paid the fee. Then kept getting POS phones so apple upgraded me to a 5s unlocked whichever color I chose too.
Click to expand...

I wish I had a choice in color, but my white 5 is the same as the silver 5s so no complaints from me haha. I did order two new cases that arrived today in gold (the color I would have preferred). [The two cases are OUTFIT MATRIX by elago] and the TOUGH ARMOR by spigen]. Both cases, serve their purpose.
 
alexmarchuk said:
I wish I had a choice in color, but my white 5 is the same as the silver 5s so no complaints from me haha. I did order two new cases that arrived today in gold (the color I would have preferred). [The two cases are OUTFIT MATRIX by elago] and the TOUGH ARMOR by spigen]. Both cases, serve their purpose.
Click to expand...

I have the gold spigen tough armor and its very cool. Good case!
 
alexmarchuk said:
I can't find any related cases, but here it goes. I have never bought Applecare+ or the carrier insurance for any of my phones and when I lost them or broke them I just bought a new one full price off contract. After losing 3 iPhone 5's I figured I'd tack on the $6.99/month insurance from AT&T several months ago.

I had a small minor chip on the top left of the phone which only ran down an inch and curved leftwards back off-screen - yesterday I dropped it at work and at around 3pm I called Apple to schedule a Genius appointment and was aware of the $149 display replacement available and confirmed this with the store before I walked in. Within the timeframe of 3pm-7pm I had realized the insurance I had on only my line and went to AT&T at the mall to see what they could do. They said call or visit the website to file a claim. So I figured, $149 for a screen replacement or just $200 for a full device replacement - no brainer.

I wanted to do this process as quick as possible, entered all information necessary (security check, description of the event that damaged the phone, etc) and I just noticed the small detail in my replacement device - they are shipping me a 32GB Silver 5S, now I assumed this is because only the 5C, 5S and 4S are currently available and the 5 has been discontinued... Very interesting, I am not complaining at all and just wondering if anyone else has had the same result through this carrier insurance add-on.

Relevant image attached. I have to wait till Tuesday, no biggy, unfortunate things always happen to occur to me on weekends. So now just waiting for the arrival so I can send my damaged device back.
Click to expand...




Wow! I thought I was the only person this had happened to. I cracked my iPhone 5 about 4 months ago so I went to asurions website to make a claim when it got to the device selection page it said they were all out of the black iphone 5 32GB so it offered me a white or black 64GB iphone 5 or a black 32gb iphone 5s. Obviously I took the 5s and I got to keep my unlimited data.
 
This is definitely good news for those that are on the insurance plan. However OP I feel like you deserved an upgrade after all you spent a fortune on the iPhone --- having lost 3, damage 1, and you said you paid full price for all [or most?]

By the way did they let you keep the damaged iPhone 5?

Also I noticed one thing, the iPhone 5S --- Apple store will not replace screen's on it in store, I was in the store few days ago and another customer came in with broken screen and the only option she had was the out of warranty replacement for $269+ tax, and she decided to just stick with the cracks as she didn't have Applecare+.
 
In my experience I've only seen asurion replace iphones with all brand new ones in sealed box. Most all other brands are refurbs most of the time.
 
Has anyone with Verizon had this happen?

I broke the screen on my iphone 5, I have had 2 already through warranty replacement due to problems, so I really don't want to pay for another 5 (refurb of course) just to have continuing issues with it. But I also really wouldn't want the 5c (which is what I've heard they are replacing Verizon user's phones with). I guess it would be better than a cracked 5 (and hardly working anyway).

Just wasn't sure if anyone with Verizon had any recent experiences so I could kind of know what to expect...

Thanks!
 
Samunlocks.net said:
This is definitely good news for those that are on the insurance plan. However OP I feel like you deserved an upgrade after all you spent a fortune on the iPhone --- having lost 3, damage 1, and you said you paid full price for all [or most?]

By the way did they let you keep the damaged iPhone 5?

Also I noticed one thing, the iPhone 5S --- Apple store will not replace screen's on it in store, I was in the store few days ago and another customer came in with broken screen and the only option she had was the out of warranty replacement for $269+ tax, and she decided to just stick with the cracks as she didn't have Applecare+.
Click to expand...

Yep, full price, except the one before this 5s I just flat out cancelled my line and paid the ETF and got another 32gb for less than what the 32gb would have cost me off contract. And for us, the ones who love new technology, two year contracts don't fare well with us. ~$650 or so after fees and early termination. Roughly saving $100. The off contract device was $749 I believe.

The insurance claim asked what happened to the device, I could have claimed I lost it [fraud] but I don't need another phone to hold onto so I just filed it under physical damage. I was more concerned about receiving a functional phone. Asurion sends a return label with the replacement phone to ship the damaged one back.

Did not know that the 5S screens were not being fixed in the Apple store, good knowledge though. I was aware of the $149 and the $269 options, I was very close as I said to pull the trigger on the $149 screen replacement on the 5, but hey, I walked out of this better than I thought.
 
iPhone 5 getting replaced with 5S through Asurion

nodm89 said:
Has anyone with Verizon had this happen?



I broke the screen on my iphone 5, I have had 2 already through warranty replacement due to problems, so I really don't want to pay for another 5 (refurb of course) just to have continuing issues with it. But I also really wouldn't want the 5c (which is what I've heard they are replacing Verizon user's phones with). I guess it would be better than a cracked 5 (and hardly working anyway).



Just wasn't sure if anyone with Verizon had any recent experiences so I could kind of know what to expect...



Thanks!
Click to expand...


You can start the claim on Asurions website. It will tell you what phone they are going to replace it with before you submit payment. I am on verizon btw
 
Talked with the AT&T rep when getting my 5s today and he told me that a bunch of people are getting the 5s through Asurion instead of the 5 since they're discontinued (obviously). But, since I was upgrading my 5 to a 5s, I was tempted to just pay the $200 and get a 5s that way hahaha. I didn't though. Sold the 5 for $250 and did Next for the 5s.
 
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