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Squaretrade warranty makes no sense

This thread just saved me $100!:D

I just canceled my Squaretrade policy I purchased last week and they gave me a full refund. I, too, always assumed that the $199 Apple replacement only applied in very specific situations and was at the discretion of the "Genius" you happened to deal with.
 
Interesting..

I bought two squaretrade policies for my phone and my wife's, this topic has been very informative. I had not been aware of the OOW's pretty significant coverage, I had assumed in order to replace a broken/water damaged phone through apple would cost the full $599.

$150 (ST warranty + deductible) sounded a hell of a lot better to me than running the risk of ponying up $599, but if the actual replacement cost is $200, the math is definitely against having the ST policy.

Will have to give this some thought, may cancel ST policies....
 
bigdaddyjo said:
I bought two squaretrade policies for my phone and my wife's, this topic has been very informative. I had not been aware of the OOW's pretty significant coverage, I had assumed in order to replace a broken/water damaged phone through apple would cost the full $599.

$150 (ST warranty + deductible) sounded a hell of a lot better to me than running the risk of ponying up $599, but if the actual replacement cost is $200, the math is definitely against having the ST policy.

Will have to give this some thought, may cancel ST policies....
Click to expand...


That was my assumption too, bigdaddyjo!

Just to let you know - canceling the ST warranty was very easy - login to your account, choose your policy, in the right hand box there's a "Cancel" link. Took me all of 30 seconds to do it and they refunded me the entire amount; I guess since it's only been a week since I purchased it.
 
Looking to get an ST warranty for my ipad...any coupons codesfloating around that are still good?
 
jwwpua said:
If it's jailbroken, Apple won't help you. Squaretrade will.

Assume Apple will just replace your phone. It could be a newer bootrom or firmware which cannot be jailbroken (as has happened in the past).

Squaretrade, on the other hand, could repair your phone so that you could still be jailbroken.

Just something to consider if that's important to you.
Click to expand...

SO how would they know if its jailbroken?

If the phone is broken and wont start then they dont know.
If it starts, then you can restore before taking it in..

Also, its $199 for each out of warranty repair at apple unless they fix...

My issue was in understanding if ST will repair. If they pay you out then you'll get some portion of the cost of a new phone, then go out and buy another ST warranty.

There is no value to ST in fixing. Therefore, they are basically just like Apple's $199 except that you are paying for coverage that is already free.

Does that make sense...?
 
Thanks for this info. I did not know about the 199 OOW replacement from Apple. I signed up for ST but I very well may cancel and rest assured that if something goes wrong at least its only another 200.
 
man i just cancelled my ST warranty to get my 106 bucks back.... i still have a few weeks to decide if i still want it... this is a hard choice!
 
ZipZap said:
SO how would they know if its jailbroken?

If the phone is broken and wont start then they dont know.
If it starts, then you can restore before taking it in..
Click to expand...

There are instances that would prevent restoring (port damage, etc) but would allow the screen to work.

Also, if you restore, you are losing your jailbreak. If you are lucky, you'll have your SHSH blobs stored, but not everyone does. And who knows what Apple will do? They could restore it themselves to a newer firmware that cannot be jailbroken. And again, they could end up replacing it with one that is already on a newer bootrom or firmware which cannot be jailbroken.
 
ashVID said:
Maybe I'm just having post purchase cognitive dissonance but I'm regretting this warranty. I thought it included theft/loss but it doesn't. Luckily i got it for $80 but with Apple's replacement for $199 it makes no sense. If you analyze it, you might come the same conclusion.

Let's forget tax as it differs everywhere. The ST warranty is $100 for 2 years, you send in your phone and they repair or replace it (not really convenient) and you pay $50 deductible. So you pay a total of $150.

With Apple, you walk in with your broken phone, pay them $200 and walk out with a new (refurb) phone. So you are paying $100 insurance for a net of $50 coverage. That's insane.

What am I missing here? I also have iPad coverage which makes a lot more sense. ST is a solid company, it's just that this product makes no sense.



Ash
Click to expand...

ok I too am missing something in your question itself what do you mean when you say "Apple's replacement" are you talking about applecare? because that does not cover theft or non-manufacturer problems such as cracked screens or water damage either. Asurion offers theft and damage protection but it has a $199 deductable for 16gb and $299 for 32gb iphone 4 and cost $12.99 a month. So essentially you have to buy the phone all over again yes it is better than paying retail but it's still alot of money, where as with Squaretrade your only out the $50 deductable plus what you have paid in to the plan for me is only $5.99 a month which is better than paying all upfront in my opinion because if I break the phone in three months i'm only out around $70 better than paying $199 plus tax in my opinion. Trust me if you drop your phone and break the screen or have water damage apple DOES NOT fix it without you paying and when I broke my 3gs last year it was $199 for a refurb at the Apple store and somewhere around $100 for them to replace the screen, as for theft well thats just a crappy thing all together I would use family map and go kick the guys ass who stole it lol but thats just me, with all the fraud out there I can see why squaretrade doesnt cover theft. I would have to say if you are prone to Iphone injuries as many people I know are because of our line of work buy your phone at best buy and get the blacktie protection a guy on my shift has gone through 4 or 5 iphones that way and there is never a deductable also get an otterbox when they come out for iphone 4 most everyone in the fire service that I know has one and they work miracles!!
 
jwwpua said:
There are instances that would prevent restoring (port damage, etc) but would allow the screen to work.

Also, if you restore, you are losing your jailbreak. If you are lucky, you'll have your SHSH blobs stored, but not everyone does. And who knows what Apple will do? They could restore it themselves to a newer firmware that cannot be jailbroken. And again, they could end up replacing it with one that is already on a newer bootrom or firmware which cannot be jailbroken.
Click to expand...

If apples does not repair but replaces then it does not matterif you loose your JB.
 
ZipZap said:
If apples does not repair but replaces then it does not matterif you loose your JB.
Click to expand...

This is my point. I'm saying that Square Trade does provide some benefit. Since they will try to repair your phone, you can keep your jailbreak.
 
if a refurb replacement is always 199 from Apple, then I dont see how the ST warranty makes sense unless you want a new phone replacement.

Oh and you will still have to cough up some bucks for the new phone as the payout from ST is not going to cover it (599/699).
 
jwwpua said:
This is my point. I'm saying that Square Trade does provide some benefit. Since they will try to repair your phone, you can keep your jailbreak.
Click to expand...

I have never seen any evidence that ST repairs anything. This is insurance, and IMHO they want to pay out and hope you buy another warranty.
 
ZipZap said:
I have never seen any evidence that ST repairs anything. This is insurance, and IMHO they want to pay out and hope you buy another warranty.
Click to expand...

From their website: "Once you ship in a broken iPhone and we receive at our depot, 80% of phones are fixed and shipped back the same day"

Also, from their twitter: "We do cover multiple repairs - but if we can't repair we pay you full (unsubsidized) phone price & contract is fulfilled."

And this: "To keep the price cheaper. Few ppl will ever hit $699 limit; repairs costs $100-200, so $699 gets you 3-6 repairs."

Sounds like it'll cover multiple claims if the phone can be repaired. If you damage it so badly that it needs to be replaced entirely, then you will need to purchase the insurance again. But I would guess that most drops will just break the glass and will be fairly easy (cheap) to repair.
 
After looking at Apples OOW policy, It looks to be there only for mysterious water damage.

It plainly says no catastrophic damage or multiple pieces will be covered under the OOW period.

While paying for a warranty is lame, squaretrade is probably the most straight forward and honest warranty companies out there.
 
Again, Apple will replace any phone for any damage that occurs under normal use. Dropped in a lake, ran over by a car, etc. they will replace for $199. With ST you are paying $100 for $50 insurance.

I was going with Safeware but I travel overseas some so I went with Worth Ave at the 11th hour. Claims don't pay out as fast but they cover everything everywhere that Apple's warranty does not. It's $85 a year, same $50 deductible. Their iPad coverage for the 64gb 3G is only $72 so I picked that up as well.



Ash
 
jwwpua said:
If it's jailbroken, Apple won't help you. Squaretrade will.

Assume Apple will just replace your phone. It could be a newer bootrom or firmware which cannot be jailbroken (as has happened in the past).

Squaretrade, on the other hand, could repair your phone so that you could still be jailbroken.

Just something to consider if that's important to you.
Click to expand...

As per SquareTrade website:

"Please note that unlocked iPhones are not eligible for coverage from SquareTrade. Unlocking an iPhone after purchase will void a SquareTrade warranty"
 
Isn't it $150 the first time with ST and then only $50 each time afterwards but $199 every time at Apple?
 
Just wanted to chime in with some personal experience with Squaretrade. Had the warranty on my 3G. Dropped it, broke the screen and filed a claim. Sent it in to a 3rd party iPhone repair place. I can't remember the name off the top of my head but they were really reputable. Got it back a day later overnighted good as new. Here's the kicker. Squaretrade never charged me the 50 dollar deductible. I didn't pay a cent to have it fixed. Obviously this isn't something you can rely on happening, but I was impressed with the service all around. I bought a warranty for my 4 and don't regret it.

Edit: The repair service was iResQ
 
HitchHykr said:
As per SquareTrade website:

"Please note that unlocked iPhones are not eligible for coverage from SquareTrade. Unlocking an iPhone after purchase will void a SquareTrade warranty"
Click to expand...
I doubt they'll check if it's unlocked.
 
jwwpua said:
From their website: "Once you ship in a broken iPhone and we receive at our depot, 80% of phones are fixed and shipped back the same day"

Also, from their twitter: "We do cover multiple repairs - but if we can't repair we pay you full (unsubsidized) phone price & contract is fulfilled."

And this: "To keep the price cheaper. Few ppl will ever hit $699 limit; repairs costs $100-200, so $699 gets you 3-6 repairs."

Sounds like it'll cover multiple claims if the phone can be repaired. If you damage it so badly that it needs to be replaced entirely, then you will need to purchase the insurance again. But I would guess that most drops will just break the glass and will be fairly easy (cheap) to repair.
Click to expand...

I have not actually seen anyone post who was repaired vs. paid out. All the infor you provided is marketing...I'd like to hear from folks who have been repaired.


Update: I do see one person above...anyone else had a repair done for less than $199. Keep in mind that each repaid reduces your $599 limit on lifetime repairs (plus you pay $50)
 
HitchHykr said:
As per SquareTrade website:

"Please note that unlocked iPhones are not eligible for coverage from SquareTrade. Unlocking an iPhone after purchase will void a SquareTrade warranty"
Click to expand...

Unlock and jailbreak are not the same thing.
 
baller1308 said:
Isn't it $150 the first time with ST and then only $50 each time afterwards but $199 every time at Apple?
Click to expand...

No, it is because you paid 100 for the warranty. With the Apple $199 approach you dont need any upfront policy.

The only way ST makes sense is if the truely repair vs. pay out. Anyone have an iphone repaired for less than $199 using SquareTrade?
 
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