AT&T preparing to offer insurance for all devices
25 comments
Filed in AT&T, BlackBerry, Services
Soon the days of worrying about accidental damage to your ATT Tilt, or other PDA device, will be long gone. While we have yet to confirm this with AT&T themselves, it looks like the wireless company is getting ready to roll out a new insurance program that will cover all of the devices that they currently offer. Previous insurance programs have only been available for low-cost phones, with high-end smartphones left out to dry. Beginning June 2nd, however, that will be a thing of the past. For $4.99/month, subscribers can secure a replacement device should their current handset suffer some unmentionable fate. Better yet, the new plan only requires a $50 deductible for replacement. Good news all around, folks.
On May 19, 2008 @ 9:32 am, ChrisNYC Said:
Think this includes the iPhone2 ?
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On May 19, 2008 @ 9:40 am, Brandon Said:
I was never bad with phone care, but after being without it for so long…who needs it?
Not I, said the cat.
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On May 19, 2008 @ 9:40 am, P Said:
I wish T-Mobile would follow, their insurance cost me $110 for replacement of my blackberry pearl. rip off!
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On May 19, 2008 @ 9:46 am, Proto732 Said:
I wonder if this service will be retro active on your current AT&T phone? or you will only be able to add insurance with new devices?
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On May 19, 2008 @ 10:04 am, Paul Said:
I used to have coverage on Verizon and when I switched to AT&T and couldn’t get it I called my insurance agent and added it to my homeowners policy. I covered 2 blackberry phones for $30 per year and they have $0 deductible.
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On May 19, 2008 @ 10:08 am, SG Said:
It will apply only to new contracts, be they upgrades or add-a-lines-however, you could add it as long as you just got your phone within 30 days prior to 6.2.08. Also, the $50 deductible will phase out in November, when it will increase for Tier 2 devices, probably including the Tilt and Curve. It will remain at $50 for Tier 1 devices, which will likely be all the phones currently eligible for insurance.
The iPhone is not insurance eligible.
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On May 19, 2008 @ 10:15 am, Yan Said:
Verizon has been doing this forever. Another reason AT&T sucks ass.
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On May 19, 2008 @ 10:43 am, Galvatron Said:
dosn’t mattter the all use the same insurance carrier insurrion insurrion is a seprate company fom the carrier thats who insures your devives
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On May 19, 2008 @ 10:46 am, Brandon Said:
Thanks to that huge pane of glass, lol.
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On May 19, 2008 @ 10:59 am, itchbobscratchpants Said:
Correct, and the deductible will rise to $125 for PDA devices after November
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On May 19, 2008 @ 11:51 am, aalqadaffi Said:
People that don’t think they need phone insurance annoy me. You may take care of your phone, but so will the thief that steals it when you leave it laying somewhere.
The people that decline insurance are always the nitwits that have an accident with their phone 2 months later and want me to give them the 2 year contract pricing on a replacement phone. Not gonna happen. Grrrrr. End rant.
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On May 19, 2008 @ 12:34 pm, connie Said:
are you sure about this BoyGenius? i heard that AT&T will be offering insurance but it will be at a higher monthly rate than the standard $4.99 that they now are offering. From what i hear, they will offer insurance at the monthly 4.99 for regular cell phones and a higher rate for other PDAS.
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On May 19, 2008 @ 12:58 pm, JJ Said:
Here’s the real lowdown,
iPhones will not be covered.
$4.99 is still the monthly rate but the deductible for PDA’s are going to be $100 instead of $50.
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On May 19, 2008 @ 2:48 pm, Daniel Said:
Wireless Phone Insurance offers customers protection against loss, theft, or accidental damage to their wireless device. Beginning June 2, 2008, Wireless Phone Insurance will expand its coverage to include all high-end phones and PDAs.
What is changing on June 2 with Wireless Phone Insurance?
Wireless Phone Insurance eligibility is being extended include high-end phones and PDAs (except Apple iPhone).
Depending on model, device deductibles will be in two tiers:
Equipment Tier 1: $50 non-refundable deductible per approved claim.
Equipment Tier 2: $125 non-refundable deductible per approved claim (for incident dates on/after November 3, 2008; $50 deductible for pre November 3, 2008 incident dates).
For new activations and upgrades if Wireless Phone Insurance is not selected as a feature on the account, a pop-up message in the billing system will alert sales reps to advise customers that they have 30 days in which to enroll in Wireless Phone Insurance
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On May 19, 2008 @ 3:10 pm, Jeff Said:
Oh well, I guess that won’t include my Vertu Ascent Ti
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On May 19, 2008 @ 3:27 pm, Jeff B, Said:
See I had insurance and never used it because the crap att put on the phone made it a warranty replacement and damn did I have fun with that. (3 SE W600i’s, 6 Moto RAZR V3i’s, and a BJ…all for free)
Since my Tilt isn’t covered, they’ll replace it or give me no penalty for buying a new phone.
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On May 19, 2008 @ 7:01 pm, sanzen71 Said:
WOW DANIEL!! NICE POST I SAW THIS SAME THING ON MYCSP. HAHA NICE FIND I’LL GO AND CHECK OUT THE LINK MYSELF.
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On May 20, 2008 @ 2:23 am, drrrnnn Said:
not the real downlow.
it’s $125 after November for higher end devices. read PDAs and LG Vu.
only two claims a year can be made as opposed to the three you are allowed now. that goes for everyone
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On May 20, 2008 @ 2:25 pm, eimajuno Said:
@drrrnnn Hasn’t it always been two claims a year for the current coverage?
This is good news for those of us that have been walking around with these expensive phones for a bit not covered.
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On May 20, 2008 @ 7:07 pm, jorge79 Said:
always been 2 claims
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On May 21, 2008 @ 2:26 pm, Kai Said:
I work for ATT, this new insurance plan does not cover the Iphone, Tilt, Treo 680/750, Blackberry 8310/8820
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On May 26, 2008 @ 12:34 am, kelly Said:
If you work for att you should know your facts…your stupid ass hell…why would they cover pda’s but you said 9/10 of them are not covered…maybe you should pay attention during huddle meetings or emeetings instead of worrying about lookin cool on this website
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On Jun 6, 2008 @ 11:23 am, Mike Oxhuge Said:
Daniel, Sanzen71 & Kai … Re: Postings … MyCSP eh? Aren’t internal disclosures confidential & a breach of the COBC for discussing any outside of internal At&t? Laugh. Good luck getting fired, ha!
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On Jun 10, 2008 @ 2:26 pm, Aramyn Savoi Said:
I think AT&T and other carriers should have been gotten with the program. It’s ludicrous to buy a device without insurance. I would never do such a thing. I’m an employee with Sprint-Nextel currently and have worked for all carriers. I would definitely label Sprint’s insurance superior to all the rest because they are able to waive deductibles, and if your phone just needs service you can bring it in to a service center and get it replaced or fixed if you have insurance. Furthermore you can still have your equipment serviced if you dont have insurance for a small fee. All carriers should have service centers for their customers to go in and get phones serviced. It would make more sense also to offer insurance for such an expensive phone like an iPhone. The new Samsung Instinct, exclusive only to Sprint will be released on June 20th and will be eligible for all three of Sprint Nextel’s insurance: 4.00 Handset Insurance, 4.00 Equipment Service & Repair, or 7.00 TEP which covers every damage (combo of two previously mentioned insurance plans).
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On Aug 18, 2008 @ 7:51 am, Bern Said:
WRONG!
Not in major metro areas at least. I had Verizon for quite a while until they scewed up the class action settlement I was a plaintiff in (over disabling various features by the manufacturer that were advertised). They ripped me off for my existing phone and in exasperation I finally just went ahead and bought an AT&T phone/plan.
Now — I have never, ever, in two years been unable to dial out. My Verizon friend can only call out from one room of my Manhattan apt.
Now — Sound quality equal if not better
Now — My phone worked in Europe; friend’s Verizon phone did not.
N
ow — “rollover plan” has given me an excess of 4-5 THOUSAND minutes on their minimum plan to use whenever I like
In the basement ballrooms of enormous hotels where I hold large conferences, I could never get a signal with Sprint, and only sometimes with Verizon. I was always the only one with this problem. Now with ATT/Cingular I always have service, no matter how large the building or deep the conference rooms.
NOW - My visits to rural Seattle area I now have excellent service in the mountains where Verizon didn’t. I do conferences in San Diego, Chicago, SFO, DC, AZ and other large cities and again, flawless. Never without a signal.
So people need to drop this false belief about “Cingular/ATT” being inferior - Verizon is the greediest bunch of incompetent morons I’ve dealt with. Even today, I am waiting on a $900 dollar check for errors they admitted to. Not the first time–they had to refund several hundred dollars for not following the plan I’d joined some years ago, and I’m lucky I found out. And the whole legal matter over the bluetooth — they confiscated my good phone and billed me for two years on a line NEVER ACTIVATED, while keeping the line for a phone I gave back to them open for voicemail–WITHOUT TELLING ME OR BILLING FOR IT OR LETTING ME KNOW IN ANY WAY — Causing me untold losses to my business, since people had been leaving messages there for two years, all lost.
Never have I seen a large blundering and greedy bureaucracy fail SO terribly. (Some of my conferences deal with the topic of “Service Quality”)
But around here people do have a knee-jerk belief about the former Cingular. It’s simply not true, and just b/c the agents are “friendly” if you call Verizon doesn’t mean they are COMPETENT — not by far.
Bonus trivia: Did you know they / Verizon are the firm that spends the MOST money yearly on TV advertising–among ALL industries. (think about cars, pharmaceuticals, Coke, Pepsi and its superbowl yearly event, Pepsi paying $24 million for EACH Spice Girl for one campaign: Verizon spends MORE than any of these! it’s almost hard to imagine!!! I’m pretty sure but if I’m mistaken, it was second or third, but I’m relatively certain they were THE #1 media account in billings. That’s where all the money goes–hundreds of millions for endless TV ads.
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