MA
Mazelit Airaksinen
Nov 29, 2019
VERIZON'S PHONE INSURANCE WILL BE A RIP OFF, PROBABLY...
ALSO, GET VERIZON WORKERS' PROMISES IN WRITING
ASURION WILL BE A WASTE OF MONEY IF YOU'RE CAREFUL
When I was a freshman at Barnard nearly six years ago , I thought I was getting a good deal on my phone insurance by paying about 10$ each month to the wireless company Asurion.
Over the last 5-6 years, Asurion's gotten nearly $600-700 from pocketbook... but I thought this was a good idea because (as a naive college student), the Verizon representatives at this specific store near Columbia assured me that if I get insurance with Asurion, then I won't have to pay for a phone replacement.
At the time, I had no clue how insurance worked. All I understood from those Verizon reps (and later, chat agents online from Verizon), was that the insurance was worth it because it'd allow the phone to be replaced for free and I wouldn't have to worry about fronting a bunch of money for a new phone.
Fast forward 5 years.
My iPhone 6s died a slow death over the past three weeks, starting with connectivity issues to the charger, slow internet, and later lagging/ glitching screen. My phone died six days ago; it took Asurion two days to properly process my request.
So, I had to replace it with Asurion. Asurion promised next day delivery and completely failed to inform me I'd need to be physically present to accept the package (so what happens to everyone with a 9am-5pm job?... you don't get the phone? right).
Next day was Thanksgiving. I was stranded without a phone.
Today is the "next day" UPS is supposed to deliver my phone. It's nearly 10pm EST and the phone hasn't arrived, which means that it's going to need to wait till Monday to be delivered, a UPS agent told me.
Which means I'm still stranded without a phone.
So basically, I've paid $600-700 to Asurion for "insurance," and a non-negotiable $150 deductible to get my phone replaced. By now, I can get refurbished copies of an iPhone 6 for LITERALLY LESS THAN THE DEDUCTABLE itself.
So at least in my case — not only did it end up costing me at least 750$ to replace a phone worth no more than $100. So, this insurance has made me at least 600-700$ broker with absolutely no added benefit whatsoever.
If you're not the type of person who breaks your phone every single year, then you probably should steer clear of the insurance. And read the fine print. And as for the representatives at this Verizon store on Broadway Avenue, if they promise anything verbally, make sure to get it in writing.
Very disappointing on both Verizon's and Asurion's side as well. I will be unsubscribing and am considering switching to a different mobile carrier as well.
FINALLY, if you're still considering becoming a Verizon customer at this stage, make sure that you watch your bill every month. My bill was on auto-pay while in college and as a result of that, it took me a few months to notice that my monthly bill had jumped up from ~100$ a month to, at one point, $140 a month.
There was a steady but subtle cost increase every month, and when I pointed this out to Verizon twice, I was given no explanation at all. Or refund. One chat agent (online) apologized and offered to lower my monthly total to about 75$ a month to "make up" for the extra amount I had been unfairly paying, but that lower cost wasn't honored on my next bill and my monthly tab shot back up again.
All in all... keep an eye on your bill. And copies of your conversations with Verizon workers... both in this store, and if you contact them online. Same with Asurion (which is probably the biggest scam I've encountered in my life thus far). Unless you're buying phones that cost $1,000 and plan to break it within a year before it starts depreciating... the insurance probably won't be worth it.