Any recommendations to new Sprint users regarding service/repair and or insurance.

[Maestro1#AC]

Hi I am new to TIPB, coming from precentral. As their will be no new WebOS phone ive decided to jump on to the next best thing on Sprint being the Iphone 4S. And I am looking for recommendations as what the best options is for service and repair/ and or insurance plans. Go through Sprint or Apple?

Sprint offers TEP(total equipment protection) for $8 per month. this includes two parts service and repair aka ESRP (usually $4/month) and your typical 3rd party insurance aka ERP (usually $4/month +$100 deductible per incident). I do not use any of these on my plan, but I am trying figure out what my mom should do on her family plan that includes 3 teenage girls.

Basically the ESRP should fix or replace your phone for free and it covers everything, including warranty repair through sprint and not manufacturer. Not covered obviously is lost,stolen, liquid damage, and physical damage; in which you would then have to use insurance ERP. However Sprint service and repair is very shady sometimes, they will try to always push you to go through the insurance and pay the deductible, even when its something that should be covered.

I was wondering should we just go through apple for all repair needs, maybe with apple care+ program, (even though it doesnt cover lost phones). Or maybe just the insurance portion from sprint ERP at $4/month to cover incidents, and forget about the sprint service and repair because i could go through apple for that for free for the first year. Any suggestions?

 

[kch50428]

AppleCare+ $99 for 2 years of tech support, full warranty and device replacement for 'coverage for up to two incidents of accidental damage due to handling, each subject to a $49 service fee'

http://www.tipb.com/2011/10/04/apple-offering-applecare-iphone/

Plus there are several other 3rd party insurance providers out there - search the forums here for more discussions on those.

 

[Maestro1#AC]

I was thinking about going for the apple care + as you have suggested. However i don't think it covers lost or stolen phones, only physically damaged phones. I have no problem going through the 3rd party insurance provider that sprint uses, Their ERP program at $4 per month and $100 per incident, since it covers lost and stolen phones.

So i guess im wondering what are peoples experiences getting phones repaired at apple, instead of their carrier for things that aren't physical damage related. Does ATT and verizon repair centers even service Iphones?

Im thinking sprint's service and repair (ESRP) would be a waste, since doing a manufacturer warranty repair or replacement with apple would be much easier than say (samsung, htc, LG etc.).

 

[cr12#IM]

im wondering the same, mainly if sprint will even have tep, the only real drawback is the 2x with applecare+ i cant fathom having to replace a phone 2x in three years, but stranger things have happened

i really wish sprint would speak up and start talking about these things, because the preorder is 2 days away.

 

[Maestro1#AC]

im wondering the same, mainly if sprint will even have tep, the only real drawback is the 2x with applecare+ i cant fathom having to replace a phone 2x in three years, but stranger things have happened

i really wish sprint would speak up and start talking about these things, because the preorder is 2 days away.

it is mind boggling there is nothing on sprints website regarding Iphone not even a press release in the news section.

Apple care+ is only for 2 years not three. Service and repair on sprint using TEP is really hit or miss, depending on the rep your dealing with. If anything Im thinking the best option for sprint customers is to just get the standalone Insurance ERP, which covers lost, stolen, liquid damage, and physical damage.

The service and repair (ESRP) is only for wear and tear and mechanical or electrical failure due to defects. It was good given that you could go through sprint instead of manufacture for things covered under the 1 year warranty and it extends the warranty as long as you have the service. But since Apple is notably easier to deal with when it comes to warranty repairs than other manufactures, and wear and tear on a slab phone is pretty much impossible; I see no point in it.

 

[anon(4698833)]

It would be very important to find out if Sprint's ESRP covers the iPhone...when it first came to AT&T, i remember some confusion when it came to that, as AT&T said Apple takes care of Apple products, not AT&T...

 

[E_Brown]

It would be very important to find out if Sprint's ESRP covers the iPhone...when it first came to AT&T, i remember some confusion when it came to that, as AT&T said Apple takes care of Apple products, not AT&T...

I know that Verizon's insurance covers the iphone, so I would assume the Sprint would be the same way, but you never know they may not offer it, and make you do everything thru apple. Now that AppleCare covers damage, it's def the way to go. Question about apple care though. If I have it, break my phone, and get it replace, do I have to buy AppleCare again for that phone, or does the original carry over to the replaced phone. I would assume it would carry over, but I'm not sure.

 

[Maestro1#AC]

I know that Verizon's insurance covers the iphone, so I would assume the Sprint would be the same way, but you never know they may not offer it, and make you do everything thru apple. Now that AppleCare covers damage, it's def the way to go. Question about apple care though. If I have it, break my phone, and get it replace, do I have to buy AppleCare again for that phone, or does the original carry over to the replaced phone. I would assume it would carry over, but I'm not sure.

I am pretty sure it does carry over to the next phone because you get two incidents covered (@$49/ incident) over the 2years that the apple care plan is good for.

 

[Harreh]

I recall paying a different insurance through Verizon. I think it was 10 a month for full replacement coverage. Again, trying to recall from February. But that's not sprint so can't say for sure.

 

[digitalfan]

I can't speak on iPhone repair service, because I never owned one, but I can tell you Apple is known for their customer service. Once a friend just got his iPod Touch fixed, walked out of the store and dropped the iPod. It shattered. The Apple tech saw what happened, walked up to him and said, "Sorry sir, there seems to have been an accident with you iPod. We broke it but will replace free of charge for you." Grabbed the iPod, went to a manager and got it replaced.

Of my own experience, when my hard drive failed on my iMac the looked into it free of charge like five different times (because the hard drive was dying then, not dead) once the guy figured out what was happening gave me a $400 quote to replace the hard drive then told me here is my quote, but you can go somewhere else and get it done cheaper. Go shop around." I did and ended up getting the HD replaced by Geek Squad, who charged me 129 with tax, replacement and hard drive cost. I got to choose my new HD and choose a "green" WD 500 GB HD when I originally had a 250 GB one. All in all, it was a pleasant experience. Now tell me what company would do that?

At Apple, it's about the customer. They want to make sure your happy. So I am sure the $99 Apple Care is more then worth it. I would also invest in the $8 dollar insurance with Sprint in case you drop it in water, in case it gets stolen, or you break your device more then twice.

A good question to ask is if your phone is replaced by Sprint because its stolen, do you have to buy Apple Care again?

 

[cr12#IM]

i dont know what im going to do, putting pen to paper it would be better to have the applecare by the numbers but that 2x only thing is getting me. i dont like that. although its highly unlikely i would have to replace 2 phones it is possible. Im a large fan of otterboxes and they also make it unlikely i would have to replace 2 but you never know.