Poll: Cell Phone Insurance - Worth It?

[turbo89]

The poll has certainly shifted the direction of this thread... I'll probably end up dropping this insurance on Monday, when I get a few minutes to call VZ.

[calmloki]

For my $50 outright Nokia 520? Haven't ruined a phone yet, and my last Nokia lasted almost nine years. Niece & nephew seem to go through several expensive phones each year - suspect they are used as projectiles.

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 There were cell phones 29 years ago? I guess it took a while for them to get to small town Wisconsin. I was one of the first people I knew to get a cell phone and that was 15 years ago.

Yes. Motorola introduced its DynaTAC hand held cellular telephone in 1983. Mobiles were available a few years before that. But it took many years for the infrastructure (towers and base stations) to roll out to rural areas.

[hnzw_rui]

I came from Asia where most people were on prepaid and paid for devices in full instead of getting subsidies through contracts. What struck me immediately was how much carriers padded the price of cellphones so they can lock you in to a 2-year contract. The monthly insurance cost over a year + deductible would have been enough to pay for a brand new replacement through ebay so I've never gotten carrier insurance.

I did get AppleCare+ for iPhone and iPad purchases (top capacity models so $850-950 each) over the last couple of years but with the recent increase in AC+ price and deductible, not anymore.

[Sarah in SC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Car-Guy It may have seemed to be very dead (and even very clean) but the information on the phone, e.g. pictures, text, files, numbers, etc, were very likely recoverable.

I use cloud based backups, so everything was recoverable through that. Easy, too. But the bruised ego was something else altogether, lol.

[meierlde]

One possible metric is to look at your homeowners deductible and/or your auto (collision/Comprehensive) deductible. Compare them to the cost of a phone and decide.

[robertf57]

Didn't get it for my phone, but got apple insurance when I bought the iPad. The Apple store has replaced it twice when the screen got damaged by getting knocked off the counter. Paid for itself many times over.

[Sunset]

My phone cost less than $100 so I never get insurance.

I have noticed when not wearing cargo pants, that there is no place to put the phone. This is the leading cause of cracked screens in my mind. I'll probably go back to looking for a nice holster for it to fit on my belt.

[donheff]

I never buy maintenance contracts. Like others here, I rely on standard warranties and am self insured after that. When something breaks I briefly regret that I didn't get a contract on just that one specific item but then console myself that I am ahead of the game over the long term.

[Totoro]

Only two reasons to buy insurance:
* You can't (easily) bear the cost of the event you are insuring against
* You are verifiable far above (3x risk) the norm compared with others who pay the same premium

So on this forum (careful responsible people having sizeable net worth) it is silly to buy insurance for a phone.

[EastWest Gal]

When we got DS an iPhone his first year in college, we bought the insurance. Since the phone has become the Internet, a GPS, and a way to ask his brilliant mom and dad a quick question (Mom, how long to grill the steak?) we have no fear of him mishandling it. No more insurance needed.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

[Eagle43]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC I put mine in the washer once, and yes, it was very, very dead.

DW did that. I think she left it in the back pocket of her jeans. And yes it was very clean and very dead.

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[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle43 DW did that. I think she left it in the back pocket of her jeans. And yes it was very clean and very dead. Sent from my AT100 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

Most water logged phones are a result of females keeping them in the back pockets of jeans.

[nash031]

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbo89 Interesting response. I thought there would be a definitive "No, you fool!"... but it doesn't appear to be that way.

No, you fool!

I'd never consider it. It's a losing proposition unless you break your phone in probably the first three months or so and need to replace it in kind. I think the chances of that happening are slim.

[Sarah in SC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aja8888 Most water logged phones are a result of females keeping them in the back pockets of jeans.

Mine was in the pocket of my hoodie and as I was standing there contemplating the washer load, I thought, I just need one more thing in there...the rest is history! DH and roommate thought it was hilarious I had it out of my hands long enough to even get it into the washer!

The back pocket is how they get dumped into portolets and toilets, so I've heard! Ugh!

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC The back pocket is how they get dumped into portolets and toilets, so I've heard! Ugh!

Yep! DW and friend's wife did this a time or two.

[MikeD]

We got our first cellular phone in 1985. It took up a good portion of the trunk and front console area of a 1981 Honda Prelude. My wife grew up in the Va portion of the DC beltway area and always saw these important types chatting on phones in their cars when she was a kid and thought that was cool. So for a 9th anniversary present I had one installed in her car. Boy was she happy! It cost $1,650.00 and $0.65/minute. We live in a very rural area and had no service at our house for about 10 years.

Mike D.

[braumeister]

I'm not clear on whether it should be considered "insurance" or not, but I've always bought the AppleCare coverage for iPhones.

Based on my general clumsiness and DW's more occasional lapses, we have considered it a pretty good bargain. Bringing in a broken or otherwise damaged phone to an Apple store, knowing it was your own fault, and walking out with a new one at no cost is a great experience. I consider AppleCare a worthwhile cost for iPhones. Not for iPads or laptops, though.

[Rustic23]

I have always heard that if you can afford to replace an item, insurance may not be your best bet. While I would not like to pay the price, I can.

Interesting case. A friend of mine shut his car door on his Iphone 6. It bent and seemed to work intermittently. No insurance. Apple said 'Buy a new phone'. ATT on the other hand, said 'Well you are on the two year subsidized plan, one year left. Does your phone turn on. "Yes". Well it is considered operable. Send it back, we will credit you the $249 you owe remaining on it, and put you one the Next plan." By the way, the Iphone 6 has gone down in price so your monthly payment will be less.

I was surprised to say the least. I thought he was headed down the $650 new phone route.

[Rickt]

Insurance for phones and other consumer electronics products are not worth buying. The deductibles are high --just replace the phone in case you break it.