Best Buy’s iPhone insurance vs. Worth Ave. Group iPhone insurance
Posted by Sarah under Iphone Insurance on Monday Jan 25, 2010A friend of mine told me about a service plan they just took out when they purchased their iPhone from Best Buy. They were so excited that I went online to check it out for myself.
At first glance it looked alright to me, but after reading through their terms and conditions I came across a few problems I would have with their claims process.
1) If you have a damaged iPhone, they will try to fix it up to 4 times before they will consider replacing it. What in the world would I do without my phone while I’m shipping it off up to 4 times and waiting for them to figure out if it can fix or not?
2) When they do decide to replace your iPhone, they can do so by mailing you an iPhone of the same like, kind and quality (and from what I read it will probably be refurbished) or by sending you a gift card to Best Buy. It bothered me that they wouldn’t just send me a check to buy a new one. What if I didn’t want to buy another phone from Best Buy?
4) I also read they they would never pay out more than what you originally paid for your phone. So if they don’t make my phone anymore I’ll have to come up with the difference to buy the newer model?
5) Once they’ve replaced your iPhone the service plan is over, no matter how many months you had left on your contract.
Reading thru their Terms and Conditions made me wonder about my own policy with Worth Ave. Group. I called and spoke with one of their claims representatives and explained what I had read on Best Buy’s page. I was reassured that would not be the case with them as I have a policy with Worth Ave Group and not a service plan. So even if I had three claims in one year the policy would stay in effect. She also said they my policy is a replacement cost policy. So I would be paid what it would cost to buy a new iPhone not what I had originally paid or less. Then she said I would only have to mail in my iPhone if it was being replaced (which is almost always the case with iPhones). We went over of their coverages so I made a small table showing what Worth Ave Group covered that the service plan doesn’t.
|
Coverages |
Worth Ave Group |
Geek Squad / Black Tie Production |
|
Theft |
Yes |
No |
|
Extreme Environments |
Yes |
No |
|
Flood |
Yes |
No |
|
Fire |
Yes |
No |
|
Cosmetic |
Yes |
No |
|
Power Surge |
Yes |
No |
|
External Causes |
Yes |
No |
|
Acts of God |
Yes |
No |