So hey, let’s get a little real here. Smartphones are expensive. Sure, you may have paid anywhere from $99 to $299 (which is nothing to sneeze at) for that new Android phone, but those are the subsidized prices, made possible with contracts and deals between carriers and manufacturers. If you have to replace a device for full price due to some unfortunate accident, you’re looking at two or three times that, which doesn’t tend to make a checkbook happy. One possible option to skirt around this issue is insurance through your carrier, with each of the carriers having varying levels of options through their services. The problem here is that you only have a certain amount of time after buying a phone to add insurance on your line, so if you’ve declined it and something bad happens, you might be up the creek.
If you’re a Sprint customer and don’t have insurance, you’re in luck, as they’ve just opened up enrollment for their Total Equipment Protection service for the month of August, which for $8 a month offers you protection against manufacturer defects and, for a deductible, liquid damage, physical damage, and lost or stolen. The service may not be something that you’re interested in paying for, and may not even be something that you end up using, but it’s similar to car insurance: you’re better off having it than not having it if something bad happens. Naturally, it’s completely up to the user to decide.
Here are the total program benefits:
- Service and Repair available at one of Sprint’s 1300 service and repair locations
- No additional repair costs for in-store services
- Next business day replacements for loss, stolen or damaged claims
- Ability to file claims online with email notification of claim and shipment status
- Extended customer service hours
- The Protection App which allows eligible devices the ability to remotely locate lost devices, erase, backup, manage and restore contacts.
In the case of having a liquid or physically damaged, lost, or stolen phone, there is a $100 deductible for Android phones, but still, that’s better than full price, right?
[via sprint newsroom]