SueM asked: I am a customer of Sprint. I have a Sprint cell phone. Recently, I walked into one of the Sprint stores asking a question regarding my phone that had broken. I was informed that I do not have insurance, and therefore I need to buy a new one. Here is an opinion of mine that I would like to share about cell phone insurance plans. I had insurance through Sprint that I chose to end in August of 2009. I had been paying for the insurance for about 15 months before I cancelled it, and here is why I chose to do so. I had not used that insurance for the entire time that I had paid for it. At month 15, I needed to replace the phone that I had because it was having a problem. I walked into the store and asked them what I could do, given that I had insurance. They confirmed I
had insurance and told me that I would be able to get a replacement, refurbished phone for $100, for a smart phone. I was confused by this and unhappy as well. As the terms of the insurance state, this is procedure.
What I would like to suggest to Sprint, and other phone companies with similar insurance plans, is some changes for this insurance.
First, please do not instruct employees that sell this plan to compare it to any other type of insurance in any way, shape, or form ( car, health, etc.). It in no way resembles any of these. I have spoken to numerous employees of Sprint that have made these comparisons, and to me, this comparison demonstrates such a lack of respect to the customers who pay these other insurance bills. Also, it shows a lack of support and caring for customers and their intelligence. Instead, cell phone insurance should be sold and identified as exactly that, insurance for a phone. If my $ 20,000 car hits another $ 20,000 car, we have a problem. However, if the cell phone that I probably paid around $ 200 for a year and a half ago, falls and hits the ground, we do not have a problem. Get it?
Second, You can have all the fine print that you want and need in regards to the insurance plan. However, please make a single page with bullet points stating what the customer really needs to read. For example, please have every employee that sells this plan know and be able to tell a customer that: the insurance only covers certain conditions ( other conditions such as a broken or cracked phone, will need to be replaced by the customer); when the phone is being repaired, things such as photos, etc. saved on the phone will be erased, so that needs to be saved elsewhere; a broken phone or phone accessory ( yes, this includes the earpieces) will be replaced by a used/ refurbished phone or accessory, and with a fee paid by the customer. In my case, with a smart phone, the fee was about $ 100; etc.
Third, there should be a way for a customer to use some of the insurance fee that they paid in the case of replacing the phone. A portion of the insurance that is paid each month, if not used after a certain amount of time, should be something the customer could tap into. For example, in my case, I had been paying insurance on my phone for 15 months. I should be able to use a percentage of that total I paid to offset the cost of a new phone or offset the fee for the refurbished one. What I pay for insurance should strictly go toward that. As it in no way resembles health or car insurance, I am not paying for piece of mind, I was paying because I thought that if something happened to my phone, I could replace it with less mess than I would have without a plan. Such was not the case, as I learned and subsequently cancelled the insurance.
Fourth, these are some miscellaneous revisions that I suggest be made. If a customer needs to replace a cell phone with an insurance plan, they should not have to make a claim through a separate company. Someone should be able to contact Sprint, with that one call, many transfers, and hour they normally spend with Sprint on the phone, to accomplish this claim. Very few customers have this kind of time, and even fewer appreciate it. Customers should be given the option to go into a store and get a refurbished phone from the back, no haggling. If it is not in stock, they can have it shipped to the store with no s/h fee or to their home for a very small s/h fee. If the price for a plan or a phone or whatever has risen for Sprint in the past year, that increase should be reflected in the line item of the general bill. Cell phone insurance should be considered strictly as such. It should not be used disingenuously. If it is for customers and their cell phones, then let certain practices of the insurance easily reflect this, not confuse the customer.
Believe me, I understand that gone are the days in which customer service meant anything for the customer. But, is it too much to ask for simple, seemingly obvious pieces of customer service to still exist? I understand that it is difficult for employees to deal with irate customers, or ones that tell