vB Easy Archive - my new Cingular SMT5600 cant be insured! what? is this right?

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my new Cingular SMT5600 cant be insured! what? is this right?
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Posted by: jammo

well, i bought my new smartphone yesterday.
have been supremely delighted with it.
<< looks like im no longer going to use my Dell Axim X5 (PPC 2002) anymore. >>

i was shocked when i asked for the $4.99 per month Insurance plan.
i was told that it is not provided with my model?!

something about they cant/dont insure the high-end phones, cause they are too expensive. is that right?!

either way. im happy to have gotten this model. i really like it.

Posted by: Omega2008

Yes, they won't insure it. However you can purchace the warrenty extention for it though.

Posted by: jammo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omega2008

... you can purchace the warrenty extention for it though.

you know the price range?

i should have thought of that when i bought it. it didnt occur to me, as i was excited over getting my new toy.

Posted by: Omega2008

1.99............

Posted by: hylton

Having an extended warranty though doesn't do you much good when overall, warranty coverage by Cingular is at their whim...I had (past tense) an 'under warranty' SMT5600 and they pretty much told me yea, it's covered but when we give you a REFURBED replacement and then get your unit back from you and examine it (thru a third-party)...if we determine that it's not a warranty issue, we will charge you $175...at that point, we can't get your old unit back...

I was amazed at this policy and opted to just buy a new unlocked phone and sold my SMT for $100.

I wouldn't waste a nickle on an extended warranty...

Chris

Posted by: Omega2008

I never had a problem with XBM. I don't mind a refurb unit since if I had to XBM my MPx 220...it wouldn't be new and I wouldn't expect a brand new one.

Posted by: jammo

my issue isnt with a refurb.
its a brand new device.

would it still be the same?

Posted by: Omega2008

Right but when you do an XBM you will recieve a refurbed unit. No matter if its brand new or not.

Posted by: hylton

Yes...the warranty will apply to new or refurbed...my SMT was new too, the refurb was what they wanted to send me under the so called 'warranty' I had on my phone...

My only point about the refurb wasn't that I was offered a refurb, but that they wanted to (and reserved the right to) charge me $175 if they determined there was a problem unrelated to a warranty covered issue...which is not acceptable...I wasn't about to take a $175 hit b/c some schmo at the warranty center of a non-cingular third-party decided that the 3 scratches on my SMT consitituted abuse and therefore they wouldn't cover it...

$175 for a refurbed unit is ridiculous...maybe $50...or if they were going to send me a NEW or refurbed unit, charge me a reasonable price, and then get mine back to me if it's not covered, OK, fine...but I paid $200 for the first NEW phone after rebate, and they are going to keep it, and then turn around and charge me another $175...so let's do some math...$200+$175 = $375 and I had a WARRANTY...yea right ! ! !

BTW, the $375 gets me a refurbed phone...sweeeeeet...

I just cut my losses and bought a new phone and sold my scratched up, semi-functioning old one...

So, that was my only point, the warranty on a smartphone is useless, but you can gamble w/ it and potentially get hit w/ a huge charge when you send it back for warranty service.

Getting coverage directly w/ Audiovox would probably be a better route.

Chris

Posted by: rosullivan04

Why bother with insurance on this? You can get a used one for a little over $100.

Posted by: jammo

<< the newb doesnt know what XMB is

>>

LOL

so basically, whether or not my unit is brand new or not, if something goes wrong with it and i got the warranty coverage, they provide me with a refurbied SMT5600?
that sucks!

oh well. that means i just wont get the warranty and make damned sure that i never drop my phone on the floor, in a pool of nekkid women, or in my favorite cup of coffee :LOL:

so, since i wont have warranty coverage (seems pointless now), if i break my phone, im out the $150 i spent on it? then i gotta get a new phone! aw well ... imma buy one and have it stored before i do something stupid.

Posted by: hylton

Quote:

Originally Posted by rosullivan04

Why bother with insurance on this? You can get a used one for a little over $100.

BINGO ! ! !

Posted by: jammo

Quote:

Originally Posted by hylton

... My only point about the refurb wasn't that I was offered a refurb, but that they wanted to (and reserved the right to) charge me $175 if they determined there was a problem unrelated to a warranty covered issue...which is not acceptable ...

holy crap dood!
i see your point now.

and here, just days after cancelling Verizon to be with Cingular cause i heard they have better customer service than Verizon and they got better phones, i hear about this. man that sucks.

aw well. i like my new phone. warranty or not.
learning the inside scoop and knowing where i can get a new phone, thanks to HoFo, having a bad warranty plan dont matter.
i could just eBay it if it ever came to that.

Posted by: rosullivan04

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammo

<< the newb doesnt know what XMB is

There are not too many more SMT's floating around new, since they are no longer in production. Also, you have to consider that they have to do something with all the returned SMT's they get... it seems reasonably fair to replace a broken one with a refurb. I can't say I've had a phone crap out after the first 30 days, except for the MPx220.

Posted by: hylton

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammo

so basically, whether or not my unit is brand new or not, if something goes wrong with it and i got the warranty coverage, they provide me with a refurbied SMT5600?
that sucks!

oh well. that means i just wont get the warranty and make damned sure that i never drop my phone on the floor, in a pool of nekkid women, or in my favorite cup of coffee :LOL:

so, since i wont have warranty coverage (seems pointless now), if i break my phone, im out the $150 i spent on it? then i gotta get a new phone! aw well ... imma buy one and have it stored before i do something stupid.

Exactly...exercising the warranty thru XBM gets you a refurbed SMT, and the chance that when they get it, they'll evaluate it and then charge you $175 for the refurb they sent you.

So, while $2 isn't much, the $175 is, might as well (as you say) skip it and just know that if your phone craps out (your fault or a defect) you just have to get a new one...

In my case, the volume up button started sticking...which is kinda necessary...no, i never spilled coffee or soda in it, sometimes it would work fine, other times not...a friend didn't seem to care about it, and offered me $100 for it, so I jumped on it and told him if it flat quit in remaining OEM warranty period that I'd ship it to Audiovox for him.

I then went and bought an MPx220, which overall is a bit more durable...IMO.

Chris

Posted by: jammo

Quote:

Originally Posted by rosullivan04

There are not too many more SMT's floating around new, since they are no longer in production.

im sure that when i start looking for a SMT replacement, i'll either A.)get a good used model from a reliable/trusty source, OR B.)spend the extra bucks to get a higher model. i read recently that the new model does NOT have wifi, but does have a better camera.
by the time i start looking or needing a replacement for mine, ill have enough cash in hand to buy the newer one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hylton

So, while $2 isn't much, the $175 is, might as well (as you say) skip it and just know that if your phone craps out (your fault or a defect) you just have to get a new one...

very well explained.
thanks Chris.

but i still dont know what XBM

Posted by: hylton

XBM = Exchange By Mail

Posted by: rosullivan04

I've had really good luck with eBay for my phones - really cheap and usually in great shape!

Posted by: rdef

I bought my smt5600 in store about 3 months ago. I also have insurance and extended warranty ($3 and $1.99, respectively). When did they stop offering this?

Will they not honor my insurance?

Posted by: hylton

hard to say, if they sold it to you, maybe...but the only reason you were able to get it (i'm guessing) is that the rep in the store or on the phone didn't know or realize the warranty is not suppose to be sold on the smartphone devices...or PDAs either...

so, it'll just depend i guess...on who you get and if they will make good on a warranty that shouldn't have been allowed in the first place...

chris

Posted by: hylton

hard to say, if they sold it to you, maybe they'll honor it, legally i think they'd have to if you pushed it...but the only reason you were able to get it (i'm guessing) is that the rep in the store or on the phone didn't know or realize the insurance is not suppose to be sold on the smartphone devices...or PDAs either...

so, it'll just depend i guess...on who you get and if they will make good on insurance that shouldn't have been sold in the first place...

chris

Posted by: chris_k

That's strange... I have a 5600 w/ Cingular and its insured..... Hmmmmm. My 5600 was bought from Amazon but I called Cingular after it arrived when I set up my data plan and they added it right away. That was about 8 weeks ago.

Posted by: hylton

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris_k

That's strange... I have a 5600 w/ Cingular and its insured..... Hmmmmm. My 5600 was bought from Amazon but I called Cingular after it arrived when I set up my data plan and they added it right away. That was about 8 weeks ago.

They may well honor it, and for all I know, they may offer it on smartphones...but if they do, their various sales and support channels are not following policy one way or the other...when I bought my SMT in early May '05, when I was originally looking at it, I asked about insurance, they said yes, it's $3 (or whatever it is)...then, when I went to buy (got a different salesperson a few days later), I got the story that I've heard here on the forum as well, that they don't offer insurance on smartphones...

So, I can't say what the official policy is, or whether they enforce it after the fact...but I have seen/heard comments from multiple sources that insurance is not offered on smartphones and PDA devices...

What's the actual policy...I have no idea...only going on what I was told...

Chris

Posted by: tonecapone

i had the same problem but it was with at&t. they told me the mpx-200 wasn't covered eventhough i was paying $3.99 a month. i had a prob with mpx-200 & at&t told me the 5600 was covered so they sent me that phone as a replacement, i sent my mpx-200 back & i was told it was discontinued, & at&t sent it back repaired. so now i have 2 smartphones which i alternate weekly or bi-weekly.

Posted by: jammo

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonecapone

... so now i have 2 smartphones which i alternate weekly or bi-weekly.

i uuhh ...
well, you are just damnd lucky!!! lol