1. To Jason; I work for Asurion, and I have never met someone to wants to put a company out of business than you do. I am VERY sorry you have had a bad experience with our company, but you do not even know even 1% of the issues that we have to deal with....and ESPECIALLY with TMobile. TMobile used to insure their own customers...they lost so much money through fruad and swindling, they contracted our company to change things. TMobile makes all the rules of the insurance process, we are the licensed agent to make sure those rules are followed. We have a LOT of angry TMobile callers and with good reason. TMobile has one of the VERY best customer service reputations in the entire industry...they have even won national awards to that effect. However, we have a lot of cases of people that have commited or have tried to commit fraud when filing claims. Since we need extra time to prevent these incidences of fraud, of course people are going to get angry for the delays. And our hands are tied, because we can not use the word fraud EVER with a customer! When we first stated handling TMobile claims, the claims process used to take over 30 days at times!! Now, the process time has dropped to at the most, usually a few days. One of the biggest reasons for this is that TMobile has finally let us have access to their billing systems, where we can find out quickly what make/model of phone the customer had, if there was air time on the phone (insurance does not take effect until the customer makes 1 outbound phone call), if the caller is the primary acct. holder, etc. It makes things a lot easier for us...and also for the customer. TMobile needs a LOT more verfication than other carriers we serve for a number of reasons. One is that TMobile is a total GSM market....meaning every one of those phones uses a SIM card, and since a SIM card can be moved around from phone to phone, we have a hard time verifying which phone a customer was actually using. Second, TMobile has a LOT of foreign customers who take their phones overseas and some of them have admitted to reprogramming of the SIM cards. Third, TMobile customers can almost get their phones ANYWHERE...from a TMobile store, to a third party vendor, to a convenience store, to even a back alley, and from the internet! As you can imagine, all of this activity presents a NIGHTMARE to deal with! Finally, I want to let you in on something about some of the "reps" that work for TMobile, Verizon, etc. Most of them have no earthy idea how our company even works, they will NOT give the customer the brochure of their insurance information after they sign up their customer for insurance, and I have even caught a couple of them trying to get the customer to LIE to get their phone!! i.e., I had a customer call in saying she lost her phone that day....I took her claim and when I got to the part when I had to ask her if she filed a police report, she said no...but the store rep. told her to tell us that the officer's last name was Smith! Also, quite often we have store reps. that call in saying phones have had damage to them when a customer previously said there was NO damage to the phone and the phone should be covered under the manufacturer's warranty for a malfunction of the phone itself! In the phone stores, there is a high turnover of store reps., and that if their supervisor catches them trying to misled a customer, they can get fired on the spot. To sum everything up......if Asurion should ever go out of business, you put a lot of people out of work, you are going to inconvenience a LOT of people when they have to file a claim, because if a carrier switches to another insurance provider, you can certainly bet that the very first thing they will do is to raise their premimum and deductible amounts....and they are going to expereience problems with any other insurance company. Thank you for this forum to post my thoughts.

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by An Asurion Customer Service Representative

2. Jason -- in this original post you actually mention something I am interested in -- google. Do number of hits to a site or a page in the site increase your ranking with Google? I've done some reading but thought it had more to do with links -- or a combination of links and hits. Judging from your background, number of blogs and rankings -- I figured you'd be a good person to ask. Thanks.

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by DMC

3. I found your site when I googled Asurion to find out if they have offices in Philadelphia, so that I can sue them. Unfortunately, they do not have offices here. The short story is that Verizon hooked me up with Asurion insurance. My college-age son's new Verizon cell phone was damaged on February 5. I made a claim and Asurion made us pay $50 deductible and then sent us a defective reconditioned replacement on February 8. After a few days, my son realized that the phone wouldn't hold a charge, and had stopped ringing so all messages were going to voice mail. He had to access his voice mail from a hard wire phone because at that point the phone would shut off if he tried to dial any numbers. On February 17, I made another claim with Asurion, this time about their defective phone. Asurion approved the claim and said the phone would come in one business day (that is in their policy). When the phone still have not arrived on February 23, I called Asurion. The Asurion rep claimed there was a "techinical" error and that my "Address had not launched" and so the phone was not shipped. Asurion assured me that the phone would be sent out for delivery in one business day. Since it has not arrived, I called Asurion again today, February 25. Guess what? It was still never shipped and now I am promised by Asurion that the phone will be here in one business day - Monday. Any bets? Oh, and it will likely also be a reconditioned phone. Meanwhile, my son has been without a cell phone for 3 weeks and I still have to pay Verizon's service bill for that period of time. Asurion has breached its policy contract with me and there is probably no legal remedy, since suing them out of state for so small a claim is not worth it. If there will be a class action, I am in. Meanwhile, do yourselves a favor - refuse to deal with Asurion and just buy a new phone if the present phone is lost or damaged.

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Debra Valenti-Epstein

4. Here is the link for tmobiles equipment protection plan http://www.asurion.com/tmobile/T7248.pdf. Now my question is if I have the HP iPaq 6315 and it is stolen, will it cover the accessories that come with it a docking station to hook to the pc and charger. I see listed it covers such things as a leather case, battery, car charger, and charger, but for a high end phone I'm more interested in all the accessories that come with the phone. Any thoughts or comments?

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Chelton Rhouse

5. I want to complaint about your service and customer care. I lost my phone on 2/19/05. I was using Sony Ericsson T610. The phone I received from you is Motorolla V300. My original phone had several functionalities (like bluetooth, which I use a lot) which the one you sent me does not have. I spoke with TMobile and they told me to call 1 866 240 6675, so that I can talk with some supervisor. I called this number a few minutes ago and explained the whole story to a lady, who did not give me her name or rep ID number. She was not willing at all to listen what I was saying and was rude most of time of my call. Finally she transferred my call to a voice mail box of some unknown person. Though I did leave a message, I do not know what will be result of that message. I was not even sure why I am not being sent the phone I was using. Stated all this, I want a supervisor to look on this case. According to your terms on t-mobile website at this time (I have taken a printout), there is nothing mentioned like this when a phone is out of stock or anything relateed to that. Though it is mentioned that Asurion can only spent upto $1000 to a recovered phone. Apart from all this, the phone I received has battery problems and the mic is not working properly. I told this problem to that lady but she was not at all interested to listen this. Please comment at the earliest as I do not want to increase number of visits to the following websites: http://calacanis.weblogsinc.com/entry/4721617849550362/ http://calacanis.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000757030148/

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Muhammad Ghazi

6. I want to complaint about your service and customer care. I lost my phone on 2/19/05. I was using Sony Ericsson T610. The phone I received from you is Motorolla V300. My original phone had several functionalities (like bluetooth, which I use a lot) which the one you sent me does not have. I spoke with TMobile and they told me to call 1 866 240 6675, so that I can talk with some supervisor. I called this number a few minutes ago and explained the whole story to a lady, who did not give me her name or rep ID number. She was not willing at all to listen what I was saying and was rude most of time of my call. Finally she transferred my call to a voice mail box of some unknown person. Though I did leave a message, I do not know what will be result of that message. I was not even sure why I am not being sent the phone I was using. Stated all this, I want a supervisor to look on this case. According to your terms on t-mobile website at this time (I have taken a printout), there is nothing mentioned like this when a phone is out of stock or anything relateed to that. Though it is mentioned that Asurion can only spent upto $1000 to a recovered phone. Apart from all this, the phone I received has battery problems and the mic is not working properly. I told this problem to that lady but she was not at all interested to listen this. Please comment at the earliest as I do not want to increase number of visits to the following websites: http://calacanis.weblogsinc.com/entry/4721617849550362/ http://calacanis.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000757030148/

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Muhammad Ghazi

7. My name is Latisha Blue I have a service with T-mobile. I damaged my cell phone and because the E105 was no longer in stock... I had to upgrade to a new phone which I requested insurance to be placed on it. To my misfortune my phone was stolen out of my car. At the time of the request I was informed that depending on the within 60 to 90 days there would be a deductible of 35-75 dollars. After being gave the run around about verifying my account to continue the claim, I was told that I was ineligible due to not having the phone for more than 30 days. NO WHERE in the insurance policy does it require for you to have a phone for any number of days to put in a claim. Tmobile has gone out and given me an apology and made up for asurion's lack of customer service, the fact is... it wasn't their job. I feel that if I'm being billed for a service with Asurion then its an issue when the service can't be provided.

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by tisha

8. First off, I'm a customer of Asurion and T-Mobile. I placed a claim with Asurion for a damaged Color Sidekick on February 28th. For two weeks, I went through a truly impressive number of Asurion reps. No two of them agreed on what the company would do for me. The problem was that they had many claims for broken Color Sidekicks, but no inventory of replacement phones. At various times, I was offered a spot on the wait list, a check for the replacement cost, and an upgrade to a Sidekick 2. Each of these offers were withdrawn the next time I called. Asurion got to the point of offering me substitutes that were not nearly up to the capability of the Sidekick, and that would have forced me to move from a $20 a month data plan to a per-kilobyte plan that would have cost me over $400 a month at my current usage rate. When I told them exactly what was wrong with the phones they were offering me, they got serious. I think they realized I did my homework and was going to wait until they offered me an adequate replacement. They escalated my call, and the first person I talked to made me a more than adequate offer within the first couple of minutes of our phone conversation. I had the new phone in hand three days later, with DHL's apologies because Asurion had shipped it by second day air. Here's what I think I learned from the experience. First, the Asurion call center has very responsive people who go out of their way to try to resolve customer claims, but who overpromise and are not given the authority to follow through on the commitments they make. Second, Asurion is either unable or unwilling to get enough inventory to cover their claims - they know how many they insure of each model, and they could use failure data to predict how many they need. If they can't get enough stock of a certain model, they should either stop signing up new customers of that model or be prepared with acceptable substitutes. The third and most important lesson is: if you're a customer placing a claim with Asurion, do your homework. Don't accept a replacement phone from Asurion unless you're satisfied it will fill your needs. In the two weeks I dealt with Asurion, I always talked to polite and concerned people who were just trying to settle my claim and move on to the next customer. By holding out for a good solution rather than just a quick one, I finally got to talk to someone who could make things right. I'm happy with the service I got from Asurion, and bought their coverage for a new phone I just got for my son. Insuring something as fragile and easily lost as a cell phone is a scary way to make a living. I got the impression Asurion tries to do it well, even if there are still bugs in their system. Their insurance saved me the $70 it would have cost me to replace my out-of-warranty phone, in exchange for a few frustrating phone calls and a little downtime. I consider that a good tradeoff.

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Rich Stillman

9. I also bought insurance through verizon for my phone, and when it was damaged I called for a replacement, I was told I had a $50 deductible....NOBODY ever told me I would have a deductible. This is wrong!!

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Heather

10. I recently had my cell stolen and reported to the insurance company. I was extremely delighted with the courtesy and prompt service I received. No hassles I had all the information they required and they processed my claim immediately. I should be receiving my phone today (3 days later). The only minor problem I had was finding a phone number to contact regarding the claim. I went to Verizon web site and nothing was posted there and I didn't know the insurance company. When I report my phone stolen I asked the young lady for the number.

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Tom Roulier

11. I've had t-mobile for more than 5 years and used to work as a sales person for cell phones. I recently filed an insurance claim and was actually surprised at how simple it was to deal with asurion. I also got my phone in 2 days. As a person who has both experience as a sale rep, customer service rep, and as a customer, I feel that with any company you purchase goods and services from, you are going to have problems sooner or later and the importance or intensity of the problem deals with the way each of us decide to handle the given situation. If we get emotional people arent gonna want to help us but do so because its their job. The best thing you can do for yourself is to be as kind about the situation as possible even if its taken a turn for the worse. Its also your own responsibilty to research the options you chose in your service before or after buying the product and service. When I got insurance on my cell phone I was no longer working for any cell phone company. I added insurance on in the store and took the liberty of asking for brochures about asurion myself. T-mobile never offered any type of insurance before asurion. They had a pretty good upgrade program for customers but you had to resign your contract to get it and if you didnt want to upgrade you had to buy the phone at full price. I was aware asurion was new and assumed that there is only so much a sales person can know about a whole different company. There i read about there policy where I understood that you have to have your cell phone service for at least 30 days before you are eligible to file a claim and that the deductible is 35 dollars (among other things). I assume the 30 day period is to prevent fraud which could happen if someone filed the claim the day after they got the phone, and then returned the phone they lied about to the store within the 72 day period. I think the problem lies in everyone and how they deal with whats happening. Customers need to be more polite and kind to anyone who works in retail. Its not a stress free job, especially with quota to meet the last thing you need is someone yelling at you. Customers also need to learn what they are buying and if they dont know it dont buy it. There were many times i would offer text messaging to someone. They asked what it was and I explained. They looked confused. I would say, "If your not sure then I wont add it on but here are some brochures that explain what it is, and remember the first month is free so you can call customer service or come in the store whenever you would like to add it on". Its simple but alot of people buy the latest and greatest product or service out before they take the time to figure out if its suitable for them. Also, Other companies need not scapegoat by saying well our service stinks because of so and so's company. That just makes customers and the other company upset. We can help each other out by doing our jobs in a genuine way, and by being polite when we ask for certain services and things turn ugly. I dont work retail anymore partially due to interactions with customers. I've seen customers treaten to shoot employees, among other nasty things. Its really pathetic and sad. Most customers that get mad easily usually had something else stressful in their life bothering them. I've heard stories from having brain surgery, to divorce and relatives dying. Alot of companies train employees to treat customers the same way as a guest in their own home (at least i was told this) but its hard to be expected to do this when the other person is screaming at you.

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Christy

12. I have worked for Asurion for a # of years. I do know that customers tend to call in already frustrated and take their anger out on the CSR whether it is their fault or not. But, I also know that the company is a very complicated company to work for. They have grown so much that they have forgotten how to take care of their employees. Which in turn will cause the employees to be rather rude and not so empathetic with the customer's situation. If you think dealing with the company to file an insurance claim is difficult---TRY WORKING FOR THEM!!!!!!!!!

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Michelle

13. After few hours of Polite talks with Asurion and T-mobile cust care, I google and found this blog... Now I believe that Cell fone insurance is totally hopeless.. and makes no sense... after i get my fone... I'm cancelling it... I wonder howcome Asurion is always out of stock of all the good phones and has lotsa crapy ones...... neways this was my mail to Asurion... The Claimb is for Nokia 6600(Retail Price-$350). As you are not carrying it, I was offered Nokia3650(Retail Price-$150). And 3months back I paid $200 to upgrade from 3650 to 6600. And Asurion's policy is to compare the feature not price. True, if the price is more and also nobody explained this to me when I was paying for my equipment protection. I asked If I could get Nokia-NGage(Retai Price - $250), yes lesser than 6600. But still Asurion cannot offer it to me (Even though they r in stock) because the features are different(Company Policy). I would call It a total customer dis-satisfaction. As the company is not willing to give me an equipment (that I like) that costs less than the quipment I had(with equipment protection), but give me an even cheaper one that I dont like and paid $200 to get rid of it, to get a better one. So is Asurion trying to just make money and not bothered about end customers satisfaction? Or is it trying to Satisfy customer in the Process of making Money? Because I do not see the latter happening.

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Raj

14. Here's a tip. Unless you are the type of person who is prone to break expensive things, stick with the warranty. Tmobile provides a 1 year warranty that backs up the same 1 year warranty the manufacturer gives you. If the phone takes a crap for any reason other that physical damage, you get a new one. Simple as that. Why hassle with outsourced insurance on something like a cell phone? Consumers should take more responsibility in making the right choices.

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Timmy

15. Asurion has to be the absolute worst insurance company to deal with. I've had 3 phones replaced - 2 with relatively little problems, but major league problems with the 3rd replacement. Here's the short version: My flip phone snapped so I tried to get it replaced. The first phone I received was in pieces that didn't fit, i.e. the battery didn't fit into the back, the cover wouldn't snap on, etc. I called and after speaking with 2 different reps. they agreed to send me a new phone. The second phone wouldn't hold a charge or consistently ring. By now I've figured out they are sending me refurbished phones. I called to complain and every rep I spoke with gave me a different story and no one logged anything. This meant that every time I called I had to repeat the same story over and over again. They finally agree to send me a new phone, only to have it be a different model, one cheaper than the one I originally purchased. I spent days calling to try to speak to a manager but apparently none exist. I guess if I worked for this company I wouldn't want to be known to the public either. Unfortunately for me, my son just dropped his brand new phone and it got run over by a car. So I will now have to deal with this horrible, horrible company for the fourth time. How much does that suck? Stay tuned for the results of replacement #4. . .

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Missi

16. Asurion has to be the absolute worst insurance company to deal with. I've had 3 phones replaced - 2 with relatively little problems, but major league problems with the 3rd replacement. Here's the short version: My flip phone snapped so I tried to get it replaced. The first phone I received was in pieces that didn't fit, i.e. the battery didn't fit into the back, the cover wouldn't snap on, etc. I called and after speaking with 2 different reps. they agreed to send me a new phone. The second phone wouldn't hold a charge or consistently ring. By now I've figured out they are sending me refurbished phones. I called to complain and every rep I spoke with gave me a different story and no one logged anything. This meant that every time I called I had to repeat the same story over and over again. They finally agree to send me a new phone, only to have it be a different model, one cheaper than the one I originally purchased. I spent days calling to try to speak to a manager but apparently none exist. I guess if I worked for this company I wouldn't want to be known to the public either. Unfortunately for me, my son just dropped his brand new phone and it got run over by a car. So I will now have to deal with this horrible, horrible company for the fourth time. How much does that suck? Stay tuned for the results of replacement #4. . .

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Missi

17. I just got off the phone with Asurion and agree with most of you that they are by far the crappiest insurance company around. My cell phone stopped working yesterday for absolutely no reason. Asurion told me that because I did not drop it or drown it in liquid it would be covered. So if I was neglectful and irresponsible I would be able to get a replacement phone from them, but because the phone stopped working due to no fault of mine I could not claim it. What kind of logic does this follow? I will now be cancelling my insurance coverage with them as soon as possible and will make sure to spread the word about this scam.

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Kamushi

18. Asurion sure does suck! I lost my phone June around June 17. I was offered the Nokia 3650 for my Nokia 6600, too. I agreed at first, but when i found out that it was a lower model, I called back and refused it. They offered the 6620 phone, but it had to be on back order. So, about 1 week later it was in, this was Sunday 7/10, they called and said it was in i gave them my credit card info for the reshipping of $20. I'm like whatever. I call Wednesday, still no phone. "Sorry, sir your security number in back of your card didn't go through." By this time, I lost it I cussed them out. The guy on the other end says, "Sir, I don't have to take this from you." Fine, let me speak with your supervisor and I'll give it to her, too. She offered several apologies and I told to shut ta **** up. They have 2 numbers for me, but no calls were made to inform me. So i give her the credit card numbers again. Supposedly she was going to overnight it. Well, here comes Friday, 2 days later, still no phone. It's been a month since my wife had a cell phone. By this time, i guess i was much calmer (because it was my wife's birthday ). I just told whoever i spoke to that Asurion sure does suck. I was on hold for 30 minutes, while they locate the phone. The phone is backordered again and Nokia has discontinued the 6620 now. Painstakingly, I submitted and took a Samsung phone p735 or something rather. Anyway, they are suppose to overnight it and they are waving the $25 shipping charge. Wow, by this time I'm thinking bad thoughts that might be deemed criminal and might get me in trouble for expressing my freedom of speech here. Anyway, I cancelled my Asurion insurance last week before my claim was even completed. I'll take my chances from now on. I'm sure that this companies have done some good things to some people, but you know what they say for every person that has a bad experience they will tell 10 people about it. And in the case of the internet, thousands will have learned of our bad experience here. So, Asurion get your act together!!!

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Leo

19. I have had verizon for one year,i have gone through 2 phones in that time period. The one i purchased with my plan worked fine, until it got wet, screen went completely blank, understandably it was my fault. I filed a claim and got a new one in a few days. fast forward to this june. My replacement phone just 3 months old starts literally falling apart. Pieces of it just started breaking off. I started holdng it together with scotch tape, ghetto cell-phone. I was okay dealing with a few minor pieces breaking off, but when the antenna cracked and the battery got loose i started having problems wiht receiving service. And then the major thing, the top part of the flip-phone just snapped off when I opened it to make a call,it is now holding onto the keypad by one piece of plastic. the screen is COMPLETELY black, it still rings, but it is barely functional. I cannot use an earpiece with it because it does not work. I called to file a claim on August3rd, a claim rep was supposed to call me and ask a few questions. It's still friday, so i have some hope left that i won't have a nightmare experience. I don't mind paying a $50 deductible, but i'm not willing to pay another $50 for a refurbished phone, or another of the same model, i don't want anything fancy, just not something that has been discontinued or has been re-conditioned, exactly what does reconditioned mean anyway? does it mean that it was a returned phone that was 'fixed'

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by Melissa

20. Every bad comments about Asurion insurance is already posted so let just add this. I bought a Sony-Ericsson P800 from Europe. The phone is unlocked but i switched to T-Mobile due to better rate plans at this time. When i insured my $750.00 PDA phone with them. I was told that whenever i have a technical problem with that phone they can surely fix it, or they'll able to replace it if they cant fix the problem and there is no dedectible. Just simply exchange the phone. One and a half year later, i cracked the screen on my phone. I called Asurion hoping they can fix it. they told me they cant fix it because they don't carry that kind of phone. So i quickly ask how are they going to replace my phone if they don't have it. This rude sales lady told me either i get fixed on my own or they will replace it with something similar. The closest phone that came close to my P8's was a freaking TREO 600. This phone is terrible...it sucks ass and so as Asurion. I dropped this phone once and now the screen has a bunch of lines and it colors are also faded. My new technology phone screen is black and white...isn't that something. I will call them tomorrow and ask for a new phone. I will keep you guys updated this issue. Last but not least i seriously think that insurance on phone is totally useless. What a waste of $$$$$~!

Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 29th 2005 by rome