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TEP: Is it worth it to get Service and Repair Program option for Epic??

taylormah

Well-Known Member
Jul 21, 2010
201
29
I will be ordering Epic and need to decide if I should keep the full TEP (damage+service) or just the damage insurance part. The reason for me to decide between the two is - one, I am a advanced user and if there is a software issue ever, I will be comfortable asking for help from the community here and using odin and other tools to flash rom etc, and second, I am a student with very tight budget on hand and every dollar I could save at the moment will help. Once things get little easier, I wont mind adding the service part of TEP back to the plan; will sprint let me do that later on is something I also wanted to ask here. So what do you guys think?? Is the service part of TEP that important a deal if I can do little tweaking and hacking on my own to fix things?? And will Sprint let me add it back if need be later on?
 
you need tep for repair/replacement under warranty if you expect sprint to do the warranty work/exchange for you - if you dont have it you will have to pay $35 if your screen fails no fault of yours - or any other repair etc under the mfgr's on year warranty - tep is not just for lost stolen damaged devices
 
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I would recommend looking into Best Buy's ADH (or Black Tie) plan for your phone. I know they used to insure phones not bought from them, but I'm not sure if thats the case anymore. Its slightly more expensive ($10 a month) but there is no deductible. No service coverage, but if anything goes wrong with the phone, i.e. screen, damage from drop, water, etc. They will replace it with equal OR better equipment. Full disclosure: I used to work at Best Buy. Having said that I would never recommend anyone buy a service plan from them, unless its an accidental damage plan.
 
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Honestly, it all comes down to preference. Yeah, it's only 7 bucks but at the same time if you never use it then it's 7 bucks wasted over how many years.

Personally, I've never had insurance on any phone. Over the past 13 years I've never needed it. 7 a month at 13 years is enough to purchase a new phone or two.

If you feel you need it, get it. If you feel comfortable without it, that's fine too. :)
 
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Yeah I've never had a phone without it either; I've not broken or lost one before but I hav had phones hose up many times & all I had to do was make a call; I mean, would u get a car or house & say "Well since I never or hav not ever used the insurance, I don't need it"?

I know thatz obviously more than a phone but then so is the price of the insurance, & I bet we don't think twice about that...jus sayin :cool:
 
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If you have a Sprint Premiere account, get Insurance for the first year; it's well worth the $7.00 a month. Then, dump it once you become eligible for a new phone upgrade (1 year). What I like to do is "utilize" the "advanced exchange" program just before I upgrade my phone. That way, I can sell my phone on eBay with the plastic still attached to the screen in "like-new" condition. Of course I let the buyer know it's a refurbished phone.
 
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i'd hate to be break one or lose one and have to buy one without contract for $500

You're not getting a new one on insurance- it'd be a refurb. the more appropriate comparison would be buying a lightly used one for $300. And that's with the phone relatively new- prices will come down as newer, better phones come out.

I've never, and would never, get insurance on a phone when there's a deductible involved. At $100 + $7/month, for it to make sense you'd need to replace your phone (under a non warranty issue) every year for it to make any sense. In 13 years of cell phone ownership, that's been an issue for me exactly once.
 
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Stay away from the best buy black tie plan if you can. My wife and I both have epics, she has black tie and I have the TEP. Well she dropped her phone a while back and cracked the screen, took it to best buy for repair. 1 month later she still hasn't received her phone. Sure there isn't no deductible, but say you need a loaner phone from them while it gets repaired, you'll have to pay a $100 to use that loaner phone. Sure you'll get it back when you return the phone but what's the point of paying 10 a month?

I on the other hand, had issues with my headphone jack, went into the sprint store and right then and there they tried fixing my phone. It coudln't be fixed on site, so they just gave me a new phone. I was in the store for just about an hour. It's the way to go.

One more thing the TEP covers that Black Tie doesn't is lost or theft. If you lose your phone, your screwed under black tie. Under the TEP, you'll have to pay the $100 deductible, but at least you won't have to rebuy the phone at full price.
 
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I look at it like this. The insurance with a $100 deductible plus the $7 per phone and I have 3 family members is just too much. Being the primary I am eligible in a year. If something happens there is always ebay.

7x12=84 plus the 100 means I could buy something on ebay for around $200 and I should be able to find something to last me the year.

I also keep at least one of my last phones as a back up. it takes 2 minutes to switch on the sprint website. Yes my last phone isn't a smart phone but i survived before without one.
 
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The way I look at it is that if it's in the first year and it's a hardware defect, it's under warranty anyway, so it'd cost $35 at most to get a replacement phone. Hardly seems worth it to me to pay $7/mo for something that will only pay off $35.

So clearly TEP isn't worth it for defective hardware coverage. The only question then is whether it's worth it for replacement of a phone damaged by the user. That comes down in part to how likely one is to break his phone. Unless you think it likely you'll break a phone within the first few months of owning it, you'll end up paying close to $200 total to exercise the policy ($100 deductible + whatever you'd paid in premiums up to that time) to get a refurb phone, which isn't much less than I'd expect to be able to get a used comparable phone for on my own. Plus, like gooberman, I always keep at least one old phone for backup, and I wouldn't mind going back to my TP2 as a fill-in for a while.

In summary, given how likely I think it is that I'll break my phone, it doesn't seem like a good deal to me.

All this said, I'm already on my 3d Epic in only about three months of ownership. My first unit had a complete failure of the Bluetooth module, and Sprint replaced it for free, I guess since it was within the first month of ownership (not really clear on this, but didn't feel the need to ask). The second one had a weird problem where it stopped connecting to/disconnecting from USB properly, wouldn't charge reliably, power button stopped working reliably, etc.; I did have to pay the $35 fee for that one. So I'm beginning to have my doubts about the reliability of this piece of hardware. If I have to eat a couple more $35 charges, my evaluation of this entire matter might change.
 
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The way I look at it is that if it's in the first year and it's a hardware defect, it's under warranty anyway, so it'd cost $35 at most to get a replacement phone. Hardly seems worth it to me to pay $7/mo for something that will only pay off $35.
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All this said, I'm already on my 3d Epic in only about three months of ownership. My first unit had a complete failure of the Bluetooth module, and Sprint replaced it for free, I guess since it was within the first month of ownership (not really clear on this, but didn't feel the need to ask). The second one had a weird problem where it stopped connecting to/disconnecting from USB properly, wouldn't charge reliably, power button stopped working reliably, etc.; I did have to pay the $35 fee for that one. So I'm beginning to have my doubts about the reliability of this piece of hardware. If I have to eat a couple more $35 charges, my evaluation of this entire matter might change.

why are you being charged for exchanging defective hardware? i've never heard of this, or had to pay for this..
 
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why are you being charged for exchanging defective hardware? i've never heard of this, or had to pay for this..

It all depends on the store and what's wrong with the phone...

After 30 days of owning the phone, you are susceptible to repair charges, up to $125.00 per incident, if you choose to have the phone repaired in-store by a Sprint technician. Otherwise, within the same 1 year warranty period, you can have the phone repaired/replaced through Samsung's RMA process for free (which can take weeks/months to process).

Insurance covers all repair costs and defects that are not your fault. You only have to pay the $100.00 deductible to Asurion if the phone is physically damaged, stolen or lost, not defective.

In the previous months that I owned an EVO, my phone was exchanged once, and 4 LCD screens were repaired due to the "b-spot". During the ordeal, I was never without my phone overnight and it didn't cost me a penny. IMHO, It was well worth my $28.00 investment for convenience, YMMV.
 
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I'm going to purchase an Epic tomorrow. Trying to decide whether to purchase the Sprint TEP for $7 per month ($100 Deductible) or the Best Buy Black Tie coverage.
I don't really like the idea of the deductible but there is some advantage to having the coverage directly with Sprint.
Anyone have suggestions or advice between the two coverages?
Thanks.
 
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It is a little off the topic, as it is a third choice, but most credit card companies include some sort of "electronic gadget insurance" if you pay your bill with said card. Personally, mine is almost identical to the Sprint plan, but only a $50 deductible. Because of this, I will never need to get another plan. Their are other variables to consider of course, and I know not all cards offer this, but I would check that out before buying either plan.
 
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