As a former Sprint Technician I should chime in on this. Sprint's policy is to handle any repair instore for a malfunctioning unit as long as there is no physical or liquid damage. If there is physical/liquid damage the technician is not supposed to work on the phone. But some tech's will anyway depending on the extent of the damage or severity of the water damage. If it's a cracked screen or something along those lines where the damaged part can be replaced in store they will do the work without involving Asurion, but there is still a fee for the replacement part. Not the greatest option, but for most issues it beats Best Buy's Black Tie. Hope that helps you guys out. =)
Hey Hockeydood...thanks for the in-the-know comment...big help!
I have a couple questions for you, gonna ask you to comment on the above experiences...specifically in light of the fact ALL of discussion with regard to the problems MANY MONTHS old. Before your comment, the last comment in the thread was end of September (4 months ago)
Let me preface my story and question by saying that I KNOW the pros and cons of both Sprint and BB plans ($100 deductible/no deductible, insured for loss/insured for damage only; water damage, $7/$10, etc etc).
Back in July of 2010 I dropped my 4 week old phone and spider-web cracked the screen. I had Black Tie insurance and was told by the BB Mobile rep on the floor that it would be "no problem" and I should expect a phone back "in about a week." Long story short did NOT get my phone back for 23 days. I waited 2 weeks, got an "escalation" and everything proceeded pretty well from then on. Was I pissed, yes? But the MAIN problem I had was the assurances based upon lack of information by the Mobile retail reps who, in hindsight, should have deferred to the Geek Squad people or to the repair facility to give me a more ACTUAL estimate of repair time. That "about a week" was a guess or worse...and NOT based upon the current reality of the situation. MIND YOU, my phone (the EVO itself) was about a month old so different demand situation, perhaps, than today but I would have FELT BETTER if I received a more accurate estimate of repair time with someone saying "this could take up to 30 days"...which BY THE WAY is the "default" amount of time that I believe is written into the contract and/or repair receipt for an estimate repair at Best Buy, not "about a week"
Here are the questions I have for you, if you are able to answer:
My issue was what I experienced back in July and the above horror stories were from back in September. It is now months later in January 2011.
Do you think back in July or September that there WERE problems with parts that couldn't be found because of demand with the EVO or was there a bigger-picture problem with Best Buy's repair process? Would Sprint have had the SAME problems with regard to parts as mentioned in the Best Buy stories above??
Said a different way, if I cracked my screen TODAY (January 2011) and, as you said above, this would likely be a "simple" in-store repair by Sprint without the need to send to Asurion, would the repair in store with Sprint be ABSOLUTELY FASTER with Sprint under every circumstance??
Lastly, if I lose my phone with Sprint I have to pay the $100 deductible with the insurance plan. But if I cracked my screen with Sprint and needed to repair, what would be the cost to repair the screen??
THANKS for your help!!
S