Device 360 for apple is a rip off and pain
Ok so has anyone else had to deal with this much to replace a phone?? For the past 10-15 yrs through all different cell providers, I've still had assurant as the insurance in the past. It was nice and simple. You file a claim you pay the deductible. They send you a new phone you send yours back done not this time!!! So I went to file a claim and assurants web site through T-Mobile they tell me I'm eligible for AppleCare services ok something new (for me) so I get transferred to their site to file claims nothing worked like it was supposed to first I get told I have to pay full price for a replacement because it's so badly damaged so that's not right because why am I paying for this insurance if I have to pay all this money for a new phone anyways so then I start a chat with Apple and they told me I actually have applecare plus so they can do the replacement it's like 100 bucks I have an IPhone 13 Pro Max so he tells me there's gonna be two charges on my card. One is an authorization hold hold for the full replacement value of the phone and the second is the actual charge for the replacement so over $1000!!! Pay all that they mail you a new phone you sent back your old one and the authorization hold drops!!! OK what about people who don't have uh all that money to be held for days on end or just flat out don't have that much money so then they tell me the only other option is to go into an Apple store doesn't matter if you live near one or not you better figure it out!! in my case. The closest Apple store is an hour each way so it's not too bad, but this is my son's phone that he broke that he has to pay for. He's 17 he works almost full-time and goes to school. I have a life so we have to figure out when we're both available to be gone for a minimum of three hours, probably maybe longer!! Whatever we will get it done but the point is what if somebody doesn't drive and lives in a rural area or a smaller town Apple stores are only in big cities and they don't have that kind of money to be held?? I just feel like this is a lot of headache to be paying for every month. There's all these new insurance companies out here and honestly there's one that starts with an a they will cover your phone and up to 25 other personal items for less than I've been paying!! And you don't have to deal with the hassle of going anywhere. It's all done through the mail likes the way it used to be was just a deductible. I just feel like this is too much now expecting people to put down that kind of money or find a way to go to an Apple store, so in my case Assurant and T-Mobile lost a customer for their insurance that's a very big chunk of change considering that it's me and four of my children that all have phones!! I might have stayed if it was the way it used to be but not with all of these problems. I'm glad I looked into other alternative choices. Not to mention the person I was talking to with Apple said that I could get AppleCare plus directly through them for cheaper than through assurant or T-Mobile!! so I found a company I like the better because they cover other stuff but otherwise you're better off to just get AppleCare plus it's way cheaper I guess I want to say about seven or eight dollars a month. I might be off a few dollars but it's way cheaper than insurance through T-Mobile and they cover pretty much the same stuff!! Sorry for my super long rant, but hopefully it save some people some money to get the hell away from what their pitching!!
Applecare vs Protection360
Recently I removed my 21-year-old son from my cell phone plan because he wanted to get his own service plan at Verizon. I was surprised to see my bill only go down from $194.79 (for 2 lines plus wi-fi) to $172.29. I'm trying to figure out why it didn't go lower than that. Also, while looking at my plan information, I see that I have Applecare Services (Free) and I also have Protection<360> ($15.00 per month). Is it necessary to have the Protection<360> AND Applecare services? ¿Cuál es la diferencia? Thank you in advance for any and all help and information you can provide me.
Tmobile 360 Insurance & Assurant = False Promises
I strongly advise not to get Tmobile insurance, don't make the mistake I did... It sounded good 4 years ago, when Applecare didn't have lost & stolen option... So last week at the end of July in 2023, I needed to replace my battery it's at 77% health... Tmobile store sends me to Apple store, I was told that I have to go back to Tmobile since the phone is older than 2 years (normally they would replace it or install new fresh battery at 100% health). I go back to Tmobile, waited 20 mins for help... they order me a phone. They didn't notify me that it was ready for pickup, so 4 days later I went in inquiring about it, they check and had it there the entire time... $5 for the exchange of phone cost, also it's a refurb... I asked if the battery was new, they said it was... then told me the transfer backups will take more than 6 hours, had to come in next day in the morning, because they don't allow you to take the phone home to do the transfer... So after leaving my personal phone for like 6 hours there, they call me up the transfer completed and you can pickup the phone... Got there, checked everything out only to realize the refurb battery health was only at 78%... 1% better than my phone! I was shocked, a bit angry, and couldn't believe I wasted this much time on this BS process... I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs, but held it in store, my face was probably super red... I asked the Tmobile rep, why is the phone battery not new... why couldn't they replace the battery of my old phone with a new one instead, and if I could just annul this whole process and keep my old phone... Their policy is they can't do that and that they can only order another phone (refurb probably again) and that I would basically have to count my luck on the lottery that the battery will be better than both these current phones.... They can't help with anything else, besides me having to call 611 or corporate to grieve about my issue... Which I had to and the options I have are either they can replace the phone again, get an upgrade (i don't want to till the 15 comes out), or go to a 3rd party repair shop to get an estimate... a weekend past and I'm still waiting for a call back... and I'm asking myself why I paid $18/mon for 4+ years just so I have to go through this BS process and do all this work myself?!... Oh on top of that my google authenticator info didn't transfer over when they asked me to erase my old phone... I spent the last two days trying to get apps (tesla, banking & financial, etc) and accounts (email, software, etc) to get resolved and log back into them... (Don't do Google Authenticator! Go with SMS text (they say less secure, you'll thank me as it's much easier in life and I think with all the hacking, it's still plenty safe) otherwise, those who won't let you do phone #/SMS, go with Microsoft 2FA or 2FAS for iPhone). Next phone upgrade, will be Applecare+ w/lost & stolen option directly with Apple! I apologies for the long TLDR post/rant!, I just had so much stress and things going wrong over a week, just over a simple battery replacement... Besides all this mumbo-jumbo, I still think with my grandfathered plan, T-Mobile has an excellent phone plan pricing for my family and I, but their customer service in store sux and same with their upgrades (need to upgrade to the latest plan +add lines) went downhill over the pandemic!
Protection 360 vs Apple Care
Is there any reason to pay for protection 360 when you have apple care for your iphone? I tried to remove this feature (protection 360) but of course you have to speak to a rep first, I'm assuming so they can convince you not to remove it. Chat and email are non-existent for this step, so you have to talk via phone with someone so they can give you their best pitch I'm assuming. Sprint/Tmobile, let me remove this feature from my dashboard!
Claim Runaround
Filing my first claim with TMobile and the process is ridiculous! It's been 40 hours and still no approval. Calling in now for the 4th time and getting unfulfilled promises. Is there a known workaround? Why can't there just be a local service center to handle walk ins where they can validate account/coverage info and then work directly with the customer?
360 Protection Question
I did not know I have had Protection 360 since 10/2019 because when I bought my phones in 2019 I had a customer service rep who did not explain anything to me. I lost my phone last week and immedicately went and bought a new phone. Can I file a claim with Protection 360 and use it towards the phone I just bought? Also why wouldnt the T-Mobile customer service rep who looked up my account tell me I have the Protection 360. He also told me nothing, and him and his co-worker repeatedly sat there talking about how they hate their jobs and are leaving instead of informing me of the $16/month payment with the phone I bought, Instead I'm paying $50, and looking to see if I had any coverage.
