Sprint opens Total Equipment Protection enrollment open for March 75
by Derek Kessler
Fri, 05 Mar 2010 3:40 pm EST
Fri, 05 Mar 2010 3:40 pm EST 
Have a Palm Pre or Pixi on Sprint and wishing that you’d signed up for the $7 a month Total Equipment Protection plan during the first 30 days of your contract when you still had a chance? Sprint’s giving you a second chance: for the entire month of March Sprint has opened up TEP to all subscribers. If you’re not feeling like pushing your luck any further, you can sign up until the end of the month. For those unfamiliar, TEP has two components: hardware failures are completely covered and accidental damage or loss replacement comes with just a $100 deductible. Having replaced his own Pre three times - taking advantage of TEP each time - this blogger knows all too well how useful of a tool TEP is.
[via: Palm News Daily]
75 Comments
I replaced mine once and my wife's once but it was covered under manuf warranty. This is a cool thing Sprint has done to open TEP for this month.
Am I the only person with a sprint launch Pre?
Mine was launch until a month ago. The touchscreen just stopped working.
I have a Sprint launch Pre...:-)
I am still on my Pre from launch day. No issues yet...knock on wood.
I still have my Sprint launch Pre! :-)
All 3 of the lauch-day Pre's that our family purchased are still in full working order.
mine is.
Both my brother and I are on our Day 1 Pre's.
You and my brother. I'm on my third Pixi, and haven't paid a penny for replacements.
Still got mine. It has the USB door crack, but it isn't too bad (yet). My daughter still has hers, too.
MINE WAS CRACK TOO. I JUST REMOVED IT. IT SEEMS ALOT BETTER WITHOUT THAT USB COVER. IT'S NOT EVEN NOTICEABLE.
Launch Pre here! Bought my daughter a Pre in Sept, also still fully functional.
I still have my launch day Pre.
sprint covers them under the 1yr warranty only for defects, etc...after having two myself replaced under ESRP, it's a safe bet. WOW! I just learned a new shortcut typing this. Hold alt(up arrow) and press delete. Whole word deletes! Finding stuff daily and had a pre since pre-pre launch!
Yes... The up arrow is shift. Shift + Backspace (arrow point left) will delete full words in webOS
original here to no problems great phone
so what's to stop people from "losing" their phones to get replacements for $100?
Nothing...but you can only "lose" your phone three times within a year (and you still have to pay the $100 fee, and it most likely will be a refurb).
Here is part of their terms and conditions: "Customers are eligible for up to 3 ERP covered claims within any consecutive 12 months with a maximum cost of $1000 per claim."
One thing that is not clear from this, is whether that is 3 claims per line, or 3 claims per account. It must be 3 claims per line since we pay the insurance per line and not per account. But I would like someone who might know to chime in.
EDIT: BTW, I found this online (says don't show to customers, but I don't see why...): http://www.phoneclaim.com/doc_list/doc_download/628-tep-qrs-pdf
I don't see anything damning about that page. I just wish there would be a line in there that says:
"If your customer is irresponsible and doesn't buy it when we told them to, DON'T WORRY!: We'll bail them out right before their warranty is up and give them the same protection as the person who *was* responsible and purchased TEP when they got the phone! No Sweat!"
deafinoneear -- I could not agree more!! It just like those commercials for tax help where the people say "We owed $3 million dollars in taxes and settled with the IRS and only paid $13.48".
Mikey, that PDF clearly says "per line" in reference to the features.
"Open TEP Enrollment" is really no big deal as all you have to do is do an ESN swap to a "new phone" (that is, new to your account, even if you got it off ebay)... and then add TEP "to the line", then swap ESNs back to the Pre. :)
I need a third one!
I got mine in July and its still working great...I always pay for TEP but have never actually used it going back to my Treo 600. I guess I'm a sucker! haha
I have a lauunch pre and the only problem I have is because of my own stupidity. Slight crack just to the right of the scrren. Doesn't affect anything but my own need for a blemish free gadget.
I got my pre in June when I updated to 1.4 my pre die.The total equipment plan for $7.00 A MONTH REPLACE IT.
TEP = waste of money!
I'd rather pay the extra $50 or find it cheaper elsewhere and be assured of getting a brand new phone instead of a refurbished one.
Extra $50? How do you figure?
Your phone must be available for a rebate to just pay the "extra $50", so you example only works if you are a Premier Customer and had your phone for a year, or regular customer and had it for two years.
What are you going to do if you have a problem (say you damage it so badly it is unusable) with your Pre right this second? You would either have to wait until June (or whenever you got your pre), or pay the full price -- which Sprint lists for $549.99.
And where would you do that at and how???
Personally, I've spend $84 a year on TEP. For the hardware failures that I have experienced and replacements I've had, I've paid an additional $50 in deductible. Most often the deductible isn't charged and Sprint just fixes it, even when you admit fault for damage.
I've tracked the costs it would take to correct issues that TEP "fixed" for me, using best eBay or other way of replacing the phone and it came to about $120 per year. So TEP for me was not a waste of money.
I received my Pre on release day. I've taken advantage of the insurance and returned replaced my Pre probably 5 times. This is 120% worth it.
I bet the vast majority of returns on the Pre would have been covered under the 1 year warranty saying you replaced it under TEP in those cases is silly. It would have been replaced anyway. The only cases where TEP has protected people in the first year has been accidental breakage. I'm willing to bet all 3 of Derek's returns would have been covered under the normal warranty so I don't understand why he is pushing TEP so hard. He just paid $84 this year for what I would have gotten for free. Thanks for supporting Sprint Derek! ;)
That's right but it's even worse. If your phone shows any signs of "physical damage" (like the USB Crack or Screen Crack) then good luck trying to get Sprint to repair it even if the electronics are bad.
You go to the store and basically they want you to file an insurance claim with a $100 deductible.
Gee thanks Sprint.
im still on my first pre, never had any problems. i first had the instinct without insurance, when i updated to the pre (i bought my pre in ebay new) i took it to my nearest sprint store and i told them i wanted the insurance and without asking anything or checking the phone, they applied to my account. i was shocked, because i told the lady i wanted to get the insurance and she just went to my account and applied it. (i had activated the phone before going to the store)
I got mine in July. No problems till about 2 weeks ago. Plugged my phone in to charge. Screen cracked right a the charging spot and has finally edged out to the screen. I DIDN'T purchase a TEP but will be doing so now, then getting it fixed.
On the flip side, my wife is on her third. Power button borked on the first two.
I bet Sprint/Palm would replace it without TEP.
You would have had an awful time getting Sprint to cover this with TEP. They consider this "physical damage" and they don't want to accept the phone for repair even when the electronics is bad.
Search Palms blogs for USB Crack and see what I mean.
Yeah-- agreed with a few other posters. The equipment protection is junk and that's why they don't want you to see that pdf... its all about trying to convince people they should get it and how they can ensure their employees can sucker people into spending 84 dollars a year. In the almost 10 years I've been with sprint- the only time I may have ever made a claim under this program was when we were stuck in traffic and I opened the car door to step out for a stretch and my cell phone, having been in my lap, fell onto the highway and was consequntly rolled over before i noticed it was missing. Pretty much anything that goes wrong- baring that- with the phone is going to be covered by the manufacturer's warranty. (if it was your fault, chances are you can come up with some way for it to seem like it wasn't) With sprint premier you get a new phone credit every year- so even if you botch one over the course of your years using mobile phones, you are still ahead all that money you would have spent for nothing- Like the 840 dollars i'd have spent over the course of the last 10 years for nothing.
Let's face it, most of us in this forum are up on the newest gadgets and prolly have new handsets more often than most- put the 84 dollars towards the next one- sprint's in it for their $ not for you lol- obviously its in their best interest :)
I'm sorry, but that is complete and utter bull$hit. The way TEP makes it monetarily even for Sprint is by honoring the manufacturer's warranty (in this case, Palm backs the Pre up for a year) and then when the year is over you basically start making claims on your TEP plan. This means you've essentially been paying into your TEP account for 12 months ($84) by the time that you actually start having to make claims on it (barring a dropped, stolen or water-logged phone)
So now it turns out that while I thought I did the right thing by buying the protection when I purchased the phone, since that was the only time I could do it, that now I did the dumb thing because now you can just add it 3/4 of the way into your contract year, right before the warranty runs out. That makes me incredibly mad. This is along the lines of you struggling to pay your mortgage but still keeping up with the bills, while your neighbor, who got an ARM and bought a house that they couldn't afford in the first place, gets a bailout and a refinance to something they can afford right before they loose the house. This is while you're still eating ramen to pay the bills.
Hey Sprint-- THIS IS NOT OK IN MY BOOK! If you scare people into thinking that they're not going to be able to get a service unless they buy it immediately, but then you turn around 9 months later and offer it to the people irresponsible enough to not get it in the first place, that TICKS ME RIGHT OFF and doesn't exactly instill my confidence in your brand.
Since you took my $84, can I get a free touchstone now because I did the right thing in the first place?!
(barring a dropped, stolen or water-logged phone) - a LOT of people do this within one year, and for peace of mind to lose a phone and have my profile/exchange restore it all is priceless to me and alot of consumers!....and not everyone upgrades on the SAME exact day, so your theory of waiting 9 months to offer this to all customers just happens to coincide with your upgrade date, not all of America. BTW, you can opt out at ANY time if you think this was sooo worthless.
Take my brother (whom is a firefighter and for some odd reason did not get insurance). I have had to replace his housing twice, and now that this open enrollment is available, he will be making sure to apply. To each his own....
Love the mortgage analogy though...lol
TEP won't cover the broken housing. It's "physical damage" and it's hard to get Sprint to accept the phone.
Had 2 Pre in the house since August - no problems. Still paying the TEP in case we sit down on one of them.
For me, TEP was worthwhile for the first few months, but I dropped TEP a few months ago.
My reasoning is that there are basically two coverages that TEP provides:
1. Free repairs/replacements for issues that are the manufacturer's fault (buttons wear out, phone just stops working, etc.)
2. $100 replacements for issues that are the customer's fault (abuse, loss, water, etc.)
Now benefit #1 only kicks in after 1 year, because for the first year, the manufacturer's warranty would cover issues from that bucket. Of course, all Pre owners are Sprint Premier customers, so we got new customer pricing on upgrades after 1 year. So if the phone went on the fritz during year 1, it's a warranty repair. And if it went on the fritz after year 1, then it was probably time to upgrade anyway. Benefit #1 is useless.
That leaves benefit #2. When the Pre first came out (I'm on my launch Pre), new Pres on craigslist were running $400+. Not something I was interested in swallowing should I smash or lose my phone.
But now, new Pres are going for under $200 on craigslist in my area. The only benefit TEP would provide me now is to get a new Pre for $100 instead of $200 should I smash/lose my phone. Well, I've never smashed/lost a phone, so I'm willing to bet Sprint $50 or so that I won't smash or lose my favoritest phone I've ever owned ever in my whole entire life.
So TEP makes no sense now. But go ahead and add it in March if you want to help Sprint stay afloat. They need suckers desperately!
why pay 7 bucks a month for two years when you can go to Squaretrade.com and pay 60 bucks (with a discount) for the same number of years and comparable coverage.
I love TEP. I have used it once with my Pre and got a free replacement. Plus used it on past phones several times. I would rather pay monthly for this than have to come up with the price of a phone in one chunk.
I think them reoffering this is a good idea. Especially since when I bought the pre I told them I wanted the total 7 dollar protection and when I went to get it replaced a month ago for the usb door crack issue, they refused and said I only had the 4 dollar plan. So now I'm stuck with a pre with a small hole and a crack because sprint won't replace it :(
So wait a minute! Both me and wife have launch day Pre's. Wife plugged hers into her Sprint Pre car charger last month and it shorted the phone to where it would ring and could be answered but the screen was a permenant "test pattern". I paid $100 deductible to get new. Are you saying that should have been covered by Palm?! Or Sprint?!
I would say that because the phone "malfunctioned", sprint should have given you a Pre for free. But the "malfunctioned" part can be debated. You could have argued to get a free Pre in my opinion.
I would call Sprint or better yet, do Chat secssion and explain that the screen "just went into test pattern" unexplicably. The Sprint store erroniously advised you to make an un-justified Assurion claim and you feel that this is a misrepresentation of thier assesment since it's clearly a mfg'er defect. Request that the $100 deductable be credited to your account.
It may take you several times or calls but you should be able to get credited something for your troubles.
this is just a good recomendation. Don't charge your pre by wall outlet, but instead charge your phone by USB from your computer. The charge is slower and keeps your pre cooler. Not proven, but touchscreen failure is caused by extensive heat. Like all electonics. They run better when cooler. All my customers that have had their pre replaced have not been back since they started chargeing them by USB. Give it a try.
I don't suggest trying this. Using the USB port "too much" might cause one of the "USB Cracks" on your case.
When this happens you can't easily get your phone fixed by Sprint since they classify it as physical damage and tell you that you were rough with your phone. It's a $100 deductible after that.
and yes. TEP covers all manufacture defects and some wear and tear in advance exchange centers or full services centers free of charge. Only things not covered instore is physical damage, water damage and lost/stolen. At least from the corperate view at least.
and yes. TEP covers all manufacture defects and some wear and tear in advance exchange centers or full services centers free of charge. Only things not covered instore is physical damage, water damage and lost/stolen. At least from the corperate view at least.
you are not the only one with a day 1 pre, actually I have the same pre from the sprint palm pre launch party the day before the official release.
Rather than replying to a comment, I'll start fresh. hoping for as many negative comments crying Bullsh!t as possible. What's with all the praise?
Shouldn't the loyalty of those who write for Precentral be to those who've been regulars for a decade now? With Sprint charging $100 for a replacement device, and the number of replacements that have been issued, not to mention Palm personally calling it's loyalists to inquire what they could fix on the device, WHY IS PRECENTRAL PUSHING ITS MEMBERS TO WASTE MONEY ON EUQIPMENT REPLACEMENT???
It's a rip off. A gimmick for those who don't think... as I was guilty on my Pre, my mother's Treo, and my girlfriend's Curve.
Don't be guilty by association, Precentral. We're lyal to you... please do us the favor.
I would like to hear your explanation as to why you think it is a "rip off" and a "gimmick"?
If you have ever had to pay full replacement value on a phone, it would be neither of those...
I've been with Sprint since the launch in the Baltimore/DC area and sold the plans to new adoptees then. The only time these plans are ever worth it was when cell phone were priced at a penny, or a dollar, yet the purchase price was $450.
For the $75, you'd receive a new phone. Yet now you have folks paying anywhere from $100 to $200 for the phone new when brand new replacements are available online within markets such as eBay and Craigslist for as little as $150. Even $100 slightly used.
So when you factor the $84/year for coverage AND the $100 deductible.... Get it now? Just read any of the long posts above mine. They've said the same far more eloquently.
Now the question is, why doesn't Precentral, whom I love, tell you this within the article?
Whether the equipment plan is a good deal or not precentral seems to not discriminate when reporting news about the pre. They report all palm pre news, and this palm pre related;therefore, it's on precentral.
These guys do an EXCELLENT job on covering all things Palm, let me say. I stand behind their loyalty to Sprint even, oddly enough.
Yet, I'd have liked a bit more round of a picture to be shared re who may and may not benefit from this particular story, else we all run to Sprint with all wallets open benefiting very few.
I think we've set our mark as a community. Is it not time to challenge those who do not deliver? Rather reporting on the MCraig app not working... within the forums, not by PC I don't think, why not a story on what to do re recovering lost $ within the app catalog?
I emailed them. Got my money back. I'm not sure some know what to do. I guess I'm looking for big brother to flex on my behalf when necessary. Its all love you see... Maybe I'm a bit too invested. That's all...
Once more, stellar job, precentral.
lmao!!! Whos ready for this.... I'm on my 8th pre since june 6th of 09, the first to had patches_,preware, all the good stuff. Since then I've learned not to bother due to the need of a replacement within a month, LOTS OF DEFECTIVE UNITS!!! However I've not paid one penny for any of them, well besides the original, so there definitely isn't a limit on how many you can get, I do have the 7$ a month for protection but I've never even been asked about it when replacing, so idk what else to say, just wanted people to understand this is important especially with a phone like this.... Kudos to all of you on your original, I must say I'm jealous lol
lmao!!! Whos ready for this.... I'm on my 8th pre since june 6th of 09, the first to had patches_,preware, all the good stuff. Since then I've learned not to bother due to the need of a replacement within a month, LOTS OF DEFECTIVE UNITS!!! However I've not paid one penny for any of them, well besides the original, so there definitely isn't a limit on how many you can get, I do have the 7$ a month for protection but I've never even been asked about it when replacing, so idk what else to say, just wanted people to understand this is important especially with a phone like this.... Kudos to all of you on your original, I must say I'm jealous lol
lmao!!! Whos ready for this.... I'm on my 8th pre since june 6th of 09, the first to had patches_,preware, all the good stuff. Since then I've learned not to bother due to the need of a replacement within a month, LOTS OF DEFECTIVE UNITS!!! However I've not paid one penny for any of them, well besides the original, so there definitely isn't a limit on how many you can get, I do have the 7$ a month for protection but I've never even been asked about it when replacing, so idk what else to say, just wanted people to understand this is important especially with a phone like this.... Kudos to all of you on your original, I must say I'm jealous lol
Umm... How do you equate "not one penny" with $7 per month?? You're paying $7/mo to swap those Pres out.
I do not pay for TEP, and if I had a manufacturer's defect... I would take it into Sprint, and they would do an advanced exchange for FREE (when I say FREE, I literally mean "not one penny"). No need to have TEP for something covered under manufacturer's warranty!!
The only reason to have TEP is if you are going to break it or lose it. In that case, SquareTrade is a much better deal... just make sure you have a cheap backup (say, a Treo 755) layin' around for downtime.
Luckily, I have not had to take advantage of Sprint's FREE service to honor manufacturer warranties, most likely exchanging my phone for a refurb.
Here's the goods if you don't believe that you're wasting your money on TEP...
http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Get_warranty_coverage_for_your...
>"accidental damage or loss replacement comes with just a $100 deductible."
Just a $100 deductible? Just? I think that is rather crazy. Perhaps there should be a $100 deductible for customers who have used the replacement plan in the past. But for those who take care of their equipment (I am still on my FIRST Pre from day-one-release), why should they pay such a high penalty?
You don't like reality much, do you? Are you aware of how much that little polished stone in your hand is worth if it's not subsidized by your carrier? Almost all smartphones cost about $450+ when they are bought unlocked and not with a plan. There's an incredible amount of engineering that goes into these things, and that's not free.
Yes, JUST $100. Go try and buy one without a contract and tell us how much you find it for.
"Go try and buy one without a contract and tell us how much you find it for."
Here are three Palm Pre's in excellent condition for as low as $100. No, not brand new, yet spotless. Refurbs aren't brand new either.
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/mob/1627475367.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/mob/1628771626.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/mob/1629841456.html
For those of you receiving warranty replacements, as most are... factor in the cost of an ongoing replacement warranty as I stupidly carried for ten years and you've now lost $840. now when the phone costs $350 at the lowest used, then cool. But when it's being sold BOGO all over the tele?
Don't argue. We're looking out for whats best for you. Wise up...
Pretty good deal considering the fragile nature of the pre. withing 2 weeks i dropped the phone and the slider became loose, as well as the side of the phone was cracked. The awesome thing was the service place i went to replaced my phone with no deductible under the mfg. warranty, eventhough i dropped the phone.I wish palm would auth. official sprint service centers to tighten the slider mechanism though, considering it is impossible to restore the new phone without loosing all the settings on your apps.
I think if Sprint is going to allow all those who did not opt in for coverage to opt in now, they should credit the accounts of those opted in from the get go the amount they've paid up to this point to level the playing field. I'll take the $63 bucks.
Good point, but it would only make sense to do that for people who haven't used the service yet. I replaced 3 pres in the first 3 months(mostly because if crappy refurbs), and 1 that i dropped. I have no problem paying that fee from the beginning.
I sold my pre to a guy. (i work for a company that sounds like shadiorack) he then didn't want it 3 months later so I bought it for $50. I suppose I should get TEP. It really is a good idea unless you get the phone from third party and can avoid paying a deductable (sp) ((drinking)). Else goto TEP.
Saved over $140 per year insuring under my St Farm Personal Articles rider. Sprint TEP 7x12=$84 and with 2 phones $168 vs $42 with NO deductible and immediate replacement at a Sprint store for value up to $600.
Beat that!
bump
Thanks "jjsdfs" That is a very good idea. I am going to put my Pre onto my renters insurance.
the pre and pixi come with a 1 year mfg warranty and you don't need sprint's insurance to replace it - it's free as long as it's covered by palm... i have replaced my phone 3 times due to 2 having too much "oreo-effect" and the latest having a dead pixel. sprint straight-up replaced them with no questions. the one i have now has too much oreo, so i'll be replacing it as well. i'll keep replacing them until i get a perfect one, or until the C40 comes out =)
I think I got my original Sprint launch (from June 6) BACK! My fifth Pre is exhibiting the same problems - oreo & power button issues :(