Database Users

Never go to radio shack...

Holy ****, I bought my Evo at radio shack on launch day. I went to a different shack to see if the had any Evo's to swap out with since I had really bad screen separation and my screen was so unresponsive. So they didn't have any but the girl did look in the computer to see if any other store did. She said the Carmel,IN store has 2. So I rush over there and looked at the 2 they had. And to my shocking eyes, they was trying to give me a used scratched Evo. There was an other lady in there buying the other one. When they tried too activate hers, it came up as esn already activated. I was link her omfg... So my girl asked best buy which is next door if they had any Evo's and had 2 also, but they was brand new, so I canceled my line, got a refund from the shack and went next door.. Now I'm the proud owner of my new EVO will never do any business with radio shack ever again...
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Just because that particular store screwed up does not mean the majority are like that.

johnjjschmidt said:
Just because that particular store screwed up does not mean the majority are like that.
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True that. At first I had mix feelings about them but at the end they came through and were able swap me a new one. All in all you just have to find one that is helpful. Good luck to all.

I for one went to the Shack on Friday in a small town near me and not only did I get one but somehow it was only $168 with tax!!!! WOOT WOOT!

Probably a return
wraunch said:
I for one went to the Shack on Friday in a small town near me and not only did I get one but somehow it was only $168 with tax!!!! WOOT WOOT!
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The sales guy at the Shack by us lied pretty bad about the Evo and accessories. I'll probably won't go back to the one by me till he is fired or quits. Not too bad of a store though.
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What he said?
Luzer said:
The sales guy at the Shack by us lied pretty bad about the Evo and accessories. I'll probably won't go back to the one by me till he is fired or quits. Not too bad of a store though.
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Luzer:
What exactly did he lie about, if you don't mind me asking?

This isn't the first time I've seen posts about Radioshack trying to sell used phones. Its happened before. People wonder why I refuse to shop there.
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they sell used electronics so yeah, sure i can see them selling used handsets. ive seen stapled boxes of electronics many times.... no shock here.

Uhh.. I work for Radio Shack.. And know that, at our store, which sells close to 200 phones a month, does NOT sell used phones.. Remember, some businesses have shady managers.. I would contact that stores district manager.. Oh, and we'be sold over 70 Evo's since launch day, and only 2 or 3 swap outs.. And we're getting the replacements direct from HTC.

That's too bad about the selling of used phones but from the three stores I have worked in we never sold used cell phones. As far as other stuff goes, if a returned product seems to be in proper order we do put it back on the shelf.

Zardos66 said:
This isn't the first time I've seen posts about Radioshack trying to sell used phones. Its happened before. People wonder why I refuse to shop there.
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johnjjschmidt said:
That's too bad about the selling of used phones but from the three stores I have worked in we never sold used cell phones. As far as other stuff goes, if a returned product seems to be in proper order we do put it back on the shelf.
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Sometimes when a phone is returned, the associate/manager gets a little overzealous at losing a phone sale because they don't have any new ones in stock, and it's tempting to try to sell that returned one... trust me, it looks a little different from the other side of the counter. That said, not only is it not possible to sell a "used" Sprint phone, but it's against our policy anyway. The ESN doesn't clear from a cancelled account for a long period of time, so you'll rarely manage to get home with it in the first place. AT&T/T-Mobile phones, however... I'm sad to say that I'm not surprised people have sold them, but I would never, and have never, done such a thing or seen it done at any of the 6 stores I've worked at. Radioshack is also not the only company that's ever been accused of having this happen, BY FAR.
As for other products, yes, we do put returns back on the shelf, so long as they still work. I disprove of it on the grounds that it looks tacky, and we can't discount the price of the item... but, sometimes we don't have a choice. We certainly don't force people to buy the opened products

Xenithflare said:
Sometimes when a phone is returned, the associate/manager gets a little overzealous at losing a phone sale because they don't have any new ones in stock, and it's tempting to try to sell that returned one... trust me, it looks a little different from the other side of the counter. That said, not only is it not possible to sell a "used" Sprint phone, but it's against our policy anyway. The ESN doesn't clear from a cancelled account for a long period of time, so you'll rarely manage to get home with it in the first place. AT&T/T-Mobile phones, however... I'm sad to say that I'm not surprised people have sold them, but I would never, and have never, done such a thing or seen it done at any of the 6 stores I've worked at. Radioshack is also not the only company that's ever been accused of having this happen, BY FAR.
As for other products, yes, we do put returns back on the shelf, so long as they still work. I disprove of it on the grounds that it looks tacky, and we can't discount the price of the item... but, sometimes we don't have a choice. We certainly don't force people to buy the opened products
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I can't tell you how many times I've flat out told a customer that what they were about to buy would NOT work for what they were trying to do... but they dont listen to me, they go home, it doesn't work and they bring it back. And we're stuck reselling it opened. All because the jackhole refused to listen to the person who works at the store.
Or how many times people will just grab something and start to open it right there...then realize that it wasnt what they wanted. (Would've been faster to just READ the dang box instead of ripping it apart) And again, we're stuck reselling it.
When it's things like cables and connectors and whatnot, it's not a big deal, and most of the big stuff can be shipped out anyway. /shrug
On the upside, I once won $50 bucks off a customer when I bet him that what he was buying was wrong (he was a regular shopper, and a cool guy)
as for the OP, That's a pretty bad store to be reselling used phones. It's not even worth the hour it takes to get them activated right.

Bp3dots said:
I can't tell you how many times I've flat out told a customer that what they were about to buy would NOT work for what they were trying to do... but they dont listen to me, they go home, it doesn't work and they bring it back. And we're stuck reselling it opened. All because the jackhole refused to listen to the person who works at the store.
Or how many times people will just grab something and start to open it right there...then realize that it wasnt what they wanted. (Would've been faster to just READ the dang box instead of ripping it apart) And again, we're stuck reselling it.
When it's things like cables and connectors and whatnot, it's not a big deal, and most of the big stuff can be shipped out anyway. /shrug
On the upside, I once won $50 bucks off a customer when I bet him that what he was buying was wrong (he was a regular shopper, and a cool guy)
as for the OP, That's a pretty bad store to be reselling used phones. It's not even worth the hour it takes to get them activated right.
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Holy jesus, this is so full of truth I can't quote it hard enough. Every day, someone comes in for an ethernet splitter or some bunch of crap that we know won't work, and they insist on buying it anyway. Then, sure enough, back they come to return it. I especially hate when someone grabs say, a DC power plug from the parts drawer, even though you're telling them again and again that we don't have anything you can splice your laptop power cord with, and they look at you and ask if they can open it as they rip it open. It's like, NO YOU CAN'T OPEN IT, IT WON'T WORK. And then, they realize you're right, and now no one else will buy it because it's opened.
XD Sorry, had to rant. Today has been exactly that kind of day. But yeah; if we sent back everything anyone had ever opened, we'd barely have anything on our shelves. Phones; however, should never be resold. There're several reasons it's against our policy, privacy and quality control only being two parts of it.

The radio shack by my house does in fact sell used evos (as new)...but they tell you they are used. I was at radio shack putting my wife on the list for evos when someone returned one, the person directly behind the return ask if she could buy it. The manager sold it to her, as a new phone. A few nights later we got a call from the same manager saying they just had a return (because of battery life) and ask us if we wanted to purchase it as a new phone.

bwcorvus said:
The radio shack by my house does in fact sell used evos (as new)...but they tell you they are used. I was at radio shack putting my wife on the list for evos when someone returned one, the person directly behind the return ask if she could buy it. The manager sold it to her, as a new phone. A few nights later we got a call from the same manager saying they just had a return (because of battery life) and ask us if we wanted to purchase it as a new phone.
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Dumb ****,smfh,u just saw it returned, she dumb.
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wraunch said:
I for one went to the Shack on Friday in did I get one but somehow it was only $168 with tax!!!! WOOT WOOT!
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How's your returned resold evo,sir?
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bwcorvus said:
The radio shack by my house does in fact sell used evos (as new)...but they tell you they are used. I was at radio shack putting my wife on the list for evos when someone returned one, the person directly behind the return ask if she could buy it. The manager sold it to her, as a new phone. A few nights later we got a call from the same manager saying they just had a return (because of battery life) and ask us if we wanted to purchase it as a new phone.
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If they tell you it's used, then they aren't selling it as "new."
not that they should be selling it anyway...

Xenithflare said:
Holy jesus, this is so full of truth I can't quote it hard enough. Every day, someone comes in for an ethernet splitter or some bunch of crap that we know won't work, and they insist on buying it anyway. Then, sure enough, back they come to return it. I especially hate when someone grabs say, a DC power plug from the parts drawer, even though you're telling them again and again that we don't have anything you can splice your laptop power cord with, and they look at you and ask if they can open it as they rip it open. It's like, NO YOU CAN'T OPEN IT, IT WON'T WORK. And then, they realize you're right, and now no one else will buy it because it's opened.
XD Sorry, had to rant. Today has been exactly that kind of day. But yeah; if we sent back everything anyone had ever opened, we'd barely have anything on our shelves. Phones; however, should never be resold. There're several reasons it's against our policy, privacy and quality control only being two parts of it.
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The best are the ones that make you open something, verify that it works, and then try to buy a different, unopened one, of the same thing, because they dont want an already open one.
YOU MADE ME OPEN IT!!!!

Why do people hate refurbished phones?

I've been lucky enough to have never needed my phone replaced and I've had over 30 or 40 phones thanks to connections at best buy.
My question is why do people hate them? Obviously your "brand new" (and i use parentheses because people think a 8 month old phone doesn't deserve a refurbished one as a replacement) has the exact same chance of not working properly. I can understand one month old but anything past that is not new anymore.
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I think part of the issue with phones is that people don't want something that someone has had pressed against their cheek or stuffed in their pocket for the past few months.
This is apart from the obvious fact that a refurb it may still be broken.
I have personally had very good luck with refurbed cameras.

DirtyShroomz said:
I've been lucky enough to have never needed my phone replaced and I've had over 30 or 40 phones thanks to connections at best buy.
My question is why do people hate them? Obviously your "brand new" (and i use parentheses because people think a 8 month old phone doesn't deserve a refurbished one as a replacement) has the exact same chance of not working properly. I can understand one month old but anything past that is not new anymore.
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Honestly, because I've never received a refurbished phone that didn't fail on me within a month.
I don't care if it's "refurbished" or "new" I just want it to work 100% and not fail on me.

I'm inclined to agree that after a certain point you aren't really 'deserving' of a brand new device. I think it's simply the fact that the device isn't 'brand new and out of box' and has been 'handled.' I guess I can sort of understand why people might have a problem with it, but if it works and isn't entirely flawed in some manner, then what is the problem? I had 2 refurbished PS3's die on me in a year. Obviously I got 'lucky.' In that regard I understand why someone would be hesitant to get one. But more often than not refurbs actually work as intended. Shocking. But the practice is a tried and relatively true one.

I think you should get a freebee.. one free new phone. Anything after that.. refurbished
sent from a 3d fone

I just activated my refurbished phone. It took Sprint a month to get one for me. This one doesn't charge at all. The store said it would take at least a week to get me another one. When I asked what I should do about my phone in the meantime, the employee told me I could bring my phone into the store everyday to have them charge it. He was serious.
The icing on the cake is that they won't call when the new phone comes in. I'm supposed to call them everyday and ask if it's there. But the store doesn't ever answer their phone! After going through the phone tree twice, it just says "Sorry, all reps are busy, please make an appointment online." Somehow this is the only store in all of San Francisco that can even do replacements. I ****ing hate Sprint. [/RANT]

notown775 said:
I think you should get a freebee.. one free new phone. Anything after that.. refurbished
sent from a 3d fone
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I think you should have to get a refurbished phone, then if that fails you should be allowed a new one.
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DirtyShroomz said:
I've been lucky enough to have never needed my phone replaced and I've had over 30 or 40 phones thanks to connections at best buy.
My question is why do people hate them? Obviously your "brand new" (and i use parentheses because people think a 8 month old phone doesn't deserve a refurbished one as a replacement) has the exact same chance of not working properly. I can understand one month old but anything past that is not new anymore.
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From what I have expierenced, refurbished phones are rarely problem free. Thus causing people to question refurb phones and the quality control that goes into refurbishment.
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ioos said:
I just activated my refurbished phone. It took Sprint a month to get one for me. This one doesn't charge at all. The store said it would take at least a week to get me another one. When I asked what I should do about my phone in the meantime, the employee told me I could bring my phone into the store everyday to have them charge it. He was serious.
The icing on the cake is that they won't call when the new phone comes in. I'm supposed to call them everyday and ask if it's there. But the store doesn't ever answer their phone! After going through the phone tree twice, it just says "Sorry, all reps are busy, please make an appointment online." Somehow this is the only store in all of San Francisco that can even do replacements. I ****ing hate Sprint. [/RANT]
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Call tech support and tell them your situation and they can send you one over the phone. I have the same problem in the southbay. The store always has at least a 45 min wait before you can even get help and they never answer their phone.
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Rem3Dy said:
Call tech support and tell them your situation and they can send you one over the phone. I have the same problem in the southbay. The store always has at least a 45 min wait before you can even get help and they never answer their phone.
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You mean sorta like download a new one?? Gotta love Sprint's technology

Will they send you a phone if they can't verify the issue? Is there a specific support number you call?

I've never received a replacement "over the phone", it has always taken overnight.
Refurb'd phones are put back together poorly IMO, my wife got a replacement that started to seperate from the case, we complained, they sent a "New" EVO the next day.
I have two refurb'd that are just fine though, we have 8 EVO's.

{ParanoiA} said:
You mean sorta like download a new one?? Gotta love Sprint's technology
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Really? I knew the level of intelligence on XDA was going downhill.......
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Jim M said:
I've never received a replacement "over the phone", it has always taken overnight.
Refurb'd phones are put back together poorly IMO, my wife got a replacement that started to seperate from the case, we complained, they sent a "New" EVO the next day.
I have two refurb'd that are just fine though, we have 8 EVO's.
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The term over the phone refers to the fact he can get a replacement by speaking to someone over the phone instead of having to deal with the situation he has at his local sprint store.
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ioos said:
Will they send you a phone if they can't verify the issue? Is there a specific support number you call?
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Yea they will. You should be honest about the problem because if you lie and sprint determines there is no issue with they phone they can charge you an additional amount.
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Sprint has questionable refurbishment techniques. I've been told that the whole process is outsourced. I've read a lot about people getting refurbished phones that have known problems, like screen separation and bright spots on the screen. In many cases, it seems likely that those are the reasons why the phone was returned in the first place, and their refurbishing does not take care of the issue for which the phone was returned.
That said, I used to be on a Centro, and I went through three new ones before I ended up with a refurb. The refurb lasted a hell of a lot longer than the new ones. The only problem with it is that it was kind of gross when I got it. It had smudges and one of the buttons was a little cracked. But the phone itself worked great for the year and a half that I used it.
And yea, there's the gross factor too. Who knows who had their face pressed up against my refurb phone. Ick.

I don't like the idea that it could have been thumped around, and only the most obvious failing component was replaced, leaving you with a "ready to break" phone. That being said, I've never actually had a problem with a refurbished unit, (phone or other). All in the head I guess.
Sent from my Leedroid DHD!

usmaak said:
Sprint has questionable refurbishment techniques. I've been told that the whole process is outsourced. I've read a lot about people getting refurbished phones that have known problems, like screen separation and bright spots on the screen. In many cases, it seems likely that those are the reasons why the phone was returned in the first place, and their refurbishing does not take care of the issue for which the phone was returned.
That said, I used to be on a Centro, and I went through three new ones before I ended up with a refurb. The refurb lasted a hell of a lot longer than the new ones. The only problem with it is that it was kind of gross when I got it. It had smudges and one of the buttons was a little cracked. But the phone itself worked great for the year and a half that I used it.
And yea, there's the gross factor too. Who knows who had their face pressed up against my refurb phone. Ick.
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I've seen as many new Evo's that had the screen separation issues, charger issues etc etc. I can see there being a bit more of a chance that a refurbished device isn't going to be up to par. I like the idea of maybe a new device and every device following is a refurb. As for the dirty screens ... maybe that's how I caught that face tattoo known as cheek herpes. :debbiedownerface:
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Riding the white pony?
Rem3Dy said:
The term over the phone refers to the fact he can get a replacement by speaking to someone over the phone instead of having to deal with the situation he has at his local sprint store.
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Well... DUH, some people have no sense of humor, must be due to lack of root... I dunno.

So far only on my first refurb from August last year. So far so good (knocks wood). My launch day (002)Evo's 4G got up, and gone (radio was shot). The refurb is a launch day 003. As with anything you put in contact with your body for the first time you should wipe it down first even if new(some of the toxic chemicals used in production are rather nasty).

Don't use best buy's geeksquad black tie protection if you need a battery replaced

Alright well I was happy to see that my insurance plan (I got it from my dad) included the free battery replacement and since mine gets terrible drain from my phone I figured alright cool no problem, I will just goto bestbuy today and go get my replacement, WRONG! Turns out, you wait 45 minutes in line just to be told "You need to call this number *writes it down* and then your battery should be at your house between 4-7 days. Are you kidding me? Why the hell can't you guys carry battery replacements and give me a battery when I need it? Also just a side note of bad luck: I called and their systems are down so they can't place my order today. All in all: best buy is overpriced garbage with an incompetant support team with a plan that makes less sense than baby talk.

Indirect said:
Alright well I was happy to see that my insurance plan (I got it from my dad) included the free battery replacement and since mine gets terrible drain from my phone I figured alright cool no problem, I will just goto bestbuy today and go get my replacement, WRONG! Turns out, you wait 45 minutes in line just to be told "You need to call this number *writes it down* and then your battery should be at your house between 4-7 days. Are you kidding me? Why the hell can't you guys carry battery replacements and give me a battery when I need it? Also just a side note of bad luck: I called and their systems are down so they can't place my order today. All in all: best buy is overpriced garbage with an incompetant support team with a plan that makes less sense than baby talk.
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So they don't carry it in the store and want you to call the number to get a free battery replacement..... Are you like 13 just call the number and get your battery, just be glad that the service is even offered.
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As far as I know, Best Buy nor any other insurance offerings guarantee that they will just trade you a new battery immediately in-store.
Giving you a number and mailing you a new battery after calling them sounds like SOP.

MultiDev said:
As far as I know, Best Buy nor any other insurance offerings guarantee that they will just trade you a new battery immediately in-store.
Giving you a number and mailing you a new battery after calling them sounds like SOP.
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Sprint will replace
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Khilbron said:
So they don't carry it in the store and want you to call the number to get a free battery replacement..... Are you like 13 just call the number and get your battery, just be glad that the service is even offered.
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That doesn't make any sense.
The best busy insurance is useless.
You're better off using the warranty because either way you're going to be without a phone for multiple weeks.

Meh BBY rarely carries batteries for devices in store... they might have the extended capacity ones but I have never seen them carry OEM batteries so yeah... this sounds pretty standard

It's the fact that I was annoyed at the situation that I have to call the number myself and all that instead of just going to sprint to replace my battery. It's annoying and I was already having a bad day. I had to vent. :3

Indirect said:
It's the fact that I was annoyed at the situation that I have to call the number myself and all that instead of just going to sprint to replace my battery. It's annoying and I was already having a bad day. I had to vent. :3
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I probably would have gotten on my phone and called my local best but store and asked how the replacement battery program worked before driving out there and waiting 45 minutes in line. If I am going somewhere to purchase anything that could be out of stock (expecially electronics), I will always call and see if they have it in stock. Going to a store and expecting for them to have something that you want/need without checking first is not their fault.

tgruendler said:
I probably would have gotten on my phone and called my local best but store and asked how the replacement battery program worked before driving out there and waiting 45 minutes in line. If I am going somewhere to purchase anything that could be out of stock (expecially electronics), I will always call and see if they have it in stock. Going to a store and expecting for them to have something that you want/need without checking first is not their fault.
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Furthermore, if you actually took the time to read and/or inquire about the battery replacements when you signed up, you would know that this is standard procedure.
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bjb_nyj101 said:
you would know that this is standard procedure.
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And you don't think that supports the OP's advice of not using Best Buy's black tie protection?
You're better off just using the HTC warranty.

mattykinsx said:
And you don't think that supports the OP's advice of not using Best Buy's black tie protection?
You're better off just using the HTC warranty.
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Try and send Htc a cracked screen and see what they say
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HSadler93 said:
Try and send Htc a cracked screen and see what they say
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I was referring to warranty concerns, not physical damage concerns.
That's what TEP is for.
Battery replaced on site, phone replaced within a day if service cannot be performed, deductible only if you damage the phone.
A lot better than paying $10 a month and having to wait a week [or up to three] to have a phone. [Which is just what the HTC warranty is like]

LexLuger82 said:
Sprint will replace
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From the warehouse, which usually takes a day or two.

Sunsparc said:
From the warehouse, which usually takes a day or two.
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Sprint replaces batteries on site
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mattykinsx said:
And you don't think that supports the OP's advice of not using Best Buy's black tie protection?
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I never said that the OP wasn't right for advocating against black tie. I'm replying to this:
Indirect said:
I figured alright cool no problem, I will just goto bestbuy today and go get my replacement, WRONG! Turns out, you wait 45 minutes in line just to be told "You need to call this number *writes it down* and then your battery should be at your house between 4-7 days. Are you kidding me? Why the hell can't you guys carry battery replacements and give me a battery when I need it?
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Not just this black tie insurance, but everything you sign up for in general; You should know what services you are signing up & paying for. Period. There should never be any surprises. *Even if* you "assume" that you'll be able to get something fixed/replaced/etc, it seems like common sense to call in before hand to make sure, rather than wast an hour of your time.

Honestly you could have stopped at "Don't use Best Buys Geek Squad"
The in house people are just plain dumb. Not naive, not just under-trained, not just lacking in the skill set to do the job but actual dumb.
I say this with every ounce of honesty I can in hopes that you guys for once believe something on the internet posted by someone you don't know.......
I actually got into an extended conversation with a person about a new computer and as soon as I saw he was just reading the description card I asked about the flux capacitor issues. He proceeded to ask his superior about it because he "wanted to be honest and find my answer instead of making up stuff". His superior proceeded to LOOK IT UP!!! until a listening customer popped in with "you only have issues if you have a hard drive that spins faster than 88mph". We laughed, they picked up on it, I left.
The GS employees are dumb. I don't use the above story as my only basis, that's an extreme example. The phone people are just reading a prompt, the inhouse people are just trained to go to the computer and "look it up". They have no real working knowledge of anything they are selling.

Indirect said:
Alright well I was happy to see that my insurance plan (I got it from my dad) included the free battery replacement and since mine gets terrible drain from my phone I figured alright cool no problem, I will just goto bestbuy today and go get my replacement, WRONG! Turns out, you wait 45 minutes in line just to be told "You need to call this number *writes it down* and then your battery should be at your house between 4-7 days. Are you kidding me? Why the hell can't you guys carry battery replacements and give me a battery when I need it? Also just a side note of bad luck: I called and their systems are down so they can't place my order today. All in all: best buy is overpriced garbage with an incompetant support team with a plan that makes less sense than baby talk.
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Don't use "Best Buy" at all.

blizzard1017 said:
Honestly you could have stopped at "Don't use Best Buys Geek Squad"
The in house people are just plain dumb. Not naive, not just under-trained, not just lacking in the skill set to do the job but actual dumb.
I say this with every ounce of honesty I can in hopes that you guys for once believe something on the internet posted by someone you don't know.......
I actually got into an extended conversation with a person about a new computer and as soon as I saw he was just reading the description card I asked about the flux capacitor issues. He proceeded to ask his superior about it because he "wanted to be honest and find my answer instead of making up stuff". His superior proceeded to LOOK IT UP!!! until a listening customer popped in with "you only have issues if you have a hard drive that spins faster than 88mph". We laughed, they picked up on it, I left.
The GS employees are dumb. I don't use the above story as my only basis, that's an extreme example. The phone people are just reading a prompt, the inhouse people are just trained to go to the computer and "look it up". They have no real working knowledge of anything they are selling.
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The sad thing is, I wanted to work with geeksquad last year but then I found out the severe lack of knowledge in that group in general and I was appaled I have an extensive knowledge of windows and linux as well as the ability to remove just about every peice of malware by hand and I hate people that just scan with different tools that will eventually pick up something. Guess what best buy does to remove malware? Throw scans at it. I would much rather do all of it by hand so I figured I can do freelance virus removal for the time being and it has worked out wonderfully. I'm gonna try to convince my dad to just get me the sprint TEP plan and go from there. Atleast then I can find someone intelligent to fix my issues that I can't fix myself.

fenixjn said:
Meh BBY rarely carries batteries for devices in store... they might have the extended capacity ones but I have never seen them carry OEM batteries so yeah... this sounds pretty standard
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yeah, don't think I ever see batteries at Best Buy....you gotta read the small print when buying all that extra stuff from stores....especially when it involves them replacing something for free....

Thinking about using insurance to get a better phone

So, I have Best Buy mobile insurance, which I pay 10bucks a month.
It's been almost a year, since I bought it with Epic 4g, so I was thinking about using 120$ I spent.
I just read the article about Nexus S 4g getting new 2.3.7 upgrade, so that flared me up a bit about using the insurance to get rid of Epic 4G.
I saw a lot of people few weeks back, whom had full bricks caused by a beta Bonsai rom. I know that those people went to Sprint stores and got new/refurb Epic 4G. Although I think this is 100% user's fault, some people got their new phones for free. So I am thinking about doing that similar thing.
I am trying to get that same rom, or similar and just brick my phone and bring it to BBM. The worst thing that could happen is getting the refurb epic. But I think even it's a refurb, it would still be good as new. This way I can resell epic as new, instead 1 yr old with scratches/wears.
What do you think? Is it just too evil??

I wouldn't rely on it...but if i was trying to brick my phone I'd just check clear bootloader in odin.

Oh really?
That simple to hard brick the phone?
I didn't know ODIN was that dangerous

Best Buy insurance gives you new phones. Usually takes 2-3 business days to get it and they take your old phone. You will either do without, use their loaner or reactivate an old phone. They pretty much don't care why your phone is broke.

Never realized xda supports insurance fraud, this thread should "probably" be closed... just sayin
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

kennyglass123 said:
Best Buy insurance gives you new phones. They pretty much don't care why your phone is broke.
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Came here to say this. When I signed up for BB insurance, they said as long as you can bring it in they will replace it. It can be run over by a car and smashed to bits, no problem. But if it is lost or stolen then you're SOL. So yeah, if you want to get it replaced, why not just drop it in some water or toss it as high in the air as you can and watch it shatter on the cement? If you do that, please record it so we can all watch. hahaha

Insurance fraud????? LOL!!!!! I'm sorry..... With the way the mobile phone industry screws us..... IM ALL FOR GETTING OVER ON THEM...... yep... I said it..... SUE ME!
Sent from my A500 using xda premium

Zeinzu said:
Never realized xda supports insurance fraud, this thread should "probably" be closed... just sayin
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
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this is not insurance fraud. this is one thing insurance is actually for. if you break your device, wether it be in a fit of rage, or a pure accident, you pay a deductible, return the old equiptment, and get a new one. everybody wins including bestbuy on keeping your premium payments, their 3rd party insurer, who makes the deductible, you for getting a new phone, and the circle of insurance goes on.

No deductible with Best Buy.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Zeinzu said:
Never realized xda supports insurance fraud, this thread should "probably" be closed... just sayin
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
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They absolutely do not. This thread probably will be closed but if say he was "clumsy" . pays a ton of money for insurance and has to turn in his old phone to be refurbed...is that fraud?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

kennyglass123 said:
No deductible with Best Buy.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
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even nicer. i guess thats why its 10 bucks instead of 8 like sprint. i was just saying, this is how indemnity companies make thier money. there is a formula, and they know what they are doing.
hey, i think the better thing about sprints insurance, even though there is a deductible, it covers lost and stolen.

Yes so that has to play into.your insurance decision...are you clumsy, a flash addict (brick), forgetful or in a bad neighborhood...lol.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

they do aggressively tell you how to take advantage of it. they did went over it again for me when i bought my tab. "If you drop it in water, make sure you run over it with your car and bring as many parts of it as you can." "Uh, ok."

Insurance is the biggest fraud ever invented in our world.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

haha thanks for advices!
If "accident" happen soon, I will definitely use the insurance. But the process looks more daunting.
They also told me that no deductible / accidental damage coverage for the phone. But I did some more research and found that there is a small print, where they have to send my phone for repair. So it takes them at least 3weeks to decide if it is repairable or not. I think their deadline is 30 days, which after that I can be angry at them and they have to give me a new phone.
I found many experiences with BBM insurance is bad. Almost all of them had to do wait 3 weeks.
Although I have retired HTC Vogue, I don't know I would happy without Epic for a month...
haha

austin420 said:
this is not insurance fraud. this is one thing insurance is actually for. if you break your device, wether it be in a fit of rage, or a pure accident, you pay a deductible, return the old equiptment, and get a new one.
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So let's say I'm tired of my car, I want a new one. So I torch the current car to the ground, and you're saying this is not fraud because this is what insurance is for?

They changed that. Sprint phones are now part of Rapid Exchange. They just order you a new phone. They were all set to order a new one for me for the PRL issue but the day I headed over there was the same day Sprint fixed the error in their network.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Talking about forcefully destroying a phone to exploit an insurance process IS insurance fraud. Saying you are going to "stick it to them" because they "stick it to you" is just as ridiculous... because, guess what. You willingly pay for a luxury item and you accept the charges they want to charge you.
Just like Kodeen said, insurance is NOT a future phone upgrade service, just like how car/home insurance is NOT a future car/home upgrade service. Just remember that if you start exploiting the system, you are part of the problem of rising insurance costs AND revisions of insurance policies. I just await the 1000 threads complaining about how horrible Sprint/Best Buy is because of insurance process changes.
But if you have no decency, I guess what do you care??

kennyglass123 said:
but if say he was "clumsy" . pays a ton of money for insurance and has to turn in his old phone to be refurbed...is that fraud?
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Yes. If he lies to make the insurance claim, then it's fraud.
If he goes into Best Buy, says he bricked his phone on purpose, and they're ok with that and give him a new one, then it's not fraud. Maybe they would be fine with it, and that would allow him to sleep at night knowing that he got a new phone honestly. If he says he was "clumsy" when he wasn't, or makes up any other untrue but somehow justified-in-his-own-mind claim, then he's lying and committing fraud.
Personally, I agree that $10/month is too much for insurance. That's why I chose not to get it. It's not like anyone makes you go to Best Buy to get their insurance.

playing by the rules is harder , u u d d l r l r b a b a select start makes life easier with the new hotness phone. Business don't go by morals but mear profit.
Sent from my not so epic 4g using XDA App

Can't be anymore dissapointed by sprint.

Took my phone in today cause I can only hear people while I'm talking if I have the speaker on. I get there show them my phone and they say sorry we can't help you because I have the smallest crack in the world on the bottom left of my screen. I even asked if they could just fix it and I would pay and again they said no and that I need to pay 100$ for a replacement. I feel like that is extremly stupid and straight bull fresh out the ass. Sorry for the vent but it just seems like TEP isn't really total equipment protection -_-.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA

Um... did you ask them to replace the screen or did you ask them to fix the earpiece?
What the hell does one have to do with the other?
Sent from my SPH-D700 CM9 ANDROID 4.0.4

Ear piece they said cause of the crack they can't do it
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA

CrfEpic4g said:
Ear piece they said cause of the crack they can't do it
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA
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go to a different store i have dumb store near me they have the worst reputation and worst employees.

CrfEpic4g said:
Took my phone in today cause I can only hear people while I'm talking if I have the speaker on. I get there show them my phone and they say sorry we can't help you because I have the smallest crack in the world on the bottom left of my screen. I even asked if they could just fix it and I would pay and again they said no and that I need to pay 100$ for a replacement. I feel like that is extremly stupid and straight bull fresh out the ass. Sorry for the vent but it just seems like TEP isn't really total equipment protection -_-.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA
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Yep thats sprint for you... they've changed their rules.. i no longer rely on "TEP" i just decided to use third party protection. At least when i got my Gnex i applied for the protection they offer monthly for the same price. No deductible.

That's what I was thinkig
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA

ÜBER™ said:
Yep thats sprint for you... they've changed their rules.. i no longer rely on "TEP" i just decided to use third party protection. At least when i got my Gnex i applied for the protection they offer monthly for the same price. No deductible.
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I'm curious what third party protection you used and how helpful it is in a situation like a damaged speaker or mic -- I had a damaged speaker and Sprint turned it around quickly at the store level which made me somewhat pleased with their service even if the in-store associates were awful (one was standing in the middle of the store and swearing up a store about how ignorant his last customer was and how disinterested he was in talking to them because they weren't buying a new contract). Sadly my mother didn't have the same experience with a cracked screen and actually gave up and just purchased a new Epic for less.
As much as my mother's experience was frustrating I don't know that I put it entirely on Sprint -- at my last job I did some work servicing PCs at a couple AT&T and Verizon stores -- from what I saw all the employees were pretty much the bottom of the sales barrel. They're rude, their conduct is horrible, and they have no customer service skills. They care about the next sale and nothing else.
I've been pretty pessimistic about the level of service in the industry as a whole as a result. If I'm wrong and there's protection plans that are worth it I'd love to hear about it.
-X

Well I believe their policy is to refer all cracked screens to the insurance which you need the $100 deductible. Seeing as you went in for a damaged ear piece. I can see their logic in the matter.
To work on the ear piece they need to take the phone apart. Seeing as the screen is already has a tiny crack. It wouldn't take much to further damage it. Why take the risk?
If they were to break the screen even more in the process of trying to fix the ear piece. Then the customer would blame the sprint store and want a new phone for free.
Seems to be logical for me. But this is just my opinion
Sent from My Epic Ice Cream Sandwich With Sprinkles!!!

I cancelled the TEP about an hour after I got my SERO plan.
- 2 Bunny

CrfEpic4g said:
Took my phone in today cause I can only hear people while I'm talking if I have the speaker on. I get there show them my phone and they say sorry we can't help you because I have the smallest crack in the world on the bottom left of my screen. I even asked if they could just fix it and I would pay and again they said no and that I need to pay 100$ for a replacement. I feel like that is extremly stupid and straight bull fresh out the ass. Sorry for the vent but it just seems like TEP isn't really total equipment protection -_-.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA
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Try a different store. The store around me replaced the screen for free once after I had water damaged it accidentally, which broke the screen. Idk if they would've had I told them about the water damage, but that shouldn't matter. They also replaced my phone for free when I damaged one of the battery contact things that keeps it in place. I bet most of the stores in the area aren't as nice, but as long as you find one like the one I go to, they'll fix it for you.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

I think its only a matter of time before there are layoffs at sprint. Just my 2 cents
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

Speedin07si said:
Well I believe their policy is to refer all cracked screens to the insurance which you need the $100 deductible. Seeing as you went in for a damaged ear piece. I can see their logic in the matter.
To work on the ear piece they need to take the phone apart. Seeing as the screen is already has a tiny crack. It wouldn't take much to further damage it. Why take the risk?
If they were to break the screen even more in the process of trying to fix the ear piece. Then the customer would blame the sprint store and want a new phone for free.
Seems to be logical for me. But this is just my opinion
Sent from My Epic Ice Cream Sandwich With Sprinkles!!!
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When my cousin busted his epic the digitizer and glass was intact, the screen underneath was cracked and the corporate sprint repair center told me their policies changed because a repair tech cut his hand on a broken glass. I told him that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, if anything the tech should have been disciplined for not wearing proper PPE, not take it out on the entire sprint customer base.
He agreed and told me to try a non corporate store
Sent from my Photon 4G via Tapatalk 2

Just gonna throw in my 2c on TEP.. I haven't had it since I've been able to find a used epic on craigslist for 100 bucks. I'm not gonna pay 8$ a month PLUS a hundred dollar deductible to get a refurb.

schnowdapowda said:
Just gonna throw in my 2c on TEP.. I haven't had it since I've been able to find a used epic on craigslist for 100 bucks. I'm not gonna pay 8$ a month PLUS a hundred dollar deductible to get a refurb.
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I've tried to explain this before but most don't understand what you just wrote
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

EQUIPMENT PROTECTION Reply
xjayman said:
I've tried to explain this before but most don't understand what you just wrote
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
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Exactly. You gamble that the phone has to break within 20 months or whatever, or you loose on the TEP deal (don't remember how much mine was before I cancelled it). Sprint wouldn't have done anything to fix my Epic anyway since the account shows that I'm using a Diamond, *chuckle*.
- 2B

Sprint M&Ps regarding S&R
Provided your handset doesn't have more than 2 cracks on the screen with both cracks no longer than 1" and no other physical damage to the handset, the Sprint TC should have replaced your screen without referring you to Asurion. The TC or LTC need to go into RSP on their PC station and reread the MP&Ps pertaining to S&R. I would escalate to the store's SM and if you don't get resolution from him/her, tell the SM you want to skip his/or her DM and talk directly to the ARD who is right about the DM.

I arrived at my 82 yr old relative's apartment 1/2 hr after some teen girls had 'asked to use the home phone' to report an emergency, they made their fake sos call, + managed to steal the cellphone!..............we reported it stolen + next day at sprint store the sales mgr replaced it w/ a much nicer model at no cost............true story.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

sonarchist said:
I arrived at my 82 yr old relative's apartment 1/2 hr after some teen girls had 'asked to use the home phone' to report an emergency, they made their fake sos call, + managed to steal the cellphone!..............we reported it stolen + next day at sprint store the sales mgr replaced it w/ a much nicer model at no cost............true story.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium
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Then that means you are blessed with a nice manager lol
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA

TEP has always been pretty much useless. Why pay that much monthly and they still charge a deductible, plus you might get a refurb! I've seen good Epics on craigslist for that $100 they want to charge you...

My phone recently got sparkly clean, and broken, in the washing machine.
Cowboom.com has them for $80. They're finishing around $110 on ebay. So, there's 2 options where you'd even have some recourse if the ESN was bad, or whatever.
So, yeah, insurance really only makes sense if you think you'll break something in the time it takes to unbox a top of the line phone, activate it, and get it to your car.
As far as I can tell you're paying almost $200 no matter what, and $300 if you ever use it. You can get a Galaxy S II for $260 right now.
Now, obviously there are some people who it worked out for, so I don't need to hear how you got 15 "free" phones. It's a bad bet for most instances.