Another Verizon Rip-Off

Things have a way of happening to my cell phone. It gets dropped, it gets hurled, it gets sat upon, it gets lost between the car seats, it breaks. Most recently, it was submerged in water. So it’s off to the Verizon store for (yet another) new one.

The first time my phone met with unfortunate events, an opportunitistic VZY sales weasel sold me on “phone insurance”. For $3.99 a month you could get a new phone for a $50 deductable if anything happened to your phone (even if it was your fault, as most of mine admitedly were). Then, about a year and a few months into another phone, a part on it wore out so that it could no longer be charged. I thought, well, let’s make this thing work for me and use the phone insurance…and the rip-off is revealed.

Paying the $50 deductable entitles you to a new phone of the exact make and model. As you know, cell phone models have a life of about 15 days before carriers are urging you to trade-up to the latest and greatest model. So the phone will invariably be out of stock and require a few weeks to order. My cell phone is my only phone. Can I be without it for two weeks? Not likely. But wait, it gets worse…in this case, the phone wasn’t even made anymore, so Verizon said, in some polite round-about way, you’re S-O-L. They offered to get me a new phone for free or cheap if I renewed my contract. Thanks, guys, you do that anyway, everday.
So if you’re even thinking about getting some kind of “insurance” for your cell phone, think again. As I have learned you can almost always get a new phone for next-to-nothing if you suck it up and renew your contract. Not fun, but in the end a better deal. As crappy as they are to deal with, in the Boston area Verizon seems to have the best repuation for coverage, and I have too many friends with Verizon not to take advantage of the free in-network calls etc. etc. I guess I just have to bend over and take it, once again, as I go to get yet another new phone.