Tag: Asurion

Giving Props and Kudos

When I get excellent service, it is important to make sure I acknowledge it. That is exactly what I am doing in this blog today. I need to tip my hat to the folks at Asurion.

If you read my blog from yesterday, you are aware that I had an issue with my phone. I dropped it and damaged it and eventually remembered that I had insurance on it. So last night, I filed a claim and ordered a replacement. The process was fairly easy and done all online.

All I had to do was enter my phone number and it told me what my deductible was. Once I paid it online, they said that they would ship out my replacement phone with instructions. They said to expect it in 24-48 hours. That was more than acceptable, especially since I filed the claim late last night.

It had been about 3 months since I had connected my phone to a computer to back up all my photos and documents, so I figured 1 to 2 days would give me a chance to do just that. I packed my external drive in my work bag when I got home yesterday morning so that I could do the back up while I was at work.

When I woke up this afternoon I was surprised to see that the new phone had already arrived. I was impressed.

I had yet to back up everything on the old phone, so when I got up I started to do that. I wanted to be sure that once I fired up the new phone, I was going to be able to use it. The back up wasn’t quite done when I left, so I finished it once I connected to the work Wi-Fi. Once that was done, I fired up the laptop, downloaded all the photos and documents to it and then transferred those to the hard drive.

Once the patients were in bed, I pulled the SIM card from one phone, put the new one in the new phone and began the process of getting it up and running. I was surprised that once I turned it on, it began to install everything from the back up. It took some time, but that was ok.

When everything was reinstalled, I called the phone to make sure it was working. Ta da! It rang. I asked my co-worker to text me to make sure that was working and she sent me a funny text with profanity in it. I’d expect nothing less from her.

On my lunch break, I began opening apps and logging back in to them. I was surprised that I remembered most of the passwords and only needed to reset a few. There are a few things on this phone that are a bit different than my old one, even though they are basically the same. It will take some getting used to.

I already have it in the Otterbox and when my screen protectors arrive today from Amazon, I will put one right on. Hopefully I will get a year or two out of this phone!

My thanks to the folks at Asurion! I am impressed with just how fast and easy it was to get it back up and running.

Five stars customer product rating review flat icon for apps and websites

SMASH! CRACK!

I watched it fall like it was in slow motion. My phone slid off the counter and as it fell I could hear myself yelling in slow motion, “Nooooooo!” I could feel myself reaching out, hoping to get my hands on it before it hit the floor, but I never had the chance. It came down and the upper left corner of the phone slammed into the floor.

It seemed to bounce before it fell facedown on the floor. My heart sank, knowing that despite the protection of a screen protector and an Otterbox, the screen had shattered.

I reached down, picked it up and slowly turned the front to face me. Sure enough, the upper corner of my phone was covered in cracks and shards of glass. One crack went from the upper left corner all the way down to the lower right corner. It was not pretty.

This isn’t the first time it has dropped on the ground. Perhaps this time it was just high enough to do damage. The Otterbox and screen protector have done their jobs! It took a few drops before the screen protector cracked and was replaced. The last one held up for well over a year. This drop, however, was a bit different and when I heard it hit the ground, I knew it was going to be bad.

The last few phones I have had were Motorola phones. I have had very good luck with them. For a while there it seemed like I was only getting a year or less out of a phone before I had to send them back to the factory or call about issues. When I switched to Moto phones, those issues stopped. I always got 2-3 years out of them with little or no issues.

Three years ago, when it was time for Sam and I to upgrade, she tried to get me to switch to an iPhone, and despite some very good arguments, I stayed with my Android phone. It continues to work well, and if it wasn’t terribly damaged, I’m sure I wouldn’t even be thinking about an upgrade yet. After the incident today, I opened up my Verizon App and began to explore the option to upgrade.

With both of our phones paid in full, our current bill has come down. I hated the thought of upgrading because that would mean an extra $20 or more on the bill each month. I called Verizon and discussed options on my way to work.

The rep who I spoke with shared some of the upgrade options with me. I had seen something on the app that said if you upgraded one phone, you could get another free. I thought this could be nice for both Sam and I, however, I was told in order to do that, you have to get an entirely new line and new number. We’ve both had our numbers for years, so that was not an option.

They had a deal on a new Samsung phone. The phone would cost $980, but they would give me $800 for my phone. I would only have to pay $180 for the phone over 36 months – $5 a month. This would be something I could work with. I didn’t want to do anything without first discussing with Sam, so I mentioned it to her and I decided that I would go ahead with the upgrade, despite it not being a Motorola phone.

I chatted with another representative when I called back. I told her exactly what I had discussed with the other rep. She proceeded to get things in order and before we finalized things, she told me my new monthly bill would be almost $50 more. I asked how that could be and she started to explain this that and the other. I reminded her that the other rep had given me a quote that was only $5 more a month. She said she was going to try something else.

When she returned to the line the price had come down, but only slightly. I told her that I had been with Verizon for over 20 years and I didn’t want to pay the higher price. She tweaked here and there and it never really came down much more. I reminded myself that the only reason I was gung ho about the new phone was that it was basically an even trade. It was only going to cost $5 a month, so why wouldn’t I take advantage of this?! I told the woman on the phone that I would need to discuss this with my wife before committing to the changes, knowing that I was not going to do it.

So now what? I opened up my app and started to really examine the bill. One of the things I had forgotten about was the fact that I have been paying for insurance on my phone since I got it! Insurance! It had been so long since I have had to file any kind of claim, I had completely forgotten about it.

In the past it seemed like I was forever using the Asurion insurance to replace broken phones, phones that wouldn’t keep a charge, and phone with other issues. I went to their website, typed in my number and filed a claim. I paid my deductible and my new phone (which is the same phone I have now) will arrive tomorrow. Done.

In the end, I saved us a boatload of money. I also will keep the phone I am comfortable with and won’t have to buy new accessories for it. To me, that’s a huge win.

The only thing I am freaked out about is making sure that everything is backed up so that when my phone arrives, everything will transfer to it. Of course, I will have to remember every last dang password for apps, but I suppose I should be back up and running at full power in a matter of days.

Fingers crossed!