My wife has managed to break her 3rd iPhone now. The first was a 3G and has rendered her 2nd iPhone 4 as unusable (mic isn't working so she can't be heard-not that it's necessarily a bad thing :-)).

Anyway, I have an electronics policy through my homeowners insurance that covers such things, but considering I had 2 replacement laptops last year, I hate making numerous claims at a cost of like $20/year to get my entire policy dropped. It is a $50 deductible.

I see AT&T has a $6.99/month plan, but it has a $199 replacement cost, so that's out of consideration. Squaretrade offers a 2 year plan for a $99 as does AppleCare. Both seem to be pretty comparable to one another in that they are a $50 deductible for repair/replacement. Square trade covers for 4 claims over 2 years, while AppleCare Plus only seems to cover 2 accidents if I'm reading the plans correctly.

Has anyone made the same decision I'm trying to make? It seems like SquareTrade is the way to go if I don't believe I need all the additional tech support for the entire 2 year period offered through AppleCare.
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Check out Best Buy's mobile or geek squad area. I have an HTC EVO and Best Buy charges $10/month but there is NO DEDUCTIBLE.
Edit: I'm not sure how it works if the phone did not come from BB but I'm sure a stop to the local BB or phone call could answer that one for ya.
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Applecare?
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My iPhone came from sprint. I added a $100 insurance policy. I also bought an otter box case with it. I have dropped it a couple of times with no damage. I strongly suggest the otter box case. The defender I believe it's called. Not the commuter.
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Haven't yet but wish I had it when my wife's phone was stolen last year.
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I've had Applecare and used it to replace my iPhone 3G when the screen cracked and my iPhone 4 when it stopped working correctly. No deductable and easy replacement as long as you are within the coverage period (I think it's one year, but it might be two). The only catch here is that you might have to wait for a period of time (a few days) for an exchange.

Next time I will probably go through Best Buy. You can pay a one-time fee and have complete coverage for as long as you want (1-3 years I think). No questions asked return policy and they have a stolen phone app that erases and locks your phone if you report it stolen. The replacement is immediate if you are in the store and they have it in stock.
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I send my wife back a generation when she broke her phone. She went from 4g to nog. She now has to wait for the renewal period.
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Applecare is a far better choice than Squaretrade. Iirc, I only got 200 bucks out of Squaretrade on my broken 3Gs after the cost of the plan, deductible, and maximum amount they'd cover. It wasn't much of a deal.
I just bought Applecare for Weeze's phone, it's the third one she's gone through. It was like 79 bucks, no shipping cost, they sent the phone overnight, and she can break as many more as she wants over the next two years. Fortunately she had about 12 days left on her 2 year plan or we'd have been screwed. The new Applecare plan was just an upgrade/addition.
It's worth calling them, Duane. :-)
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I use Applecare on both Kellies and mine.
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Apple is the devil, for so many reasons, only one of which is charging ridiculous prices for unnecessarily fragile hardware. I think they make it that way on purpose.

If it's just the screen though it's pretty easy to fix and only costs about 40 bucks for a new screen, if you pay a 100 or 199 dollar deductible and send the phone back they are making crazy money off you.
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I dropped my 4s and cracked the back glass is there any way to fix that? I have the warrenty through verizon with a big deductible
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You can buy the glass on ebay for like $20 and there is a site that sells the glass that has a step by step you tube video of how to replace it. Or you can pay someone $100 to $150 to do it.
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AppleCare is good, but the best insurance is an otterbox!!! My 2yr old knocked my 4g on the floor right in front of a waiter who steps right on it. Breaks the otterbox but not a scratch on the phone. Brought otterbox back to AT&T store and replaced free on the spot.
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Actually... Apple replaces the back glass for $29. I know it's hard to believe, but take it into the genius bar and they'll do it right then and there (the back glass is an easy replacement). Don't break the front glass though as it's a lot more expensive.

Also, if your phone is having an "unrelated issue" and it's not an issue that could be caused by the drop, you can always try to get them to do a warranty exchange. This might be a long shot, but it worked for me.

(My issue was that it'd lose all the bars and they wouldn't come back until I turned the phone off. It didn't happy consistently, but maybe once a week. I also can't say it wasn't just the crappy AT&T service here in Chicago, but the replacement hasn't done it. Anyway, the issue isn't one they can confirm when you bring it in, so it'll be up to the genius that helps you.)
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I've been thinking about picking up the iPhone bumper. It's not a full case, and it protects the phone a lot.

I'm also debating picking up the Lifeproof case. It's waterproof and shatter proof.
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The last time it happened, it was also the same thing-it had been dropped and had a shattered back glass and then also had a mic issue where you couldn't hear her talking. They told me they won't cover anything when it has obviously been mishandled, dropped, you name it. I can't say that I blame them either. What they did do was say they did offer a one-time exchange for $150, so I went with that.

The heck of it is, I will be selling the used iPhone 4 in it's current condition and pay a large portion of the replacement cost to get her a 4S. I'll probably go ahead and upgrade to a 4S myself and sell off the older phone for virtually the same price. Might as well since it extends us another 2 years and we might as well be on the same schedule.

It doesn't hurt that my new job gives me a 23% discount on my AT&T plan, which is better than the guy working at the AT&T store said he gets. :-)
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I know that everyone is talking about their Iphones, but my droid X has been dropped more times than I can count, and it has no damage. I chalk it up to my otterbox case.

I highly recommend the otterbox!!!
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Yeah, it depends on the genius you get how far they'll go in their discretion. The back glass is always $29 though.

I guess it's safer to just get the back glass replaced, then a week later take it in for the mic issue (that way they won't presume that the issue was caused by the drop).
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One thing I never understood about Apple was the tendency to make things incredibly sleek and aesthetically pleasing, but so fragile that the average person is almost guaranteed to buy a protective case of some variety to ensure they don't have to spend hundreds of dollars for a replacement phone.

At that point, you aren't creating something for the masses anymore, because the masses are covering up that design to protect their phones. Why not just overengineer a simple but good-looking rugged body for the device that can sustain a few drops and dings?

Case in point, I like my Motorola Droid2. For three years I've had this phone and I've never damaged it beyond the concrete scratching the edges where I drop it....constantly. :-)


I would suggest a good case and Worth Ave Group for your coverage. They don't warranty the device, it's an entire insurance plan. Costing about $175 for 2 or 3 years, it literally covered everything up to and including "Acts of God" (including natural disasters, kids, theft, etc etc). It's only good for one replacement at the insured value, and you actually can opt for cash in hand rather than a flat out repair or replacement, but this is by far the most robust coverage you can buy for a phone.
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I just fix it as it breaks. There's an iPhone repair shop walking distance from my house. On my iPhone 4, I cracked the back glass piece (why Apple would put glass on the back of a phone which was original slippery curved metal is beyond me), a new battery, and a new home key for $70. Screens are around $80 I think.

I was ready to buy a new phone and thought "This one does what I need, how about just fix it?" Was done in a couple of hours and couldn't be happier.

I find replacement warranties to be a gamble with consumer usually on the losing end; be it phone insurance or extended car warranties. Tire insurance sounds like a good option, but you have to do some shady maneuvers to reap the benefits.
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