Insurance mix up. No one is helping me!!

[Fbmowner]

Okay so ill try to make this as short as possible, but i feel like im being screwed  by either BestBuy or AT&T due to lack of explanation, and neither companies are trying to help me.   So i got my new phone and plan from bestbuy with at&t about 2 weeks ago. Got a new HTC Inspire 4g with my new contract.  The man at bestbuy offered me insurance for $10 a month (basically covers everything with $0 deductible) if something happens to my phone. I denied at the time due to swapping banks for directdeposit at work. I said id call back within a week to set up insurance because its silly not to have it with a $500+ phone. So a week later i called AT&T and said i wanted the same $10 plan the guy at BESTBUY ( I stressed bestbuy because that was the protection i understood) was talking about. ATT rep said no problem. 10 a month, phones fully covered for whatever happens. All set up, good to go.. Or so i thought.. about a week later i dropped my phone for the first time and the digitizer cracked. I went to bestbuy, they looked me up and told me i had no insurance.... I tell the bestbuy rep, look buddy; i called att a week ago to set up my insurance , how do i not have any?? He then replied, if you called att to set up your insurance, you have att's insurance; not bestbuys.  Now i have a problem. When best buy explained to me about the insurance they did NOT explain that it was exclusive insurance from BESTBUY not ATT. So i said okay no big deal, ill call att and file a claim since the att rep that set me up said i was getting the insurance i explained (best buys). I go to file a claim online and all the sudden theres a 125 non refundable deductible!!! Now when i set my insurance up with the att rep, she did NOT tell me that it was a completely different company then what bestbuy was offereing.. Neither bestbuy told me it was "best buy only insurance" and att failed to tell me i was getting different insurance from what best buy offered me.   So ive been to best buy...ATT and talked to att's insurance and reps and have gotten no where.. Im either stuck with a broken phone or i have to pay $125 to get a refurb phone.... This is not how i want to start my contract with att.  Shame on me for not just going back to bestbuy to get the insurance but i thought att and bestbuy were offereing the same insurance, but both att and bestbuy failed to tell me they were completely seperate insurance companies.

Now if i DO decided to pay the $125 and get the refurb phone through att's insuarnce, i cant get coverage from bestbuy because it has to be the same phone!! I was under the impression i was under the insurance bestbuy offered me at the time of signup which has NO deductible, but obviously thats not the case! I feel i shouldnt be responsible for this charge since no one told me i was getting a different insurance policy then what i was offered at the store! 

[JFizDaWiz]

Most people aren't aware that best buy has their own policy so unfortunately its not entirely AT&T at fault.

[coolrhyme]

You have to understand Bestbuy is a retail store and att is the network provider so if they are asking you to have an insurance its gonna be w/ the phone and bestbuy is the one you need to contact if you have any problem w/ the phone since the insurance was from bestbuy. ATT has a diffrent insurance policy. Since you got the phone from bestbuy the agent from bestbuy didnt offer you the insurance from ATT. The reason why is that its gonna be for their sales

ATT insurance has deductible for example if you have a tier 1 phone or basic phone the deductible s $50 for tier 2 like yours is $125 for blackberry and iphones its $199.

The only problem that we have here is that specific rep from ATT you talked to didnt gave you the complete expectations. You can try and speak w/ the rep from insurance the number is Asurion Wireless Phone Insurance 888-562-8662. Hope this will help

[aristizzle]

Unfortunately it is what it is. They are two different companies, two different insurances. Best buy offers their own insurance with all their electronics. If you called AT&T to add AT&T's insurance, it requires a deductible and there's no way around it. You have to pay the deductible to have it replaced. That's one reason I never shop at any store like best buy or other retailers as they never give you all the important info you need to know, I'd rather just go straight to the store.

[drumn_bass]

Do any of you guys have a link to BestBuy's insurance info? I tried looking it up but can't find exact details like price and deductibles, sounds too good to be true...

[Fbmowner]

I dont have a link but if you'd like to know, give BB a buzz and get transfered to there mobile phone department.

[Fbmowner]

My main problem here is 1: Best Buy did not specify that there insurance was through best buy, not ATT 2: ATT did not specify the insurance was not the same as the one bestbuy offered me. This is why when i talked to the att rep i stated i wanted the one the salesman at best buy offered me. She asked what the coverage was, and i told her basically w/e happens to the phone it gets replaced; my fault or not. I may be trolling here but it seems i got screwed due to lack of information from both companies, its just a matter of which i actually go after. Im almost at the point of just sucking it up, but like i said earlier, if i do accept the phone through att's insurance, i can no longer go to bestbuy (Which i want)  to get it insured because it must be the exact phone with matching imie numbers to get it insured. Let alone the only HTC Inspire they have to offer me is brown and refurbished...Tis sad considering my phone is hardly 2 weeks old =*(

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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Fbmowner wrote:

My main problem here is 1: Best Buy did not specify that there insurance was through best buy, not ATT 2: ATT did not specify the insurance was not the same as the one bestbuy offered me. This is why when i talked to the att rep i stated i wanted the one the salesman at best buy offered me. She asked what the coverage was, and i told her basically w/e happens to the phone it gets replaced; my fault or not. I may be trolling here but it seems i got screwed due to lack of information from both companies, its just a matter of which i actually go after. Im almost at the point of just sucking it up, but like i said earlier, if i do accept the phone through att's insurance, i can no longer go to bestbuy (Which i want)  to get it insured because it must be the exact phone with matching imie numbers to get it insured. Let alone the only HTC Inspire they have to offer me is brown and refurbished...Tis sad considering my phone is hardly 2 weeks old =*(

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the information packet they hand have states black tie protection and that is what the sales rep at BB calls it when they offer it - that is theri Geek Squad service contract.

[youngjm ACE - Professor]

As others have stated, you bought your insurance through ATT.  This is one of the dangers of buying from third parties.  They are not always clear, they have their own additional terms and they are under no obligation to sell ATT's insurance.  Your first clue should have been that Best Buy wanted to setup an EFT to your bank account to pay for it vs ATT was able to just charge your wireless bill.

It is not that they did or did not explain it to you, but you also need to do your homework.