Should I fight for a Windows insurance replacement phone?

HoosierDaddy

Well-known member
May 28, 2013
2,334
65
48
Visit site
My Father's wife's L521 died. My father took it to a T-Mobile store and they replaced it for a $5 fee under insurance. But they gave him a low end LG Android phone and said that was the only option.

My father is 87 and I'm not sure of his wife's age but I'm guessing switching phone platforms would be about as easy for them as me performing brain surgery without going to medical school.

After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, they called me and told me the story. So I gave her a used L640 I had laying around.

I haven't read the T-Mobile insurance fine print, but if their lawyers are worth their pay, I'm assuming they have an out when the only Windows Phone they sell now is much higher end than the L521 ever was. In fact, I understand they just removed that from their on-line store. I don't know if that's a stocking issue or it's dropped.

But T-Mobile has been pretty decent over the years. The account dates from the feature phone era and has 6 lines on it.

Has anyone been in a situation where T-Mobile wouldn't provide a same-platform replacement when a handset that had insurance failed?

And if you were in this situation, would you try to get T-Mobile to provide a Windows Phone handset in exchange for the LG Android that was not usable? I'm sure they must at least have some WM returns laying around even if they don't have new ones. I know she or my father wouldn't have an interest in paying extra for a higher end Windows phone because he loves the L640 he's had since they came out and she loves the spare L640 I just gave her when she couldn't use the Android.

I guess bottom line at this time is I'm out a used L640 that probably cost me $10 net when new. IIRC it was on sale for $79 and came with a free 1 year license of Office 365 that saved my $69.
 

RumoredNow

New member
Nov 12, 2012
18,134
0
0
Visit site
You'll likely just be banging your head against a wall... But you strike me as a guy who loves a challenge. Let us know how you fare...
 

anon(50597)

New member
Sep 28, 2014
2,209
0
0
Visit site
It may be worth a trip to the store to see what you can do but, like you said, you're not out a lot of money so I'm not sure its worth pushing too hard. Let us know how it goes.

Sent from mTalk on my SP4
 

FredBloggs007

New member
Apr 22, 2012
265
0
0
Visit site
I had a similar issue in the UK. My phone insurance company offered me a Sony phone, but I said it's not the same platform. They said they don't have Windows Phones, so after some convincing that Android wasn't the same as Windows they gave me the cash equivalent to purchase a new Lumia minus the policy excess. That was a couple of years ago, so it was easier to get a Lumia - now you will struggle a bit. US legal may be different but the principles should stay the same. Good luck
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
323,126
Messages
2,243,305
Members
428,034
Latest member
NunezGuad