Microsoft Assure (just like AppleCare)

[lordofthereef]

So I just got back from our local MS store and was ecstatic to discover that they offer Microsoft Assure, which is their version of AppleCare. $100 with a $50 deductible if I trash my phone, good for two years. If it is a warranty issue they swap it out for free (so anything NOT accidental damage under those two years is covered). And they replace it for you on the spot just like Apple. I was going to get insurance through AT&T, but it was $10 per month plus a $150 deductible. I am almost spending as much money in a year with AT&T just with monthly fees as it would cost me to replace the phone through Microsoft. Best yet, they can add it to your phone if you got it from another retailer so long as you bring in the box (with bar codes) as well as the phone for them to inspect. I will be doing that tomorrow.

As an added bonus they got a shipment of cyan Lumias in today. The guy who helped me was really nice and said he would be in tomorrow morning. They can hold it for the night (so it won't be taken) and if I am in first thing it's mine. So I will be returning my black to AT&T and replacing it with Cyan. So stoked.





Please note: My intent to comparing to Apple is only because I have been VERY happy with Apple's replacement policies and I was wishing that MS would do the same. Turns out they do! They seem to do it on their other devices as well, I may know more about that tomorrow. Thinking of getting my wife one of the Surface tablets as an Xmas gift. (Yes, she has been asking for one).

 

[Getintothegame]

I thought Assure covered accidental damage as well?

 

[Mystictrust]

I thought Assure covered accidental damage as well?

It does, I JUST bought it tonight, which is what confused me when reading the above. It covers liquid damage even, which is ultimately what got me to buy it. Normal wear and tear, accidental drops and damage, device malfunctions, etc. are all included... they replace for $50 and you get a brand new device, never refurbished. You get a total of two returns in the 2 year period.

I combed through the fine print, talked with two Microsoft Store reps on two different days and a manager. I needed to be sure this wasn't too good to be true. Only catch is that you can't return the phone only if the bottom corner is chipped or something... it has to alter the proper usage of the device (like fully cracked screen, or won't operate after being dropped). Once again, I absolutely LOVE that liquid damage is covered!!

 

[stmav]

That's good to know. They offered that to me when I bought my Surface. I had no idea they offered it for the phones as well. I was thinking about insurance from AT&T, but this is much better.

Your wife should enjoy the Surface, I'm loving mine.

 

[kebnt]

Depending on how the person who is servicing your phone codes it, the deductible may not apply - if they code it as a manufacturing defect or "normal wear and tear". If you dropped your phone and the screen cracked, that would more clearly fall under the accidental damage that would require a deductible. If the touch screen just becomes unresponsive over time (the home button on my iPhone would have that problem), that would be a situation where it should be considered "normal wear and tear?

 

[lordofthereef]

I thought Assure covered accidental damage as well?

It does. That's what I just said.

I guess I should have stated it was like Apple Care Plus, which is the accidental damage plus two year extended warranty.

---------- Post Merged at 10:41 PM ----------

For those interested... here is a link to the "fine print"

 

[lordofthereef]

Depending on how the person who is servicing your phone codes it, the deductible may not apply - if they code it as a manufacturing defect or "normal wear and tear". If you dropped your phone and the screen cracked, that would more clearly fall under the accidental damage that would require a deductible. If the touch screen just becomes unresponsive over time (the home button on my iPhone would have that problem), that would be a situation where it should be considered "normal wear and tear?

That's basically how he explained it. But in your scenario, the screen not working is not wear and tear. It's a manufacturer defect. Unless of course you did something like take it swimming or something like that.

When I go back tomorrow, I want to talk to them a little more about replacement in general. Apple replaces their current model phones (without Apple Care) for $200 and their older models for $150. I am curious if the MS store has done something like this. Either way, Assure is already HUGE. Up until a few hours ago I legitimately thought Apple was the only company that offered a service like this. It is nice to see MS backing their manufacturers!

 

[lordofthereef]

It does, I JUST bought it tonight, which is what confused me when reading the above. It covers liquid damage even, which is ultimately what got me to buy it. Normal wear and tear, accidental drops and damage, device malfunctions, etc. are all included... they replace for $50 and you get a brand new device, never refurbished. You get a total of two returns in the 2 year period.

I combed through the fine print, talked with two Microsoft Store reps on two different days and a manager. I needed to be sure this wasn't too good to be true. Only catch is that you can't return the phone only if the bottom corner is chipped or something... it has to alter the proper usage of the device (like fully cracked screen, or won't operate after being dropped). Once again, I absolutely LOVE that liquid damage is covered!!

Yeah... it really is nice. It is what has kept me coming back to Apple (their repair policy). But if MS is making their repair policy this good... I won't have reason to look.

 

[lordofthereef]

That's good to know. They offered that to me when I bought my Surface. I had no idea they offered it for the phones as well. I was thinking about insurance from AT&T, but this is much better.

Your wife should enjoy the Surface, I'm loving mine.

Do you remember what the cost of it was? Also, do they have the 3G/4G surfaces yet? I am not sure if it is worth the premium (as I am sure there will be one) though... our phones have always treated us very well.

 

[stmav]

I got the 32gb that came with the black cover for $599. They were out of the $499 without the cover by the time the line got to me 4 hours later. I was going for that one with the cyan cover seperate to match my phone. To my knowledge there are only wifi Surfaces at this time. There was a thread in the Surface forum explaining the research and the reasoning behind no 3G/4G at this time. In their Reddit AMA, the Surface team said they looked at some iPad statistics that said that 2/3 of iPads are bought WiFi only, and then of the 1/3 that are bought for use on a cell network only 1/2 are actually activated w/ a data plan.

 

[tibere86]

If we bought our phone through AT&T, can we still purchase Microsoft Assure and be covered?

 

[anon(361265)]

If we bought our phone through AT&T, can we still purchase Microsoft Assure and be covered?

I have the same question as above. And are you absolutely sure?
I ordered a Lumia 920 through an Att corporate store and it should be arriving at my house early next week.

 

[m0unds]

the t&cs from the microsoft store say that assure is only available through the microsoft store, so i'm assuming it's only for purchases made through their online or physical storefronts.

there's nothing in the t&cs that flat out guarantees a new device vs refurb for replacement in any of the plans. it has the same verbiage used in other warranties that they'll attempt repairs and if that doesn't work, give you a new or refurbished device of "similar functionality".

the doc i'm referencing is dated august of 2012

hxxp://dri1.img.digitalrivercontent.net/Storefront/Site/msstore/pb/multimedia/AssureTsandCs.pdf <- t&cs pdf, change hxxp to http (dunno the linking policy here)

 

[Goodeye]

If that's the case that sucks. That's were Applecare shines. If I buy at an att store I have 30 days to show my receipt at an apple store to get Apple care.
Sent from my White Nokia Lumia 920 using Board Express

 

[lordofthereef]

If we bought our phone through AT&T, can we still purchase Microsoft Assure and be covered?

The rep said that he could do it so long as I brought the box in with me along with the phone... I am replacing my phone with the cyan one so... not sure. But I can try and confirm again.

 

[lordofthereef]

So I just got back from the MS store. Bad experience overall (though I can't blame MS for 100% of that... I don't think).

I returned my black Lumia to AT&T. I forgot the charging plate. Quick trip home to get it. Return went without a hitch from that point, although I did have to pay a restocking fee, which I was happy to do. The MS store was a short few meters away in the same mall.

I saw $25 voucers if you test out WP8, so I figured it was worth a few seconds of my time. The MS rep was really excited and helpful. Long story short they couldn't log into my account. None of my information I gave them would work. Calling in to AT&T confirmed that they had the right number (they had multiple phone numbers on the account, last four social, billing zip, and account number) but nothing would work. Managers and multiple reps came to try and fix the problem, they even tried logging in at different kiosks. Nothing. Strangly, one of the employees who also has AT&T didn't have trouble logging into his account. They would have been able to order one from AT&T, but cyan is on backorder. I was not interested in that.

After about an hour and a half I told them I had to leave (I did, to go pick up my wife) and that I would be back later tonight. Not sure if I want to go back tonight and spend another couple of hours. I will probably call the store and talk to the guy that helped me. He said he would spend time working on trying to figure out what the issue was.

They did offer me a drink, which was kind of them. But I am a little shocked they didn't try and do anything else to make the sale happen. Maybe I am expecting too much? That's probably the case. I think I would have been happy to buy the phone off contract for maybe an extra $50 more. They just didn't seem to really try to make the sale happen.

As excited as I was posting last night, that is (almost) how bummed I am now. If WP8 would have been a flawless experience thus far, that would be one thing, but I can't say that it has. Did I mention that restoring the phone this morning to factory settings got me stuck in the dreaded "cog wheels of death" (CWOD the new BSOD?).

/rant

 

[lordofthereef]

Bit of an update...

Still not ble ot mess with the account, but they gave me $50 towards the phone. They recommended I try back tomorrow and have taken my name down, so I should be able to use the cash toward a new device. With voucher that is $25 for the Lumia. Pretty good deal, but not without headache.

 

[lordofthereef]

Just got back from the MS store. Would like to share some of my joys as well as frustrations.

To start I called the MS store to see if they could log into my account. I figured this would save me a trip in case it was still not working. The girl on the phone, while nice, insisted that the system was up and working. I explained my situation and asked if they could please just try it with my info. After a few minutes on hold she came back and said that this was 'not allowed". Ok, great. I guess I will make another trip to the store.

Once I am in the store, I explain my situation and they ask around to find someone who is "good at" activations. Long story short, the first guy they found came up with the same error. So was the second guy. A third guy came up and told them they were entering the info wrong; they were entering it in as the Boston market when it was another market (we moved from the midwest). But even playing with that, it wasn't straightforward enough. There is a midwest market. There is an Illinois market. There is a great lakes market. And a few others that technically could fit under midwest. Turns out central Iowa is under the great lakes market. Interesting...

They were happy to honor the price that they original mentioned. I went ahead and added the $100 Microsoft Assure. The total came out to just under $125 (there is no tax in NH). I almost forgot about the wireless charger. The sales guy told me to go to nokiafreecharger.com. I explained that this seemed to be an EU only. So he told the guy to go in back and take a look at what they had. All they had was the wireless charging stand, in black, but they said they would give it to me anyway because of all of the hassle. Pretty excited about that as I was planning on getting one anyway for the nightstand. So I saved myself another $20 there.

All in all, I feel like I was aptly compensated for my time spent, though I told myself that if they are going to make me keep coming in to check on this issue I probably wouldn't be back after today. The MS store is only 6 weeks young, so I am sure there are plenty of noobies there that still haven't had the proper training. That said, I feel there should always be SOMEONE there that is proficient at Windows Phone sales. After all, it's a big deal for MS, is it not?

 

[lordofthereef]

I can also confirm that att is willing to credit accounts $50 after the new Lumia price drop. I feel like I robbed the place. But chances are this phone will be offered for free shortly int'l the new year, if not sooner.