iPhone by Steve

I did quite a bit of research before purchasing my iPhone, but somehow, I missed that fact that AT&T will not insure it. That was perplexing to me; after years of relying on my wireless carrier to protect my phone (for a fee, of course), here I was, a first-timer with AT&T, and now I find out they won’t insure the phone. What now?

First, let me say that I’m not a fan of service agreements for most items. I usually opt out when I shop at Best Buy or some other store where they shove the agreement down your throat at checkout time. To my way of thinking, buying the service agreement is a bet that your item will, in fact, break. The service agency is making the opposite bet—that the unit will not break and that they won’t have to spend any money fixing it. That’s how the service agency can make a profit in the first place. So, usually, I just roll the dice and make my purchases without these agreements, and it’s been the right decision most all of the time.

The one exception I make to my personal rule is for cell phones. Here’s why:

• First, cell phones (particularly back in the flip phone days) are inherently flimsy gadgets. Hinges and screens tend to break pretty easily on a great many phones.
• Second, cell phones are under constant use and are handled many times a day. When something is in and out of your pocket, or purse, or holster, or wherever you keep your phone, the odds increase greatly that it will be mishandled at some point in time. My own track record in this area speaks volumes: I know that I will drop it someday, regardless of how careful I am.
• Third, in my case, at least, it seems like one good drop and the phone is toast. My friends, of course, can drop their phones, sit on them, and expose them to all manner of cruel and unusual punishment and live to tell the tale. I’m not that blessed.

So I insure my cell phones and try to make sure that the insurance plan covers accidental damage.

One way you might protect your iPhone is to purchase AppleCare directly from Apple. I’ve got AppleCare on my MacBook Pro. My kids have AppleCare on their iPods. In the past, I’ve always just gone with AppleCare. But when I bought the iPhone, I realized something. Technically, AppleCare is just an extension of your iPhone warranty. It doesn’t technically cover the phone if you drop it, or get it wet, or whatever.

My solution? I purchased a plan from Squaretrade. They get excellent reviews and will supposedly replace your phone within a week if you ever need to invoke your coverage.

The total cost of my Squaretrade plan was $99, and this includes accidental damage coverage. Drops, spills, etc. are covered by the plan.

A hundred bucks seems kind of steep at first blush, but as I started to think about previous cell phone insurance I had purchased, I began to realize that, while not cheap, it’s really not as expensive as it seems. When I used a Palm Treo, Sprint’s insurance ran $6.00 per month. That’s $72.00 per year, but a deductible also applied to some of the reasons I might need to replace my phone. I used one of the Treos that I owned for 18 months before I ruined it and needed to get a replacement, meaning that I had already paid Sprint $108 before using the insurance. Of course, this could go the other way, too. I might have used the phone only a few months, but the object is not to break your phone at all, right?

The second obvious downside of the Squaretrade plan is that you have to pay it in one lump sum. But there is a very nice upside. Once paid, the phone is covered, period. If you ask me, this is the way to go.

My advice: Buy an iPhone. Go to Squaretrade. Then enjoy the phone and don’t give it a second thought.
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