Note: Click on pic to enlarge.
Asurion, provider of equipment protection programs for many major carriers including AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon, has raised the deductible 100% for participants of the Equipment Replacement Program at Sprint for those who have smartphones (which are now lumped into the Tier 2 classification). Starting April 19, 2009, customers with losses on phone models in Equipment Tier 2 will be processed at the $100.00 non-refundable deductible, regardless of the date the phone was purchased.
All Treo and Centro phones sold by Sprint fall into the Tier 2 category. Previously, the Equipment Replacement Program charged a fee of $4 per phone, smartphone or mobile broadband card, per month with a $50 non-refundable deductible per approved claim. So far there has been no indication of any monthly fee change.
The economy is doing a number on everyone, so it is hard to believe that this increase will be isolated to just Sprint. Customers of AT&T (iPhone, BlackBerry, HTC, Palm) and Verizon (BlackBerry, Palm) will probably be next on Asurion's notification list. Clearly, for the Centro, this deductible is hardly worth it. But for other smartphones, including the Pre, it may be an inevitable necessity. Guess we all need to continue to hunker down financially and definitely treat our Palm devices with extra care.
Special thanks to Maurel for the tip
