ProtectCELL review: Cell phone replacement 30

Aww I wish I had read this 9 months ago, just started the same thing, I am trying to get my money back this is a scam!

You have to pay a deductible with any insurance (including the phone insurance through your cell phone carrier). Most of the cell phone plans have a $50.00 ($10.00 more)deductible and they all send out refurbished phones. The thing I haven't been happy about with Protect Cell is that their business hours are Mon-Fri only during normal business hours.

These guys have been good to me. And, phone insurance is just like any insurance. You have to pay a deductable. You're foolish if you think otherwise.

There is a deductable on any insurance plans (including cell phones). The hours of Protect cell are 8am - 11pm central time. The people at protect cell are very helpful and will do what ever is needed to help me get the answers that I am looking for.

The company sent me not only a refurbished phone, but (according to Verizon) one that was aligned to someone else's account. Amazing! (Stolen?) They said they would overnight me a new phone, but its been 4 days and I still dont have a fed ex tracking note and no returned call from the company. If I had known this was not the approved cellular insurance, I would never have purchased!

I have not had to use them but I just bought my phone on the 28th and this is the 31st and yet they still do not have me in their system so that I can log on and see my benefits. If this is the way they do business then I want a refund.

The customer service for this company is horrible! I talked with a lady who thought she knew all of the answers even before I voiced my complaint! I intend on getting compensation for some of the mix ups and rudeness! any suggestions what I can ask for or get?

I am marching to the Verizon store to get a full refund. the customer service is horrible. I have been told many things and have corresponded back and forth with them to find that they have my e-mail address all wrong! gee, you would think they would notice where the e-mails are coming from in the first place! I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY AT ALL.

I paid $120 for insurance on my i-phone, and when I needed to file a claim I paid the $50 deductable. (I am fine with this so far, even through apple said they would give me a new phone for $200 without all the hassel..)
So I get my phone, and when I take it to apple to update, they say that the insides have been tampered with, and it looks like it could have had water damage. Anyway, the hardware was inoperable, and some was missing. The rep said it looked bad enough to be a lawsuit.

I talk to the customer service rep from protect cell, I tell them that I want my money back, and I will just buy the phone from apple. They tell me that I will need to file a small claims to try to get my money back.

Use them if you want, but I will never use them again.

You're a fool if you can't understand it doesn't get any better than ProtectCell for cellular insurance. I've worked as a sales person for an indirect agent of Verizon Wireless for a few years and now have been their director of marketing for about a year, I've seen it all. I've sold and used several different forms of insurance myself. First off you need to realize how expensive a cell phone is. You get them for a discounted price when you sign a contract, not just for Verizon but all major wireless providers. That's why there's insurance. Outside of that upgrade a brand new phone will cost you anywhere from $200-$800. And that's not some insane markup to force people to buy insurance, that's what it costs the establishment to have that phone on their shelves. The reason they can sell it anywhere from free to a couple hundred dollars is because when you sign that new contract the establishment is paid a commission from the wireless provider to cover the cost of the phone. So, the basic phone that you as a customer can get for free when you're eligible for an upgrade actually cost the business around $200, difference in cost is made up in the aforementioned commission paid by the wireless provider the agent is selling. The individual who started the complaint was most likely informed of the additional deductible, even if they weren't they were handed plenty of paper work that stated the details of their coverage. Ignorance and a lack of self responsibility is to blame for that, not the company. Every business is going to run into the problem of having something on backorder, waiting a couple days to get a phone for $90 instead of a couple hundred dollars sounds like a good deal to me. Like I said, I've worked with ProtectCell a lot, I've called claims in for customers many times never having a problem getting a hold of customer service. Don't get me wrong, I've had customers have what they claim to be bad experiences with ProtectCell. No company is going to be able to satisfy every single customer how they feel they need to be satisfied. In my personal experience the people who have customer service issues with ProtectCell (the customers I have to call claims in for and end up having zero problem getting it done the first time) aren't able to fully understand what's going on, since they don't understand what's going on they get defensive and think they're getting screwed. Don't get me wrong, they do make mistakes, just much less than the other options for insurance. As someone who's used and sold ProtectCell along with many other options, ProtectCell has been my personal favorite.

Protect cell does not answer their phones. They sent me qa damged phone aas a replacement, after calling me several dqays after the replacemetn ddate to tell me to choose from tow opther phones- that my phone was discontinued. So I chose, and they sent me back the original phone, many days layter-- the aforementioned broken phone. thanbkws alot. Dont buy thios- they are absolutley useless.

I purchased the two year plan $119 for my son's AT&T 4G Impulse phone in May from recommendation from the AT&T sales rep. Last weekend, my son lost his phone. On Monday morning I went online and filled in the claim request. I received a call at 2:30pm and the Protect Cell woman wanted to verify my mailing address. The next day, we had a brand new replacement. Drove over to AT&T and had it reactivated. The cost was $70 vs having to pay AT&T $125 so I would recommend Protect Cell and will use them again when we purchase another new smartphone.

Recently my wife washed my iphone with my pants (not her fault, I usually plug it into the charger at night). As you can imagine I am completely upset at myself and the situation, the phone is ruined and when I called Verizon they told me that another phone was going to be $700. We are on a fairly fixed budget especially as the holidays are coming up, so I am thinking that another iphone is out of the question. I go into the store and I tell my story to the sales lady, as soon as I finished my story she asked if my wife or I had purchased protect cell. I had completely forgot that we had purchased it even though about five months earlier we used the identity theft benefit (my wifes identity was somehow stolen), which by the way I think is well worth whatever we paid for protect cell. The sales lady was able to look it up in their system to find my plan number and she even called protect cell for me. We spoke to someone immediately (no hold time, and not someone overseas) and they processed my request, there was a small processing fee but they also were able to send me another phone overnight. I received the phone the next day and from what I could tell the phone looked to be brand new.

From my experience, I am impressed with the service. When I spoke to the Verizon rep, had I bought their insurance or even apple care I would not have been covered. So to get another phone the next day for a small fee plus what we paid when we bought the phone is well worth it compared to paying $700. I don't know if the issues people had in the past are things the company has fixed or not, but in my case I am a satisfied customer. If anyone reads this forum to determine if they should buy a protect cell plan, keep in mind that these forums are typically for complaints not for compliments and people typically don't voice their positive feelings for a company. In my case, I am definately one that will get on here and blast a company for not doing something right, but I feel it is just as important to voice my opinion when I have a positive experience.

By the way, the identity theft issue they cleaned up worked out great as well. Within about a month and a half everything was cleaned up and we didn't have to do much. They just handled it. For what we paid for protect cell, this benefit alone more than paid for itself.

2 Brothers Communications use's Parachute Protection wich does have a $50 deductable but they will give you a bran new phone right there in store. No waiting for it to be shipped and no refurb. Why would you want a refurb if you just bought a new phone? They cover lost, stolen, water and physical damage.

BEWARE of Protect Cell, They claim to (See website for mybullfrog) replace phone with new OEM or Certified replacement, compared to an uncertified refubished replacement by other insurance companies. I received a used phone as my replacement with a scratch on the camera lens and scratches on the phone. Clearly not New OEM or certified, called and said unacceptable, they told me they would need special permission to send out a new phone, permission actually came and "NEW" phone on the way. When received a plastic cover had been reapplied (Could tell by all the air bubles under it) over the screen and the date on the phone was 2010 (Two years old). Well phone looked much better, and went to a Verizon store (Mybullfrog location) to get the phone activated. after some considerable efforts (Computer keystrokes) and strange looks by the customer rep, I was notified that the phone was on the stolen list and could not be activated. Oh yea Protect Cell charged me $50 for the worthless stolen phone. Now trying to get my warranty money back as the Protect Cell warranty insurance is wothless, better to use that money to just buy a new phone. Protect Cell not being very good to work with. Don't buy the warranty, save your old phne as back up if needed. Shame on Mybullfrog for selling Protect Cell Insurance. I remember being told clearly from the customer rep when I purchased the phones that I would receive a New OEM phone as replacement, not a used phone if warranty replacement was needed`. Not the case. Called a Verizon (My bullfrog location) last week and asked about the warranty, still told would received a New OEM, not a used, or refurbished, or certified replacement, but a New OEM was the understanding the Customer rep had. BEWARE of Protect Cell Insurance.

We bought two contracts with Protect Cell 2 weeks ago. They never sent the plan via email even though we tried to call [cant get through on the phone and they don't return phone calls). when we got the plan it states there is a 150.00 admin fee to file any claim because it's an iPhone 4s! We paid 200 for each plan. The salesman at Verizon sold us a plan stating ther was a 50 deductible. We are canceling the plan it's not worth that much to get a refurbished (stolen) phone from them.

I honestly believe that the people that complain about this insurance are complete idiots. Every type of insurance require deductibles. Whether its car, house, phone and even life insurance. You'll be paying some money for something that would cost you triple the amount. You have a buyback program with it, protect cell comes out cheaper then any other insurances, you can make numerous legitimate requests rather then 2 a year. Of course you're gonna get a refurbished phone, insurance companies would go out.of business giving out new phones for that deductible you pay. Regarding the customer service that will be a give or take on who you talk to, dont blame protect cell themselves. Bunch of stuck up kids you guys are to go and complain about the little things. Howz about you do this:

- Stop being ignorant because you can't get what YOU want.
- Research. Be smart like the rest of us.
- Do the math on what youre spending if you went this way rather then no insurance.

Protect Cell is a total ripoff ! I paid $199 for premium insurance by GO Wireless because they convinced me that it was better and cheaper. Well a year later my wife dropped her iphone and cracked the glass. I called to report the situation and get a replacement and was told that I had to pay an administrative fee. An administrative fee...$150 later. Now I have paid $350 and they send me a replacement phone that is black not white which is what my wife originally purchased. THIS COMPANY IS A TOTAL RIPOFF ! DO NOT PURCHASE THEIR INSURANCE PLAN !

I wish that I had read up on this also. Like the previous comment, I was convinced of the benefit of this service at the store and paid $140 up front for insurance. Then I called to get a replacement phone after mine was stolen and was told that it would be an administrative fee of $125. At this point, I could have purchased a completely new phone. Be careful of buying this plan!

I have 3 lines, 3 separate people on my plan. Through our own stupidity, (including hammer smashing, an incident with a can of sweetened condensed milk, and dropped phones), I have had to replace several phones throughout the last 2 years. Protect Cell has been there the entire time. It is much cheaper and stress free to pay their deductible than try to replace any of our phones through the cell phone company, worrying about warranties, or outright buying a new phone. If any of you think that you can get things replaced that YOU broke without paying a deductible, YOU are delusional. And who really gives a rip if you get a black phone instead of the white you orignally purchased?! DOES IT WORK? YES? SHUT UP?! You are all a bunch of whiny gimme-gimmes, who can't even be grateful for the gifts you are given. I originally bought a white phone, replaced it, got a black phone, and my cell phone plan lists it as purple. Really guys? Get your priorities straight. And as far as not being able to reach the customer service, I have never, ever had a problem. By the way for people complaining about having to pay $90-$150 for a deductible...get a clue...a new cell phone without a new contract costs like $300-$800. Duh. Use the brains evolution gave you, instead of the dead butts you sit on all day.

So eliae2004, am I just whining if I paid $200 for the plan and then $125 to get my phone replaced and they sent me one that doesn't charge? It's been on the charger since I got to work 7 hours ago and is at 24% battery, and was only off the charger for 30 minutes during my lunch. If I'm going to pay such a high deductible AFTER paying for the insurance coverage, then I should be guaranteed a brand new phone that works; I don't care about the color. Just because these other people had different experiences than you doesn't make them "whiny gimme-gimmes, " we've all paid for a product and a service and have every right to get what we paid for. You're just the only one on this thread who has.

Recently lost my iPhone 4S and have protect cell and happily paid the high deductible because know that to just go buy one is way more expensive than the $150 I spent. Customer service was very good and they sent me out a refurbished phone that day. Got the phone on time and activated it, instantly when it rang could tell the speaker was broken and making a horrible buzzing sound when the ringer went off. Once again customer service was very good and sent me a replacement for the replacement phone. All went smoothly with that, now the screen feels tacky compared to my identical work iPhone and the battery life is bad on the refurb. Not thrilled with the quality of the phones protect cell sent, overall the experience dealing with them was better than expected.

I work for protectCELL as a customer service rep (the person you speak to on the phone, the "scam" artist) it never fails that I get calls from people who are misinformed of what their membership is, and how it works. I truly empathize for the misunderstandings, and genuinely feel bad for most of the people. But a lot of people are very rude, and like to talk down to you. Clearly there was a misunderstanding somewhere down the line, whether it was a rep saying "you can get a new phone for as LOW as $50" notice low is emphasized, or it was just the consumer not fully reading the contract they have signed. I don't mind the verbal abuse I get from time to time, loosing a phone is a stressful situation that no one wants to be in, and when they aren't sure about how it works the "surprise" factor can push you over the edge. Most members understand after I explain to then how it works, and enjoy having it clarified. Like other people stated it works just like any other insurance. I like protectCELL and I think what they have been doing is great (we did partner with a new company in the past year) the amount you pay is less, you just pay it at once instead of monthly, the other companies come up to $240 for 2 years if you add it up, and they won't cover your device for any reason, they also only allow 2 claims a year. The added benefits are great, and any device you get from then has a 1 year guarantee for manufactures defects, the other companies don't do that. If you feel scammed just look around, crunch the numbers and compare the benefits, I don't think you'll be feeling that way after.

Note sent to protectcell:
I’m an astute businessman and unfortunately got sold a bill of goods on your policies by lack of information. I purchased my phone January 1, 2012 from T2 wireless in Newton, KS. They offered your plan to me and I paid that amount up front. On my Verizon contract I wrote the terms 50% in year one and 25% when year 2 was completed and I need to go buy a phone. I never received any information on the actual contract from Protectcell, but put in my day planner to look at changing a phone when my two years were up. At T2 Wireless they never stated that I had to do it before the two years expired not did I have any paperwork from ProtectCell so I had to rely on my notes

I purchased a phone on 4/22/2014 from Verizon in Wichita, KS. I asked if I could get a program like I had gotten before with a buyback and paying up front? They said no and that they only offered Asurion so I purchased that.

When I called the reseller to get the information for the buyback they had updated their computer and said they no longer had any information but told me I had bought ProtectCell. I called and talked to Lucas (P2038685) and he was extremely polite and helpful. He told me that corporate left at 3 and my call had been transferred to his department and to call and see if they could help me.

I called today and talked to Chris. He kept asking me what phone I had. The third time he stated that I was outside of the 30 days in a unbelievable monotone and completely non-caring voice and said my plan was no good. I explained the situation that I was never given documentation that I needed to implement this before the END of the 2 year time. Worst customer service from Chris showing zero interest or caring that I've experienced in years. I asked nicely if I could speak with a supervisor and he stated I'm corporate and you are past the 30 days. I told him I understood that but I hadn't been told that again and I would still like to speak with a supervisor to make sure we checked all the options because I wanted to buy a new policy from ProtectCell for my phone just purchased. I had called Verizon and they said I could buy an outside policy although I had been told I couldn’t at the store level.

I got a supervisor, Sherry (sp) and she gave me the cookie cutter answer of I was too far out etc. I stated my case to her but she said she couldn’t help me. I told her I didn't agree but that there are a couple things that the company should do: 1) You should make sure that the reseller selling your product gives out accurate data. 2) She also said that an e-mail had been sent to me with the conditions of the contract. I told her I never read anything from your company and that is likely that it went into spam. She told me that "I should check my spam." Now I was irritated and told her I don't read my spam. She said, "Well, some people do." I suggested that they send a response requested that a document had been sent and received like many companies do and then your company would know if your customer actually received the document. She then proceeded to tell me again that there was nothing she could do and started to reiterate all the things she had said before of why I couldn't get a buyback. I finally cut her off and explained, I disagree but understand I'm not getting my money back and therefore I won't be purchasing your plan for my new phone but that I was giving advice to help make sure this doesn't happen again unnecessarily. Then she said that information was valuable and she would pass it on. If she would have said that instead of launching back into telling me all the reasons I couldn't get my buyback I wouldn't have got near as fired up. Now I’m very negative on ProtectCell. She needs training in listening instead of using the "I understand sir, and let me explain my position again." It's obvious she has trained with only one response.

I was bilked of my buyback unintentionally because of lack of explanation and not having paperwork to state my parameters. Instead I had to go by the notes I had written on my Verizon contract and then in my day planner. And never receiving legal documents is a problem.

I think my points were very valid and a smart business would have maybe split the difference or whatever and implement the changes that I stated. Instead I was ushered out the door with “is there anything else I can do for you” . . . well obviously not. I won't be able to purchase your plans again because of business principals and bad business practices that need to be changed. I now plan based on the lack of empathy in corporate to pass this information on to some blog writers and a syndicated writer that I know to spread the word about companies and specifically ProtectCell not sending e-mails with a response requested to be checked that the customer had received it and even if a document goes in spam that ProtectCell takes the position that customer is bound by a legal document. You had something great that was sold but handled very poorly and usually companies start to decline with this type of business practices and no brand loyalty established. I am concerned that you might be in a position that a class action is possible based on your business practices . . . I don’t know if that is fact but I would be worried if it was a business I was running and this was happening. Thanks for your consideration.

Oh my... I know this is a few years old but it comes up at top when researching phone insurance. I find it very comical that someone wants a phone for free when they ruin it because they paid $50 for insurance. $50?! At the time you sign up for the insurance online, the info is all right there on the site. If you pa $200 when you ruin your $550 phone, you can get it replaced with a new one, not refurbished. That's a pretty good deal to pay $250 for a $550 phone that was self ruined most likely. Once again, when you submitted the claim, you would have read that your model was on back order and that it might take longer. Actually mine was on back order and I got a choice of waiting for it OR selecting a newer upgraded model at the same price. I was thankful for all that I saved. If you put the same effort into reading ahead of paying as you do complaining, you'd be informed and probably feel thankful as well.

I can't believe I'm actually taking the time to read most of the comments of complaints, but in response to r2 customer complaint to ProtectCELL... If you're an astute business man that keeps good track of records in your day planner, then why didn't you write down in your planner at your 20-29 days out as to when exactly you should decide to phone the insurance company? You seem diligent with your efforts; would have expected you to note when the 11th hour was before the point of no return if you hadn't heard from the company yourself. Btw, most people know to check their spam Mail when they are expecting communication from a company that most likely does electronic marketing, thus creating their mail to go to spam. That's pretty much out of their hands if they Sent the communication and you didn't manage your accounts ... Esp when something is time sensitive. Well at least we all learn from our mistakes. Btw i've been customer service before as well, and we all know to take the mono tone and approach when somebody is preemptively striking at us. Now i'm no longer a seller, I am a buyer so I got the full experience from both ends of the spectrum.

And... One last thing to say here... Or a real complaint. It's in reference to the "complaint board" apparently you can't make an additional or subsequent comment under the same user info, email etc. it forces you to change the email address even after it asks you if you are an existing member... Quite impractical for a complaint center / board. I guess it is assumed that one comment is sufficient across subjects or a person just has so many multiple emails and alias names 😊

Failure for a company, bad service and poor operations. All the people I talked to seamed like they knew nothing. I got a replacement phone of a different model and it was cheap, could have bought it online for less that the replacement cost. Sent it back after confirming they would refund it and they never gave me my money back, every time I called I got "we are experiencing high then normal call volumes, please hold". Finally when I got to a person they transferred me and then I was put on hold by a supposed "Manager", I had to state my situation several times to get it across that I had sent the phone back and never received a refund. and when they put me on hold every time it was a ridiculously long time. Finally got my refund for the placement cost but they REFUSED to do anything for the shipping stating "We don't know what kind of phone your going to get" Seriously? You can't tell me what's in the package, if I knew they didn't have my model and I was paying 125$ for a different phone I never would have bothered. I am generally very patient but stupidity, ignorance and excuses do not fly with me and that is all they had to offer.

I have had to use the service twice, purchased the ProtectCELL COMPLETE™ that was the best plan they offered, paid in full at the Verizon store ~$200.00.

The first time experience was fine, broken screen on my new S4, I would rate the overall experience * * * * 0.50 stars. I was surprised at the $150.00 charge for the first replacement and $200 any further replacements, ( - 1/2 * ). I chalked that up to me not reading the fine print. Wish I had been told this up front at the store and it would not have stung so bad when I used the service for the first time. You will have to pay the replacement fee up front. The replacement was a fine re-manufactured device that worked out of the box. Had to get all the updates, etc on the device, but so do new ones out of the box, not a big deal. The replacement was shipped in a timely manner and arrived via Fed-Ex, signature required. Their Website kept track of everything on the request, when the device was shipped, tracking info, etc. With all things considered I was pleased with the service and happy to have purchased the ProtectCELL COMPLETE™ insurance plan. Even bragged to some of my friend about the experience and how I had made the correct dissension purchasing the plan.

Now my second time experience = ZERO *'s, hence my rating ( 4.5 + 0 / 2 = 2.25 ) * * 0.25
Some history: The S4 received some updates then afterwords the touch screen became not-so-responsive. After a week or so, I could not enter the password on the S4 and I was unable to get into the smart phone. After some "googling" for a fix, none of which worked, I took the S4 back to my Verizon store for assistance. They were also unable to correct the problem.

My options, purchase a new smart phone for full retail price ( 57 day till the 2 yr contract runs out) -- ouch!, or turn in a claim to ProtectCELL. I had almost forgotten about the insurance until the Verizon rep went through my account. Heck yea I exclaimed, had a great experience the first time around and was proud of my decision to purchase ProtectCELL. I had the Verizon rep call from their phone and paid the $200.00 and verified my mailing address, done! According to the ProtectCELL customer service rep on the phone that took my $$ I should expect the replacement S4 in a few days, tomorrow or the following day at the latest.

Here is where things start to turn for me: Went back home and logged into the ProtectCELL website to see the Request Device Activity and sure enough there was the second request. I could not get to the status of the claim though, ?... Therefore, I could not see the status or tracking information. Didn't think to much about that, but I was a little disappointed that I couldn't see the status. Next day, no S4. Second day passes, no S4. Third day passes, still no phone? Logged back into the ProtectCELL website to see the Request Device Activity and sure enough there was the second request but still could not get a status. Can't call because my smart phone is broken, so I sent them a note via their " Contact Us" link on their front page. They sent me an email requesting I call or use the "Live Chat" option. Had to choose the "Live Chat" option. At 18:45 I was second in line, at 18:48 I was next in line on the chat... >120 minutes later, I was still next in line... I sent multiple requests for service with no response via email. The next morning the chat window was still active and I was next in line, that's >12 hrs being next in line. When I get back home from work, I have an email from a "Contact Center Supervisor" requesting my "shipping address"; are you kidding me? the address was verified 4 days ago when they took my $$ over the phone at the Verizon store, and has never changed. So now being the weekend, the Contact Center Supervisor responds back that the S4 will be shipped out Monday. If your keeping track, 7 days before the S4 will "supposedly" be shipped.

NO EXPECTATIONS NO DISAPPOINTMENTS.
At this point I feel abused by the plan and what I've gone through to still have no replacement or tracking information at the very least. They have, in my opinion, failed by using stall tactics to replace my S4. They were able to take my $$ without a problem, within minutes, before the phone hung up at the Verizon store."

Step one file a replacment request, seemed easy went on line signed in put my work phone number as my contact and waited for my confimration call back (which they said I'd get)
2) Finally called Protect Cell when I didn't get my confirmation call and they said that they had left me a message... On my broken phone number.
3) I asked why require a contact phone number if you are not going to use it.
4) They said that they then said that it would be sent right away via Fed Ex (sent on Thursday for a Friday delivery) I paid expedited delivery charge.
5) Friday morning still don't have my Fed ex confirmation so I call the company yet again. They now tell me that they are sorry but the phone is back ordered. I asked why didn't I get a phone call the answer was "Sorry I don't know" .
6) They tell me now it will be sent out Friday for a Saturday delivery.
7) I tell them Fed Ex does not do Saturday delivery unless it is specifically requested I was told that because it was coming from Michigan and going to a Michigan address that she "guaranteed" it would get here on time.
8) I receive a Fed Ex email which says it will be delivered on Monday .
9) I call Protect Cell yet again and say that Fed Ex has said that it will not arrive on Saturday unless Protect Cell request it and they didn't. She said again "sorry"
10) Now I am trying to get my info off the "cloud" and have requested a new password via email. I was told I would get it in 24 hrs, it has been 48 still no email(and yes I checked my "Junk" folder).
I have no complaints about deductibles just poor customer service
****This is by far the worst experience I have ever had. My son has Asurion and his replacement was seamless.