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Nextel - Signal Insurance

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Cindy of Boone, IA November 28, 2007

Cindy of Boone IA (11/28/07)
I turned in a claim for my kyocera strobe phone which I purchased from U.S. Cellular a couple of months ago. The inside lcd screen went partially out. So instead of sending me another phone like the one I have, and spent 230 on, they instead sent me a cheaper brand cell phone which I do not want. I want either the cell phone I have, which they say is no longer in stock because the its been discontinued, or I want a better quality phone. I am willing to pay the difference in price minus my deductable in which I've already paid.

If I cannot get the one that I turned in a claim for then I would like one of the smart phones or one of the newer razor phones. The feature that I liked was the texting keyboard feature it had. It was a full keyboard inside.

The inside lcd screen half way went out. I'm not sure exactly how it happened. I think it may have either got stepped on by my 3 year old, or it may have been dropped, but it was insured.

Julie of Winslow, IL November 23, 2007

Julie of Winslow IL (11/23/07)
On 10/22/07 I went to a US Cellular Store in Freeport, Il and renewed a contract, and received an upgraded phone (a strobe) for my daughter. She took it to school and it was stolen within a week. I thought no problem we have paid Signal insurance premiums for years and the phone just came out, so we will just pay the 50 deductible and get a new one. Not so simple!  After many phone calls and going back and forth between US Cellular and Signal Insurance who not only gave us a wrong phone when we paid the deductible, but did this twice, claiming they had no strobe in the warehouse, then saying they did, and then did not.

I have now paid 100 in two deductibles and still have no phone which was my daughter's birthday present. I am advising everyone I know, NOT TO BUY SIGNAL INSURANCE! I also told the signal insurance that if they are treating everyone like this, it is a matter of time before a law suit is issued, and that I would be a part of it in a heart beat!

Julie of Kelso, WA November 6, 2007

Julie of Kelso WA (11/06/07)
I am a nextel customer who thought I was doing the right thing by purchasing insurance for our cell phones. We were not given a choice of insurance when buying our phones. Nextel signed us up with The Signal insurance, what a joke!!! One of our workers called the office to report the volume button quit working on his phone, the phone is 1 yr, 3 mos old. I said no problem, it is insured and called nextel for the phone number.

After speaking with a representative and a supervisor for at least 30 minutes, they said they would not cover the phone because the worker did not have an accident with the phone or do anything to make the volume button stop working, how the heck do we know why the volume button doesn't work anymore! and who cares! I thought that's why I've been paying for insurance for the last year and a half.

I immediately dropped that insurance and am out to warn anyone who will listen. Do not let anyone sign you up for the Signal insurance on your cell phone, you might as well just throw away your money!!

Lori of Lahaina, HI October 2, 2007

Lori of Lahaina HI (10/02/07)
My son dropped his phone 2 months ago and broke the antenna.  A claim # 11320773 was issued by the Signal Insurance agent. They said the replacement phone would be shipped within 48 hours. ( I paid for express delivery.)  Two days later when no phone arrived, I called to check on the delivery and was informed the phone was not covered under insurance, that it was a defect of Motorola and Motorola would have to deal with the incident, which they would not agree to.  Signal Insurance deemed it mechanical breakdown--not covered by insurance. What a waste of time and money! The phones are garbage and not built to last and insurance of all types is a rip off. The governent should shut them all down for fraud! What are we paying for? Nextel informed us the phone would cot 278.00 to replace! Ha! Now we have an inferior phone that works sometimes and have been paying insurance all these years for nothing!

We have poor quality service and paying top dollar for garbage, to mention all the aggrevation and time wasted processing a claim that wasn't approved. . .AGAIN! Class action suits shoud be filed against all these companies involved!

William of Dearborn Heights, MI October 1, 2007

William of Dearborn Heights MI (10/01/07)
In June 2007, I lost my Nextel I-836 Motorola phone. Signal Insurance was contacted, and my re-furbished phone and apparently new battery was sent to me. As we jump ahead 3 months, the end key, soft right key (messages), and O.K. key stopped working, as well as the battery holding 11 1/2 minutes on a full charge. Today, I spoke with two associates and three managers. Both associates and two of the three managers stated that they send BRAND NEW AFTER MARKET BATTERIES (i.e. not Motorola)and that the warranty on their equipment is thirty days. I contacted Sprint/Nextel, and they credited my account 40 to cover a new battery, and the service center replaced my phone free of charge. While at the service center, an employee noted that the 3 month old battery looked a little beat down. He peeled the sticker off of the battery that read Quality Control Battery INC., and to everyones supprise, it is a Motorola battery. And to top things off, according to the date code on the battery, it was over three years old! I called back to Signal, asked if they supplied new batteries with the re-furbished phones, and was told yes by an associate. But when I spoke with Terry (the second manager), I was assured that the battery was new. His supervisor Chrystal (7221) claimed the batteries could be re-furbished. What's the deal? I've been to the Signal website, and no where in their mission statement does it say anything about de-frauding their customers. And according to the Nextel service reps, the new Motorola batteries are lucky to last more than 2 to 3 years.

I am most concerned about the 100 deductible I was charged for what 3 of 5 employees of the Signal called a re-furbished phone with a new battery when in reality i received a 3 year old battery with a cute sticker wrapped around it to make it appear new. If they handle hundreds of thousands of claims, how much money has been stolen by their misrepresented claims? At what point can they be held liable?

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