Dan decided to buy a SquareTrade warranty for his iPhone because, unlike AppleCare, SquareTrade also covers damage to the phone at a good price. This warranty turned out to be a wise investment, since he dropped the phone and cracked the screen. When the replacement phone stopped working, he called them up for another replacement before noticing that the glass was cracked. No more free replacement. How sad.

I chose to warranty my iPhone 4 through SquareTrade, rather than Applecare, because SquareTrade provided breakage insurance at a competitive price.When I dropped my phone, breaking the screen, the company (after a $50 deductible; that’s on top of the $100 policy) sent me a replacement. I took the opportunity to upgrade my phone to a 4S and gave the replacement SquareTrade supplied me to my wife.

A month later, my wife’s phone stopped working – the screen was “lit,” but blank. After troubleshooting failed, I called SquareTrade and they replaced the replacement at no charge. Replacement Number Two worked fine, so I prepped Replacement Number One for return to SquareTrade – and only then did I actually take that phone out of the case my wife had been keeping it in. I noticed that the phone was, in fact, damaged, with a hairline crack in the back glass.

I called SquareTrade and explained the situation; clearly, this was no longer a warranty issue, and I offered to pay whatever charge there might be. The CSR talked it over with a supervisor, and told me that they’d waive the fee, and thanked me for calling them. They didn’t have to do so, and they’ve earned my loyalty.

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