Is it worth the $7 a month? I am thinking about getting it, my BlackBerry is a day or two old. But already is scratching easy and seems to be more fragile then my 8830 on VZW. Also since I went with the wine red, it shows minor scratches easy. But I would like to know is the $7 protection plain is worth it, does it protect it like it says? How good are they at keeping there word? From reading it, it's sounds like if I drop it in the water. They will replace it, but do they replace it that day or order one? I did try the invisible shield but don't like it. So I took it off and threw it away, waist of $20...

You need to understand how the program works. It is based off what goes wrong with it. Also, keep in mind, the $7 program (which is called TEP) technically only works at service and repair centers.

Defects are covered at NO charge whatsoever. You can walk into a store and get things handled, if they can fix it in the store, your good, if not they have to order you a replacement. Really all a store can do is software related issues. If not, they have to order you a replacement (and when I say replacement, I mean majority of the time it will be a "refurbished" device).

If it falls out of a defect as in, you lose the phone, drop it in a form of "liquid," damage the device anyway as in cracking the housing, etc etc, that will require a $50 deducatable.

What are the benifits really? If you didn't have the $7 plan and say you dropped it in the toliet or lost it, you would have to buy a brand new phone, which the blackberry at a sprint store is like $500 or so (assuming you aren't eligiable for the program).

Also, if something goes wrong with it (as in a defect) you can take it into a store and there will be NO charge to fix/replace the problem (repair/replacement ranges from $15/$35/$55). Only problem is, depending what it is, if they need to replace the device, your gonna have to wait 3-5 business days for the replacement to come.

My best advice for you, is to goto your nearest service and repair centers and talk to them about it. See what they can do, and can't do and what they are willing to do if you were to run into a problem. Reason I mention this cause Sprint really doesn't provide service centers with any blackberry parts, besides the trackball now. So unless its trackball related, or software related, the store will be lazy and order you a replacement store. A store with "smart" service techs and ones that are willing to help the customer will think outside the box, and learn to solder and "harvest" parts from phones that they are sending back to the depot. Example, if a speaker goes bad, they should take a working speaker from a phone they are sending back and put it in yours, so you have working phone on the spot as opposed to having you wait 3-5 business days.

I heard that if you buy your phone from best buy - you could buy their insurance for $10 month and would cover alot more things and give you a New phone.

I have the $7 plan on my Voyager and I believe it covers more that what you posted. On top of loss/theft/accidental damage, part of the $7 monthly fee extends the warrantee for another year. So, instead of the device being covered for only one year, its covered for 2 years.

I did buy my phone through BestBuy. I don't like the idea you have to wait, I thought it was immediate. Then that would be worth it then. I don't think allot of people would want to wait either. The $7 a month is not bad and $50 for replacement is not bad either. Only if it was an immediate replacement. Is there any other 3rd party protection plain, that's worth it?

I think I decided against the insurance plain. I will instead put $50-75 to the side and every month put $10 in there. After one year, I would have about $200 in there. Then after a year when I get my deposit back, I will have $300. I could then just use that toward new phone. Basically just fun my own insurance, I guess. IDK, what do you think. Do you have Sprint Insurance, is it worth the money?

I have the full TEP, and for the price we pay for these phones when full price, the TEP is definitely worth it. It's basically a gamble. You own a home, you typically have insurance. You may not have to use it, but if you do, you're glad you have it. I've had my home for about 10 years, and never used the insurance until this summer, when I had to get a complete roof replacement due to hail damage. It would have cost me over $4000, but instead only $500 due to deductible. It could have been worse because a house several stops up the street lost their entire roof, ripped off by a tornado that caused all the hail. I imagine their bill is easily over ten grand. You may make it your entire year or two without any issues, and if so, you'll come out ahead. But that one drop on the concrete, or in the toilet, or just plain old early life failure, and you'll wish you had the insurance. Your call though, and no one here can make the decision for you. Good luck.

I have my insurance through BestBuy. It is 6.99 mo w/ no deductable. However if your phone is lost or stolen bestbuy will not cover it as their insurance requires the phone for upon filing a claim. That is not the case with Sprint's TEP, there is the 50 deduct. but they will cover lost or stolen items.

Just my.02

I'd recommend taking that approach. Most people don't keep their wireless devices for that long anyway. Further, these devices drop in price very quickly and odds are that unless you lost your BB tomorrow the cost of a replacement would be significantly less, say, a year down the road. Additionally, you might want to switch to an entirely different device if you lost your BB in the future and insurance would only offer the same or "similar" (be very careful as what they consider "similar" may not be the same as your definition -- read the terms) device.