ASURION RECALLS COUNTERFEIT BLACKBERRY®-BRANDED BATTERIES DUE TO BURN AND FIRE HAZARDS
From: New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg (personal injury and accident attorney and lawyer; serving Brooklyn Queens Bronx; Queens Injury Lawyer)
Maybe you've heard of a company named Asurion. Let's talk about it a little. I know Asurion as the company that insures my cell phone, for which my cellular provider takes a small fee every month. These small fees add up over time to large fees.
At its website, Asurion describes itself as follows: "Asurion is the global leader in technology protection services. From lost, stolen and damaged wireless handsets to malfunctioning computers or HDTVs, Asurion provides more than 90 million consumers worldwide with best-in-class, next day device replacement. Asurion also offers protection of user content and software."
So far, so good. But I disagree with the next self-assessment from Asurion's website: "As the worlds largest provider of technology protection products, we make replacing wireless devices fast, easy, inexpensive, and hassle-free."
My personal experience and the personal experience of friends and loved ones, has shown dealing with Asurion to be anything but hassle-free. Phone lost and not damaged, "Have you reported to the police and got a police report"? Another good one is when your phone model is discontinued, or worse, no longer supported. Then you are offered a "comparable" phone.
Then there's the $50 co-pay. And, oh yeah, Asurion will ship your phone immediately - even before you return the damaged phone, just leave a credit card number, please.
Now all insurance companies want to make a buck. This principle applies to car insurance companies, homeowners insurance companies and, yes, cell phone insurance companies like Asurion. Also, it's a kind of rule of human nature that people are more likely to take action, such as posting to the Internet, when they're displeased as opposed to when they're happy. So Google-search "Asurion" and you'll get search returns of complaints. Lots of complaints. Same result if you Google "Asurion sucks," or whatever similar search terms that you prefer.
For example, JUST THIS MONTH, on August 10, 2010, blog-poster Phil from California reports that he lost his phone, and found it, "however, i had in the meantime filed my claim with Asurion who told me on the phone: "WE NO LONGER HAVE BLACK GOOGLE G1 PHONES, BUT WOULD YOU ACCEPT A WHITE ONE IN ITS PLACE?" i said (reasonably), "Sure."
Having found his phone, Phil decided to sell the second phone, box unopened, on Ebay. Then, at his buyer's suggestion, he looked in the box.
"i PURPOSELY DID NOT OPEN THE PACKAGE that was sent to me from Asurion ... and i put the phone, with all of the specifications of the WHITE GOOGLE G1 phone ON EBAY... which i have to live up to! that said, i sold the phone - or so i thought. and the buyer mentioned that i should open the package "just to make sure" ... and AHA! he was RIGHT! Asurion screwed me for the FIFTH (5th) time, and this time they sent me the WRONG phone! it was a Google compatible HTC MyTouch "Jack" Black phone."
Naturally, Phil couldn't get his problem fixed, was refued the last names of representatives he dealt with and, when he tried to ercord Asurion like it records him, was chased off the call.
Says Dan of San Antonio, TX on August 9, 2010:
"Asurion is a complete fraud. When my phone broke I was told by Sprint to just pay the 50 deductible to get a new phone from Asurion. What a mess it has been. My first phone from Asurion arrived broken. I sent it back and the second phone was broken. I sent it back and the third phone has a blank screen. Fed up, I called back and said I was just going to buy a new phone but would like my 50 back. They said they couldn't do that. All they could do is send me more phones. I asked Sterling, the supervisor, if it was reasonable to expect 3 broken phones, and he said it was reasonable to expect that. It's quite sad when the company employees know their service is horrendous. I will never insure my phones again through Sprint or their partner Asurion."
Says Cinche of Sacramento, CA on August 5, 2010:
"I have a Blackberry Curve of which the track ball has come loose and fallen off. I called Asurion on Friday & received a replacement phone one Monday. Unfortunatley the replacement phone was not compatible with the phone service I use (Metro PCS). I called immediately after i received the phone and after speaking to 3 customer service representatives (because the first 2 spelled my email address incorrectly) I had them email me a return shipping label. I immediately went to the UPS store to have the phone mailed back to Asurion.
Today is Thursday. I have received my SECOND replacement phone. This one as well is NOT compatible with my phone service!!! Once again, called & explained the problem to a supervisor who apologized, emailed me ANOTHER return label but could not guarantee that the replacement phone would be compatible with my phone carrier.
I feel that with an 85 deductable, there should be no problem! And how can they keep sending the wrong phone? They have all my information on the computer. I was told by Metro PCS's Blackberry department that they have been experiencing this problem a lot with Asurion. This is crazy! I pay my insurance each month only to receive a run-around when i need it! If i EVER receive the correct phone, i WILL be cancelling my insurance! I have wasted a lot of time on my breaks and lunch trying to resolve this problem. Also wasting gas going to several Metro stores and back and forth the the UPS store."
Says Brian of Fresno, CA on August 5, 2010:
"They are now sending me another tilt 2 for a third time. Why pay 5 dollars a month on a 400 dollar phone and get a crappy refurbished replacement phone with a 50 deductible that doesn't even work! This is my main source of communication for business and personal. I am losing business and time not having a working phone. I am traveling out of town this weekend and don't have a phone that works!"
Says Jason of Birmingham, AL on July 29, 2010:
"VERY BAD SERVICE!!! Asurion insurance for T-mobile and ATT phone's are simply a JOKE!!! Not mention the very high deduction price (like 90.00 for a REFURBISHED blackberry curve), they actually send me phones with problems, like bad usb port, not able to charge etc... the paper work is extremely harsh and slow to make a claim. As of right now, I am making my third call to them because they said my picture id is too DARK..."
Says Anna of Thornwood, NY on July 28, 2010:
"DO NOT -REPEAT - DO NOT buy this insurance . They send out VERY shabby refurbished phones and when they do not work, the company extorts another 100. deductible from you! You are better off without insurance."
Says Paul of Williamsville, NY on July 24, 2010:
"My Verizon Wireless Droid X was stolen out of my car while I was in a bank for five mins. I have been paying the 7.99 per month for over 5 years now. They tried to give me an other phone to replace it that didn't even come close in features. They didn't have the Droid X and didn't know when they might be getting any. In other words, I am paying for insurance with a company that doesn't even cover my phone. They take my money every month for years and when I need the phone to be replaced because it was stolen, they don't have it and tried to give me a lesser phone."
Read more: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/asurion.html
All this leads us to today's blog piece.
On August 10, 2010, Asurion of Smyrna, Tennessee, recalled Counterfeit BlackBerry® branded cell phone batteries in refurbished devices. How many batteries were recalled you might ask? How badly fooled was this insurance giant of the cell phone trade that takes in many millions of dollars every month from cell phone users - and shouldn't Asurion know its business very well?
The recall affects about 470,000 batteries. That's correct. This giant of the industry was fooled with about 500,000 fake Blackberry batteries. How could this happen?
The recall describes the problem as follows - Hazard: The counterfeit batteries can overheat, posing burn and fire hazards. Asurion has received two reports of counterfeit BlackBerry®-branded batteries overheating, causing minor burns to a consumer's finger and minor property damage to a sofa and car seat.
Description: This recall involves only BlackBerry®-branded batteries provided with refurbished Blackberry®-branded devices. The refurbished devices were sent to consumers by Asurion through a handset protection program. The batteries were used across virtually all models of refurbished BlackBerry devices distributed by Asurion prior to November 1, 2009. Genuine Blackberry-branded batteries are not included in this recall. No other Asurion or BlackBerry products are involved in this recall.
Distributed through: Asurion as part of their handset protection claim program nationwide from March 2004 through October 2009. (So Asurion was passing around fake batteries for 5½ years.)
Manufactured in: Unknown (Asurion ain't telling how or where it got the bad batteries.)
Remedy: Consumers who received refurbished BlackBerry devices through Asurion prior to November 1, 2009 should immediately stop using the product and contact Asurion for a replacement product. Asurion is directly contacting known consumers with the affected batteries to notify them of this recall.
Will no one tell us what really happened?" Or must we speculate that maybe Asurion cheated its customers just a little, by buying from a disreputable source to save money. Was the deal too good to be true? Do I smell corporate greed? Or, more specifically, insurance company corporate greed? Half a million fake cell phone batteries is a lot of fake cell phone batteries.
Will heads roll in Smyrna, Tennessee? One can only wonder, and, while wondering, cancel one's cell phone insurance.
