The BBC visited five UK-based Carphone Warehouse stores to see if rumors were true concerning customers being told that if they didn’t buy insurance on their iPhone and they happened to lose it somewhere, it would cost them at least £630 and a whole new contract to replace it.
While it’s true that they’d have to buy a new phone, the 18-month contract would not start over.
Undercover reporters were told the same thing at three out of the five stores. If they were to lose their phone, they’d have to buy a new one AND start their contract over from day one. They were also told at some stores that the insurance sold through Carphone Warehouse offered more coverage than the insurance sold by O2, the iPhone’s UK carrier. In reality, the level of coverage is the same.
Salespeople at Carphone Warehouse are offered extra commission for selling phone insurance and the company as a whole was fined £245,000 last year for similar insurance-related shenanigans.
Company representatives told the BBC that such reports might be due to "some element of confusion among an isolated number of sales consultants" and that such complaints aren’t reflective of the entire chain.