Geek Squad
Phone Insurance

Recently bought a new Nokia N96 from the Carphone Warehouse, who offered me Geek Squad phone insurance free for the 1st month, and then at only £10 every month after that.

I thought this was pretty good, since it covered loss and theft etc, so I went for it.

I recently went to a music festival, with my newly aquired phone, and during the first day of music, put the phone in a side pocket of my bag, which I left in the tent.

I returned in the evening to find the tent ram-sacked, with the phone gone.

So, when I returned from the festival 3 days later, I phoned up the network provider, got them to cancel the sim card etc. and that was fine. I then phoned up GEEK SQUAD to claim on the theft insurance.

I told them that I had been at the festival, without a back-up phone, and once discovered the phone missing, told the security personnel.

Geek Squad got back to me a day later to deny my claim because, and I quote " did not inform [the network provider] or the police within 24 hours of finding the phone stolen".

BECAUSE I WAS AT A FESTIVAL!!! ARGH!! I told them on the phone, when I made my claim, that there WERE NO POLICE at the festival, only security personnel, and neither was there a pay phone with which I could phone the network provider's customer care (if I could have got their number, which would have been hard too). Still they refused to cough up!!

I think it's criminal how they can do this - if I was camping out in the wilderness (I know - there isn't much in England...) and lost my phone, how would I contact the network provider, or the police!?!? IT'S THE SAME AT A FESTIVAL.

So, to conclude, don't go with the Geek Squad if you want your contract to be fair, and their claims advisers to be reasonable, since they seem to be a bunch of tight minded ****s who don't care about anyone's happiness, other than their own.

(I have decided, once I have persued this with their customer services etc. that, if they still refuse, to go to the Office of Fair Trading and sue the pants off the Geek Squad, so I can chore me an even better phone: D)