Mystery Caller: Insurance

Mystery Caller has lost two phones to clumsiness in the past few years so insurance is a must for the new one. How do the networks compare when it comes to protecting phones from loss, theft and damage?

=5: Virgin

Visiting the website after the call, I found out that the excess fee is between £70 and £150

Manner – 4/5
Understanding – 4/5
Knowledge – 2/5
Helpfulness – 3/5
Clarity – 2/5
Overall – 3/5
Total – 18/30

=5: Orange

Riz came back and said the policy covered water damage ‘to an extent’

Manner – 3/5
Understanding – 4/5
Knowledge – 2/5
Helpfulness – 3/5
Clarity – 3/5
Overall – 3/5
Total – 18/30

4: O2

The wealth of information available online meant I was disappointed by the lack of detail Karim gave me

Manner – 4/5
Understanding – 4/5
Knowledge – 2/5
Helpfulness – 4/5
Clarity – 2/5
Overall – 3/5
Total – 19/30

3: Vodafone

For higher marks, Ricky should have displayed much more knowledge, which I’m sure was there

Manner – 4/5
Understanding – 4/5
Knowledge – 2/5
Helpfulness – 4/5
Clarity – 3/5
Overall – 3/5
Total – 20/30

2: Three

‘I am an honest salesperson,’ he said. Fullmarks for helpfulness and manner.

Manner – 5/5
Understanding – 4/5
Knowledge – 3/5
Helpfulness – 5/5
Clarity – 3/5
Overall – 4/5
Total – 24/30

1: T-Mobile

She offered to call me back later that day when I said I wanted to have a think about it – a nice touch

Manner – 5/5
Understanding – 4/5
Knowledge – 4/5
Helpfulness – 4/5
Clarity – 4/5
Overall – 4/5
Total – 25/30

Summary

Broadly speaking, the CSAs were well prepared for my enquiry, with most knowing which policy to recommend and what it included.

However, some of them – in particular Orange and Virgin – did not give me enough detail to make a good comparison with the other providers. Virgin’s CSA also should have mentioned that the policy is only free for existing customers.

O2 and Vodafone put in good performances but did not have the breadth of knowledge that higher scorers Three and T-Mobile did.

Overall, however, the networks aren’t doing too badly when it comes to insurance.

Full article in Mobile News issue 561 (April 10, 2014).

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