‘Rules are rules? Fine’: Insurance rep refuses to fix customer's broken phone, claiming it's against their rules, customer cleverly finds a way to get a new phone instead

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Dec 18, 2024 10:00 AM EST

While rules are definitely important and indispensable, surely we can all think of one or two that make absolutely no sense. It could be rules set at your place of work, school, city, or even country, but at the end of the day, those rules are made by other people, and sometimes people make mistakes.

What can you do when you stumble upon a pointless rule like that? Most of the time the answer to that would be nothing, unless you are as resilient and quick-thinking as the person who wrote this Reddit story, which in that case, maybe you can find a few tricks up your sleeve.

This customer (OP, original poster) turned to their insurance rep after they cracked their phone screen. They paid a lot of money for the insurance, so they were sure it would not be a problem to get the phone fixed. However, the rep insisted that OP is not entitled to the repair because they waited too long to do it, and refused to make an exception. OP immediately clocked how silly this rule is, and found a way around it to ensure they got what they came for.

Keep scrolling to read the full story. After you are done, check out this story of an employee who was pressured to call in sick, on Christmas Eve.

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    Cheezburger Image 10443348480
    via Aleksandr Kichigin
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    Insurance Rep Insists on Following the Rules-Until She Realizes the Cost
    via No_Exchange2440
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    Back in the mid 2010s, I had my phone insured through a premium bank account. The deal was simple: pay a fixed excess, and they'd either repair or replace your phone.
    via No_Exchange2440
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    The excess was the same whether it was a cracked screen or a full replacement, so it seemed like a solid arrangement.
    via No_Exchange2440
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    One day, I cracked my phone screen. It still worked fine, and I had a holiday coming up, so I decided to wait until I got back to file a claim. When I finally called the insurance
    via No_Exchange2440
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    company, the representative asked when the damage had happened, so I told her honestly. That's where the trouble started.
    via No_Exchange2440
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    She explained that I'd waited too long to report the damage. There was a time limit for claims-around 10 days—and I'd missed it. I explained that the phone was
    via No_Exchange2440
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    still usable, and I'd needed it for my trip, but she wouldn't budge. Rules were rules, she said, and my claim was invalid. Her tone was borderline smug.
    via No_Exchange2440
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    Fine, I thought. Let's try some pre-emptive MC. Me: "What should I do if the phone gets damaged further?" Rep: "You'd need to call us back and file a new claim. But
    via No_Exchange2440
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    make sure it's within the time frame." Me: "Got it. And I can't include the existing screen damage, right?" Rep: "Correct. The new claim would have to be for unrelated damage."
    via No_Exchange2440
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    She seemed oblivious to where this was going, so I pressed on. Me: "So how likely is it that a cracked screen could lead to water damage? If water got in
    via No_Exchange2440
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    and fried the motherboard, you'd most likely have to replace the whole phone, right?" There was a long pause. Then she said she needed to speak to her supervisor.
    via No_Exchange2440
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    When she came back, her tone had changed. Suddenly, they were willing to overlook the missed time frame and process my original claim for the cracked screen...
    via No_Exchange2440
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    • Estefunny 11h ago • The pedantic me would say that water damage is related to a screen crack but good for you that they ignored that
    via Estefunny
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    No_Exchange2440 OP • 11h ago I know - that's pretty much what I was expecting, but she was clear. All phone calls to these centers are recorded, so perhaps she made a mistake, but once it had been said it couldn't be taken back?
    via No_Exchange2440
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    Momonomo22 • 7h ago • I was reading the story expecting to hear that the phone "accidentally" run over. was
    via Momonomo22
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    No_Exchange2440 OP • 4h ago • I knew that I might have to accidentally 'lose' the phone if they refused to fix it, but i found it more satisfying to get them to realise their policy didn't help them in the way they thought it did.
    via No_Exchange2440
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    Prof19599h ago Top 1% Commenter I really thought this was going to end with "OK, so I just ran over my phone accidentally with my car. *smashing sound*" $1300 please.
    via Prof1959
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    DriftlessHang • 11h ago • At least they caught on before the bigger bill came due
    via DriftlessHang
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    • Imguran 11h ago • Good thing you poked her imagination to the right conclusion.
    via Imguran
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    Lanky-Awareness-7450 .7h ago Lucky they weren't a health insurance company. Otherwise it would be due to preexisting conditions and not covered!
    via Lanky-Awareness-7450
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    More_Bicycle_30 • 7h ago • Oh man, that's just brilliant. You've got to love when sticking strictly to the rules backfires on someone. I mean, as much as they try to nitpick, sometimes showing them that their 'rules' can lead to a bigger headache really gets them thinking. It's like
    via More_Bicycle_30
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    how sometimes at a restaurant, they won't let you do some substitution, and then you have to wonder if they'd rather remake the whole dish when you can't eat it. I remember a time when I tried to sort out a travel insurance claim, and they kept dodging
    via More_Bicycle_30
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    responsibility. It was only when I hinted at escalating it further that they magically found a way to take care of it. Feels like life's one big chess game sometimes, you know? Now, I'm not saying to
    via More_Bicycle_30
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    always play the system, but sometimes you just have to help them see the big picture. Anyway, these reps could probably use more coffee...
    via More_Bicycle_30
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    ifriti⚫7h ago. I thought you were going to call back in 10 minutes explaining you dropped your phone...from a very tall building.
    via ifriti
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    Vinnie_Vegas • 7h ago If it is covered for loss as well as repair, then there's no point even debating the need for repair with them, just tell them you lost the phone and get a new one, and bury your old one in the backyard.
    via Vinnie_Vegas

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customer service insurance tech support employee malicious compliance fix work customers malicious-compliance-reddit technology phone reddit story petty Reddit
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