Insurance for your dongle / mobile broadband - Don't fall for it!

McCafferty

The problem: Lost dongle

I recently lost my dongle. To be more precise, I lost my girlfriends dongle. To those of you to whom a dongle means nothing, it is the usb key you use for mobile broadband.

I was irritated about losing the dongle, but I kept it in context. It was after all only a fancy usb key wit a sim card - how bad could this be.

My girlfriend did not agree and lost her temper in some style. She was furious as this would now cost us £160. I did not follow this logic.

She explained that when first starting the contract she was advised to take insurance, which she thankfully refused, of an extra £10 a month. Failure to do so she was warned would mean having to buy a new dongle at a cost of between £160 - £200.

The solution:

There was no way that any of this made sense in a rational world. To cut a boring story short, I went to the TMobile shop, opened a pay-as-you-go contract for the 'free' dongle, ordered a new sim card and the whole thing was solved for less than £20.

So, my advice to you is don't take the insurance, because unless you plan to lose your dongle more than once every two months, it isn't worth it.

spannerzone

Good advice indeed.... mobile phone and dongle insurance seems very poor value unless you're incredibly unlucky or careless. Dongles are so cheap to buy on PAYG deals

stilltheone

McCafferty wrote: »

The problem: Lost dongle

I recently lost my dongle. To be more precise, I lost my girlfriends dongle. To those of you to whom a dongle means nothing, it is the usb key you use for mobile broadband.

I was irritated about losing the dongle, but I kept it in context. It was after all only a fancy usb key wit a sim card - how bad could this be.

My girlfriend did not agree and lost her temper in some style. She was furious as this would now cost us £160. I did not follow this logic.

She explained that when first starting the contract she was advised to take insurance, which she thankfully refused, of an extra £10 a month. Failure to do so she was warned would mean having to buy a new dongle at a cost of between £160 - £200.

The solution:

There was no way that any of this made sense in a rational world. To cut a boring story short, I went to the TMobile shop, opened a pay-as-you-go contract for the 'free' dongle, ordered a new sim card and the whole thing was solved for less than £20.

So, my advice to you is don't take the insurance, because unless you plan to lose your dongle more than once every two months, it isn't worth it.

£20?? You were done.

You could have done it for £10.