Protect Your Bubble - Warning - Worst Insurance Provider in the UK
xiaowen
Posts: 2 Newbie
Just a heads up and word of caution to those who are in search of gadget cover. There have been many adverts on the tube and on TV by protectyourbubble.com guaranteeing a 48hr replacement of your gadget.
If anyone is thinking about taking out gadget insurance please let my experience as well as googling their company name warn you not to. They are the worst company that I have come in contact with.
A little bit of background, my iPhone 4 was insured 8 months ago with Barclaycard which has subsequently transferred their responsibilities to protect your bubble. When my phone was stolen recently I contacted my mobile provider to stop the phone and the police to alert them of the incident. After 3 weeks of fill in this form, provide that detail and a 3 way call arranged between myself and the mobile provider as well as protect your bubble they finally agreed to replace my phone. When I paid the £50 excess and 6 months extra insurance fee they said your gadget will be with you soon. The next day I call up their customer services to enquire about the status of the order and delivery of the replacement phone I get a gentleman who tells me it's a complete lie that the website advertises 48hr replacement and it is absolutely impossible. I call back the next day and get a completely different answer a lady who says it will take them 5-7 days to order and deliver the replacement. I ask her regarding the 48hr advertisement on all their websites and TV advertisements and she says it's just marketing speak and doesn't bare any relation to real life. That's not what I thought when I took out the insurance.
Anyways so eventually after an eternity, they send me a replacement phone in a unmarked box and excitedly I put in my sim card and the phone says it cannot complete activation because it is locked to a different network. So I call up my mobile service provider and they tell me that the phone they sent me was locked to vodaphone, despite the fact that they have promised a unlocked phone and that they called up 3 mobile in order to confirm that my phone has indeed been blocked and that I have not made any calls form that number after reporting it stolen.
So much time has passed without having a phone despite diligently paying the insurance cover and excess, if you are looking for a insurance company to provide gadget insurance please look else where and don't waste your time with the UK's worst provider protectyourbubble.com
Dr. Xiao Wen Hu
If anyone is thinking about taking out gadget insurance please let my experience as well as googling their company name warn you not to. They are the worst company that I have come in contact with.
A little bit of background, my iPhone 4 was insured 8 months ago with Barclaycard which has subsequently transferred their responsibilities to protect your bubble. When my phone was stolen recently I contacted my mobile provider to stop the phone and the police to alert them of the incident. After 3 weeks of fill in this form, provide that detail and a 3 way call arranged between myself and the mobile provider as well as protect your bubble they finally agreed to replace my phone. When I paid the £50 excess and 6 months extra insurance fee they said your gadget will be with you soon. The next day I call up their customer services to enquire about the status of the order and delivery of the replacement phone I get a gentleman who tells me it's a complete lie that the website advertises 48hr replacement and it is absolutely impossible. I call back the next day and get a completely different answer a lady who says it will take them 5-7 days to order and deliver the replacement. I ask her regarding the 48hr advertisement on all their websites and TV advertisements and she says it's just marketing speak and doesn't bare any relation to real life. That's not what I thought when I took out the insurance.
Anyways so eventually after an eternity, they send me a replacement phone in a unmarked box and excitedly I put in my sim card and the phone says it cannot complete activation because it is locked to a different network. So I call up my mobile service provider and they tell me that the phone they sent me was locked to vodaphone, despite the fact that they have promised a unlocked phone and that they called up 3 mobile in order to confirm that my phone has indeed been blocked and that I have not made any calls form that number after reporting it stolen.
So much time has passed without having a phone despite diligently paying the insurance cover and excess, if you are looking for a insurance company to provide gadget insurance please look else where and don't waste your time with the UK's worst provider protectyourbubble.com
Dr. Xiao Wen Hu
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Comments
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Not great customer service.
The 48 hour replacement they advertise, may not apply to your Barclaycard cover if the cover you took with Barclaycard did not promise this and when PYB took over the cover they did not promise this.
If you have any documents relating to when you took out cover / the transfer, have a look to see if their make this promise and if so any terms and conditions they may use as a get out.
If it was not promised in the cover you took out / when they took it over then the 48 hour replacement would not apply to your cover.
Obviously if it did then it's grounds for a complaint to the Insurer and a note to the ASA would be in order.
The other issue eg sending a locked phone is not good and would be grounds for a complaint, realistically any compensation you receive will not be massive perhaps between £50 and £100. However a complaint does get recorded and a selection are viewed by the FSA along with the amount of complaints they receive. You would also create them so work which may give you some satisfaction.
To make a complaint, send them a recorded delivery letter with the heading "Official Complaint". Keep the letter concise and to the point, they are obliged to thoroughly investigate the matter and report back to you.0 -
Thanks for letting me know, the original plan I took out also promised 48hr replacement and the replacement phone will be unusable until unlocked or replaced again which will take some more time. I'm just gutted that I only researched protectyourbubble review now instead of when I picked it as their customer service is absolute sh** and are as helpful as a bunch of kualas. Saying things like we don't know when we will order the replacement, we don't know when you will receive it, we don't know how this process works but if you be patient I'm sure something will happen. It's this "computer says no" culture that's so common in these customer service departments that makes people really irate.
I think I will do as you say and send them an official letter of complain then after giving them a chance perhaps contact the ombudsman.0 -
I've not seen a stand alone mobile phone policy that I would bother with, they're over priced and contain restrictions in cover I would not accept.
Try reporting them to the ASA which will cause them lots of grief, bad publicity and they may have to withdraw the 48 hour claim.
After you've done your Official Complaint you can then go to the Ombudsman who is very sympathetic to consumers although they work at continental drift speeds0 -
As always it's usually too late when you google a company on the internet to check what others think.
Most people take time out of their lives to write bad reviews of a company, but generally don't bother when it comes to creating a good review. So if you can't really find much information about a company, they are either new or are generally running a good practice. On the otherhand, if there are hundreds of entries on twitter, forums and generally other webpages begging you not to use a particular company it is usually a good idea to heed their advice.
I wish I had searched for protectyourbubble.com before I took my policies out, which include iPhones and the promised 'replacement within 48 hours' if approved lost or stolen.
I have a policy with perhaps 10 devices on it. iPads, laptops, iPhones etc, which I have paid for around 2 years and never had to claim.
I had one of the iPhones on the policy stolen 10 days or so ago and within the required 24 hours, informed the police, the mobile network and the insurance company.
After going through conference calls with the network, answering the same questions on 3 separate occasions (whilst they try to catch you out on the details of the claim) I have my claim rejected because I've had a warranty replacement iPhone direct from the apple store. I'm now in the appeals process which I have been informed is likely to take between 14-30 days.
I understand the need to filter out those that do claim fraudulently, but for those of us with genuine claims, their claim process is the most difficult, unfriendly interaction with unknowledgable staff I have ever come across and I've dealt a lot with the likes of BT & Sky.
If you read the small print, any claim requires the policy to be paid off in full plus the excess charge.
If after googling protectyourbubble.com and reading the poor reviews, you still decide to take a policy out, make sure you calculate these costs as the low monthly fee suddenly becomes a lot less worth it.
I will now be looking elsewhere for a reputable and recommended gadget insurer and will check google before I commit.0 -
Ive had to policies with PMB for 2 years with no claims, my daugher drop and smashed my iPod and when I called to claim they said they wouldnt cover it because it was more than 12 months old, shame they carried on taking my £10 a month for 24 months for the same registered device! Money completely wasted!0
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Sent my iphone 5 for screen to be repaired two weeks ago, came back with dents still in the metal ridges. Sent back to them, received back yesterday...I now have no sound so have to send back to them!
Was fooled by the cheap monthly payments!
My advice...don't bother with them :mad:0 -
Hi all
Sorry to reopen but just thought u share my experience so far.
I got pyb after I purchased my new iPhone 5 in January as apparently they were the best in Britain. I got my phone pick pocketed abt 2 weak ago. I right away began the process of submitting my claim but then stumbled upon all the horrible reviews and was ddownright depressed that I was going to have issues trying to sort this claim. I have a feeling they have gotten their act together bc so far I've had no issues, the customer service guys have been running me through everything whenever I call and it just got approved the same evening I submitted it. It nay be bc I put that I was pregnant which I am Anakin desperate need of my phone but they've approved it quickly. Now I'm just waiting for my phone wwhich apparently should arrive within 48 hrs unless they need to order stock. Lets see if they pull through bc if they do then all the complaints and feedback may have gotten them in shape!
Regards
Fatima0 -
fatimameds wrote: »Hi all
Sorry to reopen but just thought u share my experience so far.
I got pyb after I purchased my new iPhone 5 in January as apparently they were the best in Britain. I got my phone pick pocketed abt 2 weak ago. I right away began the process of submitting my claim but then stumbled upon all the horrible reviews and was ddownright depressed that I was going to have issues trying to sort this claim. I have a feeling they have gotten their act together bc so far I've had no issues, the customer service guys have been running me through everything whenever I call and it just got approved the same evening I submitted it. It nay be bc I put that I was pregnant which I am Anakin desperate need of my phone but they've approved it quickly. Now I'm just waiting for my phone wwhich apparently should arrive within 48 hrs unless they need to order stock. Lets see if they pull through bc if they do then all the complaints and feedback may have gotten them in shape!
Regards
Fatima
The replacement is normally a refurbished Iphone0 -
Apparently, what they've said on the phone is, that they'll match the age of the phone, so for example mine was 2 months old, they will try and source one that is exactly the same age (or close it)...let's see...
I should receive it today if they keep up their "within 48 hours" thing, but i've seen a little side note that says it could take longer if the supplier is out of stock and blah blah....0 -
If you can, extend your Home and Contents insurance to cover items away from the Home, I did this with Aviva for my 2 iPhones for less than £30 / year.0
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