General Question

yannick's avatar

What happens if you lose your phone whilst you're on a contract?

Asked by yannick (985points) July 9th, 2008

I’m wondering in particular what would happen if this situation arose whilst on a plan with the carrier Telstra. This is hypothetical, by the way.

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12 Answers

joeysefika's avatar

you cancel the contract and pay a fee for canceling the contract early; or if the phone breaks you can transfer the contract to another phone (if you have the sim that is)

yannick's avatar

Yeah, that’s what I figured. Do you have any idea how they work out the cancellation fees..? That would mean you’d have to buy another phone, right?

shrubbery's avatar

I used to know how to work out the cancellation fees but I can’t remember, I’m sorry, I’ll see if I can find it. But you don’t have to cancel, you just keep paying the bill with x % still going towards the phone you don’t have… but yes you have buy yourself a new phone.

shrubbery's avatar

Apparently it’s however much the phone would cost outright, times by the months remaining on the plan, all divided by the total contract length.

yannick's avatar

Damn, that’s pretty steep… * gulps *. And so if you decide to buy a new phone, would it cost the same as it would outright, or would it cost what it did when you took up the plan..?

shrubbery's avatar

I don’t know, sorry, I’d say go in to the telstra shop and just chat to them.

Jax's avatar

For a phone company it doesn’t matter what contract goes with what sim-card. I’d advice you to go to a telstra shop. Explain what happened, buy a simple phone from them and transfer your current contract to your new phone&sim.

jrpowell's avatar

I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume you want a new iPhone on Friday. No need to lie, they will be happy to sell you one. You can work something out.

yannick's avatar

@johnpowell: Haha, too right! I haven’t actually lost a phone though, I’m just covering all bases here and wondering what would hypothetically happen if , shock horror, I lost my iPhone… Plus, I doubt I’ll be getting one Friday since Australia is getting pretty limited stock, from what I hear. Just thought I’d see what people knew first.

jonno's avatar

Best to ask at a Telstra Shop to know for sure. It should also say in the contract what happens if you lose the phone.

Lightlyseared's avatar

You could get insurance that would replace the phone and cover the cost of calls soneone else makes if it is stolen.

dee's avatar

i was told that u ring ur provider up tell them u lost ur phone and u are’nt going to pay for a contract that u cant use so please send me a sim u then buy a cheap phone and put the new sim in is it not that simple then as i hav always had ins but hav never claimed so it just seems a waste

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