We have been treated so poorly over the last several months from T-Mobile’s insurance protection 360 service (Assurant). We are conveniently “disconnected” almost every time we manage to be transferred to a customer service supervisor. All email responses from Assurant are template replies from low-level staff lacking any authority to actually help.
Before we submit a small claims court action, our attorney recommended that we give Assurant one last opportunity to initiate a refund for the “Damaged Device Not Received” charge of $696.45 that was auto-debited (via AutoPay) from our account for the device that we returned to Assurant and that was evidently lost or stolen while in possession of Assurant or Assurant’s chosen third-party shipping service, USPS.
We (the customer) followed all return instructions provided by Assurant. Enclosed damaged device within pre-labeled shipping envelope supplied by Assurant. Sealed envelope and added additional packing tape for security.
We then surrendered possession of damaged device contained and sealed within supplied envelope from Assurant with affixed return shipping label issued and purchased by Assurant to USPS facility on October 7, 2021. Witnesses present. At this moment, we were no longer in control or responsible for the envelope and contents.
USPS tracking information indicates delivery confirmation of returned damaged device to Assurant address at 3:16 pm on October 12, 2021 in YORK, PA 17402. The USPS return shipping service purchased by Assurant only provides limited tracking history and does not include package weight data. The originating (mailed from) location is O'FALLON, MO 63368 and the delivery location is YORK, PA 17402. Tracking only displays the last day of history (on delivery date) with no history from point of origin and no package weight details. Assurant issued and purchased the return label and therefore responsible for any disputes and investigations of delivery issues after USPS takes possession.
Assurant later claims that shipping materials were received with no contents.
Assurant cannot or refuses to provide any evidence concerning the physical condition of the envelope containing returned damaged device. Assurant customer support could not produce evidentiary findings that the returned envelope containing damaged device was opened or sealed upon arrival to Assurant warehouse.
Whether the fault in this case lies on Assurant or USPS, the Assurant device return process is designed to create potential hardship for T-Mobile’s trusting customers in the following ways.
1. Inadequate shipping materials supplied by Assurant. Small, non-padded envelope offers no protection and reveals indication of contents that are at high risk for theft.
2. Insufficient protection to customers for lost or damaged devices using Assurant’s return procedure. No insurance supplied, offered or recommended using Assurant’s return procedure. Without warning, the customer is denied recourse for any acts of error, neglect or internal fraud while returned device is in transit via USPS or after delivery to Assurant warehouse.
3. Assurant does not inform customers of a known and widespread issue of lost or stolen returned devices when using Assurant’s return procedure. This discovery was made by us (the customer) after contents of shipping envelope was lost or stolen under the possession of Assurant or USPS.
To add insult to injury, is Assurant actually accusing us (the customer) of fraud? Like we would have any reason or be that stupid to send an empty envelope. Absolutely ridiculous.The real fraud here is Assurant’s device return process and failure to protect T-Mobile’s customers from obvious potential threats.
Our attorney said Assurant should approve a refund in this case, simply based on good faith of its customers. However, Assurant is still not willing to provide a refund and we now require the name and contact info for an executive member of Assurant and the representative managing our claim number 53722218 so we can accurately list them as the defendant in a small claims court action.
The first request for the Assurant defendant information was ignored. We just sent a second request to Assurant. Are there any community members here that can help obtain this information or give advice? I’m positive that we’re not the only victim of Assurant’s abuse.
