HELP! Phone Failed in The USA

revo on 25/06/2017 - 16:23

Hi all,

I'm in a slightly complicated situation at the moment. I am in the USA right now for another 5 weeks, and my Nexus 5x is constantly rebooting itself until it essentially runs out of battery. I believe it is out of warranty (Kogan 1yr). I have a number of questions, but more importantly I would like your suggestions on what is the best way to address the situation.

  • I have travel insurance, should I and can I claim? ($250 excess commbank credit card travel insurance)
  • Going to be doing some driving in the USA (Option to rent GPS)
  • Should I buy a new phone here? (will be heading into LA in three days and be there for a total of about 5 days).
  • I am travelling with 1 other person, who does have a phone. (Although battery life is not the greatest)
  • If I buy it here can I claim a tax back when I return from NY in about 5 weeks?

Would really appreciate the advice, as I am quite lost at the moment.

Thank you all!

Mobile

Comments

  • AdosHouse on 25/06/2017 - 16:28
    +1
    1. I doubt your travel insurance would pay it.
    2. If you buy a phone there, just insure it has the capacity to pick up the mobile frequencies here.
    3. Maybe just consider buying a spare battery for the other persons phone, or a battery bank.
    4. I would assume you could claim the tax back, but I am not sure about USA
  • Presence on 25/06/2017 - 16:30
    +2

    I have travel insurance, should I and can I claim?

    Im confused, why would travel insurance cover that?

    Personally id just buy something cheap from walmart or wherever, renting a GPS is normally very expensive.

    Remember that if you choose to buy a phone that the USA uses very different frequencies and might not work here.

    • ItsMeAgro on 25/06/2017 - 16:48
      +1

      Yeah, don't rent a GPS.

      They have phones that work in Australia, but you will need to check.

      My notes from when researching for my holiday in May:

      AT&T has the best coverage (Verizon only does CDMA, an old USA-only tech, not GSM).

      AT&T supports 3G 850, 1900 4G 700, 1700, 1900
      T-Mobile supports 3G 1900, 1700, 2100 4G 700, 1700, 1900

      My phones support:

      Galaxy A3 2017: 3G 850, 900, 1900, 2100
      Galaxy S7: 3G 850, 900, 1700(AWS), 1900, 2100

      So as long as the phone is unlocked GSM (listing will say AT&T or T-Mobile compatible probably) is should have the right bands to work OK in Australia.

  • ItsMeAgro on 25/06/2017 - 16:36
    +3

    I'd just buy a cheap android from Amazon. Plenty of choices in the USD $30 - $60 range:

    https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Da…

    Free next-day delivery to wherever you are staying if you have Prime (get it, there's a free trial).

  • Zylam Marex on 25/06/2017 - 17:16

    Yea I'd say your best bet is to buy a cheap unlocked Android phone. Renting a GPS could be way too much hassle with maps etc, having it on your phone would probably be a lot easier.

    Moto's and such are pretty cheap in the US, have a look see at what your local Walmart, Kmart and Target are offering.

    Shouldn't be too much of an out of pocket expense.

  • altomic on 25/06/2017 - 18:07
    +8

    Complicated situation???

    Buy another phone.

  • modsec802 on 25/06/2017 - 18:28
    +3

    Go to Best Buy. Buy Phone. Close Thread.

  • ali92 on 25/06/2017 - 18:45

    Maybe try doing a factory reset of the phone to see if that fixes the reboot issue?

  • Strahany on 25/06/2017 - 20:05

    As much as I hate Apple, this is where they come in handy; 1 year global warranty.

  • Halo375 on 25/06/2017 - 20:09
    -1

    Insurance probably won't cover a product failure but they WOULD cover a phone that was LOST or STOLEN. (Hint, hint).

  • playswithfire on 25/06/2017 - 21:02
    +2

    I've just gotten back from a big USA trip, where I discovered that my HTC One M9 doesn't work on any american 3g/4g frequencies! Walmart didn't have any unlocked phones when I was there. Target had a Moto G4 for $105 that worked perfectly.

  • shortblack9 on 26/06/2017 - 09:23
    +1

    I had a bad experience with Commbank Travel Insurance. Be very careful with regard to their exclusions. Also if your insurance was not "activated" before leaving the country, your excess may double, and you might not be covered for certain things. Check the insurance contract.

    I learned a good but expensive lesson and now get proper travel insurance.

    • ItsMeAgro on 26/06/2017 - 11:26

      Yeah, as I understand it, credit card travel insurance isn't actually any good. Almost everything you might actually want to claim is excluded.

      Pay the hundred bucks or so to get good-quality travel insurance for your 5-grand-plus holiday, folks.

      It'll pay for itself just in peace of mind; A holiday is not a holiday if you have to worry the whole about all the stuff that could go wrong and cost you thousands (medical, rental car accident, lost luggage, missed flights, theft, etc).

      Any claim you have to make afterwards is just icing on the cake.

      Our one trip to the doctor in California was almost $1000 AUD. The family travel insurance was less than $300.

  • [Deactivated] on 26/06/2017 - 09:35
    +1

    Just buy a new phone. The American versions of HTC 10 will work perfectly in Australia, but skip the Sprint version.

  • revo on 26/06/2017 - 17:59

    UPDATE: Thank you all for the tips and cautions. I learned that LG has a lawsuit against them on a number of boot loop devices, so may be able to get something from that. Just bought a $20 phone from Best Buy to use on this trip. Also for future reference, it seems except for a few states, the majority of the USA does not do tax refunds at the airport.

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