Insurance replacment: Storm2!
I just had a great experience getting my Verizon 9530 replaced through Asurion.
After a year and a half, one of the buttons on my trusty 9530 snagged in my pocket and broke as I pulled it out. I ordered the insurance replacement through the Asurion website and got a refurbished Storm1.
The refurb was a real POS. For some reason, it wouldn't retain any data when the battery was pulled. If I did a soft reset through Meterberry, everything stayed intact, but if I pulled the battery, it lost everything since the last Meterberry reset: email, apps, icon placement, call logs... everything.
I called Asurion and got a great customer service rep. He joked that the troubleshooting process would take so long we'd probably be best friends by the time it was over.
During the course of the twenty minute call, I mentioned that I hadn't upgraded my phone because I was waiting for the Storm3 to show up at the end of the year. When the conversation was over, he said, "I'm going to see if I can get you a Storm2."
What showed up? A brand new Storm2 in a factory sealed box, not a refurb. In the outer carton, there was also a holster and a car charger.
It seems customer service reps have great power to send a refurb or a new unit. I think I made a big difference that I was prepared to explain the problem concisely, mentioned all the troubleshooting steps I'd already taken (reregistering on the network, resending service books, etc.) and, most of all, was pleasant with the rep as he went through the required steps instead of being unpleasant.
Bottom line: be nice to the people on the other end of the phone. It's probably a welcome relief when they get a customer who treats them decently, and they just might do something to brighten your day in return.