What you need to know

• T-Mobile is bringing in-store repairs to 500 of its stores on November 1, 2021.
• Repairs are provided by Assurant for customers with a Protection plan.
• Protection is available for those buying or leasing a new device as well as BYOD.

T-Mobile announced (opens in new tab) that it will be offering in-store repairs by industry-certified experts beginning on November 1, 2021. T-Mobile aims to have a repair center in every major city in the U.S., with even more locations coming in the future. Device Protection customers will be able to have their phones repaired the same day for covered hardware issues.

Customers will be able to use T-Mobile store finder to make appointments for same-day repairs online. Repairs will be completed using only manufacturer-approved parts by certified repair technicians.

T-Mobile's Protection service is provided by partner Assurant and starts at $7 per month for tier 1 devices and as much as $25 per month for tier 6. The Galaxy S21 5G, for example, is tier 5 and costs $18 per month. The service covers accidental damage, loss, and theft coverage with next-day shipment for replacements. It also supports AppleCare for eligible Apple devices, including a $29 screen repair option.

Protection members are now being treated to more claims per year. If you lose or damage your phone beyond repair multiple times per year, you can make up to five claims per year, which T-Mobile claims is more than the usual three.

This is in addition to other Protection benefits, including unlimited screen protector replacements, JUMP upgrades which allow customers to upgrade phones sooner, and a live tech support app available for Android and iOS.

While T-Mobile offers some of the best cell phone plans in the industry, they do not include device protection by default and must be added separately. It's also worth noting that you can add Protection to a BYOD device if you've decided to buy one of the best Android phones unlocked. All BYOD devices are put into tier 5, $18 per month, but could be useful to those that need a reliable nationwide repair option, especially as manufacturers continue to do their best to prevent you from fixing your own things.

T-Mobile says that device repairs will be available at 500 locations, with more to follow.

For Sprint customers that were moved to T-Mobile, this will all sound a bit familiar as many Sprint stores offered a similar service in the past through Asurion.