Dude I dont even feel like dealing with all that tho, ive finally convinced myself to just pay the deductable, and get a replacement, and then ima also buy a S3 with my upgrade so this way ill hve a refurb D4 and a brand new S3.... my only question is do i tell them my sim card was stolen as well or do i still have it? so u rly think if i do the fastboot 219 files and bring it to the store theyll replace it for free????
They don't do over the counter replacements anymore, all phones are sent in. But No I don't think they'll give you a free one. What they did for me on my Droid 3 was ship a bag within the box to drop off somewhere. Said if it wasn't defective or was caused by a user error that I would be charged for the price of the phone.
Only refurbs will be given to you either through insurance or warranty. After 3 warranty trades you can swap to a different phone that will end up being new.
As far as SIM card goes I would leave it in it and "lose" it as well. As it just seems fishy to take it out and misplace the phone without it active in another 4G device.