Complain about a product or service

Cricket Cellular

Terra of Chicago, IL September 1, 2009

Cricket uses advertisement to reel you in, but it's misleading. It's true that that they offer unlimited service, for the most part, for 30 a month, but that plan is limited, Premium Coverage costs more. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you get nationwide coverage with the Premium plan, because you don't. And if your phone starts to roam, that can be a problem. Depending on your plan, you get so many minutes for roaming, this is outside of your unlimited calling plan. What doesn't make sense is this, if you have unlimited calling, text, picture messaging, long distance and so-called premium coverage, why do I have to worry about roaming?

On their website, it says that if you're out of roaming minutes you won't be charged, you just won't be able to make or receive the call. But, on another section of the site under FAQS, it says roaming charges are 0.39 cents a minute, plus there are roaming packages available at a lower rate. Not only do I have a problem with this, but I wasn't told of this, I don't see it in any of the information that I was given AND if you happen to notice to the fine print at the bottom of the page, it tells you that your service could be affected by weather, location, signal strength and buildings. Ok, thats understandable, but why should I have to pay roaming charges on an unlimited service plan because my cell phone started roaming inside MY HOUSE?! If you're not looking at your phone and you're at home, how would you know that your phone is roaming? This is what they call Premium coverage?

That's only the beginning of my problem with Cricket Wireless. If you're a day late with your payment, your service gets turned off, yet they charge you a month in advance, plus you have to pay a 10 re-connection fee. If you pay in the store, it's another 3 just to make a payment. You get charged every time you make a payment by phone or in-store. It's 1.25 per month if you want a paper bill. Payments done on-line may not go through right away, so if you pay on the day the bill is due, you may end up with loss of service and a late fee, like I did. When I first signed up, my service papers said that my bill will be 66.94 per month. However, ever since that first bill, if then, I've been charged 67.20 one month, 67.39 another month, and so on, but never 66.94.

In August, I made a partial payment online on my account for what I thought was their 'Bridge Pay'. It turns out that they don't do Bridge pay online and it could take up to 48hrs to credit your account, so I was told. I currently have no service and if I want it back on, I have to pay the balance plus the 10 late fee and 3 payment fee, and then there's my next bill, which is due this month also. I asked about getting my billing date changed, they told me to go into a corporate location. I will, but I have a feeling they will charge me for that too or say I have to pay both bills, plus the next two weeks of service, before they can do it. Another thing about the Bridge Pay, when I asked a customer service rep why my service was disconnected after I made the payment, he said that the payment posted the day after my due date and that Cricket does not offer Bridge Pay in the Chicago area. I asked why not and he couldn't give me a reason. But, he did say that if any agent told me that they did offer it, I was given the wrong information. On top of that, he had a bad attitude! The problem with his statement is that, you CAN do a Bridge Pay, but only in-store, and it's offered in Chicago. I know because I have done so. I called one of the stores today to confirm it anyway and I was told "yes we do."

I also questioned whether or not I could leave the service off for a month and then resume service the following month. I was told no. Even if I did, I would still have to pay the previous balance and the current balance, plus the extra 13 for re-connection and payment. The way I see it, there shouldn't be a current balance because the service isn't on. They claim to be a pre-paid service, but you're charged a month in advance, you pay for re-connection, and chances are, even if you don't turn the service back on, you're getting billed for it. They say that your account is suspended at first, and then terminated for non-payment after 60 days, but thats 60 days of service you pay for although you didn't have it. I don't think I had THAT MUCH trouble with AT&T's pre-paid service.

If that isn't enough, trying to speak to a live person in customer service is like pulling out a stubborn tooth! Your options are limited with the automated system, if you don't find what you're looking for, it hangs up on you, and the actual customer service number is not listed on their website. I had to call the sales department and request a number to speak to a live person after several failed attempts to get through. My advice to anyone reading this: stay away from Cricket unless you have minimal wireless requirements or expectations and you don't care about the poor reception and shady service!! Cricket offers unlimited service for a reasonable price because they find other ways to make you pay. Someone should tell them to remove their commercials because the only thing I feel is cheated and lied to!

Kimberly of Cibolo, TX August 18, 2009

In December of 2008 my husband and I switched cell phone carriers from Cricket to Verizon. According to FCC law we are allowed to keep our phone numbers, so we took them with us to Verizon - we also took our 13 year old daughter's cell phone number with us to Verizon. Around March I began receiving calls from teenagers thinking that my number was their friend's number. Because they became harassing in nature, I filed an information report with the police, and blocked the incoming numbers from my Verizon account.

Three weeks or so ago, a woman kept calling me. It was apparent that she was mildly distraught at another woman anwering what she thought was her husband's number. When she finally talked to me, we discerned that Cricket had assigned MY number to him, as he had just opened an account with Cricket the weekend before.

That week, I called Cricket in New Braunfels and they assured me that this would not happen again. Yesterday, again I received a call from a gentleman that was surprised I answered his girlfriend's new number. So I explained that his girlfriend would have to go back to Cricket and get another number. When I tried to contact Cricket in New Braunfels again they did not know how to help, and said they were going to submit a "help ticket" and then contact me when it was resolved. No one ever contacted me.

After I left work for the day, I went to the San Antonio 410 and 281 store. I asked to for a Regional or District Manager to speak to and was referred to the 1-800-Cricket number. I explained that because I did not have a Cricket account any longer, I cannot get through to a live person using that number. The woman at the desk then told me to use my phone number as the account number...to which I told her that it then asks for the last 4 digits of a social on the account and since it doesn't match any in their current system, the automated teller then tells me to try back later and hangs up. Then the "customer service" person tells me I need to take it up with Verizon.

I told her Verizon isn't the one giving MY number to strangers and she said for me to call 1-800-Cricket again. I then told her that maybe legal help was in order and she said that was fine with her. At that point I felt it best to leave that "customer service center" before my head popped off. There we are. Cricket is handing out numbers that have switched and won't do ANYTHING to resolve this. Can anyone help?

Michael of Wichita , KS August 26, 2009

I had lost my phone on vacation. I tried contacting Cricket customer service at 1-800-Cricket to report it. Well failing to reach someone, I kept getting the run around with their automated system say "we are experiencine a high call volume". I've tried this for several days and could not get in touch with anyone. Eventually I had to go to the store inform them of my lost phone. I had insurance on the phone in which I had to pay 85 for a replacement or another phone that was comparable to the one I had. They had the exact same phone but all the parts were not there. So I was left with option of buying a new phone or the same phone without the protective cover on the back shielding the battery. I think it's ridiculous that I had to go through such trouble in getting results. But still not satisfied. We as consumers pay too much money on devices and expect good customer service. Cricket is not loyal to any of their customers. How can a business stay afloat with bad practices?

John of Atlantic City, NJ August 25, 2009

I should have listened to all the complaints about Cricket. After starting service I paid the next monthly bill two days late (expecting the service to resume as promised in 30 minutes). 14 hours later I still have no service. I tried calling the Cricket 800 number but the only live person available cannot help me because they have no access to the account. I plan to call the corporate offices at (858)882-9999 when they open 11 AM Eastern time (they are located in Pacific Time Zone). Verdict: Once this month is completed (if service is finally reinstated) I will no longer use Cricker. In the long run it is cheaper to pay another company a little more money to receive better customer service. Please heed the warnings of others and don't use Cricket.

Esther of Villa Park, CA August 20, 2009

I ordered a Cricket wireless phone for my granddaughter who lives in Arizona. I was told that when it arrived that she could activate it by punching in a code and that her telephone number would be sent to her via email. When the telephone number came via email it was an area code in Tucson AZ and she lives in Tempe AZ. Because this would be long distance for her, I telephoned Cricket and was told that I could change the area code to a Tempe (Phoenix) area code and that they would do it right then over the phone as I waited.

But they said that the charge would be 15. I questioned the charge because it was Cricket's error in the first place when they gave her an area code which was long distance for her. The representative told me that she was sorry - that this was their policy. Whenever a telephone number got changed there was a 15 charge. She would not listen to my reasoning that it was because Cricket assigned the wrong area code in the first place that the number had to be changed. I then called an 800 number and was told the same thing by another representative.

All of this calling up to this point took over one hour by the time I punched in number after number and was not able to get a live person. After the second representative told me the same thing I demanded to talk to her supervisor. He was not able to give me a good reason why I should pay 15 for their mistake. He did finally say he would take 5 off of the charge and that I would only be charge 10 for their mistake. What arrogance! I told him that my daughter and granddaughter both had Cricket phones and that after this incident they would no longer be purchasing Cricket phones and by his charging me 10 for Crickets mistake that Cricket would be losing two accounts.

His comment was "Sorry I couldn't help you. Have a nice day". This sounds like a pretty good way for Cricket to make money. How do I know that they don't issue wrong area code phone numbers to all their customers and make money off of each one of them. What a scam!!!!! All of my friends are going to know - whatever you do, please do not purchase a phone from Cricket.

Juan of Beaumont, TX July 29, 2009

On July 23, 2009, we ordered Cricket Broadband and Cricket Wireless (bundled) from Cricket Communications through Rick in the Sales Department. Because we live in a rural community we have not been able to get mobile broadband from other carriers in our area, so we asked Rick specifically to check our address to verify that it was in the Cricket Wireless coverage area -- Rick said he checked and assured us that we could get full coverage for both wireless cell phones and wireless broadband (we did not decline to have our conversations recorded, for quality assurance, so this communication can easily be verified).

The package containing the Cricket cell phone and Cricket A600 web modem arrived on July 28, 2009. When we were unable to complete the installation and activation of the modem, we contacted customer support and Eric worked for quite some time to attempt to activate the modem. Eventually, Eric went to the coverage map and found that, despite assurances from Rick, our address is not in the Cricket Wireless coverage area and so the phone and modem that were shipped to us cannot be used at our address (yes, the very address to which the products were shipped!).

Realizing what the problem was, Rick transferred us to Customer Service for a Return Authorization. We then talked with eight more customer service representatives in succession: Drake, Dave, Freddy, Jay, Jenny, Blake, Lewis, Ivy and William over a 20 hour period. None of the customer service representatives were able to generate a return authorization or a method through which the unusable products could be returned.

Since the charges for these products were placed against our credit card without our authorization (we authorized products that would work in our area, not products which would specifically not work in our area) we have declined that charge on our credit card as fraudulent charges. So, there is no issue of a refund at this point since we the incorrect charge from Cricket Communications will be declined by our credit card company.

The only outstanding issue is the return of this unusable equipment to Cricket Communications. We have offered to take the items to the Cricket retail outlet, but were told by many of the nine customer service representatives that this action would also require the Return Authorization which none of the customer service representatives was able to produce.

So, the phone and modem -- which we have not purchased and which belong to Cricket Communications, are in our possession and we are unable to return them without a process which none of the customer service representatives are able to generate. They are clearly waiting until some specified amount of time expires which will force us to kepp the unusable equipment.

Clarissa of Nampa, ID June 22, 2009

I have been a cricket customer for several years. This is a company that does not have a contract. When I was not able to make a payment on my services they were shut off (which was expected). I had a severe medical emergency due to my pregnancy and due to my phone being disconnected I was not even able to call 911 for emergency help which placed my unborn daughter in extreme harm. Due to not being able to place a 911 call I had to drive to the nearest hospital while I was hemoraging.

I complained to the store and was told that if I did not care for the services I could take my business elsewhere.

Mariana of Philadelphia, PA July 8, 2009

On June 30, 2009, I ordered 3 Broadband Modems for me and my family. I was instantly charged 270.69 on my debit card. I requested next day air and paid the 18.00 for the service. July 2nd 2009 rolled by and no modems,so I decided to call and see what was wrong. I was told by Jasmine a Customer Service rep, that they were having problems with their systems and the system kicked out all of their orders, my reply was that this was unacceptable because if 1000 orders were taken at that 6:30pm hour of June 30th, than all 1000 customers were not informed of what happened, nor given a courtesy called.

I asked to speak to a Manager, she put a gentleman by the name of Kelly on the phone who stated there was nothing they could do, at no moment did they offer to still send out the modems since I was already charged. I requested a full refund to only be told that I would have to go through a dispute process because they are not refunding. From July 2nd to July 8th I have been calling only to be refused the refund. On July 3rd, I spoke to a young lady who id herself as a manager by the name of Michelle, she informed me that Kelly was not a manager and she does not know why he id'ed himself as so.

She promised a refund and the refund never came through either.She promised a return call, it never happened. During July 2-8, I have spoken to: Brian C, Jasmine, Kelly, Sueann, Michelle, Suzie(who hung up on me...charming), Rick, Chris ( a manager who stated will not issue a refund)and Nessa. None of the above have been willing to assist, they just keep passing the buck. In the meanwhile I sit here with a loss of 270.69 and no modem to show for it.

Robert of Vancouver, WA July 10, 2009

Ring back tones and data usage were added to my account for three months and they are unable to explain why. Since I have a password on the account this seams odd. When they would not take the unauthorized charges off I cancelled my account. They said I would receive a credit of 80.58, this months payment. A lot of good this does me since my account was already overwrawn and they said it would take 7 to 10 days. Now today they deposit only 40.38. If I owed thrm money they would sure want it.

Chris of Nampa, ID June 18, 2009

Wanted to make a complaint about cricket. They state in there ads and any other advertisements they are a pay as you go phone with no contracts. When you make a payment you pay for the month ahead. If you dont pay after that they shut it off. But yet they still charge you. I didnt pay my bill for almost 2 months I wasnt or couldnt use the phone and yet they were still charging me the monthly fee I had a 120 dollar bill. Which is not right when there a pay as you go plan and I wasnt using the phone. I was told unless I cancel the account they keep charging and that goes against everything they say and even tell you when you first sign up.

They tell you if you cant pay or dont want the phone anymore just stop paying. What they also dont tell you that if you cancel the account and then try to start a new one later they charge you whatever the balance was on your old account. That sounds more to me like a contract account and definately not pay as you go. Something else I wanted to bring up is I thought all cell phones even if the account is canceled or past due are stii required to allow you to call 911. My girlfriend who was pregnant who was home alone attempted to call 911 a couple of weeks ago because of going into pre term labor and she needed an ambulance to the hospital. When she does she finds out that it doesnt work and thats something that could have harmed her or the baby. Luckily she was able to drive to my work so that I could take her to the hospital.

Im hoping this explains my problem with this company and that some action can be taken against them. If more information is needed or clarification please contact me.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.

Back to the top |