Jiminy, this Cricket isn't for you!!
Written: May 02 '01
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Pros: No contract, unlimited minutes
Cons: Limited coverage area, dropped calls, only 2 phones.
The Bottom Line: Cricket is comfortable wireless, *if* you are comfortable dealing with over-billings and numerous dropped calls. I recommend using a different provider.
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| tyscat's Full Review: Cricket Communications Mobile Phone Service in Sal... |
This is a review of the Cricket service in the Salt Lake, Ogden, and Provo area.
I first learned about Cricket from their TV commercials. It looked like a great deal for college students like myself. I needed a cell phone, but I didn't want to track minutes or worry about a long term contract. I looked for some information about the company and their reliability, but there wasn't much out there (they are pretty new).
I decided, what the heck, I'll give it a try. After all, there isn't a contract. So I bought the Kyocera phone (for $129) and signed up for the $35 monthly service. Don't let them fool you though. You're probably going to want Caller ID and VoiceMail and then mix in tax and you end up paying $45 a month.
I was pretty happy with my phone at first. It was reasonably small (much smaller then the Nokia alternative, which is the *only* alternative). The phone had all the basic features you'd expect it to. And you get the first month of service free. I set up my account to automatically pay my monthly bill using my debit card. This is where I ran into my first problem.
Towards the beginning of March, I checked my checking account and noticed I had $0.00 in it. Quite surprised, I immediately looked through the last several withdrawls. I noticed that Cricket Communications had withdrawn $810.50. Thats right!! Over $800!!! I was extremely concerned, so I started working the phones. I called my local Cricket office, but their computers had no record of the billing. So I called customer service. After talking to the lady for about 15 minutes, she told me I had to fax in a bank statement with the mistaken billing and then they would credit my account. So I did that.
I called back after faxing my statement to make sure they got it. Unfortunately, my call went to a different service center. I had no idea how to get back in touch with the service center I was working with. Several hours later, I finally got to talk with a manager of some kind and she was great. She called up the line for me and finally got the refund approved. Cricket even paid for the over-draw fee. A few days later the money was back in my account.
The customer service was good considering the circumstances. But I was going out of town the next day, and I hate to think what would have happened to me had I not checked my account before leaving.
I didn't decide to ditch Cricket because of this. I gave them the benefit of the doubt. They are a new company after all and most of my calls were getting though. It was only dropping about 1 call everyday.
But the last couple days of March were unbearable. My phone would cut out every 20 seconds. It was impossible to talk with anybody. Nothing could be communicated. This went on for several days. Every single call cut within 20 seconds. It was so frustrating. I didn't want to deal with it anymore, so I took my phone back and said I was done. To the company's credit, they did offer to pay 1/2 of my March bill because of the problems, but I was ready for something new.
I switched to AT&T, got myself a Nokia 8260 for $40 (after rebate) and have been happy ever since. So if anyone in the Wasatch Front area wants a Cricket phone, I'll sell you one for $75 and I'll even pay the re-activation fee.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): $45/month
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Epinions.com ID:
tyscat
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Member: Tyson Snow
Location: Provo, Utah
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Attorney practicing in Salt Lake City, Utah. I love riding BMX, reading, and stuff.
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