CRICKET IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT I'VE EVER ENCOUNTERED!
After returning an inoperable product that I received from Cricket Broadband, I was instructed to return the product for a refund. It's a good thing that I mailed it w/ a delivery confirmation because Cricket initially tried telling me that it was never received. Imagine their surprise when I rattled off the tracking number & the date of the delivery confirmation. Something to the effect of... "Uh, Uh, Uh, well Sir..."
In the past week I've continued calling these losers to get a status on my refund, only to be jacked around by Customer Service Reps who promised that someone would call me back about this issue. No call backs received. Today, I insisted that I speak w/ a supervisor & that in itself took about 10 minutes to get one on the phone. Initially, this supervisor wasn't real sympathetic toward my situation until I mentioned that I would leave it in her hands & if no one called me back again, I would then take it up to the next level, specifically, her boss. W/in the next 24 hours, I not only had my refund, a finally a return call from a Cricket representative. I guess sometimes attention getters are necessary, at least w/ this useless company.

If you think the insurance that you have on your Cricket phone is worth the monthly fee, you are wrong.

My Kyocera Slider Remix is malfunctioning; I can only hear the person calling me if I use the external speaker (speaker phone). So, naturally I go through the process of having it replaced because I have insurance on it which costs $4.95 a month. This insurance is called "Handset Protection Plan" or simply "Replacement Plan". By the sound of it you would think that if you lose your phone or it breaks or gets stolen you will be provided with a new one if you have the insurance Cricket provides it's customers. The part that you aren't told when you make the choice to insure your phone is that you will have to pay an $85.00 deductable in order to get it replaced. I just went online and found my exact phone model, brand new, with a leather case, a wall charger and a car charger for $65.00. When I purchased my phone through Cricket a couple of years ago they charged me $300.00. The monthly charges I have paid to insure it over the last 2 years adds up to $120.00 for a total of $420.00. Do the math and you will see how much of a rip-off Cricket actually is. For $420.00 I could have bought nearly 7 of the same phones through Alltell.

Cricket is just a rip-off... PERIOD!!!

On April 8, 2008, I purchased a Cricket phone (Kycera Lingo - for $261.25 which was to include the first month's payment)for my daughter. The phone was suppose to include an MP3 player, as stated by Manny at Gecko Wireless - an authorized retailer for Cricket - where I purchased the phone. I also subscribed for Cricket service on an existing phone. Both of us were given a print out of our monthly bills ($45.00 per month plus taxes and my daughter purchased the handset protection plan for an additional $4.95 per month). Less than one week later, we both began receiving text messages stating that our phones were about to be shut-off for non-payment. The messages also included dollar amounts that made no sense - Double our original payment amounts. On April 14, 2008, I tried calling Cricket at their 800-Cricket and 412.853.1055 telephone numbers that are listed on their monthly statements- they are disconnected. I finally called the Arizona number listed on the back of the bill and spoke with Fiona - who said it was a mistake and to disregard the text messages and the bill for both of our phones. A few days later, my daughter's phone was shut-off for non-payment. I called again and they re-instated her phone. On May 7, 2008 my daughter and I walked into the Gecko Wireless dealer where we purchased our service and paid our bills. My bill was approximately $5.00 more and my daughter's bill was approximately $6.00 more than what the total bills should have been. On May 12, 2008, my daughter's phone was shut-off again for non-payment. I called Cricket on May 12, 2008 at 6:10am and spoke to Nicole - who stated that she was sorry - the payment only showed $12.00 being paid. I told her I had the receipts and she said to fax them to 720.374.9125. I faxed the receipt and received a confirmation notice that it had gone through. She also stated that she would send an e-mail to someone in the 'Fraud' department regarding the over-charging on our accounts. On May 17, 2008, my daughter received a text message from Cricket stating that her 'Flex Bucket' account was overdrawn and that she had a balance owing. My daughter doesn't have a 'Flex Bucket' account. On May 20, 2008, my daughter's phone was disconnected for a third time. I contacted Cricket and spoke to a guy named 'Alex'. I asked four times to speak to a supervisor and four times he refused to transfer me. I had to hang up and dial again. I spoke to Vilma (very nice) who stated that someone documented the account saying proof was never submitted. I then spoke to a supervisor (Cedward?) who kept telling me there was a balance due and we never paid the bill. I told him that I was looking at the receipt in front of me. He then stated that I need to take it up with the people where I purchased the phone - that he couldn't help me. ARE YOU SERIOUS? A Cricket Supervisor that can't help a customer? You have got to be kidding me. I am tired of having to call every two weeks to have my daughter's phone turned back on and resolve issues regarding over billing, over paying, paying for services not rendered and all the hassles that have come since joining Cricket. (Just for the record, we decided to go with Cricket because of the $45.00 unlimited everything - guess 'everything' includes the above too.) Since I see that I am not the only one this has/is happening to, perhaps a class-action law suit may be justified (for over charging - isn't that illegal - hummm?) My next course of action is to contact Cricket Communications, Inc. 10307 Pacific Center Court; San Diego, CA 92121; 858.882.6000. The President/CEO is Stewart (Doug) Hutcheson. Maybe if enough of us complain, he'll actually earn his salary this year.

BE WARNED! Do not be fooled into getting CRICKET cell phone service. They boast that they only charge in advance for the upcoming month of service and that it will only be a flat rate of $45.00 I tried to pay for my a year of daughter's CRICKET phone service when she went away to college and although it shows on my bank statement that I paid $872.12 for the phone and 12 months of service with taxes, they continued to bill me. Although I was smart enough to not set myself up on automatic billing with them, they still show that I owe them $331.52 for what? Though I have had perfect credit for 40 years, I now have a collection against me from CRICKET for service that was already paid for with bank statements to prove it. What is happening to this country that we as American's no longer have rights for services that we PAY for??? When I complained to a few other people at a different cell phone store about my CRICKET ordeal, they all three said they had trouble with overbilling from them as well. How do they continue to stay in business?