Cricket Wireless
reviews and complaints

I have been a customer of cricket for 5 years, I have had different phones over the years. 4 years ago, I added my 2 grandchildren to my account.In february 2014, I went to the cricket store located at 2900 n classen blvd, oklahoma city, ok 73106 and purchased 2 galaxy s4's for my grandchildren. The total was over $1000 for both phones.
A few months ago, I was told that at&t bought cricket and we would need to switch our phones over to the new network. We went in on february 17th to the yukon, ok store to have this switch. The woman behind the counter was polite and helpful, and I have no complaint with her service. She went through the process of switching the phone over, as prompted on her computer. The galaxy s4 was on the list of compatible phones, and the switch seemed to go forward without any complications. After this was done, both phones showed that there were no sim card installed, although the new sim card was installed by the cricket employee. She mentioned that we needed to call cricket customer service, so that they could update our phones remotely. We called customer service while inside the store. We explained the situation, but they said that our phones were incompatible with the switch. We asked the cricket employee to get on the phone with cricket customer service to explain the situation. Customer service told her and us that our sim cards were not installed properly, and that we needed to turn off the phones, remove the sim card, wait 10 minutes and we would have service again. After doing that, we still had no service, so we called back. This time they told us that we didn't have cricket phones, and that is why our phones were not moving forward with the change. We were able to tell them the date and location of the cricket store that both phones were purchased at, as well as cricket was wrote on the back of both phones. The customer service rep told us that we were wrong. The cricket employee then got on the phone and told them the same thing, that the phones were purchased from cricket, and even had the cricket name on the back. After 2 hours on the phone, we were told that there was nothing that could be done, the phones were not compatible with the new service and that we would need to buy new phones. I asked to speak with a manager, and was placed on hold for 45 minutes and then hung up on.
No one can explain to me how less than a year ago, I purchased 2 galaxy s4 cell phones from a cricket store, that say cricket on them, are now not able to work, and the only thing that they would do is give me $120 per phone for trade in. These phones were kept in seido cases, which are water proof and drop proof. These phones are in excellent condition, and bought less than a year ago. It makes no sense to me how a company can allow us to buy 2 phones from them, only to tell us less than a year later that they will no longer work with their new service, and not compensate us for the same phone.
On a side note, the yukon cricket employee did contact her boss and explained the situation, and we were given 2 htc phones that do work with the new service. Her professionalism was refreshing. She was also disgusted with cricket customer service and the rudeness shown to her, as well as us.
I am a very disappointed cricket customer, and will be finding a new cell service.

We have been with cricket for at least 2 years. Cricket claims offer to switch I phones to their network. After 4 trips to the cricket stores and numerous phone calls and transfers, to cricket 800# and having paid for activation fee and sims card, which was $40 total. There is still no activation. We were told on the 800# to return to store for refund. This was at Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News. We were told at the store no refund by salesperson, Mr V.W. I do not understand why money was taken, we left the store with phone not activated and told to return to "work something out, " if we could not activate the phone at home. The phone was not locked but we were told there is a problem with the phone and lock as an I phone issue. Seems like there are huge issues with cricket CLAIMING you can switch another network I phone over, they take your money and then say-Ooh IPhone should have told you there are problems with this. CRICKET YOU ARE THE ONE WHO TOOK A TEENAGES MONEY WHO WAS TRYING TO CONTINUE TO BE A CUSTOMER--SHAME ON YOU CRICKET AT PATRICK HENRY MALL IN NEWPORT NEWS. Why does cricket have an activation fee anyway? There is no activation fee with Verizon, which may be more but I GUESS YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR- CRICKET SUCKS-YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF A TEENAGER WHO PAID YOU IN GOOD FAITH AND ALL YOU DID WAS POCKET THE MONEY AND GAVE NOTHING BUT A USELSS CARD AND NO ACTIVATION-THIS IS OUR LAST MONTH WITH CRICKET WHEN THE PREPAID TIME ENDS, WE ARE DONE-Were considering switching all family phones to cricket, instead there will be none

On 11/20/14, I had an chat with Cricket representative, Oscar. My daughter was not taking care of business on the school front, so I was inquiring about temporarily suspending her service. I asked multiple questions before making my decision. Oscar explained that there was no charge to suspend the service, but that I would be charged for both of our phones while it was suspended. He said that when I reactivate the phone, I would get credit for the time that the phone was out of service. He specifically asked me how long I planned to have the line inactive, and I answered about 30 days, to which he responded I would get reimbursed upon reactivation. I had a transcript of my conversation with Oscar emailed to me at the end of our chat.

Fast forward to 12/28/14, which is the date that I reactivated my daughter's line (38 days later). When my bill came up for the next month's service, I noticed that I had not received a credit, so I called in on 01/02/15. The representative told me that Cricket policy is to only reimburse for 14 days of inactive service, or $25. I told her that was not what Oscar told me, and I quoted from the transcript that I received on the day I suspended the service. I ended up speaking to their supervisor, who gave me the same spiel, issued the $25 credit, but said that she had started an escalation where they would investigate what happened on my chat conversation (they would not take my word for it, and they would not allow me to email the transcript to them). She said to call back in 48 hours for an update.

So I call back in 96 hours later, to speak to Supervisor, Sergio, who offers the same 14-day spiel and his sincerest apology. I asked to speak to his supervisor, and he told me that there was no one else to speak to. I asked for the corporate complaint number or email address, and he said there wasn't one he could give me, but I could write a letter to corporate. I asked what happened to the investigation that was supposed to start 4 days ago, and he just said "well that is our policy."

So I hang up, and call back and ask the next rep to connect me to her supervisor (Karo?) who connected me to his supervisor, Jake. Jake tells me that my investigation is in process, but they needed proof of my conversation with Oscar to do anything. So I asked what would happen if their investigation found that I am absolutely telling them the truth...would I get the full refund? He said, "well that is our process." But it's still not enough for me to just email them the email that they sent me with the transcript. Instead of mailing it, he said I could take the "screenshot" to a local store for verification. We'll see what happens with that.

On another note, after having technical difficulties with my daughter's iPhone after I reconnected it, I went into a local store where I was told about their merger with AT&T and the switch to their network. During that conversation, I found that my daughter's iPhone was compatible with the new network, but my Samsung Galaxy S4, which I bought on the same day I got her phone back in December 2013 (for a total of $1, 100) was not compatible. They told me that if I didn't get a phone that was compatible by the time the network changed overs (which was either January, March or October of 2015, depending on who you talked to), my phone would just stop working. BUT they had special buyback services so I could get a new phone. They said they would give me a whopping $195 for the $600 phone I purchased from them just over a year ago. $195? REALLY? They are selling the exact same model I have in their store for like $450. So you want me to pay you an additional $255 to buy the same phone I just bought a year ago which would mean I will have paid a total of $855 for this older generation phone? That is the biggest con I have EVER experienced. I can't believe they can actually get away with that.

Bottom line is, they won't get another penny out of me. We'll take our business elsewhere.

I have a lot of terrible things I could say about Cricket customer service but I accept that. However, I don't accept blatant theft. After about 40 minutes of speaking with two customer service representatives they admitted they overcharged me. They overcharged at least $75. They stated it was completely their fault. The entire receipt was billed incorrectly. Then they told me there's nothing they can do about it. To come back a few days later (which is past the return date). I then spoke with a representative who told me to deal with the store. Cricket has blatantly stole from me then politely told me to ho f$@!k myself Is there any recourse?

They are scaming the public they unerolled me from auto pay then charged me 5$ for not being enrolled and changed my plan I have from talk and text, to basic internet yet I have no internet.. Never told me about any of this im tired of crickets games and plan to switch tomorrow, dont care if I pay more ired of their bs been a customer for over 7 years... You cant call they wont answer the phone waited over an hour..

Never buy phone under the impression you will get a rebate. I called three times and was on hold for over an hour. Never received rebate, and it was over 60 days. The first time I called they tried to say I mailed in rebate after the date. I kept my recipe and told them no that's not right. Then the second time they say the same thing. Third time still on hold for over an hour maybe they don't have real people working this department. We bought three phones and still no rebate and the clerk was rude. I will never go to cricket again and i'm calling the news to inform others of their scandal.

I never received my rebate after submitting an change of address they started I miss the submission date. I was told I couldn't send I rebate until I made my first payment in between the purchased and first payment I have move an submitted a change of address by phone, using the number that provides in their phone package. And all I'm getting is the run around and I brought two phones I be ripoff for one hundred dollars, but they get their money at time of purchase so you paying full price for a free phone that ripoff the consumer.it's time for a change.

Cricket is ripping their customers off and most customers don't even realize it.
One of my complaints is with cricket is their billing system.

1.In order to have service with cricket, customers have to pay their bill upfront and if you don't pay it, your account gets suspended. This is normal but what they don't tell you is when you do finally pay your bill, let's say a few days have gone by, you should be entitled to some form of discount for days of service that has not been used. If you use their bridge pay system and let's say you still could not afford to pay, they tell you that you still owe the full amount even if your service was suspended for two weeks.
How do you owe the full amount if it's a pre - pay arrangement and you only used two weeks of service?

2. My second complaint is cricket cell phones were on the cdma network in which sim cards were not used for their phones. Since they merged with att & t, their phones before the merger are not compatible causing network problems.
Att & t's network is the gsm network which requires sim card using phones. People are still buying/financing expensive cdma phones from cricket till this day. Cricket is not telling their customers that in order to migrate to the new gsm network, they need to purchase the sim card phones they now have available after the merger.
Why is cricket still selling these cdma network phones at full price and why are they not giving reasonable discounts to people who might want to upgrade their cdma network phones to the gsm network phones?

I just paid 600 dollars for a samsung galaxy 4 (Cdma) , I haven't had this phone a year yet.In order for my service to work properly with no constant interruptions, I need to purchase a gsm network phone that operates with a sim card.
They are only giving 100 dollars off of this 600 dollar phone I just got finish paying for.

Complete ripoff!

I ported out my numbers from cricket wireless to verizon on the first day of a new billing cycle and cricket refuses to refund the unused service charges. When I contacted cricket via electronic chat to resolve this dispute their customer service rep terminated the conversation without any response to my complaint... They hung up on me!

I am disputing this charge through my bank and I am seeking any existing class action lawsuits for these despicable business practices.

I paid for my boyfriends phone one time and they kept taking it out of my account. Every month for 2 years, then when I started to make complaints, they started taking it out 2X every month. I finally got a hold of some one and had the it finally removed from my account which the phone never was, They told me I could have his phone blocked off of my card I repeatedly asked if it was not going to effect my phone and they said it would not. Come the next billing cycle they blocked my debit card for my account also. When I asked why they told me they should have informed me that my card is permanatly blocked from use, ever again.I had to go to an ACE checking and get a card to put money on to have my phone paid for, then I had to rein roll in my plan again, which cost me another $5.00 because I used the phone to call them. I found this out when I went to the Cricket store to see Why I got billed again. I have been down this road before when AT&T merged with a cell phone company, that I stopped using years ago, do to the shady practice I really liked Cricket before I never had any problems until they merged. I am now looking for a new phone service as I am tired of being taken advantage of by AT&T Thanks to Bush.

i

A month ago, June 18th, we visited a Cricket store by Kroger Grocery on Shiloh Blvd, Garland. My daughter explained to the agents I needed a $25 a month phone to help cut expenses. I was given a choice of which phone I would prefer; I said one with a keyboard large enough I could read it and the letters were not too small for my chubby fingers. We were sold an Android phone, a smart phone. I could not keep my current phone, though I owned it, because it did not have a Simcard in it. We paid the $87.87 and were told the price included the $50 rebate and the price included the activation fee. We asked several times if the price was $25 a month and were assured $25 even including taxes and fees. So quite a shock today when I was text by Cricket to pay my bill or my phone would be cut-off. So I dutifully went on line to find a $60 bill. Needless to say I was shook. I tried the online chat to no avail. So I called and that agent said yes $60 was correct as I have a smart phone. I said I only use it to talk and text. He said it's capabilities are more. I told him We verified with the agent that I was purchasing a Talk and Text plan and had been assured it was $25 inclusive a month. So I booked over to the Cricket off to give the agent(s) a piece of my mind just to find walla! NEW agents. They could not help the phone is mine to do with as I will. I could get the $25 phone, however, it has to be a flip-phone. Time to take this to our pre-paid attorney(s).

If you walk into any Cricket store and want to pay your bill, they immediately tack on a 3.00 charge just for the opportunity of paying your bill at their store. I am not aware of any other company (with the exception of Verizon (?)) that does such a thing. Imagine all those 3.00 charges x 12 per annum x customer base. That's a huge amount of money. I am very surprised that a class action lawsuit has not been filed concerning this. Seems ridiculous .

Stephen Brackens Brinkley

We had a family emergency and needed to get a two day courtesy extension for our phone service and Cricket Wireless very coldly refused. The nature of the emergency was that my wife's sister in California lapsed into the terminal stage of her multiple myeloma and my wife needed to have the phone stay on in order to communicate with family members. We told them we could pay in two days but they refused to give an extension. We are completely disgusted with the so-called "New Cricket" and feel that this is no way to treat loyal customers after four years. We will be dropping Cricket and switching to another cell phone service provider just as quickly as they refused to help us. Any company with that cold of an attitude deserves a cold slap in the face from its customers.

This company is the worst. I placed an order 3 weeks ago online for a
sim card and plan. It was then cancelled by your company 3 days later.
Which is fine because my order was never sent out. But last Saturday I
decided to switch cell companies and was told that it was not possible
as Cricket has a lock on my phone number. Firstly, I never was a
customer of Cricket because your company cancelled
my order. Well, it is now Thursday evening and I have spent numerous
hours during the week trying talk to someone about a porting issue. I
even was able to get a hold of someone in the porting department who
said it was somehow locked and IT was going to fix the problem. She
said it would take 24 hours to fix. Well that was Monday, and I still
cannot have my number ported nor can I get a hold of anyone in your
company that will either answer the phone, or speak English enough to
understand what the problem is. I have been without my number for
almost a week because of the negligence of your company and I am almost
at the point of contacting a lawyer. You guys need to get your act
together. I need this fixed NOW because I am tired of wasting my
minutes that I pay for from another company trying to call your company
to get my problem fixed.

On May 19, 2014 my husband broke his phone. I called to file a claim to have it replaced and was informed that I would have to pay an additional $70 to have it replaced if they accepted the claim. I decided that we would just go to the store and purchase a new phone rather than be sent a refurbished for the same price. I called the store to make sure that their system was up and running so that we could do this. I was told it was and we drove the 50 miles to the nearest store. Got there and was told that their payment system was down so we drove another 15 miles to their next nearest store. We sat at that location for well over an hour and after that was informed that due to their merger with AT&T that all systems were down and could not purchase a new phone. We went to another carrier because of this and when i contacted cricket customer service I was placed on hold for over a half an hour to speak with a supervisor. I was then informed by the supervisor that we would not receive a refund for the full months payment that was just made a day prior to the phone being damaged.

I was going to keep this short, but I decided my pain may save someone from making a huge mistake in the future.

On 4/22/2014 I called Cricket customer service regarding adding a line of service and buying another phone for my mother, who lives in another state. I asked the following questions BEFORE making any purchase 1. Can I add a line of service and buy a phone for my mother who lives in another state and area code? 2. Can I add the monthly service bill to my current one and have them both drawn from my bank account? 3. Can my mother have her current number (from another state and another area code) ported to this new cricket phone.

The answer to all the above was "absolutely". I subsequently purchased the phone and plan online and had the phone shipped to my mother.

Fast forward to 4/24/2014. Mom calls to tell me she has the phone, but it won't activate. Not a big deal, when you make a purchase like this, your account may be frozen for 24-48 hours. A couple of hours later the hold was removed.

The following morning I called my mother to inquire how her venture into smart phone ownership was going, to which she replied
"Helen in the porting department says she can't port my number." So began my venture into the slimy, confusing and inept world of Cricket customer service.

I will omit about 15 phone calls here and summarize. You, in fact, can NOT port a number from one market to an account from another market in the Cricket wireless network. I don't care what "Mike" or "Billy" or "Helen", from Cricket's offshore customer service department tell you, It can NOT be done. I heard "We can't do that" so many times it made my head want to explode. Keep in mind, I asked no less than 5 times to have my complaints escalated. Of all those requests, I was transferred to the cancellation department once, and was never allowed to speak to a supervisor.

Finally, having been beaten down and defeated I simply asked for a refund for the phone, the activation (28 USD rather than the advertised 15) and the service I had pre-paid. Not so fast young Jedi. You only get a refund for the phone and only after you pay the return shipping. Today, after my bill was withdrawn for the next month, of course, I kicked Cricket to the curb once and for all.

I was charged for a product and service I could not use. Not because I was ignorant about their policies, but because an either ignorant, or shady customer service rep told me in advance that I could.

Spare yourselves the pain and buy your phones and service from someone...heck...ANYONE ELSE.

My phone has had no service since 2/18/14 (Today is 2/25/14) I went to the arvada store on tuesday, they said they had it fixed. Tuesday evening I had no service.. Wednesday no ride (I am disabled & don't drive)... Thursday, they also said it was fixed... Again, by the time I got home, no service.. Sunday... Back again ! Pablo called the corporate office, they troubleshooted the phone. I callled for my ride... Got home... & no service ! Tuesday... Once again got a ride to the cricket store (Pissed off at this time) the fellow troubleshooted my phone again, then told me that I needed to go to the corporate office they would take care of me. I begged my driver lady (Who is fed up with me & my phone to the point of cussing) to take me to the wheat ridge corporate office. Gabby called th supplier & ordered another phone. S o o o o... Now, I have to wait for a new phone to arrive.
I depend on my phone for medical reasons. I have brain damage from a car accident and it's literally my "life line ! I have to contact somebody when I need a ride, but, no ^&%$ing phone !
I was told at the arvada store that I would be compensated at the corporate office for my troubles. Gabby at the corporate office told me that I needed to talk to the arvada office & they would.
I am tired of getting the "run around" I can be "the straw that breaks the crickets back" if this problem is not resolved.
I have absolutely nothing else to do, seeing how I am disabled and tired of being pushed back and forth. This will be fixed, one way or another !

... Sincerely,...
... Troy babb.. ...

Son of a gun! Cricket communications is the biggest rip off I have ever known, they lie about unlimited nation wide, they raise prices without notice, steal money from you and think you wont do anything about it.. I am fed up they owe me money and no one wants to help... Cricket I hope you see this msg because you suck the biggest set of pelotas ever!

I bought the cricket broadband for wireless internet. It let you choose your prepaid plan. I payed $150 for a $65 monthly pre paid heavy user plan. They promise massive amounts of g's with youtube, pandora, gaming, video, hulu, and up to 5 devices can conect. It says no hidden fees. After I pay my $150, I had about 2 weeks of internet before they said I ran out. My usage was not real heavy. I put $70 on my account that lasted a little over a week. I put another $70 on my account that lasted less then 24 hours! I called customer service, the lady was very rude she raised her voice and would talk over me. That same lady said " we can do whatever we want, including stopping or slowing down your service" they want bank info to just take money out to.