Cricket Cell Phone Service

I’ve found that if you mention Cricket mobile during a conversation about cell phone service providers, no one wants to hear what you have to say. Many people already have an opinion of Cricket and it’s not usually a very good one. As a faithful customer, I can relate to the negative attitude some have; I’ve experienced most of the issues that have given Cricket the bad rep they can’t seem to shake. I always want to add my own two cents to the cell phone chat.

I want to tell them about my positive experiences, the tremendous change I’ve seen as this company grew and why I stick with them, for better or worse. I’d be the first one to tell you that I don’t have the coolest phone or top of the line service available but for me, it works. My loyalty as a customer has been pushed to the limit more than once and I am now someone who loves to hate them.

I have come close to jumping ship several times but always stick with Cricket. I stick with them because I feel for the money; it’s the best deal around.

They offer some great benefits and features that I could not afford if I signed with Verizon, T-Mobile or Sprint. It’s definitely not the service for everyone. But for someone like me, who is on a limited budget, doesn’t want to watch minutes, plan calls around nights and weekends and doesn’t need the hottest phone on the market, Cricket mobile is perfect.

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On their web page, it states “cheap cell phones and prepaid plans you can count on make Cricket the best choice for a no hassles and no signed contract cell phone service. ” (mycricket. com/shop) The original selling point for me was the “no signed contract” feature.

It really drew me in. I had not fulfilled my contract with another provider; I couldn’t get a decent signal where I lived and making calls from home was almost impossible. I was not at all happy that I had to pay them approximately $250 because my house was in an area that was a dead zone. Also, with less than perfect credit, all other cell phone companies required a hefty deposit before I could establish service. Cricket didn’t require any type of deposit. No deposit and no contract, I couldn’t help but give them a try. My total monthly cell phone bill is $59. 00.

That’s everything, including taxes and fees. I have the $45 plan and lots of unlimited features including: talk, text, mobile web, picture and video messaging, long distance directory assistance calls and international texts. My plan also includes voicemail, caller id, call waiting, 3-way calling and call forwarding. I pay an additional $5 for the insurance plan. So, that’s 50 bucks for an excellent, unlimited everything plan with insurance for the phone and 9 bucks for taxes, fees etc. They offer four plans, the basic for $35, the $45, the $55 plan and the $60 plan.

Cricket only offers prepaid plans so you pay for the upcoming month of service, never service from last month. I couldn’t get a plan that good anywhere else and not have to pay a deposit and sign a contract. It’s really an awesome deal. That’s a lot of unlimited features that make my personal cell phone usage less stressful. When I had to keep track of my minutes, pay attention to what time I called my family in Chicago so I didn’t eat up those minutes and send texts in strange code in hopes of not exceeding my allowed limit per month, I was always confused or nervous.

I didn’t like the restrictions. When I ignored the restrictions, it cost me. And who wants to try and figure out if the free nights and weekends that start at 9pm is going to include your next call, two time zones away? Not me. I felt much of my time was wasted, tracking my minutes, planning my calls and somehow, more often than not, I messed up and got slammed on my next bill. The unlimited directory assistance feature Cricket offers really excited me because I would no longer pay almost $2 each time I dialed 411.

I’d discovered the hard way that those calls could add up quickly. With Cricket, no surprises on the bill, for anything. That makes me very happy; it’s easy to budget and I get a lot for my money. A lot more then I would with other cell companies. Cricket claims they have cheap cell phones and they don’t lie. On their official company website, they currently offer refurbished phones on sale from $29 to an Android Smartphone for $249 or a Blackberry Smartphone for $299. The sales are pretty good online and most all phones offer a web only discount, a mail in rebate or both.

The sales that they are currently offering on their official company website make the refurbished phone free and the Android and Blackberry both with a sale price of $179. If you buy a Smartphone, either the $55 or $60 plan is required for all phone features to work. On the official company website for T-Mobile, I found an unlimited talk, text and web, with no service contract plan for $79. I added some additional services; phone insurance for $5. 99 and unlimited international text for $5. Total cost for a plan that matched closest to my Cricket plan was $91 and that was not including taxes and fees.

When I looked at their shop for phones page, I discovered an overwhelming number of phones to choose from, priced from $49 to $499. There were so many choices, it got rather confusing. If you chose a phone like a Blackberry, add an additional $29 for the data plan to the unlimited plan bringing you up to about $110. So, for the unlimited type of service I prefer, even if I had a smart phone or Blackberry, I would pay approximately $30 more per month if I went with T-Mobile service instead of Cricket. To me, that’s a huge monthly savings. Cricket made some improvements that helped keep me as a customer.

Now, there are more Cricket authorized dealers which mean more places to get what I need whether it’s a new phone or an accessory for my old one. They have added a feature called bridgepay; if I am unable to pay my bill by the due date I can can pay $20 and get a seven day extension. So you will never see a late fee on your bill. The newest addition to their product line is the addition of the broadband modem, which I bought just this month. I purchased the modem for $50, received a $50 rebate and it is unlimited hours of internet access for $50 per month.

This will be added to my cell phone bill and I will receive a multi line discount of $5 so next month, for cell phone and internet, I will pay $104. I can use my modem at home on my laptop or unplug it from the USB port and take it anywhere. It was easy to install and easy to use. The issues with Cricket that kept many away from trying their service are sporadic but all in all, they have improved greatly, in all areas over the years. When I first started with Cricket, the limited coverage areas had me upset. Now, they have 3G and have expanded so much, I rarely have a problem getting a decent signal to make a call.

They offer better quality phones then a few years back, so my phones tend to last longer, even though I’m pretty rough with them. The customer service department has been an area of repeated troubles for me through the years. Nowadays, it’s not so hard to speak to a live person or change your plan or get technical assistance with your phone. Cricket has greatly improved in this important area. It seems that this cell phone provider really pays attention to what makes their customer’s happy. They offer more of what we like and continue to make changes to things that don’t work right.

To keep their customers loyal, they continue to grow their product line. If they continue with that trend, they have a life customer in me. So, if you have to have the hottest phone on the market, you don’t want to have the stigma of being a Cricket customer and have good credit or money for a deposit, then maybe Cricket isn’t the cell phone company for you. But if you use your cell phone so much, it’s become part of you, yet you can’t afford most companies unlimited plans, Cricket’s plans may be just what you need.

Of if you are a college student on a limited budged or the parent of a teenager who doesn’t want to foot the bill for someone that doesn’t keep track of minutes and texts sent, give Cricket a try. You will be hard pressed to find a better wireless deal, from any other carrier. You might just become a loyal customer like me.