A good idea that's not where it needs to be
Written: May 20 '02
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Local Coverage: |
 |
|
| Plan Flexibility: |
 |
|
| Customer Service: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Unlimited calls in local area, cheap phone with no contract
Cons: Small service area, lots of extra charges, have to pay for long distance
The Bottom Line: Good phone service for a child who is younger than driving age. Not a great idea for adults who drive more than 15 miles from home.
|
|
|
| jrkarp's Full Review: General Reviews of Cricket Communications Wireless... |
My girlfriend's brother is a Cricket authorized dealer, so naturally, he gave her and everyone else in their family a Cricket phone for Christmas. Since she and I are together all the time, in the past 6 months, I've had a lot of experience with Cricket, their service, and their customer service.
The good
Of course, the idea of unlimited service is appealing. And the service in the admittedly small service area is actually decent... In some cases, better than I do with my Cingular phone. It's nice to be able to use a phone without having to worry about using too many minutes or racking up charges. And since Cricket does not require a contract, there is no need for a credit check, no commitment, and no age limit on service. Further, Cricket heavily subsidizes the phones, so they're actually pretty cheap, especially when you consider the first month of service is included in the cost of the phone.
The bad
As anyone would expect, this service comes with a heavy list of caveats. First, the phone does not work outside of the service area. Period. There are no roaming agreements, so the phone simply stops working outside of the service area. Not a good thing if you're relying on the phone for emergencies. Second, in an age when most wireless plans come with free long distance, you have to pay for long distance with Cricket. 8 cents a minute is not an unfair rate, though, but you have to prepay. No spur of the moment or emergency long distance calls here. Third, you pay extra (and dearly) for every extra feature you add. Caller ID, voicemail, call waiting, and 3 way calling come with most national-carrier wireless plans, but you have to pay $3.95 a month for the first feature and $3.00 a month for every feature after that. Since these are very desirable features, most people will opt for at least one or two of them and end up paying much more per month than advertised. Finally, you can pay your bill in person at a Cricket retail store or authorized payment center, which is a good thing, but you'll end up paying up to a $4.00 service charge. To pay your bill. This is not a good thing. This is a rip-off. Cricket's customer service bring new meaning to the word incompetant. When I activated my girlfriend's phone for her, I was told her home service area was the majority of the Eastern seaboard of the US, extending west to Little rock, Arkansas. Yeah. No kidding. It's actually about 1/3 of the county we live in. Every time she has called with a question or problem, or even to request another copy of her bill, the customer service reps have been rude and have had almost no idea what they were talking about.
The bottom line
If I had a 12 or 13 year old child (which I do not), I'd probably get them this service, sans features, since they would not be driving anywhere, and could probably not be trusted to keep track of how many minutes they used. However, I would not recommend this service to any adult, because of the limited usage area, the nonexistent feature sets, and the overpriced service.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 59.99
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
jrkarp
|
|
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.