Is Every Cricket Customer Service Rep Named "Waldo?"
Written: Aug 15 '09 (Updated Oct 07 '09)
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Pros: Service is cheap.
Cons: You get less than what you pay for.
The Bottom Line: If the billing finally gets set up, it will be a reasonable unlimited plan.
If not, it will be hours more of playing "Where's Waldo?"
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| frazzledspice's Full Review: General Reviews of Cricket Communications Wireless... |
Phone Customer Service
We've all been through the drill. We call a customer service phone number, waiting for our big chance to talk to a human being. We push the wrong buttons, waiting for an automated message to give us the choice.
With Cricket, the choice of talking to a human being never comes. You try the tricks. "For Billing, press 1." You text "*" and finally "H-E-L-P." And then it happens. "Call back when you have this information, and an automated voice will help you. CLICK."
Online Customer Service
"Waldo" is even harder to find on the Cricket website. I've hunted in every nook and cranny, clicked on every link, and customer service just isn't there.
How to Find "Waldo" and Actually Reach a Customer Service Rep
You drive to the Cricket Store. You wait on line. You talk to an employee. They tell you that they don't do customer service, but hand write a number on a little slip of paper and say, "Try this."
You tell them, "But if I don't have a password, and I haven't gotten one yet, they will disconnect me." They say, "Use CRICKET as your password."
And so I reach the customer service rep...
And he's American, but based on the results I got, I think that, like the airline reservation clerks, he may be operating out of Folsom Prison...
He promised me that he was setting me up for automatic online payments to be taken out on the 5th of every month, and now, after having lost service and paid another $10 fine, I discover he never followed through.
So Why the Heck Do I Use Cricket?
My daughter wanted a broadband card. Our phone service, DSL, and cell phone service is with ATT. Their broadband card cost $60 a month, and had a service limit. My daughter has gone over "limits" in text messaging and cell phone internet usage before, with disastrous results, so I've learned it's best to get an unlimited plan if possible.
Cricket offered an unlimited broadband card for $40 a month.
Daughter grumbled...."Cricket doesn't have a signal everywhere. You might have to sit in a certain part of a room."
I said, "You don't understand 'limits.' This is your choice. Take it or leave it."
We haven't had a problem with service, although sometimes the card only gives two bars. We even took a long car trip, and service continued, more or less, through three states, including some long stretches of farm country.
My Problem
They don't send bills.
They don't provide bills to the bill payer (me.)
They don't send e-mails.
If you are about to be overdue, they send you a message on your computer saying they're going to cut off your service unless you pay right away. By the time I get home from work, they've cut off the service.
My Solution
(Well, I'm not sure it's a solution yet. I'll have to wait a month.)
I am signed up at the website (the one with no customer service.)
Interestingly enough, you can't even see your bill there. There is a message that says, "To see your bill, send a text and it will appear on your phone...." Well, duh, we don't have a Cricket phone. Is this a "Where's Waldo" situation, too?
My fee was more than the aforementioned $40 a month (I guess because we were disconnected again.)
I paid it and printed out a receipt in preparation for a report to the Better Business Bureau if my problems continue.
I set up automatic payments online on the website (since obviously the customer service rep, so bemused and confused that a customer actually figured out how to reach him, didn't set up the automatic payments.)
I will wait a month, and if the problem arises again, I will contact BBB (but I'm not sure if they will be able to find Waldo, either.)
Update October 8
After having signed up for automatic bill payment online twice, Cricket still hasn't enrolled me. And so I paid the bill ($40.57.)
I did get an e-mail receipt (which I am saving.)
We haven't had reception problems, but their customer service rates a zero.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): $40 month
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