Cricket Wireless Reviews 2016

Overview

Cricket Wireless is a prepaid no contract cheap cell phone service brand that utilizes the AT&T network and is now owned by AT&T too. Back in Spring 2014 AT&T dropped its AIO wireless brand to focus on its acquisition of Cricket which would become the company’s low cost brand.

The Cricket brand is meant to compete with other new low cost prepaid and MVNO cell phone plans like Republic Wireless, T-Mobile, and others. Recently, since it is owned by AT&T, the Cricket brand has stepped up its offerings and deals as a means to fend off T-Mobile’s marketing assault of the big wireless carriers.

Cell Phone Plans

Cricket Wireless offers a number of different prepaid plans with their main set of unlimited plans being their most popular. These unlimited plans consist of three tiers of service that range from $25 per month to $60 per month. Here’s a comparison chart of Cricket’s base plans:

PlanPrice/MonthMinutesTextGSM Data4G LTE Data
Talk & Text$25UnlimitedUnlimitedn/an/a
Basic$35-40UnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited2.5 GB
Smart$45-50UnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited5 GB
Pro$55-60UnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimited10 GB

You’ll notice that on the Basic, Smart, and Pro plans I’ve shown a price range with a $5 differentiation due to Cricket providing a $5 discount to those who enroll in their monthly auto-pay service using a credit or debit card. This is a no-brainer to me, but only if you are good about paying off your credit card in time. It’s nice to get those credit card points while being sure you don’t miss any payments via automation, not to mention the extra $60 you’d end up saving over the course of the year.

Another important thing to note about the Cricket Wireless prepaid plans is that there are two categories of data available for each. While they do technically offer unlimited everything with the three main plans, the “High-Speed” data on the AT&T 4G LTE network is limited. This means that if you use your allotted LTE data limit for the month, your data access will be bumped down to the slower GSM network.

Cricket Wireless Phones

Cricket sells a number of different phones both smart and dumb. The smartphones include the iPhones 5c and 5s. The Cricket Wireless Android phones include: Galaxy S4, Galaxy S5, Lumina 1320, ZTE Grand X, Moto G (my favorite), and a number of other lower end phones.

In addition to buying a compatible phone from Cricket, they also allow the option to bring your cell phone to the service, so long as it is compatible with the network. You can check to see if your current mobile phone will work with Cricket by entering the phone’s IMEI number in form on this page. If the phone is compatible, all that is needed is a Cricket SIM card which they sell for about $10 bucks.

What’s nice about being able to bring your own device is that it makes switching from another carrier to a cheap cell phone plan like Cricket all the more frugal. After all, why buy a brand new phone if the one you already have works perfectly fine?

Pros

  • The service runs on AT&T’s fast 4G LTE network which is a huge improvement over the CDMA network that Cricket ran on prior to AT&T’s acquisition of the brand.
  • There are no-contracts.
  • Taxes and fees are included in the advertised price, so if you sign up for the basic $35 per month plan then that is the amount you get charged.
  • There is the ability to bring your own device to the service so long as it is compatible with the network, thus saving you from buying a brand new expensive phone.

Cricket Wireless Complaints

  • Some might be disappointed that the unlimited everything doesn’t mean unlimited 4G LTE for data, but rather unlimited GSM data which many have complained is much slower.
  • Some users have reported “high latency” times when using the data network, aka surfing the web and using data intensive apps, however this seems to vary from person to person.
  • Since the Cricket Wireless brand is considered their “low cost” service, they will tend to play second fiddle to AT&T customers and not get the latest and greatest access to new network technology and phones.
  • Some users have reported that customer service was not that helpful when providing help for switching services.

More Reviews of Cricket Wireless

The following are some Cricket Wireless reviews I’ve collected from around the web that I feel are legitimate reviews from real people with real experience from this wireless service and not just a bunch of spam. Also, note that I’m only listing reviews that have occurred after Cricket was acquired by AT&T and switched over to the AT&T networks, since it wouldn’t be fair to compare their old CDMA service which is no longer available.


If you have used the Cricket Wireless service, please let us know what your experiences have been in the comments section below.

434 comments

  1. cricket hang me for 20 days. customers services are worst. The sale person in store are rude and harsh. Everyone say themselves as the owner of store. One sale person in Saint Paul Minnesota Amer said he can transfer my number from h2o wireless and it can be done within 2 days but yet I am waiting for 20 days. Another named Rico cheat me and said that service will be activate within 3 hours and took my money . but still it is not. if anyone can solve mine problem?

    1. Hi Indra,

      Sorry to hear about your frustration with Cricket, the problem of switching/transferring between services, along with poor customer service seems to be one of the common complaints against moving to Cricket Wireless. This is quite unfortunate since they do offer cheap reasonable prices. It also seems like you are dealing with different store locations, so perhaps it might be useful to try calling their main customer service number to get some help.

      I’m afraid I can’t be of more help since I don’t really know the details of your transfer issue. Perhaps another reader who is with Cricket might be able to offer some suggestions.

    2. I wish I knew how Cricket treated their customers before I did business with them! I was a loyal customer for two years and got totally taken advantage of. I was promised a $50 rebate on each new phone we bought, so we purchased one for each line we have (3). We specifically asked if we qualified for the rebate and were assured that we did. Well, come to find out I should have hired a lawyer to read the fine print for me before we made the purchase! The store, rebate center, and even the corporate office told me I was out of luck and basically said I was the dumb one for expecting the rebate we were promised. Well, I was the dumb one two years ago for choosing Cricket Wireless in the first place! Tomorrow I am taking my business somewhere else where they treat their customers right!

    3. Hi Thomas,

      Ah yes, people need to watch out for Rebates as they almost always have some special process you need to go through in order to redeem. Always important to read the fine print on any rebates before purchasing. The idea is to make it too much trouble for most people to redeem and thus the companies wont have to pay out as much in rebate fees.

      Sorry to hear of your trouble with Cricket, lets hope you find a much better service. Good luck!

    4. Switched from big brother ATT to Cricket at the local store in Oakdale, Minnesota. Brought two phones and purchased three. The store employees ported the numbers for five phones. The process was complete in less than an hour. Made a follow-up visit to make sure the automatic billing was set up proplerly and to show me how to manage my account on-line. That took 10 minutes. Our wireless bill is going from $300 to $100 for our five phones, now all with 2.5 GB of LTE data. My only fear is that big brother will figure out they are losing many of their long time family plan accounts and find a way to screw us as they always have before. I like the idea of no contracts as the cell phone industry is rapidly changing. So far, so good. At least at this store (a franchise), the store employees were very friendly and extremely helpful.

    5. Hi Bob,

      Sounds like you had a pretty easy time switching over and with $200 per month in savings, or $2,400 per year – AMAZING!!

      As far as AT&T aka big brother finding a way to screw you, just remember that the wireless provider industry has become incredibly competitive in the last few years with the many new MVNO companies like Ting and Republic Wireless offering very cheap service, and the relentless attacks by T-Mobile on AT&T makes me think that they and their budget brand (Cricket) will make a concerted effort to be competitive with both price and service – otherwise it will lose its customers since switching is easier than ever these days.

    6. i switched yesterday,,,my friends switched months ago. they dont get calls.now i dont at all. had no problem with older service. im returning my phone and going elsewhere.

    7. You are absolutely right. The sales people are completely rude. I tried to talk to the woman just now in the store about my problems and she looked at me and laughed and said “well what do you want me to do, you have to call customer service”. After explaining to her that i have called customer service several times to hash out issues they always tell me to go into the store. When I go back into the store, they sale people tell me I have to call customer service. No one at cricket actually wants to help they want to give you the run around. I have been waiting six months for a rebate. And I know for a fact some of the employees don’t tell you about a rebate you should be earning and keep your rebate card. When I told the woman tonight 6/25/2015 at the cricket on university that I was switching back to metro she laughed and said okay, as if to say she didn’t care. Customer service is all about whether or not they need you there, but still she could have been more polite than that. Not only that she took a personal call while dealing with two customers. And to top it all off when I was trying to bring my problem to her attention she said well its eight so were closed. Someone who actually cares about providing good customer service wouldn’t care about taking a few extra minutes to handle a customer problem. WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!!

    8. Maybe they dont speak your language. I can only understand bits and pieces.. Learn English and you will communicate better with them.

    9. I came from T-Moble to Cricket. I was able to keep same numbers. Phones transfer and setup right in store easy process, maybe 45 minutes. Customer 800 # service on follow up issue not the best, in Chicago so rude don’t bother me as much. My biggest issue is data speed while surfing. It takes to long to pull up Google search. Is all the good speed used up on AT&T customer. Might have to switch.

    10. Does your phone have 4g lte ? If not, that’s the reason your speeds are slow. Or, the phone is old and has a slow processor and full of apps. Cricket does cap the speed at 7-8mbps download, but that’s plenty to stream even movies with. I bought a new Cricket Nokia Lumia 635, and it is the fastest phone I’ve had, on or off line. Can watch Netflix over Cricket, no problems.

    11. I am sorry that the experiences you have had with Cricket Wireless have been bad. Here is our Customer Support number 1 (800) 274-2538. If you are having problems they will be more than happy to help you.

    12. I have been with cricket 8 yrs and liked the service before att bought them. my service signal is pathetic now I have nothing but trouble now. I broke my phone after the switch over and some friends compelled me to get a more expensive phone telling my cheap phone was a large part of the problem. so I did and it didn’t make a difference so I decided to take my phone to another carrier and found theres an unlock I need and cricket wont give it to me even though i own the f-ing thing because that phone hasn’t been used for 6 billing cycles even tough i have been a customer for 8 years. I would love to meet someone at corporate face to face and show them how i feel.

    13. I have been a Cricket customer since December 2015 since then I have had nothing but trouble with them their service is good no complaints there butt they have taking money out of my account when they weren’t legally able to they have taken too much money they are very deceitful at what they do my wife was just looking at her hot spot and hit the back button and it deleted it long story short I have contacted their customer service on several occasions and the only thing I hear is we can’t help you unless you want to buy something there is no well we can do this or this it’s a flat-out no they have even cut my service 4 Day short and I was on auto pay and they do this at one two three o’clock in the morning and they refused to compensate you for anything this is very frustrating I’ve never dealt with a company like this they don’t care about their customers from what I gather it’s all about money and how much they can get out of you so just be aware I would not recommend them to anyone I will be switching service ASAP

    14. Cricket rep promised money back guarantee and total service ice compatibility. Long story short it was all a lie!

      Liars all. ……..liars…….. lots of lip service not much else.

      Complete fraud!

    15. Two days after me and my husband purchased our samsung galaxy amp 2 phones. The arrow back button stopped working and it started to freeze on me . I exchanged it and now a day after my warranty is up it doesn’t want to turn on . My husband hasn’t even been able to use his phone fir two days. What if we were stuck on the road . Thus is not good service.

    16. I just start the smart plan today, right off there’s an issue with the texting to other carriers. I could not Customer service on phone had to go online to get help. Then I’m told they are working on it and it will be 2 hours before its fixed. 2 hours later I still can’t text. They have 3 days till I need to renew my Verizon if they can’t get it together by then I have to leave cricket. I didnt get a very good first impression if this phone service so far.

    17. Look in to Straight Talk. They have phones that run on GSM & CDMA networks, it just depends on the phone you get. For $45/mo you get unlimited talk & text plus 5GB of high speed dataand then just slows down to 2G. For $55/mo you get 10GB of high speed data.

  2. I just wanted to make others aware of the terrible customer service experience we had with Cricket:

    We paid for Cricket Wireless unlimited text messaging, calls and 1GB of mobile data ($40+$10 SIM card); however, incoming text messaging (SMS) did not work on our phone (even though the same phone worked with all other wireless providers). We spent 10 days and over 30 hours with technical support trying to resolve the issue, escalating to their highest level of technical support, going through multiple troubleshooting processes as well as trying to use a different phone with their service – none of which resolved the issue.

    When we requested a refund for Cricket’s inability to provide us with the service we paid for, their response was, “well, the outgoing text messaging and the calls are working, so most of the service actually works, right?” and “per company policy, we do not provide refunds for service.” This is when I realized how demanding I was being – why would anyone want to be able to receive a text message?! One customer service manager even approved a refund and then allowed their accounting department deny it 2 days later without upholding his end of the deal.

    In the end, we just gave up and switched to another provider. Now, I’m sure that many other people’s SMS works, but good luck if something goes wrong because Cricket does not operate their business in good faith or stand behind their service. My advice: don’t waste your time (or $) and go with other comparably priced MVNO’s like Airvoice, Red Pocket, etc. whose service actually works…

    1. Hi B,

      Thanks for sharing your unfortunate tale of poor customer service. This seems like one of the bigger complaints against Cricket and while it is a cheap service, it doesn’t matter a whole lot if something goes wrong or if a vital part of that service (receiving text messages) doesn’t work. Given that AT&T owns Cricket, it’s no surprise that the customer service isn’t exactly stellar. Hopefully things are going better with your other provider.

    2. That;s happens to you because you have to configure you cellphone properly, I now it;s hard to configure but once you got configured it work great

    3. I use to receive great customer service help before cricket and AT&T merged. I had one simple question, my phone, somehow was on emergency calls only. I needed to know how to know how to get my phone out of that mode. I was transfered for 15 to 20 mins to wrong depts. I was never helped by anyone, other than giving my acct information, that was the only positive in the whole situation. When I asked for an email address and\or phone number to report my dissatisfaction, I was told that information was not available and given a address yo write cricket’s corporate offices. I am here no thanks to the people in customer service. I have never been treated so disrespectful since I’ve been a long time customer. I was very disappointed and shocked by which my sitiation was handled. I would not recommend these services to anyone in the future. Sincerely, a very loyal yet disappointed cricket customer.

  3. My wife and I have not had any problems getting in touch with customer service or getting information from customer service. My connection at work is fantastic, but at home, we get low power and calls dropped constantly (and tried again and dropped again, and tried… until we give up). Customer service told us that the tower closest to us was degraded and then the next day was taken out of service. It is supposed to be restored today (they say) and I sure hope so. If the signal does not improve (yes, I understand that it’s AT&Ts network), we will have to switch back to T-Mobile (which worked but was much more expensive). Cricket service will not work with AT&T femtocells and Cricket does not provide femtocells or WiFi calling (which is equivalent to a femtocell).

    The other issue we have run into – even when we’re away from home and have good signal strength – is that text messages take a long time to go from one phone to any other. One of their techs told me that AT&T phones have priority and when there is traffic, cricket messages go to the end of the queue, so don’t expect your messages to be fast.

    1. Hi Rob,

      Thanks for sharing your experience. Unfortunately, no matter the provider, the proximity to a network is high up on the list for picking a mobile provider since getting a signal is pretty important part of most people’s cell phone use.

      Since you say T-Mobile signals tend to work well near your home, I wonder if it might be a good idea to check out some MVNOs that run on the T-Mobile network like US Mobile or Net10 for instance? Those could have some cheap plans similar to Cricket while utilizing the network that works best for you. Just a thought.

    2. A quick follow-up to this.

      The tower is now fully functional (according to Cricket customer support), but the signal level is still too low to be usable. While customer support is quick to answer and very polite, they say they have fixed the problem and they have, thus far, refused to give us any refund and have refused to give us the $100 credit per line that we were promised.

      It looks like we are switching service again (but will make at least one more attempt to get some money back first).

    3. Hi Rob,

      This sounds frustrating and seems like switching might eventually be the right move. As I mentioned, regardless of how good a phone service or phone plan is, it’s not much use if you can’t get a good signal in your main usage area.

      I’d keep trying on getting that $100 credit, hopefully they’ll cave in. My advice in these cases, is to make sure you keep records of everything, that way you have the paperwork and proof that you did everything necessary to meet the requirements to receive the $100 credit.

      Best of luck, and be sure to let us know what happens down the road.

  4. My wife and I switched from Virgin Mobile to Cricket. We couldn’t be more satisfied. I purchased my phone in-store and the staff was friendly. The number port was complete within 3 or 4 hours after activation.

    Service coverage is significantly better than Virgin Mobile, the data speeds haven’t been laggy. I easily stream audio and video. There are several places I go where coverage is spotty for everyone else but not for me (most people I know use Verizon or Sprint).

    Once I found the service to be better, I ordered my wife a phone via Cricket’s web site. Activation took less than 5 minutes and the number port was immediate. I don’t know if that’s typical, but it was faster than going to the store.

    Cricket also has decent phone options. We’re using Moto Gs and are very happy. Immensely better than the ZTE Awe I used with Virgin…and significantly cheaper…and did I mention Cricket also gave a $100 credit for switching from another prepaid carrier? In the end, our Moto Gs cost $25/ea, and with the $100 credit…we were functionally paid to switch.

    Better pricing. Better coverage. Cricket was a no brainer for us. No regrets.

    1. Hi Craig,

      Thanks so much for providing your experience with Cricket. It sounds like a great move for you and your wife. It seems like the main selling point in your circumstances was the better coverage, which makes sense as Cricket uses the AT&T network which tends to have wider area coverage than Sprint which is what I believe is the network used by Virgin Mobile.

      Also, glad to see another Moto G fan, it’s such a great phone and at the prices you got them for definitely a no-brainer 🙂

    2. Cricket is a great bargain until you run into a problem. Then you’ll see the real side of cricket. Hopefully that doesn’t happen to you but if it does you will see why everyone else has given bad reviews.

      I just paid my bill, the next day my phone broke. I went in to get a new one and switch to the “ATT&T branch” of cricket. The guy at the store told me that my payment wasn’t posted yet and that I would have to wait until then or pay another months of service to get a new phone. I waited a week WITHOUT A PHONE! to see if it had been posted, no luck. I called customer service and they told me to switch to the new service I would be paying two months anyway, no way around it. I refuse to pay two months just to get a new phone. When I asked for a refund for the month that I wasn’t able to use they told me NO REFUNDS! That is their policy.
      I have had Cricket for 5 years! And this is the thanks I get?

      FYI I wouldn’t do the insurance either. I paid the $5 a month for over a year and when my phone broke that time I still had to pay $80 to do the insurance claim.

      Buyers BEWARE!! And Cricket, you can take this phone and SHOVE IT!!!

    3. I am considering switching from Boost Mobile to Cricket. In my area Sprint seems to have great coverage but when I travel it seems to be less than good. same as when I had Sprint. I have a nice Galaxy S5 that I ported over to Boost from Sprint that I would like to keep since it works fine but is not compatible and that is really the thing that keeps me from pulling the trigger. I do however like the New Moto G4 Plus and Boost will not support it even if it is fully unlocked as their bring your own device plan only includes approved Sprint devices. I visited my local Cricket store and they seemed nicer than the ghetto Boost employees were. the price for a 5GB plan is with in $1 with auto pay and how cricket includes taxes. help convince me to switch.

  5. hello,

    I use Net10, which uses AT&T, and my voice and data are excellent (but more $$ than Cricket)

    If I switch to Cricket, will I be using the same AT&T towers I’m using now ?

    Or will I most likely be using the towers that Cricket used to own (wherever they may be) ?

    1. Hi Gary,

      Yes, you’d essentially be using the same AT&T network as Net10. Since AT&T owns Cricket, their customers get access to the same towers. So as far as signal strength and network coverage, it’d be similar for both Net10 and Cricket. The only difference that you might encounter would be based on your plan’s allocated limit to AT&T’s high speed data 4G LTE network as opposed to the standard 3G network, but that is really a matter of which plan you choose.

      Hope that answers your question 🙂

  6. Brought my own phone (Nexus 4) and transferred my number in-store last September, with no problems. Received a $100 credit for switching from T-Mobile. I have the Basic plan and now get 2.5 GB for $35. Great deal!

    1. Hi Paul,

      Thanks for sharing your experience, sounds like you got a great deal with a quick easy transition. It seems a lot of the complaints I’ve read about Cricket are mostly in regards to customer service which appears to be either a hit or miss kinda of deal, which makes sense when you are dealing directly with people in the store. Fortunately things were smooth sailing for you and you got a great deal.

    2. Matthew – I’m well in to my second year with Cricket Wireless and I have no complaints. I’m currently using a Nexus 6, which I bought from Amazon. I had to purchase a nano sim. Activating it was straight forward, following the instructions on the website. I travel a fair amount and coverage has been pretty good. Regards

  7. I can understand not accepting po boxes for shipping, but not accepting a po box for billing ?? And Cricket makes you have the exact same billing/shipping address. Fine.

    I changed my credit card billing to my home. Still declined, even with a $10k limit, with zero balance.

    Online chat said “go to Walmart!”. I did, Walmart said “We don’t have Cricket phones”

    Cricket website has no email to contact them.

    Cricket website has no phone number to call/order.

    How do you stay in business ?

    I have been trying to sign up for a week. I have 3 credit cards, your site accepts none, while Amazon is happy to accept them all. I can’t get a sim card, I can’t get a phone, there’s no way to talk to anyone at Cricket to place an order. Local “stores”, even in Atlanta, are little kiosks, and I’m not trusting my credit card to those hole in the wall outlets. And 2 near me, barely speak English.

    I’ve never had such an impossible time trying to spend money.

    Editor’s note: I have combined both your comments into one for the purposes of simplicity

    1. Hi Gary,

      First, I want to clarify that this website nor myself are associated with Cricket, I just write reviews and news regarding various different cell phone services.

      Second, I am not familiar with Cricket’s sign-up process in regards to providing the same billing and shipping address but I can’t imagine that would be the case for any service. Also, not sure why anyone would say to go to Walmart as their dedicated mobile phone service brand is Straight Talk, not Cricket.

      Third, they do have contact information on their website at the following link:

      https://www.cricketwireless.com/contactus

      Their customer service phone number is: 1-800-274-2538. There is also an option where you can chat with a customer service representative online. I’d suggest giving them a call to see if you can straighten out the issues you are getting.

      Hope that helps and that you are able to resolve the issues. If not, it might be worth it to look into another low cost cell phone plan provider that is better known for customer service.

    2. I switched to Cricket in February. I have an automatic bill paying service through my credit union. Cricket was sent a check on March tenth, they don’t accept electronic transfers, for March payment, which was due on the nineteenth. I had to go to a store and pay, because said they had no knowledge of the check. I was told by customer service, that they would stop accepting checks on April 26th. My March 10th check was returned yesterday. I was told by customer service that the only payments they will accept are credit cards, or money orders. They will withdraw money from your bank account electronically, but you can’t pay by electronic transfer. I will not use their bill payment service, because I do not want this jackleg outfit to have my banking info. I will continue to use them, because my phone service is fine, but I will pay with American Express card, because they charge companies twice as much as other cards.

    3. I had the same problem. I went through the entire transfer process but when it came time to enter my payment I was told my address had to match the billing address on file for my credit card. That address is a PO Box. Cricket website will not accept a payment associated with a PO Box…period. If you change the address to match your physical address just to make Cricket happy, they spit it back out and say it does not match the address your credit card company has for you. It is very confusing. I really feel like they don’t actually want customers and judging from some of the comments, they really don’t need any more work than they already have. Shame…would expect more from anyone owned by AT&T.

  8. Cricket customer service is an OXYMORON. There is no service for customers, only for cricket. Once you are in you are on your own and fed a bunch of lies. RUN FROM CRICKET

    1. Hi James,

      I always appreciate informative criticism in the comments, but all you’ve stated here is simply an ad hominem attack on Cricket without providing any examples of why you think they are bad. If you could elaborate on your experience that’d be great.

      I’m just trying to keep my comments section from becoming a cesspool like Youtube by having quality debate. Thanks.

    2. I’ve had the same problems with Shipping/Billing address! Cricket doesn’t accept a different shipping/billing address…. and they don’t ship to PO Boxes! All of my credit cards are registered to my PO Box. I called my credit card company, they showed 9 charges that WENT THROUGH from Cricket Wireless (each time I’d tried to type in my address, or changed it to try to make it work)… During this process I had my credit card company CHANGE my address to what my shipping address would be, and then tried to order again, but was DENIED… So even with the shipping addresses NOW MATCHING, it was still giving me an error…. Soooo, the next day, I went to the grocery store and purchased a $100 Credit Card gift card… entered all the information, and then got a message that they don’t accept Gift Cards. I went to the local store, told the gal of my situation, and she said she couldn’t sell me the 99 cent SIM like I could purchase on-line, but could sell me a $10 one, and also that she couldn’t waive the sign-up fee, like they do on-line, plus I had to pay for service. So it would cost me a lot more in store! She got onto a chat window with Cricket ‘Store’ Customer Service, and after going back and forth, basically the rep said I was out of luck (she used the word ‘unfortunate’) and that Cricket wasn’t set up to accept payments that way. Oh and also, that I needed to contact my Bank (for my credit card) to dispute the NINE CHARGES that they had charged me… that Cricket said didn’t go through… but did… Looks like I’m heading over to Straight Talk, since now I’m going to change from AT&T on principal alone! As someone else mentioned, I’ve NEVER had so much trouble TRYING to give people money (oh wait… I guess I did NINE TIMES…but those are going to be disputed and refunded). 🙁

  9. Hi Matthew,

    First, thanks for your reply regarding my sign up issues about Cricket. I’d like to tell you about my experience, and it should help anyone thinking of going with Cricket as I finally did. Here’s the facts.

    If you sign up online, your billing and shipping address has to be the same. And no PO boxes for either billing or shipping. I changed my credit card billing to my home address, so that worked out.

    I ordered a Nokia 635 windows phone on a Thursday afternoon, and it arrived Friday 1pm – pretty good. I wanted to try their service before I switched my tel number, but that was a bit of a mistake, because it’s not as easy a process after the fact – but I’m sure it’ll get done. The activation process was simple, and completed within a minute over the phone, on my new phone (with a new, temporary tel number).

    The service works great, it’s off AT&T towers, so I ordered one for my wife, had her number switched online, and the phone is on its way. 2 lines, 2.5gb each + unlim talk and text for $70, total, per month.

    So if you’re using AT&T towers (like Net10), I suggest porting your number during the order process. Once you get your phone, you activate it, and your old number on your new Cricket phone will be ready to go in a few hours. You can also order just a sim card, if you want to keep your old phone – must be a gsm phone, no cdma.

    Speeds? Pretty good. The Nokia 635 is an LTE phone, and using Speedtest, got about 7-8 mbps download, and over 17mbps upload. I have read they throttle the DL speed to under 8, which is why they offer such good rates, but that’s plenty fast to stream movies if you want to use your data that way. The Nokia phone is fast, ergonomically friendly, good camera, but I got it because Nokia has always had great call quality, as does the 635.

    I will concur that the customer service over the phone is hit and miss. When I called I got passed around, with bad info. Even with chat online, they were of no help. But you will finally get someone who can help you, so keep trying. But as I said, if you do it all online at the beginning, it runs smoothly.

    I’m sure there’s transition troubles since AT&T just bought Cricket, but that’s not unusual. With a little patience and persistence, you get a great deal, IMHO. Hope that answered some questions, and thanks again Matthew for replying.

    1. Hi Gary,

      Thanks for the very thorough review of your sign-up experience. It sounds like everything worked out despite some poor customer service which has been consistently reported as bad by most people commenting on this review and across the Internet – you’d think they’d get the message by now.

    2. The trick to get them to ship to a P.O. Box number is to not use the P.O. part. As an example, if you want them to ship to P.O. Box #376, just enter #376.

  10. Hi Matthew,

    I too am having problems signing up for Cricket. I constantly get a prompt that my credit card address is wrong, but at the same time when I check my credit card I find it has been charged. The next day the pending charge is removed by Cricket and we start all over again. It’s like that movie “Ground Hogs Day”. Chat is worthless and the phone number is only for current customers or activating a phone. I’m currently with Straight Talk so I’m used to poor customer service, but this is ridiculous. It sounds like a good deal if you can figure out how to take advantage of it.

    1. Kirk,

      Let me try and help. If you’ve read my postings, I too have had similar problems. First, Cricket allows NO po boxes for billing and/or shipping. If you have no po box, then log into your online credit card account and verify your billing and shipping address, and make sure they haven’t put a hold on your account. For some reason my credit card company put a hold on my card with my first charge to Cricket – they told me cell phone purchases raise a red flag, why I don’t know.

      So if your credit card passes the test above, you should be ok to place an order with Cricket. LET ME WARN YOU IN ADVANCE, you need to transfer your number (if you intend to do that) during the sign up process ! If you order your phone and monthly service, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to transfer your number. I have been trying for 2 weeks to do it, and will give it one last try at a Cricket store today.

      I ordered a phone, a month’s service, and transferred my wife’s number all at the same time, I got the phone in 2 days, and she was up in running the day I received her phone. Cricket has that worked out nicely. But if you deviate from that, good luck.

      Anyways, follow my advice on making sure your credit card is ok. Or, use a different one. You can get a representative at Cricket at 1800 cricket, just have to be patient and listen through the message choices, then press “0”. Good luck !

    2. Hi Kirk,

      It’s unfortunate their credit card processing system is causing errors like that, it seems you aren’t the only one whose had this problem too. I think you’re best bet is to try to get someone on the phone in customer service if that’s possible – try calling 1 (800) CRICKET and pressing “0” as Gary has already mentioned and explain the situation, assuming you still want to switch to them. Good luck and be sure to let us know if you’re able to resolve the issue.

  11. I moved from the Verizon pre-paid plan to Cricket basic on Jan 25th and so far have not had any issues with the Moto G from Motorola on their system. The phone was $99.99 up front with the promise of a $75 rebate in the form of a Visa debit card which was to arrive approximately 45 days from signing up. I signed up for the basic plan at $35 dollars a month including taxes using the auto-pay and sure enough exactly 45 days later my Visa card was in my mailbox. The service has been great and I have had none of the problems I have been reading about in these reviews. The service is far superior to the Verizon pre-pay which was $45 a month with auto pay plus taxes. And just after I enrolled with Cricket they changed the basic plan to include 2.5 G of high speed data instead of 1 G and sent me a text informing me that I was included in the upgrade. Go Cricket!

    1. Hey George,

      Thanks for letting us know your experience with Cricket. Typically people only comment/leave a review when they’ve had a bad experience rather than a good experience, so often reviews and comments can be skewed towards the negative for any product or service – so I really appreciate you leaving your own review here.

      It sounds like your experience with them was pretty smooth and you were able to extract a good amount of savings from them in the process via rebate and cheaper monthly bill. Also, high-five to a fellow Moto G user, one of the best value smart phones out there in my opinion.

  12. Crooks called to see how much it was to switch my billing date they switched it and then said I owed $51 with out even asking me if that was ok. It wasn’t my Dad just Died and we are low on money for a short time and could not afford this extra charge on our bill. We are very unhappy. Also our phones were shut off even though we had payed up to April 3rd. That is why I say you are crooks how you gonna shut service off even though we have already paid threw April and into march this is March 15. So upset! But welcome to cricket!

    1. Hi Zane,

      First off, my condolences on your father’s passing.

      Second, I’d like to clarify that this blog nor its author (me) is in no way associated with Cricket or any wireless company, I simply write about news, tips, and reviews on various cheap mobile phone plans.

      Third, I’m not exactly sure what the issue is but it sounds like you tried to change what the billing date for your Cricket service is and by doing this it caused an extra charge? If that is correct, what I suspect happened is that since Cricket is a pre-paid service, moving the billing date forward would mean that they’d have to prorate the number of days between the end date of your old billing cycle and the start date of your new billing cycle, otherwise people could easily take advantage of getting free periods of mobile service without paying for it. Of course I’m just making an educated guess here since I don’t have many details.

      If you want, you can send me copies of the most recent bills with all your personal information blacked out and I’ll see if I can decipher whether that extra $51 charge is legit or not. I kind of have a weird obsession with combing through figures and the fine print of bills… or perhaps, if you clarify the dates of your old billing cycle and the date you wanted to change to?

    2. I just purchased a brand new upgrade on from cricket and since I did that right now and days ago I don’t hardly have any internet service I can’t get any help from the store location I can’t get any help from the customer care department online is there anything someone can do to give me some help with this new telephone I never thought I can walk in the store and leave with a telephone that doesn’t work and no one would help me this was my experience from getting an upgrade I got a phone that doesn’t work at all now

  13. Hello! I currently don’t have a cell phone, and my family has 1 landline. I’m 13 and going to buy myself a iPhone 5s(Yes, I am buying it. I have a job luckily, because my parents wouldn’t even think of paying for me to have a smartphone, which makes sense). I am going to get a refurbed iPhone 5s and then buy a Cricket Wireless SIM. I have seen alot of comments above saying the signup/customer service simply sucked, but if you got everything working you would get a deal. Is all I have to do is choose a plan and order the SIM, and stick the SIM in the phone? I know I have to sign up for Auto Pay and stuff but that seems simple enough. I just want to know everything I need to know before ordering, because apprently the customer service can’t help.

    1. Hi Robert,

      You’ve got the basic idea down. The one thing I would point out as important prior to buying a phone and signing up is to make sure that the iPhone 5s you buy is an unlocked GSM phone, that is of course if you’re buying the phone from someplace other than Cricket. I would check out the following page on Cricket to make sure: https://www.cricketwireless.com/shop/byod.html

      Also, bravo on doing the proper amount of research before making this purchase, it is very impressive for a 13 year old. Best of luck, and be sure to let us know how everything goes 🙂

    2. You will have to set APN data for the phone to be able to send and receive pics and to access the internet. I am sure iPhone will have an app for that on the store. Good luck to you.

  14. It was painful to go to the process of porting a number to Cricket from another carrier. It took a week to finish the process. I lost numerous hours with their support trying to resolve the problem… when their technical support finally got involved, they resolved the issue in minutes. Once ported, I had to buy a new phone because the one I was planning to use (from previous carrier) wouldn’t work even though Cricket convinced me that it would prior to signing up.

    Another issue I had was with a one-time monthly feature. I added it to my account 1 day prior to monthly payment going through and they dropped the feature the next day. When I complained, they put it back on the account, but charged me again even though they said they wouldn’t.

    The signal/service is actually very good, but things their customer service sucks. Beware… you get what you pay for

    1. Hi Alex,

      That is an unfortunate experience, but luckily it looks like you got everything setup and working correctly. As you mention, the prices with Cricket are great but customer service has not been their strong suit.

      Also, it is great when services let you bring your phone over, but a lot of people don’t understand that there are different types of underlying technologies in phones that can only work on certain networks, thus it is especially important to make sure your phone is compatible.

      I’m curious how you went about determining if your old phone would work with Cricket, did you use their BYOD support page on the site to check the IMEI number?

  15. You’re right. Porting your number AFTER you sign up with Cricket can not be done online, or via the telephone. I tried 2 frustrating weeks that way, until they told me to go to a Cricket store. It took 3 days, but I finally got my Net10 number ported to Cricket.

    A Cricket EZ tutorial:

    1. Port your number when you sign up ! Don’t do it afterwards.

    2. Buy a new Cricket phone and port your number at the same time. I bought a Windows phone, and the call quality is excellent (Nokia) – but what I’m surprised at is how solid , fast and intuitive the phone and Microsoft software is. It is very user friendly, and is actually more flexible/lenient than Android, and light years ahead of Apple, ie sd cards, putting apps on sd cards.

    3. AT&T is very good, the prices are the best around for 2 people, and their website give you alot of information when you open an account.

    4. You can’t use a po box for either billing or shipping !

    5. Took some patience, but glad I switched.

  16. I’m not sure if anyone has ever dealt with Verizon customer service. I cannot believe that cricket could be any worse. I have had to escalate issues to verizon corporate on numerous occasions because of getting the run around. yes the verizon people are VERY POLITE while they leave you on hold for nearly an hour and endlessly transfer you to people who are useless. I’m getting ready to get rid of verizon because if I can get comparable connection speed why not. I don’t expect good customer service from any of these companies. Customer service is basically a thing of the past.

    1. Hi DJ,

      The poor customer service seems to mostly be concentrated amongst the big service providers like AT&T and Verizon as you’ve mentioned. The thing about Cricket is that they are owned by AT&T so it is not too surprised that they are not very helpful.

      That said, don’t lose complete faith in the industry, there are some small wireless companies that many customers have raved about their stellar customer service. The two the come to mind immediately are Ting and Republic Wireless, might be worth checking out 🙂

  17. I have only been a cricket wireless customer for a little over a month. The service is fine and I bought the grand maxx plus, which is a pretty awesome phone. I have had chats with customer service as well that have went great….until today. You see cricket phones come with the cricket app and I can chat to customer service right on my phone, through like an instant messenger type thing. Anyways, I was asking about my rebate. And was pretty disappointed to hear it takes 3 months , not only that, but I was supposed to mail in a form which no one told me at the store. They didn’t even give me a form. So its 3 months after they receive the form, which I’m sure in about 6 months when I ask them about again they’ll say they never received it. That is the confidence level I have with them. I asked at the store how long it would take and he said about a month. Good lie dude. I’m going back up there today to get everything I need to get my rebate and we’ll see how long it takes to get, if I get it.

    1. Hi Dana,

      That’s the thing about rebates, companies make it extra difficult and cumbersome to receive the rebate, which is why you usually need to fill out a form and mail via snail mail with all kinds of receipts and UPC codes, etc. They count on people not wanting to be bothered or hassled with all that work so that they won’t have to give out the rebate. It’s a sneaky marketing tactic that obviously works for them.

      When you get your rebate form, be sure to read it over a couple of times and follow the instructions to the letter so that they can’t come back and say you did something incorrectly. Also, I’d scan all of the documents that you mail for the rebate and keep a copy on your computer as back-up in case they say it “got lost.”

      Best of luck, hope you get your rebate eventually, if not, let us know so we can raise some hell.

    2. The reason it takes so long to get the rebate is because you have to have service for 60 days to get the rebate. In other words you have to pay twice. Once you’ve fulfilled your end of the bargain (the 60 days), you get your card in the mail.

  18. Really like your site Matt.

    I have been looking into Cricket since the ATT acquisition. I have been with ATT since 1995 (pager days, my first cell phone was in a bag). I reside in a rural location in the Southeast, never any problem with ATT signal and end user service. My beef with ATT is their continuous gouging in the area of billing. I have gone thru the great learning curves of billed texts (10 yrs ago) and for the past 2-3 years with their passion for billing for excess data.

    Had the proverbial “final straw” moment with ATT a couple of days ago. Had an online chat with a rep from Cricket, and thoroughly went through the website. Pretty good site, lots of info there clearly denoting some of the issues that some people are citing, (no P.O. boxes, billing dates, changes, late fees, etc).

    Ordered a Moto E from website ($79.99) and the “Smart Plan” with a request to port in an existing number. Want to field test this service before completely transferring family phones. I have a friend who purchased a Moto X directly from Moto site ($399) and the phone functions beautifully on Cricket.

    I have a theory that the rather expensive prices of smart phones are a product of the tie-ins with manufacturers and the large service providers. One can purchase a 7″ Samsung tab for less than $150 routinely. Compare to the approx. $700 price of the latest Samsung phone. The “great mystery” of the cost of devices has been hidden in the pricing of cellular service. If a significant percentage of the population will purchase their device at the best market price and shop for phone service in the same manner, I feel that we will see the pricing of the devices become radically competitive.

    I will keep you posted on my journey into Cricket!

    1. Hi Dick,

      Thanks for your great response and glad you like the site.

      I too was a long time AT&T customer going back to 1999 when I got my first cell phone and finally ditched them last year to move to Republic Wireless due to the excessive price gouging as you mentioned.

      Fortunately, the industry is becoming much more competitive and I think you will indeed see prices for both service plans and phone prices come down. Heck, just in the last few years we’ve seen significant drops in smartphone prices, my Moto G which is great, only cost around $150 retail and as you mention the Moto E is only $80 bucks which is also a great deal for a very capable device.

      Yes, please keep us posted after you’ve used Cricket for a few months to let us know your opinion on their service 🙂

    2. At&t billing department isn’t good I’ve still yet to get my compensation from them as I paid a friend biLloyd with my credit card advising the agent this was an on time thing.Could express it enough little do you know they processed a payment for him with my card information of 192.00 which I still have received they reapplied it to his account!

  19. I have been with Cricket Wireless for almost a month now and I must say so far so good. I was with Straight Talk for a couple of years and although I never had any real issues with them I decided to move over to Cricket as their service is cheaper.

    As is, both my husband and I are paying $60 a month (taxes included) for both our phones with the Basic plan. Sure it’s only 2.5 GB but considering I’m on WiFi at home and at works it works out fine.

    The only thing I will say is that the customer support there is a bit lacking. However, I was a previous Straight Talk customer and before that AT&T so I know all about lackadaisical customer service reps. Therefore, just keep in mind that the less help you need from customer service the better. As far as the service goes it’s great! Just popped in the Sim and I was good to go. I live in San Francisco and have LTE coverage for my iPhone 6 Plus in most of the city. I think the key point is to do your research before you make the switch.

    Bottom line, if you are considering switching over to Cricket here are a few tips:

    • If you’re porting your current number process the transfer online (it will save you lots of time)
    • If you’re bringing your own phone buy the Sim online as opposed to in-store to save yourself an activation fee
    • Sign up for auto-pay and save $5 off your monthly bill
    • Sign up as a family plan and save an additional $5 off per line
    1. Correction – The family plan starts at $10 off depending on how many lines you have on your account.

    2. Hi Yolee,

      Thanks for letting us know about your experience and the great tips, very helpful!

      I think you make a point in that those people who are more technically inclined and do their research first are less likely to need to contact customer support which seems to big one of the biggest frustrations when people try to sign-up with Cricket.

  20. Matthew, First off I love your reviews! It made make the move to Cricket!

    I did the bring my own phone (Nexus 5) from Straight Talk at $48 plus a month over to Cricket tonight .

    Cricket sent me the Sim card tonight. I got the Cricket online SIM card for .99 cents!

    All I had to do was fill out a form to port my number to Cricket Wireless before I received the sim card

    Then All I had to do when I got the Sim card was to go to Cricket Wireless activate site and just enter my phone number and my order number then… BOOM! All worked in seconds. I checked the speed and it was as good as Straight Talk!

    I’ll get back after I take Cricket for a ride and update. Love $35!!!

    1. Hi John,

      Thanks for commenting, glad you found the reviews helpful. Also, glad to see your transition from Straight Talk was that easy. I just happen to be working on an in-depth review of Straight Talk for the site which I hope to have posted soon – I’d love it if you left your own review once it is published.

  21. Placed order for service and phone with request for number port on Sunday afternoon. Received an email from Cricket on same evening stating that port was successful. UPS delivered phone on Tuesday.

    I am blown away by the Moto E, it was a brand new item (designated 2nd gen) in box with charger and sim card. Activated phone on line per instructions, inserted sim and was amazed. Test calls & texts functioned flawlessly using wifi at residence. Then went on line, this is where I was wowed. Went to Dropbox and pulled up large files instantly, did the Youtube thing and this phone smokes. I have hardwired ISP and our family devices (laptops, tabs, and Samsung phones) will normally speedtest in the 18-24 Mbps download range. The Moto E registered over 41 Mbps on each of 3 tests.

    Have only had the phone for 24 hours, but have had the phone with me during all times and it works better than my S4 with ATT coverage.

    My only negative, as quite a few folks have mentioned previously, there seems to be a glitch in the website regarding the autopay setup. Card info was deemed to be incorrect. Positive that the correct zip code is on my account. Went to chat and agent advised to place card on account via 1-800-Cricket. Processed successfully with same info.

    Our indenture to ATT expires in May and I will give this phone to each family member for evaluation. Plan to arder a Moto E from Republic Wireless and allow each family member to evaluate.

    Initial evaluation of Cricket is quite positive.

    1. Hey Dick,

      Glad to hear the Moto E is working out. If it is anything like the Moto G, which I currently own and love, I think it’ll continue be a great phone.

      That said, I’m jealous of those download speeds. Heck those are faster than my broadband cable connection at home! I assume, those speeds are working over the 4G LTE network which is sweet. Although it’d be interesting to see how the speeds compare when you hit your “high-speed” data limit and it gets throttled down to 3G speeds. Of course, the trick there is to not use so much data you go over that limit.

      There does indeed seem to be a lot of people having trouble with the billing and payment system which has been going on for some time now. You’d think they’d look into this and fix it as I’m sure they’re loosing out on frustrated customers.

      Congrats on freeing yourself from the shackles of an AT&T plan… even though Cricket is still technically AT&T 😉

    2. Matthew,

      I’m 99.9% sure Dick’s phenomenal download speeds are over his home wi-fi . I get about 30 Mbps on my Nokia 635 at home.

      Cricket states they throttle the DL speeds to 7-8 Mbps – that’s why you’re able to get Cricket LTE for such a low monthly price. I’ve tested the dl speeds numerous times over their LTE, yep, 7-8 is the very best you can hope for. But it’s perfectly fine for anything I’ve needed.

      They couldn’t handle the business if they allowed 40Mbps LTE for $35/month. Hope this helps clear things up.

  22. Cricket is horrible to do business with. They were good when I purchased my phone. The got the phone so I could get a rebate smh my daughter had drawn all over the dang thing I have to cut off the box so I called to see if there was anything else I could do and the guy had a attitude as if I asked a dumb question. Ok I bought it online not like I stole it or something. Y the hell can I not get my rebate and I have proof I bought it just not a dumb little piece of the box smh. The same stupid phone I have microphone went out on it so I have to talk on speaker smh. So they want me to send my phone in to get another one but I will not have a phone for 5 days…. I need my phone I’m a bus driver and have to have a phone. No loaner phone or nothing smh. Horrible cheap business. Wish I would of kept Sprint if I wanted to deal with this. I only had the phone 45 damn days

    1. Hi Ellen,

      It sounds like you had some bad luck with your phone and Cricket. First, I’d like to point out that if you did by a phone eligible for a rebate, I believe you are required to replenish your account after 45 days of activation. So while you said you did have the phone for 45 days, it seems like you were trying to get the rebate before then, is that correct?

      The following page on Cricket shows what is required for a rebate. While this is most certainly tedious, it is a pretty standard marketing practice when it comes to rebates, as the whole point is that they anticipate a lot of people not bothering to send in the information.

      That said, it sounds more like you were trying to get a refund (which is different from a rebate) for your phone since the microphone went out. If the phone was defective then you certainly should be able to get either a refund or a replacement. Unfortunately, those things happen with certain devices.

      Unfortunately, Cricket is not known for their good customer service, just the opposite in fact. Perhaps it might be better to focus on switching to a provider with better support/help. Hope that you have better luck moving forward.

  23. Transferred to Cricket from AT&T due to the ridiculous monthly bill of at least 200 and that included a 21% discount. It was an opportunity also for my 19 year old son to get his own line and pay his own bill. He encountered the same issues with the sign up process and had to have his money credited back to his account. However, going into a local store proved to be much easier. We brought our own phones unlocked from ATT, my son and his father’s number were ported and I opted for a new one. Each additional line is 10 less, the pay process is easy. Best economic decision made. Since there is no contract, I don’t see a need to contact customer service but we pay on time or ahead of time so I’m sure that helps.

    1. Hi Latasha,

      Seems like you encountered a common problem people are having with the sign-up process in regards to payment and billing. Fortunately you were able to go to a physical store to straighten it out, but I’d hope they having someone look into their website’s payment processing setup.

      Good to see you are saving a ton of money though, $200 per month is crazy!! Be sure that you look into the automatic payment plan, as that will save you an additional $5 per month, if you haven’t already.

  24. I’ve had cricket for almost 7 months. I initially ported my wife’s number to see if it would work out. I was satisfied based on the price alone as I was paying thru the roof for a family plan with 4 lines on a large carrier. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that I would be eligible to get a $100 credit for switching each line and receive rebates for the phones. I ported the remaining three lines, even considered getting a 5th line for a family member who needed a phone at the time, as it wouldn’t cost anything additional (4 lines $100 same price for 5 lines).
    I read through everything regarding the rebates and although it was a struggle with customer service I finally got all the rebates the last one came in February. I also had a challenge getting all four of the $100 credits for switching. I was told that I was only supposed to receive one and I was lucky that the second was applied but I did not give up. I have to thank my wife she was persistent in calling and following up on getting everything I was promised. Prior to transferring the other lines I asked specifically about the switching credit at cricket stores, in chats, and over the phone. I documented my communications and had transcripts sent to my email. I was burnt by my previous carrier and I would not have it happen again. After paying for my third month of service I received the remaining credits over two months. I got two Nokia Lumia 630 and two HTC Desire 510 (in all $250 in rebates) not terrible phones. I’m really impressed with the camera for the Nokia I tell my wife she has a camera posing as a phone. My only issue with the HTC is how multimedia text messages appear, not seamless as was the case with my iPhone but not a big deal considering the savings.

    I shiver every time I see or hear that commercial about cutting your bill in half. My family members tell me I smile every time I hear the cricket jingle.

    I appreciate your site and the way you try to keep things positive some of the other carriers you mention sound pretty great. I empathize with the folks who have had challenges with cricket and encourage them to be persistent if not with cricket another carrier who works for them. Its worked out for me and I can’t figure out why I didn’t try finding an alternative to the large carriers, Oh…I know why I was locked up in that prison they call CONTRACT with its draconian guards namely exorbitant EARLY TERMINATION FEES.

  25. I heard about Cricket Wireless – great rates and the deciding factor was that I could keep my T-mobil Iphone 5s and switch to Cricket without any hassle. I received the Cricket SIM Card, followed their webpage instructions to switch, to a tee. Well, the Cricket SIM did not work, so I called Cricket, it took 8 minutes to get a representative who than transferred me, and after another 13 minutes I was disconnected. So, I called again, was transferred and again after 9 minutes disconnected. On the third time I was transferred to their tech support without being dropped. The tech tried to help me, she called Apple, they couldn’t help, then she told me to call T-Mobil for an unlock code. She also said I would be without any cell phone service for 4 days. What a bunch of BS especially when Cricket indicated how easy it was to join their network. I said the hell with Cricket, although my T-Mobil account had been cancelled since Cricket now had my account, even though my cell phone could not hook up to their network. I called T-Mobil and they reinstated my account. Furthermore I had already been charged $50.00 on my credit card from Cricket. I called my credit card company to file a dispute, my credit card company had a three-way conversation with me and Cricket billing, they said they would not refund my $50.00 because I was now a customer. After haggling with Cricket my credit card company disputed the charge and credited my credit card. All this on a Monday evening and 4 1/2 hours of my time. It is nice to be back with a reliable network T-Mobil.

  26. Well here is another cricket story.
    i go to an online only promotion were you can get a phone and a advanced 20gig a month plan with a phone for $60 a month.
    well i select a phone and the 20gig advanced plan.
    next i enter step one by creating a new account.
    step 2 is about security and passwords and pin number and such.
    on step 3 you need to enter your credit card address and it has to match your shipping address.
    Well i live in a small town that your only choice to get mail is through a po box because they don’t deliver house to house were i live.
    well apparently if you put
    street address
    po box XXXX
    any city, usa, zip code
    in as current credit card address it rejects it by saying it cant ship to a po box. and if i leave the words po box out it says that it doesn’t match my credit card address.
    i wonder how many people are in the same catch 22 position as me.
    eBay lets me contact the sales person via email to correct the address before its shipped. same with other sales and purchases made over the internet. But it seems cricket wireless is discriminating against people that live in towns that are only serviced by po boxes. so needless to say i didn’t get the 20gig data plan. but cricket is going to probably get a discrimination law suit brought against it if it keeps up its discrimination against po box only people.

    1. Don’t identify it as a P.O. Box. I had my Cricket phone and SIM shipped to my P.O. Box but instead of putting P.O. Box 482 I put #482.

  27. Since at&t took over cricket everything !!SUCKS!!! Customer service is bloody awful n the bridge pay lieniency we used to enjoy is OVER!!! Now they givevu No bridge time n cut unofficial n chatge u more to restart your service!! After my last disgusting experience (which I called them n told them about Everyone with an issue should!!) I’m ABOUT FLIPPING DONE with cricket/ At&t they wont get another dime of mine!!

    1. Hi JF,

      Yes unfortunately customer service has been one of the most complained about issues with Cricket. You’d think they’d work on improving this given all the complaints about them.

      I’m curious what you mean by “bridge pay leniency” and “bridge time”? I’m not familiar with that and just wondering what you mean by it?

      Best of luck in finding another service. Perhaps try something like Ting or Republic Wireless since their customer service is A LOT better.

  28. Finally getting back. After many attempts by Cricket to fix our problems, the signal strength still wasn’t any better. When my wife’s phone started having other problems, we decided to make a switch. We are now with T-Mobile and using LG G3 phones. Much happier (despite the phones being larger). Signal strength is much better.

    1. Hey Rob,

      Sucks that Cricket didn’t end up any better in regards to signal strength but of course that type of thing can be tricky depending on where you live. Glad, that T-Mobile is working out for you, and since T-Mobile has been on fire recently with pushing the competitive landscape of the mobile Industry, you’ll likely get some great deals and save some money.

      I’d love hear about your T-Mobile experience after you’ve used them for a few months.

  29. Been with AT&T MANY years. GoPhone plan was good & will keep 1 phone on it, as it’s used mainly for calls by other family members. Got Cricket HTC phone recently. Sound quality has been very good so far, but that’s mainly in home area. Vacation time will tell. Coverage map shows ‘excellent’, but have had some problems there before. Someone mentioned Cricket hard to get to? Did online chat (connected within 1.5 minutes) & very helpful guy answered my questions quickly & friendly. Like the auto pay discount & the HTC 510 phone, but not crazy about speaker quality. Can’t blame Cricket for that. May update after travels. 1 to 10? so far: 8-9 range.

  30. Before the merger cricket was the number one choice the biggest problem was there customer service some were good and some where very dishonesty as one agent tell you one thing the next changes it and say he doesn’t see it.one actually wrote in his ” customer need to be more responsible” on my act and another agent at the local store read it to me! The issue was the stores system was down I couldn’t make my payment,I was disconnected but that store got me right.cricket is no longer get the way to go.they care nothing about the consumer like the old cricket did

  31. 2 minutes ago
    Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by FierceWireless.
    Discussion on FierceWireless 14 comments
    Cricket’s Van Buskirk: We are prepared to fight for customers
    Donqwell Davis
    Donqwell Davis 2 minutes ago Pending
    this is worst thing to happen! Service is wparse now with at&t whereas before I had service throughout my job building and traveling to S. Now my area has lessened consequently,! The new cricket has taken away all the perks that once helped th customer.They show no appreciation to the customers that has been loyal to cricket over the years. I have been them over 7 years. Aggressive is the right word.The new cricket changed the bridgepay option WITHOUT NOTIFYING THE CUSTOMER apparently the employees as well from what they stated themselves. It now comes across as “planned profit” because to set the bridge pay with the new cricket it is now $20 upfront.whereas before you could text or call customer service set up the arrangement an pay within 24 hour.now the “new cricket you pay when you set up the arrangements if something happens and you don’t make the remainder you now loose that $20 and to reestablish your service you pay your bill amount. For example my bill is $50 I now had to pay the entire 50 the old cricket applied your bridgepay towards your bill.the new cricket really has become strictly and aggressively an prepaid pay as you go provider leaving the established customers feeling un valuable and like S,,t the untold bridgepay change happened with myself and 10 Co workers can you calculate the profit from the very 1st month of the merger alone.imagine if only 2000 customers did that..my friends and I put fourth 20$ on $50 plans at 11 of us.We now feel we wasn’t purposely told.events happen my work ours are 9:30 to 7 pm the Cricket branches here open 10 am until 7pm.sometimes I can make my payment during lunch other than I could miss. Do you think the ” new cricket helps you? No! I’ve even went to make a payment and the store system was down I was held accountable! I don’t like online payments for security reasons. The old cricket would have helped you .As they did with lifeline and text availability if you were disconnected. THE NEW CRICKET AND IT’S AGGRESSIVE WAY TO GET PRO FIS DONT CARE! MYSELF HAS REFERRED SO MANY PEOPLE TO THE “OLD CRICKET” I WOULDN’T DARE NOW! THE COVERAGE AREA AND RECEPTION WAS MUCH BETTER WITHE OLD CRICKET! I TRAVELED BACK ROADS,I TRAVELED TO SC to NY with no problem. Now I can barely get service in my house I actually have my kids room and the kitchen and the South wing at work.I didn’t have this issue before.granted when I came to NC IN 2005 there was coverage issues then they gave you *228 option it worked then they shared a sister tower with Verizon was excellent! Now all I see is at&t circling across the top of my phone! (Looking for service) Sunday there technical problems and phones were unusable if that had been old cricket they would have adjusted your bill for days you didn’t have service. This new cricket The Hell With You and bring on the profits is what their changes are reflecting in the opinion of many.Customers are feeling trapped because they can’t meet the requirements of a contract service provider therefore having no choice but to stay with cricket the new cricket! Soon as I find a new provider I’m out and just like referred many I’m sure many will leave with me. Im upset with the non ethics the company reflects so many people have been loyal customers and now it’s like a broken friendship. The best thing about this merger is the agents are nicer! But the automated personally reflect the rudeness of the new cricket even he is arrogant and rude call 611 or cricket and listen at him.

    1. This is so true. If gary and his donkey see this they will say your review is fake. Then they will name call and beg for moderators to intervene, so please do your best not to hurt Gary’s feelings with your facts because his dad and wife sharon just will not have it.

  32. I’ve been using cricket myself for a while and love it. The only issue I’ve had is occasionally I’ve had people call me and I didn’t receive the call even in network. Also I’ve had had missed MMS messages. I’ve tried using customer service for MMS but they didn’t tell me anything new. I actually enjoy the chat room.

    I just got my wife on and she was out in the Midwest and her phone would have no service but her parents on at&t did have service. Chatted about it and they made a case number and tried blasting signals and other things. If its not reliable its garbage to me. Especially missed calls..all these issues don’t make sense since it uses at&t towers! I came from Verizon which was too pricey

  33. After looking at Cricket Wireless online and the deals it was offering, I purchased five phones with 4 of them being the MOTO G’s at the local Cricket Wireless, plus a Sonata ZTE, adding each one to group save. My cell phone bill for 5 phones with 2.5GB each is only $100.00 per month (using Cricket’s group save). Prior to my switching to Cricket Wireless, I had 2 phones from StraightTalk paying $100.00 a month. The Cricket Wireless deal enabled us to get both our teens their own phones, as well as one for me and my partner.

    We use the Sonata ZTE as the new home phone replacing the cable phone that cost us $39.95 per month on its on. When we purchased the phones, our local store gave us the forms for the $75 rebate on the MOTO G’s and once we sent them in, we received 4 Prepaid Visa cards less than a month later for a total of $300.00, (which made the MOTO G’s about $25.00 each). We knew the $75.00 rebate deal we were getting for the MOTO G’s and is why we selected them. So far, we couldn’t be happier with Cricket Wireless.

  34. I never received anything saying I would have to purchase a new phone prior to the merger….I went into the store to pay my bill and was informed I had to purchase a new phone that day or I would be without service. $200 later, with 2 sales people working & no one else in the store….I had to practically threaten to leave with my old phone so I could download my contacts onto my computer for transfer…(I didn’t have a Bluetooth w/me) After they spoke with each other for a few more minutes ignoring me, one one them finally helped me transfer them. I was so upset….due to the unexpected $200 I was having to spend, being treated so badly & just getting frustrated in general I did not even think about my documents or my personal pics on my old phone….of course the sales person did not offer any reminder or help and I remembered them after I got home….way too late …all that information was lost due to horrible customer service. I even found out my phone hadn’t been programmed….I had to call the Cricket # & have the service rep walk me thru all kinds of steps to finish setting up the phone to connect to the internet, etc.
    Lastly, this Grand Max X + phone that I had to buy has to be the worst phone I have ever had in my life. It locks up, says I have no memory, kicks me out of everything, will not send emails…etc, etc. I am so tired of fighting this thing I actually thinking of just changing service providers. I’m not a happy person! If they cared about their customers they would make it right with them it seems like.

  35. So far so good with cricket wireless. I am here because I am trying to find out how cricket can stay so competitive with other companies. I am wondering if not providing 411 service has anything to do with it. I figure 411 is a 24 hour service that would cost the company. Although, wait…doesn’t AT&T offer 411? Well I can manage with all the apps to help me. Hmph, that means 411 might just become obsolete if not already.

    1. Hi Jumby,

      Honestly, I have not used 411 in over 10 years nor do I know anyone who does. And with most smart phones having access to the Internet with all the information you could need, it does seem like the 411 service is becoming obsolete in my opinion and would make sense to me if a provider dropped it in order to cut costs.

  36. Why do I get text that states I have to upgrade or get my service cut off. That would not be honest.

    1. Hi Jane,

      I’m not familiar those texts so it’s hard to tell without any further details. Which plan are you currently on now?

  37. I was with AT&T since 1996. I love their service, but plans were too expensive. I bought an unlocked Moto X from swappa.com, got Cricket service, and ported my number over from my old AT&T phone. I signed up online as well as got the SIM ordered online for $0.99. I registered to port my old number during signup also. The day the sim arrived, I activated it online. It said it successfully ported my old phone number. I popped the sim into my new moto x and within a couple hours everything transferred over.

    The only issue I had is that I got a text from cricket saying it pushed updates and even though I installed them, I couldn’t get MMS messages. I may have done something wrong, but I don’t know that for sure.

    I found this page online for APN settings.
    https://www.cricketwireless.com/support/apps-and-services/bring-your-own-device-byod/customer/bring-your-own-android.html

    I knew that AIO wireless got bought out by cricket which in turn got bought out by AT&T. Anyhow these settings work. You just need to change aiowireless.net to cricketwireless.net

    Anyhow, after updating my APN settings, all sevices are now working fine. I’m loving the service so far and $35/month is saving me almost $200/year. I’m glad i made the switch, although I haven’t had to deal with customer service so far.

  38. I have a verizon lg g3 phone unlocked I decided to change my services from verizon to cricket wireless I had only cricket wireless service for 6 days I couldn’t not received or sent text messages with pictures most of the time my phone never ring it called everyday customer services and the problem never was fixed they keep telling me to go to the apn every time I called it was just aggravation spoke with supervisor he told me to go get a new sin card went back to the store the lady had a bad attitude she tells me the phone I had I would probably not work the way it supposed too so I ask for a refund she said she could because she didnt work for cricket wireless she was only a sales person i said so why is your store have the cricket wireless name she said my boss pays me she is getting paid tru cricket wireless not me so I said why didn’t u tell me before I spend almost 80 dollars 50 for service 25 dollar fee and 99 cents for the card and tax I left so mad called customer service again to speak with a supervisor again I told him the problems I has having i want it refund he said are pollacy we can’t refund money so I got stuck paying all the money and the phone didn’t work the way supposed too and had to pay 60 dollars to have my verizon services back

    1. Even though your Verizon LG G3 is unlocked, it only supports one of the three LTE bands that Cricket supports. That will explain your problems.

  39. I wanted to be a Cricket customer so I went online and ordered a new Samsung Galaxy phone, the basic service plan and requested to transfer my existing number. I received my Cricket Confirmation Order email the same day, on May 5, 2015. My credit card also showed the Cricket charge the same day.

    Since then, I’ve received nothing from Cricket. Customer service tells me 1) the order is ‘in progress’, and/or 2) they can’t find the order number, and/or 3) the order was cancelled, but not why or when. After numerous hours of phone calls with customer service and no resolution, I decided to let the bank get my money back.

    At least my good old ‘dumb’ phone still works.

    1. Same thing happened to me. Credit card is now disputing the charges. Should have read the reviews first. Not worth four hours of my time .

  40. Our son was ready for another two-year renewal on AT&T so we took him OFF our family plan. Instead, we gave him a used phone and set up an account at CRICKET for 2.5GB data (plus unlimited talk and text). It’s been working for two months with no complaints from him. (I don’t use that phone personally.)/// My only dismay is that there is no itemized billing to see call details, and customer service is questionable. Fortunately, we have not hit any challenges with them. Yet.

  41. Horrible experience with Cricket support staff, along with their alleged computer having no record of my transaction even though I still have invoice that came with alleged free lumia 635 smartphone. Talked to three support personnel with all 3 saying simply to process a NEW ORDER, paying out MORE MONEY. Last one’s English so bad I just gave up. Hope CEO of Cricket has a flat tire near me some time so he learns his time and money no more valuable than mine. Signed up with AT&T $45 plan with speed 4g and 1.5 rollover one month data. Even understand operators when I call in, very infrequently now. rgl. ps. stuck with bill with cricket so dispute time. Try to get some media coverage with small claims court..

  42. I had also spent literally 8 hours trying to transfer my Iphone to Crickets network. Followed their instructions with their SIM Card, didn’t work. Called their “customer service” 4 times, was disconnected 3 times while they transferred me to their Tech support. It never worked. I had already cancelled my T-Mobile account to Cricket, had to go back to T-Mobil (they were great), and told Cricket to stick it. They billed me for – get this – the first month of service when I never good hook up to their network. I had to argue with them, and so glad that my Capital One Credit Card dispute individual got on a 3 way conversation with Cricket and told them they aren’t getting a penny from me.
    Cricket sucks, AT&T should be ashamed of their subsidiary.

  43. I am so tempted to get Cricket for price alone. All of the hassles with customer service however give me pause… It seems as if those with good comments have made the hurdle and have working service. I would sure like to see more positive comments! 🙂

    1. I have 2 lines with Cricket and am extremely happy. My Nokia Windows phone is fast, and the call quality is as good as a land line. Some people who are unhappy with Cricket have a lousy phone. The service is through AT&T, so if you used Net10 or even AT&T, and were happy, then with Cricket you’ll be even happier because of the $$ saved.

      If you get a bad customer service rep, hang up and call until you get a good one. Here’s the trick:

      TRANSFER YOUR NUMBER AS YOU SIGN UP WITH CRICKET. Don’t do it later, that will take forever and you WILL have bad customer service.

      Buy a Nokia phone (free with rebate), transfer your number at sign up. NO PROBLEMS.

      Like your gsm phone ? Keep it. But try a free Nokia, because they are rock solid and have a great call quality. Then you’ll know how good Cricket can be.

      Then take the Cricket sim out of the Nokia and put it in your old phone. If your phone sounds terrible, or drops calls, guess what, it’s your crappy phone !

      The newer phones have all the frequencies built in to take advantage of all of AT&T’s bands. You’ll get the best AT&T has to offer. So keep up to date on your phone.

      WHY WINDOWS ? Because Windows phones keep updating the software ! How many of us have Android phones and can’t upgrade ? ME TOO ! My great HTC is on version 2.2 and Android is way past version 4. Talk about planned obsolescence ! Microsoft is now upgrading every platform, phones, laptops, desktops FREE from now on. Your Windows phone will never be out of date.

      Hey, it’s fun learning something new. I have an Ipad, Android, and now Windows phone – it’s fun. And I can tell you, Windows phones are extremely fast, they boot up in seconds, not minutes. And all the major apps are available. And you can find similar replacements for the minor apps.

      Bottom line, we’re glad we switched to Cricket. Sign up properly, get a good phone, and you’ll never have to bother with customer service. One last thing – sign up for automatic bill pay – that will assure you never have to talk with any one at Cricket.

    2. I am a legacy cricket lifeline customer for 5-6 years and I looked cricket never any problems till had to migrate my Samsung galaxy s4 smartphone which wasn’t a year old on 2-24-2015. They didn’t look at my phone was suppose to change my old account to the new on and pull all my information my handset insurance everything which went from 10.00 to 7.00 because no lifeline for low income anymore. They didn’t after this they put a new sim card in and my old sim said 4G LTE and I was getting that on my old phone so the sim card didn’t work which they scratch it dropped it so said my s4 wasn’t compatible I told them that they needed to try another sim card because they damaged that one refused to insteaded that my s4 wasn’t compatible so they said give you a good deal sell you another s4 for 120.00 a demo without the plug in charger sold me all they had a universal charger for the cigarette lighter in my truck to charge my new demo Samsung galaxy s4 smartphone with needless to say it hasn’t doesn’t work don’t get all my text or calls freezes up changes features sound doesn’t work paid 166.00 I am disabled they refuse to help corporate said go back to the store in Houston tx I did the mgr. Would not fix it because his employees made the mess up went back and they don’t work there any more. So cricket sucks. I wrote Consumer affairs never thought they would publish my compaint for every one to see but they did it is on the media for the public to read and I named the store and the employees names the address and phone number. Thank you cricket for nothing. You still haven’t helped me I’m not going to stop till I get a free phone that works I am going to ask Emily Akins for advice in Houston Tx maybe it will make the news.

    3. Cricket is amazing!! I have had them for 3 months now and I came from Verizon to save money. Absolutely nothing negative to say about Verizon just that they are expensive. I tested the Cricket network for a month alongside Verizon before I ported my number and I was very pleased so I made the switch. I bought an unlocked AT&T branded Samsung Galaxy Note 3 from Ebay and put my Cricket SIM card in. Had to enter the APN settings manually. Here they are:

      Name: Internet
      APN: ndo
      Proxy: Not Set
      Username: Not Set
      Password: Not Set
      Server: Not Set
      MMSC: http://mmsc.aiowireless.net
      MMS Proxy: proxy.aiowireless.net
      MMS Port: 80
      MCC: 310
      MNC: 150
      Authentication Type: Not Set
      APN Type: default,mms,fota,hipri,supl
      APN Protocol: Ipv4
      APN Roaming Protocol: Ipv4
      Faded Out: APN Enable/Disable: APN Enabled
      Bearer: Unspecified
      MVNO Type: None
      MVNO Value: Not Set

      Love Cricket and went from paying $128/month with Verizon to $45/month with Cricket and the only difference I have noticed is speed. Cricket limits download speeds to a maximum of 8mbps whereas with Verizon I was getting an average of 40-45 mbps download speeds. My speeds with Cricket have still been plenty fast for my needs though.

  44. Have you called customer service or chat online with them? I heard it’s better to do the chat. We are still extremely happy with our service of phones ( 4 Moto G’s and 1 Sonata ZTE all on group save.) Can’t beat $100.00 per month.

  45. I have had Cricket Wireless service since December 2014 and it has been wonderful for me. I bought the iPhone 5s – a bit pricey at about $760 (all inclusive) when I bought it – but worth it if you truly want the phone. This is my first smartphone and I am glad I made this choice! I went into another carrier’s retail store several times before purchasing the phone online through the Cricket website to compare phone models – both Apple and Android. I had considered getting a Samsung Galaxy, but found it too big and bulky for me to hold. If you want to use your phone to take stunning pictures or take/watch videos, or to read, Samsung may be your better choice. Otherwise, I find the iPhone to be superior. It has a vibrant screen, slim frame (great for if you have smaller hands), takes great-looking pictures if you’re not trying to be a professional, and has so many features to explore. I was worried the 16GB version (the only one offered through the Cricket website at the time I bought it) wouldn’t have enough storage space, but after loading the few apps I wanted (Facebook, Twitter, games, etc.) I still have tons of storage left for photos, videos, and more apps. The battery does tend to drain quickly if you use it a lot, but in “standby mode” (you are not using it to actively text, call, use apps, etc.) the battery stays pretty full, and it recharges fairly quickly. As stated before, I am so happy I got the iPhone 5s!

    As for the Cricket service, I am glad that I switched. At $60 per month for unlimited talk/text and 10GB of data (which is a lot for just one person) it is a great deal. The 4G and cell service is a bit dependent on where you are at the moment, but that’s true with any service, whether smaller like Cricket or big like Verizon. I’ve noticed that 4G and cell service can be low or non-existent in large, multi-story buildings (such as a hospital) but works perfectly in single-story buildings (like a house or a store), and especially well outside. In the Inland Empire area of Southern California, the cell service through Cricket is much stronger than the service I got through Sprint for 2 years with my old phone.

    Be sure to keep track online of how much data you are using each month (if you are one of those people that streams videos and does a lot of other data-sucking activities on your phone), and turn on the auto-pay option. Cricket does not send you a monthly bill, so either check your account regularly to know when you need to pay, or just turn on that auto-pay option to not need to worry about it (Cricket sends you a text message letting you know what day the money will be taken from the account you’re using to pay).

    I have never needed to use the Cricket customer service (which is great!) so I would not be able to provide a comment on that aspect of the service.

    Since getting Cricket Wireless, I have not had any issues with the service.

  46. I have been using Cricket Wireless for about a month and a half now. At first i could notice the difference of coverage between my old carrier (T-mobile) and current carrier (Cricket), but now Cricket is slower internet wise and also when making a phone call. At first i thought is was my APN settings but after checking them twice that doesn’t seem to be the problem. After this month i am switching carriers once again.

  47. Cricket wireless is the worst. Customer service is a joke. No help. Puts you on hold only to drop your call after holding well over 40 minutes. I went to pay my bill online and site was down so I called to pay. This resulted in them taking 180$ out plus trying to take $180 4 more times. Done a three way call with my bank with them explaining what happened and still they said it wasn’t cricketts fault even though they had my money and wanted me to pay more. Even my bank got frustrated with the idiots. And yes this was a suupervisor I was speaking with. No-one needs this crap.

  48. I had the same problem with Cricket’s “Customer Service”. I could not get my Iphone to connect to their network even though I followed their online instructions, and after three dropped calls to them finally got a live person. I immediately went back to T-Mobil and Cricket charged my credit card. It took a three way conversation with my credit card company and a “stupidvisor” from Cricket who argued that they were entitled to one month of service. The charge was a write off, but the experience with these idiots is a lasting reminder of how corrupt Cricket is.

    1. they r the worst.their service is very shitty & every month they try ripping off my data by not resetting it when i pay my bill then when u call the automated piece of shit runs u around then hangs up before u even speak to an idiot agent.after this billing cycle is over im leaving this shit hole of a company.
      if i could hack,id shut these bastards down

  49. I have been with Cricket for 5 years I have had the best service up until they switched to at&t. I have been getting dropped calls right now I’m unable to dial or get phone calls. I have a motox second generation which I was forced to buy because of the switch prior to this phone I had HTC I loved it absolutely no problems and never dropped a call. If you are considering Cricket reconsider AT&t has made it sucky. By the way Cricket and most wireless companies have horrible customer service. Don’t sign up for Cricket or buy a Motorola phone

    1. Cricket used different bandwidths and their towers may have been closer to you. Go to a website that shows which carrier will give you the best signal. If AT&T didn’t work for you, maybe Verizon or Sprint will give you better reception.

  50. Two months into service and I cannot get my voicemails. I tried resetting my pin twice and no luck. Every time I call the voicemail it says the pin is incorrect. Even the reset pin from cricket would not work. Very frustrating and moving on to another carrier. 10 years on ATT with never an issue. Even the mobile app to listen to voicemails didn’t work. While listening to a call and my hands no where near the device the app deleted the message before it finished playing it for me. Just an FYI for the experiences I have had with Cricket.

  51. All these negative reports of Cricket (I too was a victim of their shoddy service, lies, hangup calls, rude employees, and lack of tech support) treating their customers badly just shows that I wasn’t the only one. Their cutesy little ad on TV and the Internet are so phony that word should get out that Cricket is not a good option for cell service.

  52. I just signed up today to run Cricket along side Sprint and I am glad I found this site as I too was promised a rebate on the $50 phone and I see here that you have to port your number to get the rebate. I will be Returning the phone and will probably get hit with the restock fee. I am disappointed. I might add that the staff is a little on the scary side…

  53. Hyperlink? I was in the store. The form was provided to me by a Cricket employee thus I trusted that ut was a qualified rebate. A similar situation happened with Sprint then they deny you in the wrong plan, when THEIR employee not only provides the form but fills it out. After contacting the attorney general we got out rebate. And to claify I do not wine, I simply shared my experience. Initially I thought this website was helpful but you sir are well……you are not a very kind individual to say the least .

  54. Matthew – it isn’t nice to give a negative comment to a Cricket customer who wasn’t happy. If you need to be critical why don’t you expand your energy and suggest how to correct the problem. So stop your freaking negative comment to a customer, I suppose you are some freaking expert in all the matters, that you never made an error, or forgot something.

    1. Hi Don,

      I’m not sure why you’re accusing me of being negative to you. If you look back at the comments made by me, they are all positive and constructive. Perhaps you are confusing me with other commenters? The comments that are mine both display my name and picture similar to this one.

      There have been a large amount of comments on the site in the last several days and haven’t had time to go through them all yet, so I’ll be sure to go back and see if I can provide help with your issue. Although, please keep in mind I am not associated with Cricket or any company for that matter, I just write reviews and articles, and try to help people the best I can.

      Matthew

  55. My son has been on Cricket Wireless with a used phone for 3 months now. No complaints yet. I mean, there is no bill detail and the taxes are included in the price, so there is not much to look at. Apparently the phone works fine so far.

  56. Cricket wireless is the biggest waste of money and time I wish I could inform everyone on how bad the customer service is and how they. Will lie to someone until they commit to their plans before they stab them in the back. I switched to cricket wireless with my family because I was informed that we would all have new phones and unlimited data for a lower price than Verizon but guess what…. I got screwed. Multiple people in my family can’t receive phone calls only voicemails, it forced me to change to a new phone number when they promised I could keep my old one, and when I do call someone it takes more than two minutes to hang up. So overall don’t listen to Mathew who is here to make a bad situation seem better than it is and who lies to people for his career. Stick with whatever phone company you have and never consider cricket wireless.

  57. I have been considering whether to change my wireless service to Cricket for awhile now. Tonight I came onto this sight to read other peoples opinions about Cricket. I read all of the reviews here from start to finish and found almost all of them to be very interesting, both the good ones and the bad ones. Matthew, I think you have done a wonderful job of remaining impartial while responding to the many personal opinions of others. At no time did I feel that you were discouraging or encouraging a person from trying Cricket. Great job! What really does concern me is the mean comments being said when a person doesn’t agree with another. I kinda thought the purpose of these reviews was so someone could give their opinion… bad or good. To respond to a persons reviews with condescending or belittling comments is unnecessary and disrespectful. Everyone has a right to their own opinion without being put down because of it. IMHO. Oh, and if you are wondering why you are responding it probably means you shouldn’t be. Again, IMHO.

    1. Hi Desiree,

      Thank you for the thoughtful comment. You are right, the whole purpose of this place is so that people can leave their opinions/reviews/ask questions on various different services… and yes, they should be able to do that without being personally attacked or insulted by others.

      I probably should have been paying more attention to the comments over the last several weeks, but moving forward I will be initiating a new comment policy in which ad hominem/personal attacks/insults will not be tolerated. The comments section here should be constructive and helpful and that was my intent in creating this website in the first place. In addition, I will be going back and deleting the offending comments.

      I stand by the mantra of the two wise philosophers Bill & Ted – Be Excellent To Each Other 🙂

  58. Hi Desiree,

    Here is what I know thus far about Cricket – I went in to get information as I wanted to have their service for 30 days to run it aside Sprint. They have a $50 phone – by ZTE which I purchased along with paying for the month in advance. I have to tell you this is an awesome little cell phone – it has space for a san disk, it utilizes Google, battery life is pretty impressive and it has 8G internal memory. At this location there is a rebate for this phone IF you port over your number.

    Signal wise, where I have no signal bars at all – the Cricket phone will have 2 or 3. I think I will be paying to break my Sprint contract and stick to the Cricket Phone. Let me know if I can help more.

    Laurie

    1. Hi Laurie, Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me. You have also really helped me out with another issue I was considering and that was whether to purchase the ZTE phone or not. I have two young teens and will be purchasing their first smartphones. From what I have read about this phone it sounds like it would be a great phone for them especially with the price and that it has the Dragontrail glass. I have worried though that maybe it sounded a little too good to be true. I am very happy to hear that you have been happy with the phone and the service. I believe I am going to start out by purchasing one phone first and seeing how the service works in my area. If all goes well I will purchase the other three lines I need. Really hope it does work out, the price for 4 phone lines with Cricket is the the best I have seen. Thank you again and I hope your service continues to work out for you. If you have any further updates please let me know

  59. Im glad to see some are having luck with crickett. Unfortanetly, I can’t say I would ever recommend crickett to anyone. My 2 biggest concerns are as follows:

    $25.00 to activate $10.00 for sim and $40.00 for plan or $15.00 to activate $10.00 for sim $50 or $60 for plan, ALL STILL MORE EXPENSIVE THAN STRAIGHTTALK BYOP about $60.00 for six sim cards and $45.00 phone card unlimited everything 3gb highspeed included. All activation is FREE so for $60 you could convert about six phones as they do say you can share, they include every type uou could need as they accept many phones, and have one month already paid for

    Customer service greatly depends on who you get that day. The best one i had knew i was switching carriers and gladly and politely gave me the unlock code to do so. However the majority do tend to act like they do not want your service and all seem to have differemt stories. Ask the same question to 3 different people and get a diierent answer eveeytime. You may have that anywhere but at least other places tend to act more like they want you as a customer.

    That being said it could be the right choice for some as mentioned in previous comments, but I urge anyone considering to look into some other companies first or at the very least know before hand what you may/will probably deal with.

  60. Went into a local store to talk to a rep. after doing much research on Cricket…….. I was amazed at how clueless the instore rep was……. telling me incorrect information that was right there on the website…. when I called it to the attention of the rep, they had to go to their own website to verify my info. When they discovered I was correct I was told, “Oh, they must have JUST changed that!”………………….. I guess “just changed” in their book means within the last 10 days since I’d been doing my research at least 10 days……… the difference in what I was being told and what the website was telling me added up to over $200 in costs……………. I knew right away this rep was trying to scam me, and pocket the difference…… I said bye, walked out of the store, and DO NOT want to do business with an organization that has reps that do these kind of things.

  61. You guys have the worst costumer service ever! Today i talked to a supervisor who would not let me talk, and i even stated that she had cut me off and was talking over me and she said yes that’s what i do. What kind of supervisor/manager is that? That showed me her lack of having professional people skills! All i was trying to do was ask of my phone could be turned back on because they shut it off on the wrong date and they wpuld not help me out for 2 days. What kind of professional people do you have working for guys who admit that they will yell and cut people off in mid conversation, just rude and unprofessional and uncurdious! You guys say your willing to work with your customers well here’s an example of not working with a customer for just 2 days. Some people shouldn’t be allowed to work in customer service!!! You guys should test your employees for communication skills

    1. Hi Robby, I think the way you were treated was awful and I know if it was me I would be furious. I really do think you should let Cricket know how you were treated which is why I am responding to your post. This site is not associated with Cricket. It is The Frugal Caller, a place where people can leave their comments/reviews on various wireless services. I just wanted you to know because I believe you should let someone at Cricket know of your experience but leaving your comments here will not solve that.

  62. Tracfone internet is absolutely painful. I have a new Moto E Tracfone and in Atlanta, it uses Verizon – great, huh ? Well, the calls drop and clarity is sketchy – but that’s not unusual, just depends where the towers are. AT&T (Cricket) for me, sounds like a land line using a Nokia 635.

    NOW FOR THE GOOD PART. If you buy a Tracfone that uses Verizon, you will get absolutely painful, dial-up speeds. I couldn’t believe my Speedtest.net speeds. .3mbps, .5mpbs NEVER approached even 1mbps. It’s more like kbps. A 4mb file will take 3 minutes! to download. A 40 mb app – over 30 minutes !

    This is consistent across the country. Verizon’s 3g speeds are the lowest of all the carriers I have just learned.

    SO, if you want to use the data you’re buying with Tracfone, good luck. I have 1gb of data, and it will take over a month to be able to use it.

    NOW, Cricket is lightning quick. I get 7mbps. I can download a 20mb app in ten seconds. Tracfone, over 20 minutes !

    I have both, I’m dropping Tracfone, which I hoped would be great, that’s why I bought a new MOTO e, hoping an upgraded phone would help.

    Maybe you’ll have better luck.

    I love Cricket ! Cheap, fast, incredible call quality. what else do you want ?

  63. I agree with letting Cricket know. I believe if they had more qualified employees they would have more customers. I received a rebate form for something I didn’t qualify for and when I realized it I called them on it. All he could come back with was he didn’t charge me for a sim card that he could have…whoop $10 for me…No sense of customer service. I think they should have a dress policy was well so at the very least they appear to be professional. After all they reflect AT&T…

  64. Be sure to check the fine print at the bottom of the rebate form. I too was provided a form but once I got home, it stated you have to port your number to qualify…they shouldn’t offer the form to those that do not qualify.

  65. Worst Company Ever!!! I called Cricket and the told me I would not have any problems with reception! After buying a Nokia 635 with the promise I would get a Visa Card for $75. After calling many times over 3 months for rebate I was told, I would not receive my rebate, because it expired! Customer Service was one of the worst I’d ever seen! Could not understand them and on hold for 30-40 minutes every time. I had one Customer Service person actually told me all the other Cricket personnel had Lied to me on purpose??

  66. My current provider is Sprint. I’ve been shopping around for a new provider and found Cricket as my #1 choice to go to. I live in SW Florida and have been advised by others that AT&T signal strength is probably the best in this area. Since Sprint cannot compete with Cricket pricing I believe I will switch. Unfortunately, I must buy a new phone as AT&T and sprint use different signals. Up until now, I was 100% on Cricket. I’ve read some of the comments and it seems that 85% of the problems with Cricket is with Cust Serv. Before I switch to Cricket, is just Serv support the only thing I need to worry about. I checked and found that the nearest AT&T tower is 2 miles from my home. When balancing pros and cons, I found this to be a plus pro. What do you think ?

  67. If you know a neighbor, ask what service they use, if have, and like AT&T, then go to Cricket. But let me share some advice.

    The easy way: Order your phone and port your number online, at the same time ! Do NOT try and port your number later – it is hell. That’s where I went wrong. I ordered a new phone (Nokia 635), service and put in an order to port my wife’s number all at once and it arrived overnight, and one automated call and she was up and running.

    You can also do this at a Cricket store as well. Buy a phone, sign up, and port, all at once, at the store.

    Phones ? I’ve been Android for years, but am very, very pleased with the Windows phone. Nokia 635 is absolutely the best call quality I’ve ever had. NOKIA is known for call quality and superb construction. If you want to stick with Android, a Motorola might be your best bet. I got my Nokia free with rebate, so I had nothing to lose, and am extremely happy. All the major apps are in the Windows store, and any you can’t find, there’s a quality substitute. And Windows is fast. Doesn’t hurt to learn something new . And remember, Cricket uses a sim card, so you can put it in any gsm phone later on, you’re not stuck to that one phone.

    Hope this has helped. Will be happy to answer any other questions.

    1. Thanks Gary ! Very Helpful info. I have to purchase a new phone. Sprint uses a CMDA signal. Cricket, CMS. I have a Samsung Galaxy. I’m thinking about a Samsung S4 for $250.00 thru Cricket. There are other choices I can make and would appreciate any input on phones. I talk and text from 15 to 30 mins a day. My current usage is about 1 GB. As well, when transferring to Cricket what do I need to know to make the transition as easy as possible ?

  68. I am also with Sprint and moving to Cricket. I purchased the ZTE Overature. Nice little smart phone (android) that utilizes Google and has a place for a micro disk. The signal is double that if Sprint and Sprint is my closest tower where I live in Houston. Someone gave me an IPhone 5 which I have put in Cricket and i am sending the little ZTE to my Mom. I have had no issues with signal, texts, ir email. I think i am going to stick to Cricket. So far so good.

  69. Those of you complaining about Cricket is hilarious. Cricket is a PREPAID service not a contract. You pay for a cellular service and that’s it. If you want to call a customer service number and have someone sweet talk to so you can feel better than go to a contracted service where you’re getting price gouged for similar service with any other company. Cricket works just fine, however, the problem lies with the mindset of customers today and that Burger King mindset most have “I want it my way”. If you don’t want Cricket service noone is forcing you to save money. Verizon, for example, you typically pay around $160 for 2 phone plans that share data. God forbid you go over because that’s $1 a min if you go over on data. You pay (at the most) $111 for 2 at Cricket. Most of the complaints on here.. wow.

  70. I think you mean GSM (v CMS?).

    Samsung S4? Those are excellent phones. The only consideration is the Android JellyBean. Starting with that version, you won’t be able to install your apps on an sd-card, they’re all installed in internal memory. If you use a ton of apps, you may want a Windows phone, there’s no limitations there. But if you don’t use many apps, or an average amount, I think the 16gb the S4 comes with should be fine.

    You may want to go to phonearena dot com and get an in depth review of any GSM phone you consider.

    I’ve had Android for years and years, but went with Nokia (call quality) and Windows 8.1. Why Windows? Because Microsoft keeps Windows up to date, so your phone is as new a year from now as when you bought it. With Android, the version you get is what you’re stuck with for the life of the phone. I have a great HTC phone, but with v 2xx Android, a lot of the new apps won’t run on the old versions of Android.

    So if you keep your phones a long time, just be aware there’ll come a time your Android is still usable, but it’s out of date. With Windows, you’ll always have the latest operating system and compatible apps.

    And yes, get everything through Cricket, buy your new phone and port your old number at the same time. At a good Cricket store, they can do that very quickly. May take a day or 2 longer via the internet, but it works just as well.

    1. Thanks again Gary for the great info. However, I am now looking into a Moto X for $299. thru Motorola. Cricket doesn’t carry the Moto X. It does carry the Moto E. I plan on switching to Cricket but have not decided on phone. I did read some cons on-line on the Microsoft phones. I like the reviews on the Moto X thru Motorola. It comes with a T-Mobile Sim card but states the phone is compatible with AT&T networks. I have a Cricket store nearby and am hopeful the transition from Sprint to Cricket is uneventful. Any thoughts ?

    2. I have researched the Moto X thru EBAY and Amazon and found customer responses stating they paid for a new phone but found it was used. Is there a seller on EBAY or Amazon that can be trusted when the phone is labeled new ? Don’t want to take a chance on-line. Will probably go with Motorola on line to guarantee a new phone is received on order.

  71. I currently have StraightTalk but am looking to switch to a different phone provider due to having numerous service connectivity issues. As a college student paying my own way, I need a phone provider that is cheap yet reliable, in terms of service connectivity, and Cricket seems to fit the bill! I found this review and comments to be extremely helpful in my decision-making process and as of today, I will be purchasing the $50 Smart plan and either the Nokia Lumia 640, or Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime (I can’t seem to decide on one just yet!). I will be sure to come back with an update once I start the service!

  72. I think you’re making a wise choice going with Cricket. You may want to double check if you really need 5gb of data. If you use wifi a lot, you’ll use very little over the air data. For $35/mo , 2.5 gb usually is about 5 times what I actually use. If there’s any way to find out your previous monthly data averages, then you’ll know for sure.

    The biggest difference in the 2 phones you’re looking at, is that the Nokia doesn’t have a front camera, so if Skyping is of importance, then Samsung’s the way to go. Nokia has the best call quality out there, and the micro-sd capability is twice the amount Samsung can handle. I’ve enjoyed the freshness of a Windows phone, but Samsung/Android is a powerful combo.

    The phones are very similar, so it mainly depends on how many apps you use, and if you’re stuck on Android. Hope this helps.

  73. I had been a Virgin Mobile customer the last three years and customer service there has ALWAYS been horrible. Lately I have had no service inside my house and calls wouldn’t come through but I’d get voicemail alerts even though my phone hadn’t rang. I think Virgin Mobile is going out of business soon anyways judging by the fact that there are no new phones on their website and the Iphones and Galaxys have been pulled. I know AT&T has more towers than Sprint so I went to a Cricket store a few days ago. I got the Samsung Galaxy Prime which was only $99 if you switched your number to Cricket instead of $179.99. I did pay a $25 activation fee but no charge for the SIM card. The Galaxy Prime is a mid range phone but I didn’t want to invest all the money in an S6 until I knew how service would be for awhile. For $99 it does have a 5 inch screen and is on the list to be upgraded to Lollipop within the next few months so I’m satisfied. I do have 4 bars in my house while Virgin Mobile would barely have 1. Fingers crossed.

  74. Customer Service is the worst, still. I was with Cricket for 15 years and went elsewhere. They have so many divisions, you got cricket online, old cricket, new cricket, in-store cricket. Online Cricket was very unaccommodating when I called to activate new phone and broke screen when trying to open it. They said not covered by warranty and I also lose my $40 a month service fee since I wasn’t equipped to pull out more money for a new phone. I’m a single parent and I live paycheck to paycheck so it really hurt me financially, as I got the phone to become a Uber driver as second job. As “unfortunate” as it was that it was an accident, I still don’t see why I had to activate my phone to see if it worked even though screen was cracked(which it did not acknowledge touch screen)and lose that money as well. It took 2 hours of them hanging up on me, or losing signal, while I redialed over and over trying to resolve the situation. The last associate I talked to decided to take it upon herself to ignore my supervisor requests and cut off my service with no charge back to my card and hang up on me. Very Rude and robbed me pretty much. System under maintenance kept me from finding out where they were with my dispute. Will never use online again. BEWARE!

  75. I just bought a tracfone moto e from shopcelldeals on ebay. I’ve bought other cellphones, came new as advertised, no problems.

  76. Purchased and paid in full for a new phone and plan online. Chose the Basic plan and a decent phone. After it arrived was unable to activate because “There is a balance on your account. Please log in or register to learn more and pay your balance so we can get your new device activated”. I tried to log in using my credentials, but received another wonderful error message – ” You can’t log into My Account because your phone is not activated yet.”
    Apparently Cricket decided to create a loop of login errors — you have to log in to fix/see the problem, but you can’t log in until you fix the problem.
    Since I had just purchased the phone and paid in full I had assumed this was a mistake and that it would be easily fixed by a competent Cricket representative — but I was very wrong. After contacting customer service I was told there was no balance but they couldn’t fix it. I was told I would have to visit a Cricket store to have them fix it the error.
    The representative could not explain the error, which made me believe they never actually understood it.
    I do not believe that a local store has more control over online orders than the departments associated with the online purchases.
    Luckily I decided to call a store, and was told that I owed 10 dollars because the service had changed to a higher rate without my permission or knowledge.
    I contacted many more Cricket representatives over the next few hours. Having to repeat the problem to each new rep after mysteriously being disconnected after being placed on hold for one reason after another. Asking for a supervisor seems to be the quickest way to be put on hold then disconnected.
    Was told by Lilly of customer service that I would be able to speak with a supervisor within the next five minutes, after repeated requests for the supervisor for approx 20 minutes. Was then put on hold for approximately 15 minutes before being disconnected.
    Customer service/support cannot be any worse than Cricket wireless
    In the end, I will have to pay Cricket to fix the problem that Cricket created. They say they are going to credit my account the 10 dollars, so next month I SHOULD receive it back. Keeping my fingers crossed and the multitude of customer “service” numbers handy.

    1. I am having the exact same problem as you, but I don’t know how much I owe Cricket yet. What action would you recommend me to take to resolve this problem? This is day-2 since I received my phone, and I am jumping through hoops just to activate it.

  77. I was wanting to obtain my call and message history from my cricket cell phone account and I was told that I can no longer get them without a court order in Louisville, Ky?

    Is this true? I find this very unprofessional as I have always been able to obtain them and now I can’t?

    I need these records ASAP.

    This is unsatisfactory.

    1. Hi Marie,

      Unfortunately I am not versed in the law enough to know if that is true or not. Most phone providers give a call history each month on either paper statements or via their website and I would assume that Cricket does the same. Do have copies of your old statements or access to your account still?

  78. I started on October 11, 2014 with Cricket. they were unable to give me my old phone number with the device I purchased because they come with assigned phone numbers. I had this phone number for 10 years and wanted to keep it. They told me to come back in a month and I could pay for my old phone number to be connected to my device. I settled for their assigned number and came in at the end of the month (the 30th) like they said. I was not given an account credit for the 10 days I didn’t use the assigned number and getting my number cost the price of another phone. I went ahead because I heard cricket had improved and was a worthwhile company now to deal with. My payment due date was changed to the date I had my old number put on my phone (30th). A rebate was promised upon purchasing the device if I kept it serviced uninterrupted for 60 days. When rebate time came I was sent a letter denying me the rebate because their records are so bad that they cant reconcile a phone number change. They said I didn’t keep my end of the agreement and service the phone for 60 days. I objected and told them that the phone had indeed been serviced for 60 days non stop. They tried to say I didn’t service the same PHONE NUMBER and so I was disqualified. I told them the contract didn’t say I had to keep the same number in service but rather the same device. They still refused to honor the contract. I spoke with several people over 2 hours before expressing total dismay at their crooked dealing. I threatened to leave cricket, file with BBB and leave reviews of their dealings everywhere I could find. The manager finally credited me $50 for the rebate but said he was already going to have to answer for the credit and couldn’t credit the 10 days I lost at the kiosk when changing numbers.

    The phone went belly up in January 2015 only a couple months later. They said that it was my fault although there were no drops, water damage or scratches and it hadn’t left the protective case since I bought it. I had to buy another one.

    I missed my payment by a day after I got the new phone and I was passed 60 days. I went in to pay and turn it back on. Phones with Cricket that pay late get turned on for one day and shut back off the very next day in a situation like this. I was leaving for a trip to Mt. Hood that weekend and needed to be sure that wasnt going to happen so I went to the kiosk to tell them to make sure it would stay on after my payment. I left on Friday night and still was turned off come Saturday morning. We were in the mountains and no landlines around but I saw a couple people using their cell phone. I ended up having 2 urgent situations (of coarse) and no way to call out. I found a phone to borrow eventually. I was absolutely pissed when I got back in town. Customer service is never able to follow what happens on your account because they have a completely insuficient and useless record keeping. The customer service tried to tell me my payment for service was the purchase of a phone upgrade!! Once I was off the phone I vowed to quit Cricket as soon as their next POS crashed. It did in July 2015. I went into a kiosk and the customer service checked the phone over for damages. This guy found none this time around (thank God) and said I was still within my year for the warranty. He was super friendly and helpful. He said unfortunately I’d be without a phone for several days though. I’m not a kid living with mom and dad; I need uninterrupted service. Plus I am sick of Cricket and their never ending crooked problems. I signed up with someone else and gave the phone to my daughter to get the replacement. We tried to get the replacement a week later and were denied because my phone number had been assigned to a different carrier.

    There’s no benefit to going with Cricket. They will swindle you at every turn. They offer less satisfaction than any other phone company and charge the same. They won’t credit when they owe. They will argue and try to find ways to skip out on their end of the contract. Pick someone who has a good reputation!

  79. This why I always check review 1st.We have Ting.They are awesome.They’re from Canada & treat you like family.If I give my phone # to someone then I get $25 credit & you get some credit.I forgot how much.Call 1-855-846-4389.

    1. Ting has great CS alright, but I just quit them because their data is far too expensive. I can do better with T-Mo or Cricket.

  80. At first I liked cricket, but than that all change after November 4, 2014, I was set up on auto pay they were taking out my payments each month, they took out my payment for November $56.00, my service gets turned off for non payment, I contacted cricket to find out whats going on, customer service was not helpful, I go to their main office in Louisville with a print out of my credit card statement proving the money was taken out of my account, they still claim they didn’t receive it, It appears I’m going to have to take Cricket to court to get my money back. I’m not just going to give them $56.00 for a service I never received. I will NEVER use Cricket as my wireless service!

  81. I just signed-on withCricket and things went smoothly at the Cricket Store on Naples Blvd, in Naples FL. I purchased an unlocked MOTO-X phone on-line that is AT&T compatible. A Cricket SIM card was installed and as of now (I know it is too early to give a personal review) all is OK. I did have a problem with a password to sign-on to My Cricket. This morning I chatted with Lynda and she corrected the problem without a hitch. At this point all has gone well. Hope it stays this way !

  82. Worst company EVER. I was trying to transfer my number from T-mobile to cricket. I paid the plan and sim card at Cricket on 7/17. However, it was not successful and I did not use even one day of the service. The customer service told me that they would cancel the porting process and go to the same store that I paid my money to start over. The agent even told me if it doesn’t work this time, I can get my refund. What they did not told me is that customer service will delete my account including payment record when they cancel the porting process. So they said that I cannot get my money back even I did not use the service for a second. I have the bank statement of paying $40 to Cricket (and $10 for sim card in cash with no record) and they just said that they cannot do anything about it. When I call customer service again, I called three times. Why? Because the first one CUT ME OFF while I was put on hold when she was trying to verify my payment with the bank. They second time I got cut off after they got my phone number. What kind of customer service is this? They STOLE $40 from me and deleted the record so the customer service can keep telling me that they can’t find anything about my account. I have to call my bank trying to file a claim of the money with undelivered service. Cricket wireless? bullshit! if you’re trying to look for a cheap phone plan, stay away from this company.

  83. I tried to be a customer of Cricket this past Holiday season. I ordered 2 Phones thru their web site and all went well. I paid and waited for my Phones. About a week later I was notified that I was not eligible for some reason to purchase their Phones. My debit card was not charged. I tried again and the same thing happened. —– I have a 836 Credit Score. — After the Holidays the Phones that I wanted were not available anymore. — I went to Virgin Mobil and all is well.

  84. Hi Cricket,

    Let me start off by saying that your service in my area rivals that of your larger competitors and that your no-contract pricing is what the market is demanding right now.

    That being said, when I call customer service and am required to “Press 1 for English” I expect that the native language of the representative helping me be a reflection of that decision. What could have been a five minute conversation regarding a simple issue turned into a 20 minute game of “wade through that accent”. Very frustrating.

  85. I’ve been with Cricket for a while and up until recently everything was going well. Last year in July I bought a Lumia phone from Cricket which had a warranty of one year. I have taken good care of this phone and it still looks brand new. I did not have any issues with the phone until a day after my warranty expired. The phone was not charging. At first I thought the charger I was using was faulty so I bought a new and the phone resumed charging only thing was the battery juice seemed to be running fast, this compared to a phone that would give me three days without the need to charge it. Well, my phone then stopped charging again and I decided to call customer service to see if they would be in a position to assist. The lady representative was very curt in telling me that the warranty is expired and that I need to buy a new phone. Surely, I have been with cricket for a while is this the service that you give to your faithful customers? I am beginning to think that the Lumia phone is programmed to fail after the warranty expires, as it is too much of a coincidence to have a phone that was working perfectly become useless without any incident.

  86. you can download an app that will tell you the quality/life of the battery in your phone. that’s probably why it’s not recharging. phones run on batteries, and batteries don’t last forever. most lumia’s have replaceable batteries. go to amazon or ebay and buy 1-2 new ones, take off the back cover and replace the battery.

    even if the battery isn’t user replaceable, there’s always a video on youtube that shows you work arounds. but try an app to make sure it’s the battery. i hope you’re not going back to the car dealer after 4 years wanting a new car because the battery won’t hold a charge ? 🙂 it’s a joke sweetie.

  87. Frustrated by long wait times at AT&T stores, I purchased an unlocked iPhone from Apple and switched to Cricket. I waited 1 hour and 10 minutes at the AT&T store to merely upgrade my phone and finally walked out frustrated. The staff there barely acknowledged me in the store, which was really understaffed. It took me 5 minutes to pick up the iPhone and Cricket switched me in 15 minutes. Costs are $45.00 monthly, but I paid $35.00 in reactivation and new SIM card fees. Total cost savings should be $95.00 monthly with Cricket, so I estimate a 4 month pay back for the extra phone and reactivation costs. That means a $1900.00 savings over two years. I have had no problems with coverage or store service with Cricket.

    1. I’ve had Cricket for six months. I sign up online for a $0.99 (the sim card) I pay $35 a month. No problems at all.

  88. Worst company ever! Even worse than sprint and that’s hard to do. Money hungry company that only wants you to pay them but they will not honor rebates until they decide they want to pay you. Took them 7 months to pay my rebates and I have to call constantly and be very persistent proving to them that they owe the money to me numerous times. I can’t tell you how many times they told me that they didn’t told me the money or reapproved and go back into the store and have the manager from the store call on my behalf. Now I need 5 days extension to pay my bill when I get paid and they cut me off. No extension now working with me give me my money now even though they took seven months to pay me what they owed me. Also just a side note if you’re trying to talk to their customer service it’s much easier to do if you can speak Spanish cuz most of the customer service agents are very hard understand in English and this is coming from a US Navy veteran who has spent most of my life overseas and Latin America and Asia. Ridiculous company please run and do not do business with them

  89. Scanning the reviews up to today, I see the same complaint I have has already been voiced. Online Banking payments to Cricket. Setting-up, Cricket was not in the list. I needed to add the billing address and went to the Cricket site. Nothing. Called Cust. Svc. Short of the long, the CSR informed Cricket STILL does not have the ability to accept payments other than thru their website, via phone, or, at a Cricket authorized dealership. Well, doesn’t that just suck the big goose-egg. I absolutely HATE using anyone else’s web-site for making payments. Been burned enough times that I don’t trust them. Been using online banking since the late ’80’s (yeah, aging myself). Been amazing and only 2-issues I’ve ever had with it.
    Voicing my opinion, the CSR explained Cricket is still soooo new that they don’t have the process setup yet. WTF! Any company with any financial sense makes sure they’re able to accept any form of payment before they even open their doors. Not just online but all the new methods as well.
    Oh well, the service has been much better than others, and, other Cust. Svc. calls have been handled to my satisfaction. I just hope Cricket Cust. Svc. or someone in management reviews these posts and realizes some of us are not thrilled with their payment options. And, they act upon it by implementing acceptance of online payments from outdoor sources. Not that difficult to setup.

  90. The customer service is very thin. Payment options are limited. Bill detail is non-existent. All I get out of Cricket is a decent network, good price ($35/month for 2.5 GB data), and the way they provide slow data after I use up my allotment, instead of charging me for more high speed data.

  91. I recently switched from Straight Talk (ATT) BYOD to Cricket BYOD, and now my phone no longer receives a signal in most areas of my house. I had thought that I’d be getting the same service for $10/mo less, but apparently they are not the same. Not sure why…

    1. Not sure– if both providers use the AT&T network, I would expect the same results. Just for fun, you might call AT&T and tell them your story, see what they say.

  92. I read to many complaints about my byop doesn’t send/receive texts or customer service is horrible… well guess what folks, this service is cheap for a reason, it automates establishing cell service on phones cutting out employees and doesn’t charge the phone subsidies in the service.. so if you’re one of the people who refuse to do a little research on properly setting up the phone/apn settings or just need your hand held then don’t bitch and pay the premium of the large carrier and have a phone and service that works out of the box!

  93. Still using CRICKET for my son’s phone and I don’t get any complaints from him. I like the way they continue to provide (low speed) data after my son burns through his data allowance, without charging me extra. …. but their billing site is a bit wacky. Last month I tried to put in my new credit card number online and it did accept a payment, but would not store the card number for autopay. We got a message this month that our card was not acceptable. I had to phone in to a rep. No options are given for a live rep, but I pressed “0” and found a rep. She was quite helpful. Now, I must watch the credit card bill to see if they billed me correctly.

  94. We had T Mobile for 15 years & were very happy until we moved to an area they didn’t cover so everything goes through AT&T towers which means essentially no data & terrible calling & texting service. We decided to try Cricket & after 2 months we couldn’t be happier. The store in Schaumburg was exceptionally helpful & the switchover was a breeze. We bought 2 phones & filled out the forms for the rebates & received them after less than 2 months. I did have one online chat with customer service about a couple of things & they answered all my questions. Two “free” phones, $70 a month for two lines with 2.5 gigs each & helpful employees, we couldn’t be happier.

  95. I am interested in going with cricket. But my other half is a truck driver. How well is the service for leaving states on a daily basis? Is there anything you need to do before you do leave a state? I know with metro you would have to hit ## and some numbers everytime you left a state..very annoying :/

    1. No problem leaving a state, but my Cricket coverage is not as good as my Straight Talk ATT was. Apparently, ST allows its ATT customers to roam on T Mobile towers for voice but Cricket does not. Neither provider compares well to Verizon in Colorado and New Mexico. So if you’re considering Straight Talk at $45/mo, I think Verizon prepaid or MVNO is a consideration. When I need to buy a new phone, I may go to Verizon.

  96. I have left a state on Cricket and only had to be sure the area code was used when I called back home. I did not have to use any other code.

    1. Oh perfect! Thank you! That makes sense making sure where your going has service lol. 🙂 thank you Brent!

  97. Cricket is charging $25 for activation fee in store. They also charge $5 fee if you call and ask for help in paying their bill. I think they should drop these fees since NOT many companies charge them.

  98. Does anyone know how I can contact the parent company of Cricket? I can no longer tolerate speaking to or chatting with the customer service folks as despite their seeming willingness to help, they have no power to do so. It’s Crickets return/refund policy that is making it difficult.
    Basically, within twelve hours of placing my online order for service and a SIM card I decided to cancel Cricket and stay with my current provider. They said there was nothing they could do but told me to send the SIM card back after it arrived and then to dispute the charges with my credit card company. I was told tonight – before my online chat got disconnected – that a restocking fee of $25 would be taken. Funny, I only paid $9.99 for the SIM card! Wish I’d never heard of Cricket. My only hope is that they ignore my credit card dispute for 30 days in which case I’ll get my money back by default.

  99. I ordered a Cricket SIM card and a $25 service plan online from Cricket Wireless. When I tried to activate the card online, it gave an error message. I wasted six and a half hours on the phone with Cricket representatives who told me various conflicting things, like my number had been given to another account, no it hadn’t, try this, try that, etc. I was transferred to several different numbers, all the wrong departments. I finally gave up and tried Chat, where the agents were more intelligent and friendly but still couldn’t really help. After another day and a half with several more Chat agents, someone finally gave me the correct information that the system was down, and I would have to wait until it was fixed because the only way to activate my card was online because it had been purchased online. Another day with the system still down and several more chat sessions, someone finally did give me a number to call for activation. But there they said they had to assign a different phone number for the card they had sent me, and I would have to pay again for the $25 monthly service because I had bought the card online and the payment I had already made was invalid for activating by phone. So now I have paid double, was so thoroughly exasperated with the Cricket experience that I got another phone service and never even used the Cricket card or service (so I paid $50 for a $25 plan which I ended up not using). And they won’t give a refund without going through the whole phone experience again, which I don’t have the time or patience for. Very disappointing and frustrating, especially since several years ago I enjoyed having a Cricket phone. Never again.

  100. We tried Cricket for a year, using my teen child as our guinea pig, while my husband and I stayed with Verizon. The summary of our experience is this: you get what you pay for. After a year, we have brought our daughter home to Verizon. Do not believe the coverage maps that are on the Cricket Website. We supposedly live within their 4G/LTE service. My daughter’s texts would take days to travel to her friends. We were recently in the Santa Fe area and the phone was a literal paper weight. No texting, incoming or outgoing, no phone service, no web surfing. While Cricket agreed to give us a credit for the week, we will not in fact be seeing that credit because we have switch carries. Cricket does not offer any sort of refunds once you have left the service, even if you leave early in your prepaid billing cycle you are out of luck. And their customer service is truly terrible. Also, in our case we learned that the Samsung S5 we purchased last year had Cricket written software and this explained some of the issues we were having. The Samsung cell phone specialist at Best Buy showed us what his phone could do, which is on a different carrier and we were floored. If you are at all in the 21st Century with respect to the things you want your phone to do, skip Cricket and pony up to the bar with the more expensive carriers. You do get what you pay for. Long live Verizon!!!

    1. Long live Cricket ! Verizon’s coverage is lousy !

      How could 2 people be on opposite ends of the spectrum ? Where they live !

      I tried Verizon and I live in metro Atlanta, and in my area, I can’t make a call or text unless I hang my head out the 3rd floor window – no joke .

      With Cricket/AT&T I can call, surf, text, even in the bowels of my basement.

      Oh, along with great call quality, I’m paying $200 less/month than Verizon gouged me with.

      IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU LIVE, AND THE CELL COVERAGE YOU GET.

  101. Why is it that crickets network does not allow AT&T branded phones to update if its a firmware update or even if its OS update that’s my pet peeve with this company at this present time

    1. Hi Bruce,

      I came across that same issue. I use Cricket but was aware that there was a software update for my unlocked AT&T branded phone that I bought off of Ebay. The simple solution is to find a friend with an AT&T SIM and pop it into your phone. Do the update over wifi to save your friend’s data allowance and you will be all set.

  102. I purchased my phone used. It’s a moto-x (1st gen), model xt1053, which I think is T-mobile. I’ve been with Cricket since may with no problems at all. Anyhow, in June it updated from KitKat to Lollipop with zero issues, so I find it odd that AT&T branded phones won’t update.

  103. New customer, not transfer from old CDMA service, and it has been great. Good 4G LTE service everywhere I go.
    but I understand that AT&T throttles the data service from their reported 8 Gbd to 4 Gbs.
    Correct?
    But good value for the price

  104. AT&T charges you for the extra data and keeps it going. CRICKET throttles the data- after you use your allotment, it slows down to (I think) less than 1 mbps. But, no extra charges.

  105. you can get 7-8 mbps before you go over your data allowance. after that, I’m not sure, probably 1-2g speed.

    download speedtest.net app to check your dl and ul speeds

  106. Ilove my phone with cricket wwouldn’t think if going any place else Ipay 45$a month. the only thing iIwould complain about would be the volume it don’tget loud enough for me.

  107. You must be on the 5gb plan. Do you check how much data you use on Cricket’s website ? I thought I really needed 2.5gb, and I barely use 500mb/mo, with all the available wifi around. Might save some money monitoring your real data usage – just a thought.

  108. I am seriously considering switching to Cricket but have been with my same carrier forever and have what is probably a dumb question. Since I plan on porting my number, will my present phone stop working once I sign up or will this not happen until they send my new phone and I actually activate it? I wasn’t sure if they would actually port my number to Cricket as soon as i sign up but I don’t want to be without phone service.Thanks.

  109. Your phone number won’t port over until you activate your new phone. Once started, it may take a few hours for things to work normally.

    From their website:
    Number Transfers

    How does the number transfer process work?
    We’ll start the number transfer process when you activate your new device. Here are a few things you’ll want to know:

    You may have what we call “mixed service” for up to 4 hours. This means that your old device may receive calls while your new device can make calls. This is due to the time it takes for the transfer to process through all the systems between your current wireless company and Cricket.
    SMS/MMS messages could take up to 8 hours to work properly while the transfer processes.
    Data will work on your new phone immediately after activation.

    https://www.cricketwireless.com/support/orders-and-activations/activation-and-setup/customer/common-questions.html

  110. I switched from a T-mobile MVNO (ROK MObile), to Cricket Wireless 1st of September, 2015 and i could say it has been a good switch for me so far. Tmobile ,with its 4G /LTE is blazing fast alright, if you are in the right place which is mostly in more populated areas. If you go out on a trip,good luck with their EDGE/2G network, calls are good but slow data speeds obviously. Cricket Wireless, being on ATT towers have been giving me good signal strengths at home, consistently 3-4 bars, where Tmob had 1-3 bars before. Call quality is good, i get excellent reception with VIBER most of the time from the work place and my home. I am using the unlocked Oneplus One phone. Guess what, it picks up band 17 (700 MHz) inside my workplace. That is sweet! i get good reception inside buildings where i couldn’t before with Tmob! Tmob is still working on their band 12 capability so until that happens, it will be Cricket for me for a while. Now i understand my data speeds are 7-8 mbps, but that okay for me so far, cuz truthfully, that speed will be enough for streaming. Only other difference is that the latency of Cricket is a tad slower than Tmob so pages load up a bit slower, but hey, it still loads up within a second or two, again i’m good with that.
    Bottom line is, Cricket Wireless has been a good switch so far. I’ve never dealt with their customer service yet, as i had a good experience porting my # from Tmob, all good to go within 3 hours from switching . Also enrolled in autopay, so we’ll see how this month to month deal will go,if it will have snags.

  111. Hello Matthew…
    I’m up for a good debate…

    Here is the deal Matthew.. I have been around the block when it comes to cell phones.. I am not sure why anyone would support Cricket, it is, Hands down, the most frustrating, worst service, in cell phone history.

    Ok… Yes, I need to explain myself, but I would advise anyone choosing a Cellular Service to simply do a google search for Cricket feedback you will find 95% negative, in fact, I have never seen a service that can’t even make it past 1 star review, where ever you go…

    Here’s my story….

    I work in at the Studios here in Los Angeles, I am a director in set design and, required by contract, to use the cell phone issued by corporate. Every month I am issued a statement of “All Calls” made from my cell phone. If the studio is unsure of numbers yellow lines highlighted where I have to explain what and who the call was made to.

    I have my own “Prop company” that I also carry a cell phone, Sprint is my carrier, With this company I also have a statement sent me of phone calls made from my phone, for my records…

    Note: I realize these can not be compared to Cricket, but I have a point I am making mentioning this.

    I have 2 other “cellular phones” One is Boost Mobile, the other “Was” Cricket.

    Note: I switched one to cricket when asked by a friend, working for cricket, asked me to do him a favor.

    The phone used by Boost is my private phone, personal calling and internet use.

    Cricket “Was” my phone for a smaller company used for private and personal prop making.

    Now for my reason and complaint…

    My Cricket phone was stolen from my truck a good month ago. At first I though I may have misplaced it, somewhere in my home, but when calling it from one of my other cell phones, to locate it, “Someone” picked up and immediately hung up. It was then I realized that my back window, I though I left open, was actually popped open and the “Thief” entered the back window.

    It’s no biggie, Cricket phones are cheap so purchasing another one is no problem, but, A thief who lives, in your neighborhood and has broken into your car, a person feels defiled nothing makes you feel better unless you can find out who the culprit is.

    I stewed on it for awhile and decided to call my cell phone, until whomever took it, answered. It took about 40 redials and finally I found a sound of deep breathing on the other end… I asked the person if they were a professional thief and said, “Bet your mother is really proud of you” Finally words returned were “Hahaha F–K OFF” At this point I am fuming! I was going to find this guy and press charges!!!

    I called the police, they took a report. I asked them if they were going to do a record search of who this jerk was calling and narrow it down to the Thief. The police replied, “To tell you the truth, if your looking to see some closure on this you won’t find it, we take a report and if we find the phone we find it, your better off forgetting about it and getting another phone.” He continued by calling it “Low Crime” and it did not add up to enough to warrant all the work going to the trouble…

    I decided to do my own investigation, since the police wouldn’t, I called the Cricket “Twilight zone” and they were closed. I went on Tec Chat and spoke to a guy “possibly China!” who first told me that in order for me to get the records of last calls made I would have to submit a “Court Subpoena” to the Cricket Store in order for me to get “My Own Records!” I argued the point that what he was saying was totally ridiculous I told him, “I could understand, you, not being able to release them since I could be lying to who I was, but to get a court subpoena could cost an upwards of 300.00 in lawyer and court fees and its MY PHONE why would you not have call records in my member site, Cricket Store, or if I went to the store I purchased the phone retrieve the numbers?

    At this point the guy changed his tune, claiming that since it is “pre-paid” records are not kept… I wrote back “Sir.. Your talking about the USA… With our I.N.S. you would be breaking every America Law not to keep records on every call made from my phone” I continued, letting him know that from both my corporate phones I receive monthly statements on calls made, and, even boost mobile if you go into the members area there is a section you click and it gives you all of all phone calls made from the phone.

    Note: Needed to mention Boost if you, like everyone I spoke to at boost claimed, Pre-paid is different than Sprint and all other carriers.

    As I continued to get more and more heated about this “All warriors and No Chief Business Mentality” I started doing searches for: Tracking devices, Cricket Corporate, Cricket complaints, Who the heck knows anything in Cricket corporate???” You name it… Do you know that even Consumer Affairs and BBB have so many complaints on Cricket! Actually 765 on Consumer Affairs alone. Everything from faulty phones, Over billing, Rude and un-knowledge support I even found others who had the same problem as I did.

    I called Cricket support once it opened. I spoke to a very nice rep… only downside…. Out of country operator… There is no denying the frustration all American’s have with that. He spent over 2 hours with me trying to find out how we could access numbers, called from my phone. He went as far as to do internet searches to see if he could find any “Intelligent Life” living in Cricket who knew anything. Granted I can’t blame the lack of knowledge from the operators.

    During the next 2 days searched for anything on Cricket Corporate. All numbers “Said to be Corporate” are fake leading back to Cricket hell. I spoke several other times with cricket reps. 2 of those times I was so frustrated to the lack of knowledge I asked for a “Supervisor” The first time I waited over 1 hour only to be hung up on. When calling back to speak to a supervisor I was informed that I would first have to explain to the agent, why, I needed to speak to a supervisor… This call only took 10 minutes of waiting till “Again” They hung up!

    I have written 2 letters to, the only way to contact “Cricket Corporate,” one even signature required… “No Response by letter or phone”

    My last resort was to go to the store I purchase the phone… No complaint in the guy’s understanding… He even said if he were in my situation he would go ballistic! Yet his only suggestion was to get a new phone and let, Crime Pay!

    In finality, I asked him “In all of your knowledge, of Cricket, with those “Above the pay level, Answers” is there any place to send feedback… His reply…”Sorry, no”

    So Matthew, There is not a debate on the worst cell service in history, even calling boost mobile, during business hours, you get an American, and, they have the answers you need. Boost even goes as far as putting you on hold and asking a supervisor for questions they may not have answers for.

    Cricket Cell Service is Blind leading the Blind.. Not even sure how they get a paycheck ??? since there is not any leadership to pay them.

    1. First, you should have shut off service to that phone, or use the “find my phone”.

      Second, Cricket does keep a record of your calls. It’s not online, or easy to get, but it’s available to you. From Cricket’s website:

      “Can I get a list of calls I have made?

      Since Cricket offers unlimited minutes of local service every month, to keep our service plans at competitive prices we do not have call history details readily available.

      Please visit a full service Corporate-Owned Cricket store. When using the Store Locator search tool, Corporate-Owned or full service Cricket stores are represented by a green balloon on the area map.
      Cricket customers will be given a form that must be completed, notarized and then processed by the Cricket store. “

    2. Well Gary,

      Now I guess I should be jumping for Joy finding someone with all this knowledge and helpfulness…., but… Please understand when I say, don’t take it personal, but I am a bit p-ed off!

      I am not sure what “find my phone is all about”, I mean no-body else knows about it… and if you are talking the pay for service when you get your phone.. Well, nobody actually took the time to tell me about it so could not really make a decision yay or nay.

      If you are speaking of some “other” Strange technology that no one else at Cricket knows about… Let me say… Your the first!!! I did, Greg, Go to the OFFICIAL CRICKET STORE, if you took the time to read my first response. “Everyone” I spoke to, in a span of a week, were asked the same questions… one being, “Is there anyway for me to track my phone and find out where it is.” Reply… “Not unless you pay for the service for tracking the phone when you purchase it… So, not sure what you are talking about when you say “Find my phone”

      Second, No…. I did not want to shut my phone off, It is a pay per month and my month was ending soon, and I actually, wanted the guy to make a bunch of phone calls, so “WHEN” I was able to get my phone records I would be able to Nail him….. The rep, I was texting to, implied he was going to do so, I told him, Absolutely Not! He told me he didn’t do anything but when I went to the CORPORATE CRICKET STORE I was told the guy did it anyway! Hows that for my first biff! The customer asks something “Not” to be done and they do it anyway!

      Third, Absolutely Positively and Completely “NOT” I am not sure what you are trying to reverse in damages here, being a store rep, But, in a span of 1 week, Every call I made, The corporate letters I wrote, the Texting with Reps, EVEN the several trips to the “OFFICIAL CRICKET STORE” speaking to service agents, along with my last conversation with “The Official Manager at the “Official Cricket Store” Said, “SORRY NO WAY IN H will I ever get those calls made from your phone… We don’t know who you could call, how you could get them, or even if you were to get a “Court Subpoena” who we would give it to. What he “Was” able to do was give me the amount of USAGE during the period of the phone missing. The Manager said, In Quotations “NO, I am only privy to the Usage, He had (((No Idea))) how I would recover the phone numbers or who I could speak to…Yes, he did say that the Operators were blowing smoke when they said “no records are kept, and needed a court order” He said, he was sure they had all records, but, as frustrated as I was he said he had no way of knowing how I could get them or who I would speak with in order to get a method of receiving them… So,… If “Your Privy” to something that “Absolutely Nobody else who works at Cricket Corporation INC knows I am not sure where you have this information and no one else knows… In fact, if this is true, I would have to say it is even worse than I though at Cricket Corp since there are a LOT of really fed up frustrated people part of cricket with only one person knowing all of the answers… Sorry if I sound a bit sour, but it does seem a bit strange when I spent all of 1 entire week trying to find “One Person” who had one ounce of information on the going’s on of Cricket or anyone who “Might know” and now on line I find “You” Who has every single answer to all my questions and frustrations, and Yet, you didn’t say a thing!?!?!

      You say there is a “Find My Phone” no body knows about, yet you give no information except for a short “Find my Phone” what ever ??? No body else knows about, except you. I would “Think” one of the 20 reps I spoke with in the MANY HOURS of talking to them, would know… You say there are records of all phone numbers, Not online or easy to get but available to you… But how where when why and who… You have no detail.. Dang.. well as long as they are available, Gary, I guess I don’t need them…

      Lastly, Did you even read my “long Reprise” I wrote??? I told you I spent HOURS with the Manager at a “CORPORATE-OWNED CRICKET DEALER” who told me… “Yes If it were me I would be ballistic!!! But to tell you the truth, Your better off just getting another phone and letting it go…” He had been through it “All Before” and went through the same circle’s I did.

      So, Gary…. My frustration with you is that you have offered nothing in your message yet know everything about Cricket, It is surprising you “did not” offer the Person, Place, Or Thing that would lead me to the records. So it is my suspicion that you might be “Cricket Damage Control” to make everyone feel “I’ve made a terrible mistake”

      So what I would suggest “You Doing” Call Cricket support, text Cricket support, Go to “My” Local Cricket OFFICIAL CORPORATE STORE in Duarte California and follow the same path I followed to find out “Nothing” if you think I’m lying…. As for you… I don’t know, Who you are or How you are so well informed about nothing…

      Now… If you are indeed a “Cricket Dealer” and “You” were the guy who helped me first, with all of this great information… I would be one Happy Cricketette I would spread the word of Cricket Greatness everywhere!!! So Why, may I ask, is everyone else, ie: rep’s, so not helpful, un-knowledged, and willing to hang up on they’re loyal customers. And, as a business owner myself… If I saw just ONE DISGRUNTLED CUSTOMER… on the internet… I would be Searching the WORLD to fix the problem and ask him to retract his bad feelings…. Have you really taken a look at the Cricket Anger going on???

  112. I was on Cricket for awhile and was quite satisfied except for the throttled data speed. Since I am kind of a techie, I switched to AT&T Gophone with it’s rollover data and full 4G speed. But, I am ambivalent at times because, for the little bit of speed and data advantage, the cost advantage of Cricket is still on my mind.

  113. I have been a customer of Cricket for probably 2.5yrs or more. I have had zero problems with them. The service has been good, the customer service has always been very good. I was surprised to hear that so many people have had a disappointing experience. For unlimited calling, texting and data use on my phone, $40/mo is cheap these days. If I subscribed to auto pay, I guess I’d get all of this for $35/mo. Where else can you get this level of service for that price?

  114. Still, when I compare Cricket with T-Mo, in almost every location here in the SF Bay Area, T-Mo has the best data speeds and coverage. I thought I could do better with Cricket; I was wrong…

    radio

  115. I hear you about the throttle, but there hasn’t been anything I’ve wanted to surf, videos to watch, or anything, I couldn’t do under Cricket. 7-8 mbps , with a good phone, is more than enough for my needs, which can be a lot, sometimes. I’d rather save alot of $$ throughout the year vs. times I “might” need faster speed.

  116. Cricket says right up front what their speeds are, so it won’t come as a surprise. if you can get faster speeds, and cheaper prices with t-mobile, and can get good reception, stick with the T

  117. i have been with cricket for over 8 years, and i just had the worst experience ever. First, i can not understand their customer service rep for the life of me, next, i had made a bridge payment which is very useful if you can not make your whole payment at that time. This month i was late ONE day this month and cricket made me pay for a whole month again without taking into consideration the money i have already made. This is only makes me believe that cricket does not really care about loyal customers. So I will be looking for other carrier that will take care of their loyal customers since Cricket refuses to do so. I know i am only one customer but i wonder how many more customers they will loose because of this. For right now they will be loosing four. ( i have four lines). THANK YOU CRICKET FOR REALLY SHOWING WHAT KIND OF CARRIER YOU ARE. I HAD PLANNED TO BE WITH CRICKET FOR A LONG TIME I KNOW THIS WILL NOT BE HAPPENING NOW!!!

  118. you should go into a local Cricket office, be nice, and try and get some help from someone in person. they also have the ability to fix things on your account.

    aside from that, if you were late because you forgot, or the mail was late, etc, that’s one thing. but if you’re having to break up monthly payments on a $35-40 bill, you might want to go to a prepaid service like Tracfone. Or if you’re really struggling financially, get a free Obama phone.

    Yes, they should be considerate, and your only chance is to talk to someone at the store. Otherwise, you’ve agreed to their terms, your payment was late, and now you have to suck it up and pay.

    Cricket started out as a low low income carrier. Trailer parks, hobos, street bums, homeless, they all had Cricket phones. So Cricket had to be tough in order to get paid. And sadly, that way of doing business hasn’t left their building yet. maybe in time.

    even if you do have to pay the extra month, you’re still saving $$ with Cricket.

  119. OK – decided on Cricket as a low-cost way to keep the AT&T LTE coverage which is very good here, and suffer minimum pain with the service transfer – their online site was faster and less rage-provoking than AT&T’s, but I got a case of the ‘Gotta Have This Today’ & opted to use a Cricket reseller.

    Heart sank when ‘Game Spot’ came up as the local vendors – I’m just a too old to enjoy being condescended to by a Cello-wrapped tatoo with extra piercings. Trust me, we’re only grouchy because being an ancient codger really does suck …

    Ha! big surprise time, worked with two people at two stores (the first store didn’t have the correct SIM) both of whom were fast, competent, knowledgeable, and very well trained – the whole process was pretty painless, the phone came right up on their network with a good signal, the data access had to be hand setup – but the website doc was correct and well thought out and the data proxy came up immediately.

    Yeah, the data speed isn’t great, and it looks like they’re using a NAP in West Virginia so the pings are about 4x what a local ping would be, which would be poor for streaming or online games – but for my usage this is acceptable considering that two users are saving over $100/mo.

    So far a net positive, we’ll see how the long term works out.

  120. Trust me You do not want Cricket!!! I went from Att to Cricket and when faced with a dilemma I called Cricket, to which no body knew the answer, My last conversation with Cricket was speaking to a rep and told him the reason they have so many negative reviews is the lack of knowledge of anyone in Customer service and no direct numbers to corporate… the guy asked, “How much a month are you paying for your service?” I replied “$50” he replied “So how much Customer service are you expecting for $50 a month!” Yeah, they can take they’re service and Cram it!!

  121. I have had cricket about 1 year now. I am very happy with cricket. Before cricket i had straighttalk and customer service was terrible just like at&t wireless customer service. When transferring number to cricket took over 4 hours because of straighttalk delaying. Literally, multiple straighttalk customerservice people would tell us the process is done on their end. We would give some time then it still not work and calk back n next cs rep tell us same story again…over 4 hours worth of this type of service from straighttalk. The cricket store mgr Matt and an employee Heather stayed with it even staying an hour and half after store closed just to complete the porting of my number. From first time and ever since they have provided the best customer service in store and on phone that i have experienced with any phone company. The store i use has had a 100% employee turnover , yet the new employees are just as helpful as first ones were. The only issue i see is that i believe cricket does skimp on training because i have known some things about my phone the most recent store employees did not know. However i am a software developer and currently developing apps. The store employees did do their best to solve problem which may have been out of their area of expertise anyway.

  122. you can easily get Cricekt Wireless ZTE Sonata 2 IMEI Unlock Code from zteunlockcodes.com, i got a very fast response and easy solution to unlock my ZTE phone and i found it to be the cheapest way to unlock my phone.
    thank you zteunlockcodes.com

  123. switched from verizon to cricket prepaid, no contract basic, bought galexy s4 phone for $100.00 less than any other carrier or website. Phone coverage excellent, no dropped calls, text fast, 4g working as expected, this is saving me $30+ dollars a month. Thought of going with Walmart straight talk, but Walmart counter person steered me to Cricket. Happy with choice

  124. Go to a Cricket store. They have all the tools necessary for a solution. Very few Cricket customers have resolved problems over the phone.

  125. Just switched from AT&T to Cricket. Bring my own phone (iphone 5), got free sim card, free activation, great sales service (Main place mall, Santa Ana, CA). got the $50 plan, sign-up for auto pay, save another $5/month.
    unlimited talk, text, usa, canada, and mexico. Roaming is also included except N.W. Canada. 5GB of data per month, combine it with Wifi at home and on the road, it is more than enough for me
    saving $40 per month, so i am not planning on to complain about Cricket’s customer service in the near future. You got what you paid for!
    Will use the monthly saving to buy the iphone 7 (unlock) in 2016

    1. keep tabs on your data – i thought i needed 5 gb , but 2.5 is 4-5 times what my actual usage is. could save another $10/mo if you don’t need 5gb. at least cricket provides your data usage in you online account.

    2. I already have a Cricket phone and account. Can I buy a different unlocked gsm phone and just put my card into the new one?? How do I change from one phone to another?

  126. Today I tried to get Cricket service. I wanted to bring my own phone (LG Nexus 5) and get the minimal service plan of 40$/month. Sounds simple and easy to do – right? Not so.
    Went to the Cricket store and was told that if they create an account for me/sell me the SIM card and activate it- there would be a 25$ fee for it – OR, I could do it online by myself. I thought that would not be a problem and decided to go home and create an account.
    At one point the online setup required a phone number. Since I don’t have a phone number (I had already cancelled phone service on the phone 2 months ago and have been looking for a cellphone provider since) I asked the live chat person what to do since the screen would not allow me to go to the next step due to no phone number. The live chat person told me to put in a dummy phone number- and I did. I was able to get to the next page but it would not allow me to purchase the items – claiming that my card was declined (I have ample money in the account to purchase the SIM card as well as the 40$ required for the service).
    Tried live chat again – and was told (I have the transcript that states this) that in order for me to have an account I need to have a Cricket phone number. I asked them how is this possible when, in order to create an account to get a Cricket phone number, you are telling me I have to have a Cricket number in the first place?
    The live chat person never responded.

    I tried to email them, but they do not have an email address for customer support. the only email address I found was for copyright infringement. I emailed that address and it got returned as refused.

    This was my first impression of Cricket, and from what I saw, between the terrible live chat customer service and lack of customer support email address, this left me looking elsewhere for cellphone service. If this is how they treat potential customers, I feel sorry for those who took the plunge and entered into service with them.

  127. you should read the experiences of others in your shoes, and how they resolved the problems. there’s a lot of knowledge here that would have saved you time and trouble.

    it’s hard to believe they said to provide a “dummy” number. your sim card is tied to a phone number.
    you don’t have a number? pay for the sim card and let Cricket assign you a number – you have to have a real number or the sim card is useless.

    i’d suggest just buy a new cricket phone (are you sure you nexus uses the same bands cricket/at&t does? does the nexus have lte ? )

    buy a cheap new cricket phone, let them assign you a number, and in two days you have a great working phone.

    PS – your shipping and billing have to be the same on your credit card. if not, your credit card will be rejected.

  128. Hrmmm… sounds odd. (my online experience) First off, you can’t create a cricket account. It’s created when you activate your sim. During the ordering process, it will ask for an email address which will later become the login for your cricket account. Also, when I ordered, it never asked for a phone number, unless you were trying to port your current phone number over. I beleive it did ask for a home phone or a contact phone number though. Once my sim came in I had to go to cricket.com/activate at which point my account was created.

    I’m not sticking up for Cricket, just stating my experince was totally different and flawless.

  129. I have been dealing with the store cricket store on Broadway in Knoxville TN. I could not ask for any better help with my cellular needs. I have been a customer with U S cellular for at least 10 years. I upgraded to the Samsung Galaxy S-6 a few weeks ago on a contract plan. I found the no contract plan was cheep enough that I could buy out my contract and save money within 6 months I was good with that but when I asked to have my phone unlocked to have a choice between different carriers including theirs I was treated rudley. I went to Cricket because it was the best deal for my needs. I took my phone to the Cricket store and soon found out that my phone was not unlocked The sales staff @ Cricket went out of there way to help me they tried everything to make my phone work. The young man even kept my phone because I had to leave for other business and brought it to me at my home. After a week we came to the conclusion that US cellular phones will only work with US cellular. the is no way to get into the settings to change them. I ended up having to trade my phone in for a phone that was not US Cellular and would work on any carrier. Like I said the People at Cricket went out of their way to try to help me with my issues with US cellular. I will be a life long customer because of their service. I will never deal with US cellular again and my coverage is as good or better than theirs in the hills and mountains here in east Tennessee. Thank You Michael,JJoshua,Christina and Rhonda for going out of your way to help me

    1. Most people only leave a review when it’s bad. Like you I can’t say enough good about my service with Cricket. I’m on the $40 plan with auto-pay $5 kickback. I’s be over a year now and I not changing. People save money and get Cricket! Larry, thanks for your review.

  130. I have been with cricket for almost 15 years and have always stood up for their service. But since AT&T took over, it’s gone down the toilet. I have been having issues with not receiving calls and getting voicemail hours later. My phone doesn’t ring and there is no missed call shown, but hours later, I will get a voicemail. This happens constantly now. The cricket store in my area said that it was a phone issue and not a service issue. Come to find out my husband is having the same issue. He has a completely different phone from mine. So it’s not a phone issue. Cricket is horrible now.

  131. Old Cricket customers, mostly, had CDMA network phones, and they no longer work with the new Cricket. AT&T uses GSM networks

    How do you tell if your phone is CDMA or GSM ?

    Open the back of your phone:

    NO SIM card = CDMA = won’t work with new Cricket

    SIM card = GSM = WILL work with new Cricket

    If you have a CDMA phone, then shame on you for being so unaware, or too lazy to read the dozens of notices Cricket sent you about switching phones.

    If you have a GSM phone, it will work, but not as good as a new LTE phone. Which you can get FOR FREE from Cricket, with a rebate.

  132. Cricket is a rip off!!!

    I tried converting my old iPhone 4 (online) for my younger brother in college. Since I used a philosophy I already had, he wanted a new # for this particular phone. Cricket sent a SIM card in 2 days but it was already activated to another phone.

    After calling customer service… they told me I had to purchase ANOTHER SIM card from an actual Cricket store which was complete bs because it wasn’t my fault they sent a SIM card that was already in use. Do you know after I purchased another SIM card, sent it to my brothers school the 2nd card was activated as well!!!!!!!!!!! WTF?!?! That’s $70 down the ef’n drain and Cricket gives no fux!

    Don’t waste your time… they clearly need to work on improving their products & customer service. I’m not satisfied at all & want my money back.

  133. I had a very good experience with switching to Cricket.

    After seeing the reviews about customer service, I prepared myself. And, decided that if it was just terrible, I would just switch back to T-Mobile.

    I was turned on to Cricket by a friend who was working temporarily in North Eastern Indiana in a rural area thats normally a dead spot. It was for me when I was there. When she was traveling home to Texas, she was chatting on an app we use, using data, the whole way. I was really impressed when she was doing this while traveling through Southern Illinois, an area where I grew up and frequent. If im on I-57 south of Champaign, T-Mobile data usage is impossible. If im on I-55 heading to St Louis, there are a few dead spots with T-Mobile. And when im in Southeastern Illinois, my home area, I just consider that im on “radio silence” for data…nothing. She was chatting away and reported she only had one dead spot briefly in a remote part of Texas on her trip. I was impressed.

    One note, when I was ready to switch, T-Mobile’s customer service lied to me telling me that I wouldnt be refunded…that I would be on the hook for any charges through the end of my billing cycle. So i waited 2-1/2 weeks to change to Cricket. When talking to a T-Mobile technician to get the pin code for the port, he reported that once the bill came out, that I could get a refund for any unused days during the billing period….I had been lied to. So I wont be going back to T-Mobile now no matter what. That gentleman was nice and apologized that I had been told that and that it delayed my switch.

    I did everything online myself…went ahead and ported the number, set up billing auto-pay…everything. Spoke with customer service a couple of times just to confirm info requested…like needing a pin from T-Mobile to proceed. One agent was very knowledgable…another needed more training I think….but both were very nice. And I got correct information to proceed.

    Got the chip. There was no lapse in phone service. Once the chip was in, phone worked. Data didnt kick right in. Cricket customer service helped walk me through changing the access point settings. This got data flowing and also set up sms & mms messaging…though my mms messages (pics & voice messages for sure to my sister) dont seem to go through. She uses Republic that is affiliated with Sprint and uses their bands, which may not be compatible for MMS.

    Overall, extremely happy to have tons better coverage at a price that is less than half that I was paying. The price includes tax. And I was paying T-Mobile an extra $10 to get 3gb of data, which I never came close to using. Cricket comes with 2.5gb. I can always upgrade to a higher data plan…even 2 or 3 levels up when needed & get alot more data, still not paying what T-Mobile had me paying for much less coverage.

    Though you may get someone who doesnt seem up to speed at times, I found customer service to be friendly & I always ended up with the right answer/solution when needed. I really just called to confirm a couple of things while setting up myself online, except when I needed them to help with some Access Point settings to get data and text working. Especially now that im rolling, im confident that I can do pretty much anything I need, adjust service levels, etc, on my own online. But, I also feel that customer service isnt nearly as bad as I was expecting from these reviews.I got friendly people & got the answers I needed, though one time perhaps not in the most competent way.

    I am excited about having amazing coverage in areas ive never had coverage before & to be paying less than half than I was paying T-Mobile!!!!!

  134. When I started with Cricket a little over a month ago, it was a somewhat dubious start. I ordered the SIM card online because I didn’t have to pay the $25 activation fee that way. When the card came with the adapter, it was really hard to get in, it was somewhat warped on one end. So hard, in fact, that I took it up to the store to have one of the CSR’s do it so I didn’t break it. I don’t know how he jury rigged it in there, but it worked. A little over a month later, my phone stops working. This was my phone that I ported, not a cricket wireless phone. I go in yesterday to presumably just swap the cards out. No, my entire card reader is damaged and won’t read a SIM card at all. So now, i’m forced to purchase another phone. I had to turn in my old phone just to get a $15.00 discount, and they were only willing to give me a $5.00 discount on a case. There is no manager at this location, only a district manager who comes in once a day at different times.

    There are exactly 2 people who work in this store at all times. Having never been into a cricket wireless store, I don’t even know if this is a corporate store or what. The customer service line can only tell me that they have satellite office. The CSR at the store, when I asked if this was a corporate store or a satellite office said, “it’s just a store.”

    So I called customer service because I don’t think I should have to pay at least full price for a brand new phone when it was one of their CSR’s who damaged the phone in the first place. That phone, an LG G Vista was barely a year old, and the trade in was only $15! The customer service rep that i spoke with last night couldn’t do anything and told me to call back today. Which I did, and got no where. They kept telling me i’d have to contact the manager at the store. And I kept telling them there was no such person. According to them, their customer service line is only set up for technical issues and to receive payments. What?! I spoke to one supervisor who told me i needed to go back to the store. And i kept saying, that doesn’t make any sense, i was talking to customer service, why should i have to go all the way back to the store? So the supervisor tells me she’s the only one of authority on the floor and she couldn’t do anything. Since I wasn’t hanging up, she put me on hold for another 5 minutes or so and then a manager miraculously appeared. I was on hold waiting for them to escalate to a supervisor for a LONG time. So I had to listen to the manager tell me how there is a manager at every store, how they aren’t responsible and that i’d have to go back to the store.

    I called the store, and was told that the district manager stops in at different times everyday and to leave my name and number and they’d call me back. Yeah, right. I also learned last night that the person who put the SIM card in my car got fired a couple of weeks ago. None of this is fair business practice and I AM LIVID. Not only that, but I have a Samsung HM1900 Bluetooth that I was assured would work with this new phone, it does not. And, when I asked the customer service rep for the corporate office number? They said they didn’t have access to that information!

    UPDATE: Just received a text message about my complaint today. A TEXT MESSAGE! Apparently, they think I deliberately waited until after the customer service rep who damaged my phone was FIRED, before I brought my phone back. As if I have any control over hiring or firing practices at cricket wireless! Did I mention that I got a text message reply?!?! And no matter how many times I tried to explain it to the reps over the phone, that I could not POSSIBLY have known when this guy got fired, i’m still being blamed. The card reader just stopped working that day, at like 6 o’clock in the evening. How would I have planned that?! I thought I was getting a good deal when I went to cricket wireless, now I see they are just like all the rest. I cannot believe they are blaming this on me.

  135. Total garbage network 4g doesn’t hardly ever work in my damn house then works other places got ripped off when at&t bought had to buy new phone and pay two monthly payments in one month total garbage Obama must own it now cause all lies and junk guess I’m the sucker who stuck with these clowns for like 8 years and has been ridiculous even worse after at&t bought Cricket At&T and Obama all 3 liners cons JUNK

  136. Judy, yes, just take the sim card out of your Cricket phone and put it in your new unlocked gsm phone. you may need an adapter to make sure it’ll fit in the new phone – you can get those for $4-5 on ebay if needed. i change phones from time to time, going from windows to android because of the few apps i can’t get on windows. hope this helps.

    1. When I put my card into a new unlocked gsm phone, does it take me through a process to change my number to the new phone? How does my Cricket account know I got a new phone, then? This is all new to me, so I want to make sure I understand the process. I get the idea of adding the apn once I get running on the new one.

    2. Judy,

      You don’t have to do a thing, you’re over complicating it. Just take the sim card out of the Cricket phone you’re using and put it into the new phone. Voice calling will work immediately because your phone number goes with the sim card. Cricket doesn’t care what phone you use.

      But do this first. Go into your apn settings and take pictures of all your mms and internet settings. Then if the new phone’s internet and/or messaging doesn’t work , you’ll know what the correct settings are.

    3. Okay. So I got a new sim card today (had to order one because new one takes a nano while old phone took micro). Got everything running with new card, able to make a call and send sms messages. My apn setting are all correct, yet I still cannot send mms messages. Any ideas??

    4. I think I’ve solved this. My new phone is a Nexus 6, and Google Messenger (default text app) doesn’t seem to work for mms. I have switched to Google Hangouts as my messaging app, and I am now able to send and receive mms messages. Yay! (I am never one to call customer service!) Thanks, Gary, for the encouragement!

    1. You’re right, it’s difficult to find. Go to Settings, then under Data usage, tap on “More…”

      Then “Mobile Networks”, then “data enabled”, after all of that, your data will turn on.

      Easier fix ? Go to the play store and find a data on/off widget.

      I use “Action Widget” , blue with a big W in the middle, but it also has a lot of other features . If you just want an on/off for your data, you should be able to find plenty.

  137. Service was cancelled today due to lack of payment. However, I pay thru the Auto-pay section on Kricket. Chatted with customer service and issue was resolved in an hour. Should not have happened in the first place. The response time for correction was one hour, but it was corrected.

  138. Switched to Cricket from Verizon last spring. My buddy referred me so we both got a bill credit for $25! I absolutely love Cricket and am 100% satisfied. Signed up & bought a smartphone at a store in North Minneapolis. The associate was friendly, knowledgeable & answered all of my questions.

  139. Had an amazing experience with Cricket last night. Switched from T-Mobile to Cricket to lower our monthly bill from $242 to 124 for two lines with the insurance. The sales representatives at the Cricket store we went were super friendly and helpful. In Charles village Baltimore, MD.

  140. I recently enrolled in auto pay, and the system messed up and told me i would be charged full peice instead of the discount. The first time they didnt tell me to confirm it, and the second time I did. Only to find that it still didnt give me the discount. I know its only $5 but in this economy, being as broke as I am, its really irratating. Cricket Customer Service is a pain in the ass, and the people at the store can’t really do anything to help. They say call CCS, then CCS just tells you that its the computer aand not them. I think thats a load of crap. I waited and waited to talk to a supervisor, but they never talked to me. In other words, Cricket sucks. Im fixing to move to another company if they keep this up. Its annoying as hell.

    1. i didn’t get the $5 discount when I signed up and paid with a credit card. it was only the 2nd month and thereafter, when they actually used my credit card for auto payments.

  141. I switch from Sprint after 10 years, to Ting for a few months, and finally to Cricket after I heard AT&T bought Cricket. I am VERY pleased with my experience. I’ve done most everything on their web site with no problems. I received the rebate for the phone I purchased. The coverage and data speed is a tremendous improvement over my previous carrier and their plans are among the best that I have found. I traveled to Alaska this summer and was well pleased with my coverage. I am sorry to hear other folks have had a bad experience.

  142. I’ve been a Cricket customer for many years since returning to Pa.
    My experience with Cricket in those years was pretty much trouble free. Good reliable service at reasonable rates and rarely a need to call customer service. After this “merger” is another story completely. Forced to get a new phone and all prices being raised. Then the new service begins, more like lack of service. People calling being sent to voicemail not being connected with me then the message not coming in for hours or the following day. Data is horrendous. It never really is at high speed but when the company claims you’ve used 75% of your high speed allowance it becomes idiotically slow. At 100% usage don’t even bother. Now comes the real fun. When you pay your next month good luck getting high speed again. You’ll always have to call ” customer care” for them to turn it back on. Good luck getting through as they’re always experiencing “higher than normal volume”.
    Overall the new Cricket is horrible. I’ll be switching very soon and do not recommend using Cricket now.

  143. Where I live there is a lot of mountains and dead spot areas. I looked around for a long time before switching to Cricket. I have five lines, each with 2.5 GB each and only pay $100 a month (taxes included). So far I have had no trouble with Cricket. At work and at home I get the same coverage as my friends with AT&T service. The only thing that I have noticed is that they get twice as much LTE speed as me (16mbps compared to 9mbps) in most areas but they are paying ALOT more that me… All in all it seems too good to be true but hopefully the service remains the same.

    1. For all those people who complain , cricket is better than you imagine , but being subsidiary is why they have low prices and many accessibilities , if you’re going to go to cricket, you have to ask there and that there looking as good customer service , most people who write here are ignorant who think that everything falls from the sky as they think and things are not, Educate yourselves , stop watching so much porn that they will not spend the data and know how to use their phones not think they are as miserable people who can not pay $ 40 dollars for a monthly plan and just because they charge them a Fee , customers say they are going to move to T -Mobile , please people $ 5 are crying , mature please!! Cricket is the best there better than those wastes MetroPieceOfShit and T – ShitMobile , and BootyAssmobile . a person with a brain knows how to use the service and analyzes . Greetings to all

  144. Im very displeased with Cricket Wireless and im not even a customer i was paying my daughters boyfriends pone bill i have made the payment over 3 hours ago. they have deducted the funds out of my account but his service still has not been restored hes out of town working and my daughter would love to able to talk to him since hes gone Im very displeased with this company and will be recommending him to boost Cricket wireless and there voice automated service and there website is useless they dont even have a help button on there website at all do they even care if someone needs help with there services. Guess not i wouldnt recommend this company to anyone after my experience.

  145. I recently switched from Verizon to cricket and everything went great except one thing we brought three of their own devices which they said would work fine 2 of the three phones work fine the Samsung Galaxy X5 will not send or receive MMS tried everything they told me to try including factory reset still cannot send or receive multimedia messages the store where I went was very helpful though even though they couldn’t fix it they spent an hour on the phone with tech support but the tech support didn’t know what to do

    1. That is not unusual. You need to go to Cricket’s website, or, there was another posting on this site that gives you the link for the exact settings for your phone.

      Do you have a phone that IS working on Cricket ? If yes, take a pic of the apn and mms settings and plug those into your new phones.

      You can do this yourself – don’t fall into the black hole of Cricket support if you don’t have to.

    2. Dave,

      Your Verizon S5 is not compatible with Cricket’s network as it is compatible with only one of Cricket’s LTE bands, that being Band 4. If you love the S5, search online for an unlocked AT&T Samsung S5 and that will work.

  146. Leaving Verizon and going to Cricket was the best thing I ever did. I dis my research and learned the best way to switch was to buy the phone, sign up for service, and port my number all at the same time in the store. Everything worked perfectly. Sounds like problems arise when people try to do shortcuts like bringing their phone or porting their number at a later date. Just buy their phone and do it all at the same time. I paid $30 for a $180 phone they had in sale. This place is not for picky people.

  147. I would NOT recommend cricket to anyone. They have very poor customer service and have some very unreasonable and dishonest policies. For example, I paid a few months service in advance. This is shown as a “credit” on my account. I decided I wanted to change providers, but was informed that they would not be able to return the money in my account. The only explanation given was that Cricket does not give any type of refunds. So, as it stands now, if I want to change service, I have to forfeit approximately $120.00. I contacted customer service and talked to employees at many different levels. The final outcome is that the money is theirs and will not be returned. Therefore, I would strongly encourage anyone to go with some other cell phone provider. This type of policy is a reflection of the company as a whole and the mindset of its leaders. Do yourself a favor and go with someone else.

    1. boo-hoo-hoo. grow up. and read the website before you buy something. cricket has it in black and white “Payments for Cricket Wireless services are nonrefundable and nontransferable.” You have 7 days to return your phone – there’s no way to return airtime.

      https://www.cricketwireless.com/support/orders-and-activations/returns-and-exchanges/customer/returns-and-exchanges.html

      Verizon doesn’t refund unused air time either. You have 2 months of service, use it and quit whining and blaming others for your mistake.

      how can you even possibly think this is anyone’s fault but your own ?

      …… can’t wait to read his poor-me reply, i’m sure it’ll be fun for all !

  148. I have had cricket for over a year I first got a nokia1320 just a bad phone from the get go a piece of trash that’s where it is now but the service has been great after having been with Verizon for over 20 years now we pay half as much for our phones they work everywhere that Verizon did and I have been all over the U.S. Microsoft is hard to deal with would not cover warranty have a lumia 640 and has been a good phone will stay with Cricket as long as I have no problems

  149. Cricket Wireless was fine UNTIL I decided to upgrade phone & service; the Smartphone had no wireless connectivity and the service staff – when you could understand them – were unable to resolve the issue. To make matters worse, when I tried to go back to use my original flip-phone THAT service was unavailable & service could not resolve that issue, either.
    It was stated in the paperwork when I returned the Smartphone that my credit would be issued within 10 days of their receipt of the phone – 16+ days later I am still waiting for the credit.
    Purchased another phone from another carrier since at that point I was totally without phone service.

    1. if you bought a cricket phone, the only problem might be the messaging and internet, until you put in the proper settings (cricket has the settings on their site).
      i’ve upgraded cricket phones and never a problem. if you brought your own phone, then that could open a can of bad worms.

      did you go to a local store ? i had numerous customer service problems when porting my number after i signed up i almost gave up. then went to the local store – they had all the tools, sim cards, access, to get me straightened out.

      their 800 customer service is absolutely the worst. but if you have a good local store, then cricket’s easy.

  150. Cricket is a NO-FRILLS operator. No itemized bills, no special feature, almost no customer service. It is just a very BASIC cellular connection for a flat monthly rate. I brought in my own used AT&T phone that was off-contract. The rep tested it, it was OK, and she sold me a new SIM card which activated it on a Cricket account. That was about 8 months ago, and no problems.

    1. I agree with you about it being basic, but that only applies to the billing, and maybe, the info/logs you can see about your calls/data. I’m not sure what you mean about a BASIC cellular connection ? It’s off of AT&T towers, I can’t imagine AT&T being a BASIC signal.

      With Cricket, you get the “real” AT&T cell, data, and texting services. Yes, the customer support is non existent, unless you have a good local store.

      All the other “frills” you get with other carriers are just ways to get $$ out of you. All the taxes, fees, niggling little garbage add-ons just eat you alive each month.

      But Greg is right, you sign up, pay a flat fee each month, they leave you alone and you get all the quality of AT&T without the expensive b.s.

      Anyone not on Cricket – look at your bill. We pay ZERO for taxes, 911 services, government and local add-on. How much are you paying ?

  151. Switched from ATT to Cricket a month ago. So for me, every 23rd is first day of my new cycle. Woke up today (Jan 23rd) and found out my data consumption is still stuck at 2GB, on my 2.5GB plan, not been reset to 0GB as expected. I initiated web chat with a representative on Cricket website. Without my authorization or notifying me, the rep changed my plan to $25 no data plan, then re-changed back to $40 2.5GB plan to “reset” my data usage. So basically the rep used my 2-plan-change-limit-per-cycle privilege to “reset” my data usage, without informing me or getting my authorization. When I pointed this out to the rep and requested to give me back the 2-plan-change privilege, she replied ” I wish I can” and terminated the chat. I saved the chat script.

    1. go to a local store – Cricket online and/or phone support are useless. if you have no local store, keep calling until you get a decent person on the phone.

  152. I am a new Cricket Customer I bought a week and a half ago a LG Stylo. Because of my vision problems I went to the store again to change my phone for a bigger phone like the ZTE because the screen is bigger. But I didn’t recieve no help at all.
    This is a medical thing I need a bigger screen but nope no help. Plus the internet is running really really slow. This is how you treat new customers???
    Also you keep deleting my review and don’t bother to help me or call me. I’m starting to regret switching to Cricket. So sad…

    1. This is just a forum about Cricket. This site is NOT run by Cricket. You need to contact Cricket directly either by phone or online, or the store.

      First of all, why didn’t you compare the phones before you bought them ? Don’t blame Cricket for that.

      Cricket DOES give you a WEEK to return or exchange your phone. Apparently you waited too long, and want to put the blame elsewhere. How do I know? I went to Cricketwireless.com and typed in “return policy” in their search bar.

      Here’s the link – you had 7 days to upgrade/swap phones.
      https://www.cricketwireless.com/support/orders-and-activations/returns-and-exchanges/customer/returns-and-exchanges.html

      Some wireless companies don’t allow returns at all – this is pretty generous.

      PEOPLE, READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, WARRANTIES, RETURN POLICIES, ETC. BEFORE YOU BUY ANYTHING – IT’S ON 99% OF ALL WEBSITES !

    2. Linda,

      This may make you feel better, or not, but the screen size of the LG Stylo and the ZTE MAX are EXACTLY THE SAME – 5.7 inches of display – which is huge.

      The entire phone of the ZTE is bigger, yes, but the screen, the display, viewing area, which is most important for your needs, are exactly the same.

      Unless you have huge hands, you made the right choice for comfort and vision with the LG.

  153. Hi. Just purchased my daughter a iPhone 5s from the Cricket Wireless website two days ago. Yes just two measly days ago & I’m already feeling like a made a huge mistake. I knew it was too easy & good to be true. My daughter did all the research (picking the phone, checking the price savings, choosing the best plan etc.) & then provided me the info to review & approve or disapprove.

    Initially everything seems great. More money could be saved by ordering online so we chose that route. It took about 5 minutes to complete & get an order confirmation. Within 24 hours Cricket Wireless was causing commotion in my checking account. They placed TWO holds on my account for the amount due then charged my account a THIRD time for the amount due. Once the third charge cleared & my order shipped the first & second charges remained “pending” & ultimately screwed up my balance on my account. Customer service was absolutely no help when I called to ask why there was still a hold when they had already received full payment. So there I was sitting & waiting for my money to be released by someone who had already been paid in full! I’ve never had that any holds on my account for one transaction & I buy online atleast 1-2 times a week.

    1. Did they charge you more than paid for ? If not, be patient, they have to hold the funds until they know you’ve received the phone and activated it, security for both parties. It may be inconvenient, but Cricket is not going to steal your money.

      Maybe this is the best lesson you could learn. NEVER, EVER, NEVER GIVE ANYONE, ANY COMPANY, ACCESS TO YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT. Automatic payments because it’s ez – forget it !

      You are giving STRANGERS complete access to your money ! What if the next time they accidentally add another zero to the draft ? With people involved, that can and does happen. You’ll get your money back, but that mistake will cause bounced checks, overdraft fees, credit dings, etc.

      Get a credit card ! Or go to the store next time and write a check.

  154. From what my financial institution is telling me Cricket has already been paid but I still have over $500 in holds on my account from Cricket! Gary you are so correct & I will never use my debit information again. I have a credit card but never use it. Guess it’s time to change my online shopping habits huh? Most other places I buy from I use PayPal & I’ve never had any issues. Lesson learned this go around!

  155. This is not a technical review. My wife and I are brand new to the world of smart phones. We are not however, new to the world of customer service or it’s function. We purchased our first smart phones at a Cricket kiosk on Jan 1st of this year. The first road block was the transfer of our old flip phones which we acquired through AT&T many many many years ago. My wife responded to an ad that when presented, were told did not apply to us due to our being existing AT&T customers. This WAS the reason we went to Cricket in addition to a reasonable monthly plan. This is not only deceptive advertising but once again it relies on the customer to closely examine the fine print (if any) and quite frankly should be at least as big as the $100 credit promise, not to mention buying one phone and getting the second one free……none of which we received. We were after all getting a new service but because we were coming over from AT&T, we ‘got nutin’. Note to AT&T customers considering the switch………no deals here.

    I’m not done though. One of the many questions we had was billing. Once they told us we would be on AT&T’s network I ask if we would get a bill from AT&T or them. The young 20 something girl replied “oh, we never bill”. I asked if we would get a bill from AT&T. She either didn’t know or said no, I’m not sure now but given the glazed over look I received, I drop it. You have to understand we were getting a new device pretty foreign to us and we were more excited about that, pretty much thinking things would work out with billing. Part of the process is paying for service up front so I knew at some point we would get a bill in February. We opted out of ‘auto-pay’ as we like to receive physical bills IN THE MAIL and pay them accordingly. When we opted out, this is what we thought or assumed would happen.
    Imagine my surprise when I got a text from Cricket, the same company that “never bills”………saying I had 2 days to pay. WTF? This on Jan 28th. Blood pressure rising, I called “customer service” and got a moron named ‘Alejandro’ who read from a script and was of zero help. I asked for a manager but his reply was “they will say the same thing.” Not giving up quite yet, I asked him if I could at least change the pay date to which he replied “no”. Livid with anger I went online to the ‘chat’ and got another idiot name ‘Javier’ who was also very unhelpful. He seemed completely incapable of understanding my questions regarding the process of receiving a paper bill, the misinformation we were given at the kiosk and how important it was to us to have billing choices we thought we had. His links for what, I have no idea, were given without explanation and I ended the session completely frustrated.
    But it gets better……beaten down, I go online and go into our account hoping to find more info. I immediately find you can change the due date indicating to me ‘Alejandro’ was in fact a moron or insufficiently trained to do his job. Seeing there are NO alternatives to pay my bill I decide to go ahead and do it online, jumping through the hoops of modernism , the new world order or whatever.
    That was fun. As of this writing the issue has not been resolved. I attempted no fewer than 12 times, to pay my bill using their system. Feeling like I am to blame and that I am the moron, I get on the horn again and walk through the payment process with no success. The person on the other end is of course blaming me and blaming my card, insisting it is on my end. I told him to toss off and get a “manager on the line”. She gets on the line and is unable to help me as well and says she needs to have a conference and will call me back in 20 minutes. She never did call back. After 40 minutes, I call back and talk to a ‘Jenny’ who is actually very helpful and patient and came close to what I consider “customer service”. She is however unable to help me. She was able to process a payment on her end but I was not. We tried for over an hour to figure it out and she finally admitted there may be a system problem. At this point, I cannot make a payment or set up auto pay. Jenny says she will call me on Wednesday (not sure why) with claims the problem may be resolved by then.
    In conclusion I would like to say my experience was laughable at best. In the interest of keeping this short I left out many details relating to what I was told ‘in detail’ and the manner in which I was treated. Very poor customer service staffed with people who have poor training.

    1. You may be using AT&T towers, but forget AT&T, you’re not doing business the AT&T way anymore, you’re with CRICKET. Don’t expect Cricket to operate the way you want, or the way you’re used to.

      Cricket is PREPAID- you pay in ADVANCE. There’s NO BILLING. That’s why you get no bills in the mail, and they don’t worry about collections. That’s why Cricket is so inexpensive.

      You should have taken the time to read all about Cricket on their website. Don’t jump to conclusions next time if you deal with a different company. Just because a company you’re now dealing with is a subsidiary of a company you used to deal with means nothing today. They’re set up differently, and run differently – learn the rules before you pay and play.

    2. Gary, You make a lot of assumptions. But you know what they say…………….
      Your critique is not worthy of a reply. Good Day.

    3. I made no assumptions, I just replied to your statements. YOUR ASSUMPTIVE Proof is below, but first. You call everyone at Cricket idiots and morons, but what kind of idiotic moronic statement of yours is this ???? Here’s your quote: “Part of the process is paying for service up front so I knew at some point we would get a bill in February. ” You know it’s prepaid, but you expect to be billed??? WTF ??

      THERE’S MORE: Eg ” I asked if we would get a bill from AT&T.” “….. …..we like to receive physical bills IN THE MAIL and pay them accordingly. When we opted out, this is what we thought or ASSUMED would happen.”

      Who made the assumption about billing ???? YOU. Follow Cricket’s simple rules and it’s easy. People, quit trying to blame others when you don’t read and make assumptions.

  156. I am in a nightmare! After months of trying to decide whether I should switch from Virgin Mobile to Cricket, I finally decided to give Cricket a shot. I’ve been wanting to get the iPhone 6s Plus 64 GB in Space Grey but Virgin has been out of stock for months. When I saw that Cricket had the $100 off promo when you transfer your number I figured this was a good time to make the switch. I chose to do it online since there aren’t any stores close by and it seemed pretty simple. Everything went smooth until clicked “Place Order.” I get an error message saying the billing addressed I entered wasn’t a match. So, without thinking twice, I just edit the address, this time spelling out the abbreviations (Drive instead of Dr). I click “Place Order” again and get the same error message. So, again, I tweak the address thinking maybe my bank had entered it a different way. I click “Place Order” one last time and the error message now says MY CARD WAS DECLINED. I immediately check my account and it is in the NEGATIVES. Cricket charged me for the $800+ phone THREE TIMES and the order was NEVER CONFIRMED. I call Cricket customer service and they tell me that the charges were just “pre-authorization charges” to confirm the card information was valid and that if I didn’t receive an email confirming my order, the payments won’t process. They then tell me that I have either just wait til the money is charged back to my account or call my bank if I want it returned immediately. I call my bank and they tell me that Cricket is the one who has to release the hold. I call Cricket back, with my bank on the phone, and they tell me there’s nothing they can do about it but wait 3 to 5 days for the funds to be charged back to my account. THIS IS CRAZY! I won’t even be receiving a phone and Cricket is holding 3x the amount I was supposed to pay! I don’t understand how they can say my payment couldn’t be processed because my billing address was incorrect, but still charge my card?? and aren’t pre-auth charges usually just $1 or something minimal? This experience was enough for me to forget ever fooling with Cricket again and just deal with my mediocre Virgin Mobile service. I am a 23 yr old recent college grad with an entry-level job left broke for 3-5 days. Thanks Cricket!

    1. I had a similar problem. Your billing and shipping address has to be exactly the same. exactly. Log into your credit card account and see what the billing address is. If that’s your shipping address, you’ll be fine with Cricket. It took me several credit cards and 3 tries to figure that out.

  157. My only complaint about crickett is I switched from boost to crickett in November 2015 and I live in the 313 area code and I purchased my phone from a store located in the 313 area code but when i call a # in the 313 area why in the h#%& do I have to dial 313 first!!!!!

  158. that’s true all over the country. yes, the old days, in the same area code, you could just dial the 7 numbers. it sucks, but at least you now have speed dial, and only have to push one number.

  159. Gary, I am unsure why you would respond to my statements as they were not directed toward you. Be that as it may, one can make assumptions based on a variety of facts provided and one’s past experience. Since I provided up front admittance to not being familiar with Cricket it was an excellent opportunity for the sales person to shine. I was instead lead to the conclusion the people behind the counter were under trained or lacking in basic information ‘they assumed’ I should know. In my experience I have never been given 3 days to pay a bill, received a “bill” via a text or indeed told by an employee of any company “I will never receive a bill” I consider an electronic notice a statement for services rendered………thus one can conclude this is a form of billing, albeit electrically. In this case, services not yet rendered. If she failed to understand my basic question how is it on me when it is her responsibility to clearly explain the way in which I may receive and send payments? Did we not tell her “these are our very first smart phones”? Was I supposed to lead her by the hand or should I have assumed she was under trained, an idiot or a moron? No, I gave her the benefit of the doubt. In that regard I did not go on baseless assumptions but rather figured the billing issue would resolve itself in the normal way most companies do business.
    This based on an assumption of normal business practice.
    It is true I was harsh when making the statement that certain people were morons or idiots. This is actually a poor explanation and in fact provides an excuse. They probably suffer no genetic or environmental abnormalities that would explain the insufficient way in which they answered questions, provided information or the lack there of. I might also remind you GARY that I still cannot make a payment via the website, even with the full support and help of a manager at Cricket. Perhaps you can help in this manner since you seem to be personally vested in my comments. Of course an alternative would be nice as I don’t consider calling them to process a payment any way to do business. Also GARY, would you care to explain why an employee told me I could not change the due date?
    Perhaps it would be prudent if the employees read the website……..

    My statement
    “Part of the process is paying for service up front so I knew at some point we would get a bill in February” is taken out of context. It was not explained to us (I did ask) how the payment process works. All the girl said was “we will never receive a bill” As I indicated before, in our excitement we dropped the subject. In retrospect she could have said “the instructions for payment are on this piece of paper” or explained it to us newbies. You see Gary, part of customer service is not to leave your customers wondering. I actually made very few assumptions and depended on (in part) to the customer service provided. I’m not so sure what is so bad about that.

    1. As an outsider, it appears there was communication failure on behalf of the salesperson, and yourselves as well. When they said “you will never receive a bill”, why wouldn’t you continue to ask her about that? And why would you make an assumption you WOULD receive a bill AFTER she said you WOULDN’T be billed.I bring this up again, because this is the problem you’re having with Cricket.

      Look, I’m not jumping on you, I’ve made these same mistakes. Get excited about a new product, think everything will work out, but I didn’t follow up on ambiguities I had when buying it. That never works in favor of the customer.

      You say this is your first smartphone. That’s fine, but that has nothing to do with billing or signing up. The problem is expecting Cricket to act like other companies you’ve done business with. Like buying a new car from a different manufacturer, you have to learn the ins and outs.

      So where are you in the process ? Do you have Cricket phones ? If yes, do you have service ? If yes to both, that’s good, because after 28 days, they’ll text you reminders to pay.

      Did you set up an online account yourself, with Cricketwireless.com ? If not, then go do that now. Once you do that, you’ll be able to make payments, check your data usage, etc. And I suggest you get on auto-pay. That way you don’t have to deal with this crap every month.

      This is a prepaid phone. You HAVE to prepay every month. With a credit card, no paper bills. No credit, no AT&T.

      I am trying to help – why, I don’t know, I have some free time today 🙂

  160. I bought an iPhone 5C last June (10 months ago) through Cricket, for about half what the retail price would have been, on the assurance that I could get it unlocked after 6 months of service. After 3 months, I had to get the phone replaced, under warranty, at an Apple store because the microphone was not working (people couldn’t hear me when I called them).

    When I tried to get the phone unlocked after 6 months, Cricket customer service told me I couldn’t because I had not had the phone for 6 months yet. Really??? What kind of logic is that? I would have had THEIR phone for 6 months if it HADN’T NEEDED TO BE REPLACED!

    I’ve always paid on time and feel like I fulfilled my end of the agreement, having been their customer for the agreed-upon period of time.

    Phone is still locked.

    In general, customer service folks (whether thru Chat or an actual call) do not speak good English, do not understand my questions and frequently give me incorrect information, i.e., I’ll get different answers from different people. None of them seem to be empowered to actually solve an issue.

  161. “Gary”, your comments and responses to numerous people’s complaints, and tone of your responses to Dan Wilson, suggests you are a cricket employee trying to cover over people’s complaints. At least your rudeness is an accurate reflection of Cricket customer service — for those thinking of signing on to Cricket, take a look at Gary’s emails to Dan, and you’ll have a good sense of what it is like to deal with their customer service.

    Imagine will hear something rude back from “Gary.” But at least in this case I’m not also trying to get a basic phone issue fixed to no avail.

    Was a cricket customer and got out. Couldn’t be happier.

    1. Hmmm, Steven didn’t read Gary’s entire email did he ? He just saw where Gary didn’t like Dan calling Cricket employees morons and idiots. And what’s wrong with pointing out that when people are told they don’t get a bill in the mail , and then they STILL expect to get one ? They think they’ll get billed on a PREPAID phone ? Should we feel sorry for these people or try and set them straight ?

      Steven also didn’t see where Gary tried to help Dan. He asked Dan if he had service, to set up an account, to sign up for autopay, etc.

      Steven, if you’re so concerned about Dan, why didn’t you try to help him ? Apparently you’re one of millions who just gets on forums and complain. At least Gary tried to help Dan – what did you do ?

  162. Run as fast as you can away from Cricket wireless. The customer service cannot do anything to help you other than take your money.

    I bought my father a cricket (LG) phone (for $25.00 a month). The minute the phone was activated spam phone calls came in. I went to the place I bought it from in Yuba City, CA and they told me to call the cricket 611. No help there either. Having the phone less than 2 months with over 275 spam messages, voice mails, and texts I gave up with getting help from cricket.

    NEVER BUY FROM THESE GUYS!!!!!!!!!!

    1. Joseph Durance:
      I have Cricket since 8/2015. I have never experienced the difficulties your father has experienced. Seems he or someone using his phone caused the spam issue. With the exception of nominal signal strength, I have had good fortune with Cricket.

    2. obviously he got a new number from Cricket, since you wouldn’t port an existing number that got that many spam calls.

      why didn’t you get a different number as soon as you saw so much incoming spam?

      NO carrier can stop spam calls/texts. Change his phone number.

  163. I moved wife and daughter’s phones to Cricket a couple weeks ago with no problems so far. I was on ATT and once I got their iPhones unlocked I moved them over doing everything online. I had no issues porting numbers and it probably took ~10 minutes before everything was completely ported over and working. I was on Google Project Fi but was having coverage issues so I moved my new Nexus 5X over to Cricket last week. Again, no issues with porting other than it took about 3 hours instead of minutes but this could’ve due to the port over from Google. Data speeds capped at 8Mbps isn’t that big of a deal for me since I’m usually on Wi-Fi and when on data I’m just surfing and doing the Twitter. My one complaint would be the limited phone compatibility for phone hot spots which is documented on their website and they charge you $10 for the service.

    All-in-all I’m saving ~$130/month so I can live with the shortcomings. If not, I’ve made the switch to pre-paid MVNOs and will shop around–which is the real advantage of moving away from the big guys anyway.

  164. I got to cricket store on game shop miami to get a brand new line from criket for a friend of my , after i paid for a 40.00 dollar plan 9.99 sim and 25.00 dollar activation fee 24 hours later still no service , customer service over sea contacted 3 times and recording said non working number , stay away from this cricket , remember you get what you paid , aldo they refused to return your money , don’t paid until you have the line working on the store .

  165. I am currently with Sprint but shopping for a different carrier. If I switch, will my IPhone 6 Plus work with Cricket? I know I have to have my IPhone unlocked first before switching. My concern is about the SIM card. How does that work with my IPhone? I just need some advise. Thank you.

    1. I switched-over from Sprint last year. Sprint’s signal is not compatible with Cricket, AT&T, & others. The transmission frequencies are different. Unless there have been some changes in Sprint’s transmission, you will need a new phone compatible with AT&T’s frequency.

    2. Hi Riza,

      Please do not listen to the people who say that it will not work with Cricket because it will as long as your Iphone is unlocked. Just go to a Cricket store and tell them you want to port your existing number from Sprint. You will most likely need your Sprint account number and the password on your account if you have one. You do not need to contact Sprint at all. Cricket will give you a new Cricket nano SIM.

    3. YOUR SPRINT PHONE WILL NOT WORK WITH CRICKET. WHY ?

      Sprint phones use CDMA, like Verizon.

      Cricket phones use GSM, like AT&T

      A phone built for CDMA networks like Sprint will NOT work on any other type of network.

      If you have to have an Iphone, you need an iphone built for the network Cricket is using, which is GSM.

  166. All Iphones are compatible with all networks as long as they are unlocked. Apple manufactures all their Iphones with the necessary LTE bands to work anywhere in the world again as long as they are unlocked. Just helped my brother port 4 Verizon lines to Cricket Wireless and three of those lines were Iphones. Cricket is amazing and please do not be swayed from switching because of all the negative comments. Have also helped another friend port is Sprint number (again an Iphone) to Cricket again without issue. I myself left Verizon about 8 months ago and went to Cricket and I couldn’t be happier. Was paying $128/month w/Verizon and now pay $45/month w/Cricket.

  167. Great blog! I think you are helping lots of people. Maybe you can help as I’ve been with verizon for 2 years, and my contract is up, so I’m considering going to cricket. I have an “ancient” iphone 4s. I want to keep my phone number, and possibly upgrade to a newer iphone (only, the iphones got bigger argh, as I like my little 4s, it fits in my pockets but ok I will go with newer) If you would help me to know the main factors (as simply as possible , please, as this is not my forte) that a person ought to base in choosing which new carrier and plan, I’d appreciate it so much!

    1. Hi Haley,

      Not sure if your old Iphone 4S will work with Cricket Wireless. It may if it is unlocked but I cannot say for sure. With that being said, any newer unlocked Iphone will work on Cricket. Cricket pricing is very simple. There are three plans. $40, $50, and $60/month offering 2.5 gb, 5 gb, and 10 gb of high speed data respectively. You can get a $5/month discount if you auto bill to your credit card which is what I do. If you use up your high speed data before the end of your billing period your data speeds are simply slowed down but not stopped. The $50 plan is an exceptional value in my opinion as it included unlimited talk/text to Mexico and Canada and when traveling to those countries you can use your phone as if you were in the U.S. This plan also includes unlimited texts (no picture messaging) to many countries in Europe, Asia, and South/Central America. I regularly text friends in London and Australia. I myself was a Verizon Wireless customer for 13 years and switched about 4 months ago. Before I made the switch I tested Cricket’s network for one month and found the coverage to be comparable to Verizon save for data speeds which were still plenty fast for me but nowhere as fast as Verizon. I went from paying $128/month with Verizon to $45/month with Cricket.

  168. Thank you for encouraging words, John. I am looking forward to switch to another carrier, in a month or so, but have to do some preliminary work on my part first.

    I have another concern in regards to having an IPad Air. How does that work with Cricket? I have no clue, if that’s even doable?

    1. Riza,

      Unfortunately I do not know the answer to that question. Assuming your Ipad Air has a SIM slot and is unlocked it may work however, I am not even sure if Cricket allows tablets on their network or if they are simple phones only.

  169. I had a glitch with cricket. I will say, if we do decide to switch over there – at half the cost I am paying now – we are under no contract and can do something else if we choose.

    after going online and reading reviews of cricket (owned by At&T), I talked to Juan at the local canby cricket.
    OMG!

    Seriously – this guy was telling me all sorts of stories. First – my phone would not work. Online – I checked and it should.
    Then I could activate it for $95.
    ?!?
    When I asked where the $95 came from, he changed tactics and told me I could do the $50 plan. Basic @40 is only for basic flip phones, Smart plan @50 is for smart phones.
    WTF?
    He wouldn’t back down from this lie.

    I called the 1-800 # and they told me they couldn’t take complaints, I had to call corporate.
    Ahem.

    They gave me the corporate # — which had a 503 area code. I asked, You have a corporate office in Oregon?
    “…we have corporate offices all over…”

    Then I called the 503# and it is the store on 82nd. ( I believe this to be the parent store to the one in Canby) .
    Who said I was right, Juan was wrong. He would tell his manager. But there was no form to file a complaint. I pressed him a bit to file a complaint but you could tell this was going nowhere.

    I asked about stores closer to me. He wanted me to drive out to 82nd – which I may do today.
    He told me Oregon city, woodburn and wilsonville had stores. I had business in Wilsonville so I drove over there without the address. I looked it up once I was in wilsonville and found it —to be — a manhole cover on a street by Target/costco.

    That was three days ago.

    What I got from the internet is
    1. Don’t buy your phone directly thru cricket
    2. This is a recent merger with At&T.
    3. As such, individual cricket stores are not noted for their helpfulness.
    4. We all need to get our phones unlocked to switch.
    5. It is a deal. At 2.5 GB of data each, this is the best of the alternatives.
    6. reminder, no contract. we can leave at any time.

    There is a $25 activation fee for each line in addition to the $10 cricket sim card. I did not see the activation fee online but verified it from my visit.

    1. kathyh, there is no ($0) activation fee per line if you do so online. It costs $25 in-store.

  170. I have been with Cricket since before they were acquired by AT&T. Was dreading having to get a new phone but circumstances created a good thing. I accidentally dropped a glass of soda on the old CDMA Samsung Galaxy Discover I was using. Didn’t realize it and it sat in the puddle overnight. Yeah, I bricked it. Since I had to get a new phone sometime around that March, I decided to spring for the new plan. Got a first generation Moto G for 99 bucks. 49 after the rebate. Love the phone. Runs pretty much stock Android with very little bloatware. Had a slight hiccup with changing the plan. My new due date was a problem as I get Social Security and had to be able to pay after the 3rd of the month. Cricket changed it with no trouble. Even gave me a one time credit to cover the billing gap. Have to say I really like the changes.

  171. Been on auto pay since I have been with them over 9 years made a payment in store cause of upgrading to a newer phone. Cause I paid in store they deactivated my auto pay. Then when I called they told me my C.C. was expired. It doesn’t expire till 2018. So they charged me a activation fee and the monthly service fee.

  172. just an fyi, if your switching your number from another phone carrier. your number must be on an active plan, the cell contract phone paid and balance current with the current carrier before the phone number can be released to the new carrier.

    I once worked in the industry. you won’t believe what people try to do. you can’t switch a line that has been sent to collections. you can’t switch a line that has a cell phone that has not been paid off on the 2 year contract. etc.

  173. I switched from T-mobile to Cricket in November of 2015. I purchased the Alcatel Idol 3 for $179, Cricket was offering a $100 dollar service credit via rebate on the phone and it seemed like a pretty good deal. I’ve been overall pretty happy with the service. My number was ported within a few hours, and everything works. Cricket does cap network speed, and seems to do something similar to network latency as well. Network speed is fine, but I do notice the latency issue. Network requests are often slow to respond, It’s generally not too problematic, but is noticeable and annoying when using Google Maps navigation. As you would expect from ATT’s network, coverage is very good.
    My issue is the rebate. I’m starting to think I’ve been ripped off. It’s been four months. Cricket rebate website says my rebate has been approved and mailed . It’s said that for a month, and I haven’t gotten it yet. I have Emailed the rebate center twice to find out if it has in fact been mailed, and when they sent it. They will not answer that simple question. Instead, they have twice told me to be patient and that they are running behind due to “overwhelming” response. I’m running out of patience.

  174. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. I have the 5gb high speed data and my text take about 2-5 minutes on average to be sent. I bought the Lg phone (another huge mistake) thru cricket and it is the biggest POS ever. So I switched to a Samsung and continue having the same problems. I live in Los Angeles County, which means the service should not be so spotty. Customer service says I used all my data when I still show more then 3.5gb of high speed left. They then boost the signal to no avail. My calls continue to get forwarded (on their own), my data is fake (AT&t throttling it down on purpose I am sure), and my text take about 2-5 minutes on average to reach their destination. My advice, use tracphone or page plus. T-mobile, At&T, Simple mobile, and Cricket are GARBAGE!!!!!

    1. Cesar,

      Please use the following APN settings and you will have no further problems:

      Name: ATT Nextgenphone
      APN: nxtgenphone
      Proxy: Not Set
      Username: Not Set
      Password: Not Set
      Server: Not Set
      MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net
      MMS Proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net
      MMS Port: 80
      MCC: 310
      MNC: 150
      Authentication Type: None
      APN Type: default,mms,supl,hipri,fota
      APN Protocol: IPv4
      APN Roaming Protocol: IPv4
      Faded Out: APN Enable/Disable: APN Turned On
      Bearer: Unspecified
      MVNO Type: None
      MVNO Value: Not Set

      John

    2. Thanks John. Text only lag about a minute now. Streaming still sucks though. I am used to watching live sports on the go!

  175. This can’t be a real posting. Really, ALL these things happening to one person, all at once ?

    unless he’s sending huge pics, texts, even in 2001 never took but a few seconds. All phones have internal data counters available , so you can actually see how much data you’re using. no mention of that.

    OK, having a problem with LG is understandable, but with Samsung too ? But whose phones are these ? BYOP, or did he buy them from Cricket ?

    Cricket (AT&T) NEVER “boosts” the signal. With Cricket you get 7.5mbps DL max, which is more than fast to stream videos. You want faster speeds, pay double with Verizon.

    This sounds like a young person who just bought a phone and a plan without reading the terms. And more than likely went through their data streaming music and youtube videos during the day. A week of that and you go through ANY data plan. I’ll bet his slow connections are due to his eating up his high speed data, and for the rest of the month is on 2-3g service. Set up the data monitoring on your phone, or DL an app that has it – then you’ll know for sure what you’ve used.

    And you think Tracfone is the answer ??? They are 3g only. You want slow data ? Use Tracfone. I know because I have one as a backup phone for traveling.

    Use AT&T ? Cricket IS AT&T !

  176. This post is as real as it gets Gary. Try using netflix on cricket. Good luck!!! USe netflix on any of those 3g services and you will get much better results. BELIEVE ME!!! Before you go off bad mouthing people you can clearly see that that many cricket customers complain about latency issues. Apparently you do not talk or send many pics. Makes sense considering you really think cricket=at&t. Remember, At&t is notorious for throttling services down. In fact, I was part of the class action lawsuit. Look it up smart guy. Now if AT&t does this to their “loyal customers,” now imagine the back seat that cricket must take. Just because At&t acquired cricket & Aio wireless does not mean your going to get the same results. Use any speed test and you will see. Remember the moon steals its light from the sun, but no one ever confuses the 2.

    1. I know you hate these, but let’s deal with some facts.
      1. AT&T owns Cricket
      2. Cricket uses AT&T towers
      3. Cricket maxes your DL speeds to 7-8mbps, which is why their price is cheap. Look that up smarty panties.

      4. 7-8mbps on 4GLTE is more than ample to watch Netflix. I just finished watching Andy bail Barney out of another jam. I get close to 8mbps using Speedtest.net. I’d post some pics, but you get the webmaster to allow it.

      5. I HAVE a Motorola Moto with Tracfone, 3G, Verizon towers. Webpages, take forever to load, forget about streaming. 3G is OLD, OLD technology.

      6. If 3G is so great, why are they switching to 4 and 5G ? See the progression? 3 to 4 to 5 ??

      7. who cares about your stupid AT&T class action lawsuit. That’s AT&T . THIS IS CRICKET. Cricket guarantees a speed. Maybe I was wrong saying they wouldn’t boost your signal, but I won’t believe it until I try it, especially if you said it.

      The difference between you and me, is that I have Cricket, I have a Windows phone, I do the tests. I have a Verizon/Tracfone 3G, I do the tests. I’ve read Cricket’s website on their speeds and what they guarantee.

      But I’m sure your world of ignorance and fantasy is more fun. Play on Cesar, you magnificent leader of the Planet of the Apes !!

    2. Is that really your mom. LOL. Explains a lot. Cricket is ok for people like Gary. You want a steady stream to watch a game… GOOD LUCK!!! If your seldom on your phone, this may work for you. IF your in Los Angeles or other populated areas, then your service will be short ended. Period!!! If your in your moms basement all day then I hear it’s good!!! lol

  177. Also Gary, cricket will in fact “boost your signal.” Call 611 and complain about latency issues and they will give you a signal boost. Try it before you become a little richard!!

  178. I’ve had Cricket now for only 3 weeks and thus far it works great. I started with my Verizonized Samsung Galaxy s5, and it worked okay, but it didn’t take advantage of 4G LTE naturally. So I purchased a Google LG Nexus 5X and it works beautifully. Things could change in the comming months, but thus far it’s great! I was a Verizon customer for 13 years and I’m so glad I finally switched! 🙂

    1. Justin,

      Your story is the same as mine. I too was a Verizon customer for about 13 years and had zero complaints other than the cost. I was paying $128/month with Verizon and now pay just $45/month with Cricket. I couldn’t be happier and my service is great!!

      John

  179. Actually Gary, the point here is that no one here gives two shits what you have to say. Not only that, we have no idea why you are saying it. You live in my basement. Fact. You like to play that private game of yours with the dog and the peanut butter. Fact. You are a Cricket fanboy. Fact. No one here can even fathom why there could even possibly be a Cricket Fanboy, yet there you are. Cricket works great in our basement, these poor people get it. Now leave them alone and pick up your socks. You are the house troll of an obscure website called frugal caller. How can this even be? How effing sad is that? You’re 37 years old, and live in your Mother’s basement. If you are so pathetically bored that you are down to trolling obscure websites like this one , well, please clean your room, and for Gods sake, leave the poor dog alone.

    1. This is Gary’s dad. What you are witnessing is a love-sick spat by Cesar. You see, Gary brought home what he thought was a girl – but it was a “Gurly-Boy Cesar” !! Gary had just met him/her at Starbucks a few hours prior and came home to get some $$ to take him/her out.

      Well, to our surprise, when Gurlyboy Cesar bent over to pick up his/her Cricket phone, her wig fell off ! My poor son’s jaw dropped to the floor. Once he saw he was being tricked, he stomped on Cesar’s Cricket phone, and punched him/her in the face and gut, and the whole family threw sissy boy Cesar out of the house. So Cesar, get a new Cricket phone and you won’t have these problems!

      But Gary keeps getting messages, text, sexts from Cesar – Cesar is infatuated with my handsome Gary !! One pic showed Cesar in his pink panties with a hole in the front and back – the front said “Hail Cesar”, the back said “Tail Cesar” . What a funny degenerate pervert !

      So now you know why Cesar is (and wants to be) is so angry. He can’t get over, or under Gary. Even though Gary gives nothing but the phone facts, Cesar’s arguments, are, well, just displays of scattered, confused, forlorn love for my son. Cesar, go use your broken 2G phone with crappy GPS and GET LOST !

  180. Moderator, do we need this type of cursing and filth from people like Cesar ? This used to be good site for facts and user opinions, but comments like Cesar’s have ruined it for my husband and I.

  181. This is so true. My son Gary’s feelings have been hurt. Words hurt. He’s so tired of being bullied. He’s 37, but still a very sensitive boy. Normally I drive him to the Cricket store on Saturday mornings so that he can play with the new Windows Phones, but he hasn’t left the basement at all this weekend. I can’t even get him to come upstairs to breast feed. I know he’s really upset when he wont take milk. All of this really bothers Gary. The comment section on Frugal caller is his only social outlet aside from myself and the dog. Oh, and he usually really lights up and smiles when we talk about Cricket. But not lately. Let’s all try to be nicer to Gary.

    1. Beware Cesar V is a 32 yo illegal immigrant and convicted sex offender moving from city to city. His last known address was Johnson’s daycare in San Pedro, where he out ran the officials. His likes are boys from 4-10. Please run his i.p. and tell the authorities of his whereabouts.

  182. Wow, typical racist people with nothing better to do. You give them facts, and the stories come out. Sharon, you can eat a fat one!!! LAPD are all pedophiles if you think about it, how many sane people can harass people of color touching their private parts then go home and sleep at night… SMH!!! #drumf’s all you cowards!!!

    1. also sharon, thought you and Gary were done here. You’re so sensitive to name calling yet you do the same. Pot calling the kettle black. So sad. Does everyone know what you did with Gary’s dad? You can youtube it too, oh wait, maybe not with your phone service.

    2. At least what I did with Gary’s dad was legal. You taking little boys into the closet and playing “doctor” with your cellphone light is disgusting. At least they use Cricket and can call for help.

    3. Sharon, I hate to inform you, sodomy is not legal in your state. Then all the2 girls one cup stuff you did with Gary and his dad is definitely frowned upon. The fact that Gary is your brother is also considered incest, but i do not place the blame on you. Gary’s dad was the one who had Gary place his privates in your mouth then he kicked your jaw. This is the circumcision process for white trash such as yourself.

    4. And Cesar, when you sodomize 6 year old boys, that’s legal ?

      Latest LA jail rap:

      “Sick, sick, pedophile, Cesar that you be.
      I heard you messing ’round,
      with a boy that’s only 3. ”

      Go Cricket !

    5. Vinnie your into bestiality with gary and sharon. You guys should really not do that with your dogs. Rubbing peanut butter on your genitalia and having the dog lick it off is really saying more about your wild upbringing and lifestyles. Then you make false claims toward people to hide your bestiality. DAM SHAME. You try to be Italian, but we know you’re Puerto Rican. Next week Vinnie will change his name again so the pound can allow him more dogs for the great “rescue.” The supermarket stays suspicious on all the peanut butter you buy. Besides, you are adopted and yet your hillbilly father made you get circumcised like gary… Plus sharon said your also into gerbils. Must be the your identity issues or the father that abandoned you. Vinnie the last thing you shanked was yourself. Go sharpen 12 pencils and sit on um. Internet fingers turning into stabbing fingers… sorry doesn’t work that way you grease ball.

  183. I have been using cricket in Atlanta GA for 2 months and have an ATT post paid phone side by side. Cricket audio is almost unusable. Dropped words, syllables etc.

    1. that is puzzling. i’m in ATL and bought an AT&T go phone (lumia 640) at walmart, put my Cricket sim card in, and it works great. since cricket IS at&t, the same signal is being sent from the same towers.

      If you’re using 2 different phones, the only way to know for sure is to try one phone at a time. your at&t phone sounds great ? put your Cricket sim card in and see what happens.

      my guess is the phone being used with cricket isn’t as good as the at&t phone, specs wise, that is.

  184. Hi Cesar, Tnx for offering. But johns APN settings from above:

    Did not help phone audio quality. I did power cycle after Adding this new APN and checking that it’s active, power cycle take a bunch of calls. Audio is no better. Drops whole words and sylabiles.

    My phone is: an ATT unlocked samsung note 5 bought off one of those used sites. It was obviously never used. I intentionally bought an ATT phone to avoid this problem. A Note 5 surely is a great phone and HW. It has to be config or radio firmware?? And I hoped buying ATT phone the firmware would not be an issue.

    FROM John

    Name: ATT Nextgenphone
    APN: nxtgenphone
    Proxy: Not Set
    Username: Not Set
    Password: Not Set
    Server: Not Set
    MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net
    MMS Proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net
    MMS Port: 80
    MCC: 310
    MNC: 150
    Authentication Type: None
    APN Type: default,mms,supl,hipri,fota
    APN Protocol: IPv4
    APN Roaming Protocol: IPv4
    Faded Out: APN Enable/Disable: APN Turned On
    Bearer: Unspecified
    MVNO Type: None
    MVNO Value: Not Set

    1. That is Cricket for you. Try installing whats app and use your wifi to call someone locally. If your problem continues then I want to say it is the phone speaker. I had to send one back to Samsung before and they replaced the speaker and the power button for free, Your phone is still newer so I would definitely look into it. Try samsung.com and contact them.

  185. I have been with straight talk for 5-6 years with no problems at all. I only use a phone for talking. Hello , Goodbye. No internet, pictures e-mail. Nothing else. Not interested in all that other stuff. I’m 75 years old but I do however like my LG flip phone from Straight talk. I was considering purchasing a new LG flip from Cricket which could save me $15 a month with auto pay. I know most of these posts are negative but is you just want a “Talk” phone and use nothing else would anyone recommend them if I buy their phone and have them give me a new number . All clean, simple and working at the store before I leave. Or will I probably end up sorry like most of these folks here

  186. Forgot to mention I travel around Mich. and to Florida each year and voice portion of phone must work everywhere. I looked at the coverage map here on the internet and couldn’t quite figure out if it was coverage everywhere or not. One person at a cricket store told me it worked everywhere but sounds like you can’t always believe everything they tell you.

    1. Both Straight Talk and Cricket are GSM. So since coverage is your priority, I suggest just buying a Cricket SIM card for your current phone and using it for a month or so to test the coverage. If the coverage works for you in the areas you need, then you can just cancel your Straight Talk plan and be good to go.

      Coverage will always depend on the area and the provider. In most of the areas I’ve been, AT&T’s coverage has been the best, but I’m not sure what networks Straight Talk uses. In my experience, Cricket’s coverage has been great (better than Verizon and Sprint), but I haven’t used it in the areas you mentioned.

  187. Hi folks,. I am having trouble receiving a text message from a veteran’s support website called vettix.org. I signed up and they said they sent a text message to my phone. I never got it.. They tried 4 times, and I never got it. I have an iPhone 6 plus and have no trouble receiving texts or sending them usually to people who have iPhones or android.

    I called Cricket support, and all they did was have me shut off my phone, and then they did something to my service. I’m unsure if that has worked.

    Vettix.org sent me some info about the text message they sent and I’m hoping someone here might know what the problem it… this is what they said about the text message:
    “2016-04-18 08:25:08: Text Message sent to double opt in to 517515#### to AT&T (Cingular Wireless) returned data, mnc: 150 Jasper Wireless” (I removed the last 4 digits on my phone number for this post) note that it says “Cingular wireless” and not cricket wireless…

    Any ideas would help thanks!

  188. I just tried to Verify my phone number again at vettix.org, and it said they sent a text message and….. I didn’t get one… Unsure what to do now.. I had my phone shut totally off for 20 minutes, they only said for 5 minutes… . sigh

  189. Just called Cricket support for the second time, asked for a supervisor, and after 5 minutes, he basically hung up on me. 🙁

  190. Out of desperation, I called ATT, and they took my call and did help a bit more. At least their helper found a phone number for me to call the Vettix.org people at.. I will call later.

    1. have you had any problems sending or receiving texts to/from friends, family ?

      If you haven’t, it makes me think the problem lies with Vettix. Try to get ahold of someone there and see what’s going on. it could be a mechanical failure on their end, or the instructions they gave you.

      I can tell you, by looking at their site, when you search for current tickets, they pull up a lot of old, old games. I’m not sure if they completely have their tech act together. I wouldn’t blame Cricket or AT&T at this point, especially if you have no problems sending regular texts to friends, family, etc.

  191. HI William, thanks for your reply. I can send and receive voice and text from friends OK. I thought it might have something to do with Cricket.. but now I think you are right. I will eventually call Vettix.org and talk to someone there. An Apple genius suggested they may need to refresh their system or something.. I have no idea…

    Vettix.org is well regarded. If there are good events, those will sell out quickly (like MLB games now)..and so those current games may not show up on their site.. (unsure) I’ve only been a member for a few weeks. I did get some tickets to a Michigan State Baseball game from them though. So I’m not sure how important it is to register my phone with them.. (Which is what they are trying to verify by sending me a text with 4 digit code which I am not receiving of course)….

    Thanks.!

  192. Im a truck driver, before i had tmobile, ( worst network and worst customer service) now i switch to cricket, every where araund US full LTE coverage, no bills no taxes no fees. I dont know abaut their customer service because i never need to call them. Cricket? Easy affordable and best coverage network.

  193. I like the service that I get because it is off of AT&T, I have never had issues with data or coverage. I can’t stand the customer service within the call center and in the store. They don’t care to assist you at all and then when you call in there is a language barrier. It is frustrating that no matter what time of day that I call I am always getting India. They are rude and they don’t understand what I am saying most of the time and I have a difficult time understanding as well. There are plenty of people in the USA that need jobs. I am leaving Cricket to go to a company that cares about their customers.

    1. The problem is that thanks to things like minimum wage and standard of living, the cost of hiring an American to do the same job is much higher. That’s the reason why people in India man these call centers instead of Americans. How do you expect Cricket to hire more expensive call center employees when they’re offering such cheap service? Verizon charged me almost triple what Cricket charges per month and their customer service is no better.

      Not sure who you’re going to switch to, but I bet you’ll end up paying more.

  194. Finally had to give up on Boost due to the continuing deterioration of the Sprint network…ported over one of our lines to cricket last week as a test…will port over my business phone if things go well…checked out yelp reviews of several of the local physical Cricket stores in our area and went to the store that had the best noted experiences…I found an extremely smart and professional salesperson who was very patient…chose the best mid-level Samsung (Amp Prime/$150)…number ported in three hours time with no issues…the ATT network is far superior to Boost in our area and so far NO network issues…as an added bonus Cricket includes phone message transcription to text as a FREE service, try getting THAT with any other pre-paid service…so far I am very impressed with Cricket, and I have first hand experience with EVERY major carrier and both Boost and Virgin pre-paid services.

    1. I have found that AT&T has the best and most consistent coverage in my area, and in other areas that I’ve lived in, for years. Verizon may have better coverage in certain spots, but has always been more spotty, dropping out completely where AT&T still gives me coverage.

      Sprint has always been “okay,” less spotty than Verizon but not as good overall. Cricket is extremely cheap for the coverage you get with the AT&T network. I have not used Boost, but I’ve used Virgin, Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T. The prepaid services, in my experience, give you the same experience of the networks they run on. I waited for years for Verizon to fix the holes in their coverage and they never bothered. AT&T never had those holes.

      I agree with you as well, service in the store really depends on the store you go to. My local store was great. I find that in-store customer service always varies widely when it comes to large chain stores.

  195. I sold cell phones back in 1999/2000 when Circuit City was still around. We carried Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and Nextel. Of course, Nextel merged with Sprint, then Cingular came along and bought the old AT&T Wireless, before eventually being acquired by AT&T and becoming AT&T Mobility. Have I lost you yet?

    What’s surprising to me is how little the services have changed over the years, despite all of the mergers and acquisitions. Granted, I lived in more of a rural area for most of that time, and cell phone technology has changed a ton since then (anyone remember the Nokia 5160 with its interchangeable face plates? I didn’t think so), but the coverage has remained remarkably consistent.

    Verizon has usually had very good coverage, but with some big gaps. Like there’s a particular road with a stretch for about half a mile that the signal just drops. Every time. Even after all these years. And I can’t get signal in the basement. What’s most surprising is that where I work, in the main town, the Verizon coverage is still relatively poor despite being a prime cell area. Part of that may be due to the fact that there’s an AT&T tower now located directly next to the building, I’m not positive. One note on Verizon coverage: I lived in the middle of Michigan, about 2 hours north of Lansing, for over a year back in 2007 and had Verizon. Coverage was terrible. I’d have to drive an hour south just to pay my bill over the phone because up where I lived, Verizon used Alltel towers for coverage. Verizon’s coverage seems to suffer more than others in remote areas. I’d often miss calls just because I wasn’t standing in the right spot in my house (and I didn’t have a basement).

    Meanwhile, Sprint has always maintained decent coverage, a bit poorer than Verizon’s, but somehow still managed to keep signal in those areas where Verizon totally dropped it. Sprint usually had signal in the basement, but it often struggled. Overall, I’d say that while the signal quality was worse, reception was usually more consistent with Sprint.

    AT&T didn’t have the best coverage in my area back in 1999, Verizon did, but even just a few years later it became hard to ignore that people who had AT&T always seemed to have signal when my Verizon phone didn’t. AT&T rarely lost signal in the basement; it was even better than Sprint in this regard. And while AT&T still does have its coverage spots, they are usually farther out of my way than Verizon or Sprint. And anywhere that I lose AT&T signal has almost always been a spot where I’d lose Verizon signal, anyway.

    I have a point, I promise. I had both Sprint and AT&T for some time during and after selling those carriers at Circuit City, before switching over to Verizon a few years later. I remained a Verizon customer for almost ten years until finally buying a smart phone, and when it came time to replace that about two years later, Verizon gave me no incentive to stay with them. I looked into Virgin Mobile because of their good pricing, and it would have been cheaper for me to pay the $360 up front for the Galaxy SIII that Virgin was selling than it would have been to keep my old phone (Samsung Fascinate, aka Verizon’s version of the original Galaxy) and continue with paying Verizon what I had been. Virgin’s plan was $40 a month, so the SIII would have paid for itself after just 7 months. That’s how ridiculously expensive Verizon’s plan was.

    So I switched to Virgin. And I had really no complaints about the service. And that makes sense because Virgin uses Verizon’s network. I had always had minor gripes about Verizon’s coverage, but the process of switching to Virgin was painless and it saved me money.

    The problem happened about a year later when the SIII got pulverized in an accident and I had to replace it. This is when I learned about the drawback of Verizon and Virgin Mobile: they use CDMA for their 3G service (Verizon and Virgin phones now do have SIM cards, but it’s only for 4G service, so if you want to be able to use the phone over their whole network, you have to buy a CDMA phone). Switching phones with Verizon and Virgin is not as simple as buying a new unlocked phone and moving your SIM card over. It requires activating the phone through their website, and while this isn’t a huge pain, what IS a huge pain is the fact that you’re stuck buying whatever phones these companies want to offer you. In other words, 95% of the GSM phones work with the GSM services like AT&T and T-Mobile, whereas with Verizon and Virgin, you’re limited to whatever phones have a CDMA version. Otherwise, your coverage goes down the toilet. Because of this, the GSM phones tend to be more numerous, more varied, and cheaper. Something to keep in mind when considering your service provider.

    Back in the early days of 4G, Sprint was advertising a 4G network that actually operated via WiMax, and was not LTE-compatible. So that was yet another consideration when including Sprint in the mix, as phones that were compatible with other 4G networks wouldn’t work with Sprint’s, and vice versa, but apparently Sprint has wound down operation of its WiMax network as of the end of 2015.

    Getting to the point: Boost Mobile is Sprint, Virgin Mobile is Verizon, and Cricket is AT&T. I haven’t used Boost, but I’ve used the other two prepaid services for at least a year and my experience has been that the prepaid services are functionally the same as the more expensive contract services. After my SIII broke, I decided that I wanted to stay with Virgin but I didn’t want to spend a lot on a phone, so I bought an LG Volt. The Volt has phenomenal battery life and decent power, but it is buggy as hell. The touch screen is cheap and flimsy, the texture of the back of the phone doesn’t help keep it in your hand. Coming from the SIII, it felt like a cheap piece of junk, but I was willing to put up with it because it was still much cheaper than a replacement SIII, and it seemed to work well enough at first.

    And then the phone started doing stuff like randomly rebooting. And it became a daily occurrence. This was mere months after I got the thing. So then I was staring at the same problem once again: I can’t just buy a new phone and swap a SIM card, I have to buy a CDMA phone. I put up with it for a little while longer, until the BLU Vivo Air came out. I read about the phone and I really wanted it, and luckily enough at about the same time, I started looking into Cricket. I didn’t know at the time that AT&T had bought Cricket, but with auto-pay, Cricket was $5 cheaper than even Virgin, and the plan was better as well, so I ended up buying the Vivo Air and switching to Cricket.

    The experience went like this: I went to my local Cricket store and told them I wanted to buy a SIM card so that I could switch to Cricket using the phone I had just ordered. The owner of the store told me I would have to bring her the phone so that she could verify that it would work on their network. I wanted to be able to just buy a SIM and plug it in once the phone arrived, but I understood that she didn’t want me to pay for a SIM card I couldn’t use. So two days later, I brought the new phone to her, and after about 30 minutes she had set the phone up for me. I think it took like another two hours before I started receiving SMS messages properly, but there were no hiccups at all. Great experience.

    I haven’t had any problems with Cricket since. As expected, the coverage is as if I was on AT&T. The phone has been great for well over a year now, and I get signal in a lot of areas that I wouldn’t have if I were on Verizon. Being right next to an AT&T tower all day does wonders for my battery life. I can actually use this tiny phone with its small battery for almost two full days before requiring a charge (I cannot believe the battery life I get with it). I never come close to the 2.5GB 4G data limit, although I’m usually on WiFi 95% of the time. Cricket gives me exactly what I expect from a cell phone provider, although I must admit I’m more technologically savvy than most so the chances of me ever requiring support are pretty slim.

    Customer service is always dependent upon the location. Some people just don’t know how to run a business properly, and you’re receiving bad service in the store, that’s on them and not necessarily on Cricket (although they should probably do a better job overseeing the performance of their stores). My local store was great when I switched over, and even better when I switched my parents over to save them over $130 a month by switching from Verizon (Verizon had sold them a laptop data device that they hadn’t been using for years and they were still paying for the data plan on it). I can’t complain about Cricket at all (but again, I haven’t needed any support). I cannot stress enough how much of a rip-off I feel that Verizon’s cell phone service is.

    For me, the order of importance is thus: price, coverage, and phone availability. Cricket excels in all of these areas.

    My apologies for such a lengthy comment. If you’ve bothered to read all of it, then thanks.

  196. If you don’t use your phone much and don’t want to pay even the great rate of $35/mo with Cricket, think about Tracfone. My spouse is still with Cricket, but I went to Tracfone. I can use my own phone, it’s still AT&T , and the speed and quality is just the same. With triple minutes and rollover, I’ve averaged about $7 a month with Tracfone and can use whatever gsm phone i want.

  197. Me and my wife just switched from AT&T go phone to cricket, but now we have serious text messaging issues, customer care is by far worst than sprints customer care, I am nearly deaf and depend on text messaging, after doing every single trouble shooting over and over I decided to contact corporate, the executive sent out 2 new Sims cards hoping it would do the trick but it did not, when we had go phones we had no service issues at all but with cricket we do, now you cantvtell me cricket is on the same towers cause so is verizon , sprint, T-Mobile, they all share the same towers other wise this country would full of cell towers, but cricket is on the same network as AT&T, so as I did some of my own tests and they are..when a text is trying to send witch can take up to 6 to 8 minutes I send a texts from my phone to mine and it will send from hers but I won’t receive as one is still trying to send, while my phone is trying to send I’m able to make and receive calls, its our devices are getting booted from the texting service station and can take some time to reconnect, so after corporate sent new Sims witch did not do the fix, corporate asked us what did we want to do now…lmao…fix it, get some one on the tower and fix it. Now I’m told they checked the towers and nothing is wrong..wow ya can just push a button to determine there are no issues how about putting a human body on the tower and check it that way instead of asking me what I want to do, very unprofessional and unacceptable, especially coming from a giant corporations little sister , I just cannot believe there is no service issue, I’m just not buying it so maybe a lawyer will find out quicker than I will, my biggest issue is that I complained since day one and they milked the issue past the 7 day period and now I’m stuck with two devices and crappy service….if you are here to find out how good cricket is…I would highly and mean highly to keep search because cricket dose not care oncevthey have your money, you become nothing to them

  198. ok if you know anyone on cricket wireless please warn them this company is a rip off. I pay my mother in laws bill at the start of every month, however her bill is not due till the 21st. When I attempted to cancel her service on the 18th they refused to refund her money because I paid cash. They need to be ashamed if themselves taking advantage of an 83 yr old woman in a nursing home. She only gets 50 a month as it is and they cheated her put of half of that. DO NOT USE CRICKET WIRELESS

  199. I ordered a Iphone 5s from cricket. They never sent it, I followed the tracking number and they sent it halfway then requested that the phone be returned. I called UPS and they told me the people who sent the phone was the company Ingram Micro, we called them and they just have an answering machine. So cricket doesn’t even send out the phone, and then we call cricket and it is some person in India, they just give you the run around and say they can’t help.

    So i spent 230 bucks on the phone and the 50 dollar plan I cant even use.

  200. I have gone through 3 phones with Cricket. The reception is terrible. I have been with them for almost a year. I was hoping every time I bought a new phone (which was hundreds of dollars out of pocket) that the reception would get better. I blamed the lack of reception and wifi was because I had a crappy phone, however, I am starting to believe it’s the company. I’m pretty fed up with Cricket wireless. I would love to go to another company but I’ve spent WAY too much money on new phones because the other two crashed and burned. This is ridiculous!

  201. I highly DO NOT recommend to make business with them. They have a referral friend offer that it´s a lie. You won´t get the money back. My friend and I went to the store to talk about it because they didn´t want to give us the money and we qualify for the offer. We did the claim with respect and the woman told us we need to leave the store and that she already called the police. We waited for the police and they didn´t arrive, so I called 911 and it was another lie. Of course to complain respectfully is not a reason to call the police! They are not serious at all.
    Also the service is terrible. Sometimes I don´t received messages for hours and at a certain point I get all of them together. Of course, I will cancel my service as soon as possible in a different location because I don´t want to come back to the same store.

  202. My niece messaged me online while I was on my computer saying she texted me twice, and I hadn’t gotten either of them. I texted her via my phone , and then she could text me back.. I call shenanigans..

    I do like cricket in general… It works for phone calls no problem.. 98% of the time texting works fine. I wish the texting worked better…

    The price sure is right…

  203. It would be nice if they turned my phone on. After taking payment. With online statement to prove it. I’m gonna say now they have until 1247 to return payment or else. Wouldn’t wish this problem on hitler.

  204. Apparently you can’t change plans on a month to month option once it expires. You need to reactivate it at the pervious price to then make a change, and then request a credit, because they dont do refunds. So much for not being in a contract. I put the amount of money I wanted for the plan I wanted for that month, and now they refuse to activate for that amount along with refusing to refund me my money. Not to mention customer service manger said he could do nothing about it, I would just be loosing that money I did put into the account.

  205. Do you see a common theme ? I do. 99% of the whining and bellyaching is from people who can’t spell, their grammar is atrocious, and their literacy is no higher than a 2nd grade level.

    Is this being mean? No, it’s truthful. And what does it prove ? It proves that these moaners don’t take the time to read Cricket’s website, its FAQ’s BEFORE they spend money. And without learning about Cricket BEFORE they buy, they get mad when things don’t go THEIR way.

    These are the same people who buy a car without a test drive and complain that the handling and seating sucks months later, and want their money back.

    1. Not everyone has the luxury that you do.
      In different places of the world kids had no choice but to drop out of school and help there families.

      The fact that you have all that knowledge will never make you better.

  206. My experience with Cricket only began in Dec. 2015, it took them a week to transfer the number to Cricket. No problems until May 2016. The cricket phone i purchased began to have problems and we were not able to use it as the screen kept going black or only half a screen. I did not pay the bill for May because we could not use the phone. After many long conversations what it boiled down to was Cricket would not honor warranty on phone since line was interrupted. I had a $20 credit on account but they wanted an additional $20 in order to process a warranty claim. I subsequently had phone repaired thru warranty with Samsung. I checked today trying to get phone reactivated but now they want the Monthly premium (no problem) plus an activation fee. No credit for the $20 I still had on the account. I have been transferred to the wrong dept., hung up on twice, and placed on hold for an excess of 20 minutes at a time to no avail. And of course there is no higher person to speak with unless you call back multiple times. All I wanted was to waive activation fee. Does anyone have an address or phone number where I might get this rectified. Customers mean nothing to these people.

  207. I love the service. I have purchased 4 phones for my family from cricket with in the last year. My only complaint is the phones do not come in the original boxes, they come in a cheap generic box made by cricket. Neither phone had the ear buds that usually comes with the phones.
    I really think they are cheating customers that buy new phones from them. I bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 and s5 at the time I paid $1,200 dollars for both phones and they both came in that cheap generic box that cricket put every phone in.

  208. next time buy your own phones and have them ship you the sim card. that way you’ll get everything you’re entitled to with the phones. but good lord, for $1200 i’d be all over cricket to get me every thing other buyers get with those phones. but, cricket posts everything you’ll get on the website, so it’s probably best to check before hand. but yeah, cricket is a great deal.

  209. I bought a Cricket Universal SIM Card Activation Kit on Amazon.com. Like everyone else, I wasn’t able to pay with a credit card online using a PO Box for my billing address. Instead, I called the phone number inside the Kit, 1-855-619-6021, and someone was able to set up the account with my credit card using the PO Box as my billing address. I didn’t have to pay a $25 activation fee.

    My phone is a new Moto E 2nd Gen AT&T GoPhone from Amazon.com. It came with an AT&T SIM card and an unlock code. Before I powered up the phone, I removed the AT&T SIM card and inserted the activated Cricket SIM card. After I powered on the phone, I expected it to prompt me for the unlock code. However it did not do that. It just came on with the Cricket account fully operational. I guess because Cricket is owned by AT&T, the phone did not see the Cricket SIM as a different carrier from AT&T, so it did not prompt me to enter the unlock code. At this point, I don’t know how to unlock the phone. I might have to get, say, a T-Mobile SIM card just to have the phone produce the prompt to enter the unlock code.

  210. Is it not working using your Cricket sim ?

    I bought a Lumia 640 go phone (from Wal mart a few months ago) and put my Cricket sim card in and it started right up and worked immediately. There was no unlock code in the box, or even mentioned. It came unlocked. I did have to tweak the mms settings to send/receive pics, but otherwise, it was fine and no need to unlock.

    Unlocking a phone is when you buy , let’s say, an Apple V from T-mobile and then want to switch to AT&T. You have to get an unlock code from T-Mobile to make the phone usable with any carrier.

    You never mentioned if your phone was working or not, so let’s start there and I’ll try and help. But if it’s fully operational like you said, it’s unlocked.

  211. Does Cricket Wireless offer Wifi calling? I signed up with them a few days ago using their coverage map that showed that we would have LTE service in our area. We get about 6 houses away and lose the ability to make calls. I also know that Cricket Wireless doesn’t offer a booster tower likw AT&T does. Any suggestions? I’ve looked into apps that offer wifi calling…

  212. Cricket is the worst cell phone service u could ever get every time u try to pay your bill with multiple line u can’t pay without the other person it just not a good fit i try to switch services but the port did not go through by the time my sister pay the bill so they charge me 68.00 dollars to turn it back on to port it

    1. The phone was not on 5 mins. Before they ported over it not like I use the service the whole month than they turn my sister phone off for the 68 dollars

  213. I have been using Cricket about 2 years ago and then switched over to another company. Now i am back for about 3 month now on the unlimited High speed data plan for 70 DOLLARS….i also use it in Canada the same way i use it in the U.S, INCLUDING HIGH SPEED DATA( where available).. I am also a Professional Trucker, travelling throughout the states and all across Canada, and i have to rely on this service… The coverage is 90 Percent of the time with at least 3g speeds, in higher populated areas 4 g. I have never had any issues with the company, i have used a little over 24 GB so far and there is NO speeddecrease so far. I brought my own PHONE, which i bought unlocked and unbranded from China, and the apn settings work flawlessly…. I for myself can only recommend this company. The partner Carrier in Canada is Rogers Wireless which is one of the stronger Companys up there, reliable and with LTE speeds as well….

  214. I do have to complain about not being able to pay by creditcard, since they only allow CC’s with U.S. Zipcode. I only have a Canadian Card, with a Postal code, combination of letters and numbers which this Website dont accept… I am very sad, because it is a Visa Card after all….Now i have to pay cash wherever find a Store or look for someone who sells prepaid cards…..

  215. I have had a few issues with this company and the only thing keeping me with them is the signal is better then the last company I was with, first of all they have a return policy if you dont like your phone you can return it within 7 days, well my mother is on my account and she didnt like the super cheap piece of crap she got so she returned it the next day and they tried to make her pay full price for the new phone instead of the special price, she eventually got to pay the special price after the manager just got sick of her which he made clear, also when she got her phone she was told she would get the 50$ bill credit on her third months bill, well here we are in the third month and i contacted them and they basically called me a liar and said their employee never said that, even though there were signs ALL OVER THE PLACE at that time and we specifically asked if she would get it and they said yes and now they wont fix it so I would tell everyone NOT to switch to cricket because they are greedy and dont care about their customers!

  216. another case where people don’t read the terms they AGREED to when buying something. it’s always the big bad company’s fault.

    so the moral here is, why read the terms and conditions when you can whine, complain and moan to get your way ?

    your mother is a spoiled consumer who thinks companies should run the way she wants them to, no matter what she agreed to prior.

    1. yes for Susan. no for J.

      Really, J ? You expect the salesperson to read the 20 pages of terms & conditions? It doesn’t work that way. They’re not there to babysit and coddle you. Go in there prepared, READ THE POLICIES ON THE WEBSITE b4 you go.

      Ever been stopped by the cops, or got sued ? “Ignorance of the law is no excuse” It’s basically the same in business.

  217. The insurance is terrible. They insurance is $7 a month and says it covers physical damage, but my phone got damaged and I had to pay a $75 nonrefundable deductible. I have been paying the insurance for over a year so I have already paid $96 in insurance. So now that I have paid the $75 deductible I have spent $171 on a phone only worth $99. Needless to say i’m pissed!!!!

  218. Insurance is for suckers, especially on cheap phones. You should be mad at yourself, no one else. If you had an Iphone 6 given to a clumsy child or spouse, that’s one thing. This is called a “stupid tax”, and you’re learning. Why is insurance bad ? You answered this question.

    1. Ridiculous deductible – $75 would get a deductible on a car not too long ago !
    2. Cost of insurance is more than cost of phone
    3. Replacement ? Never a new one. And most likely not even the same model.

    Do you lose/break phones all the time ? If no, skip insurance, it’s a sucker’s game.

    BEST SOLUTION: Just buy an extra phone and put it in your drawer. It’s cheaper in the long run and you’ll have a new replacement immediately.

  219. I have been with cricket for a grand total of 10 days now. As a former customer of verizon for the past 17 years , big red sent me a letter stating that I had to get off of my unlimited data plan and switch to one of their verizon plans and if I didn’t, my account would be terminated. Well, I didn’t give them a chance to terminate my account because I left and went to cricket and so far so good! To me, I have not noticed any real or major issues with cricket wireless (except a few long load times), but other than that, the service has been comparable, IF NOT BETTER THAN GREEDY VERIZON..I can do all of the same things I did with verizon and the service seems on par, to me. I know others may have different stories, but I’m in Greensboro, NC and the service is great. And the best part is that my verizon bill was almost $200 per month, now my cricket bill is only $70 per month!!! I do miss my hotspot capability I had with verizon, but hey…I guess a compromise had to happen somehow lol…oh and 99% of the time, my data is full 4GLTE with no slowdown!!! I’ve used a lot of data…streaming netflix, FOX Now, EPiX, spotify, etc… I’m glad my mom told me about cricket!

    1. hi i have an ATT phone and i dont own the phone yet because i pay a monthly fee to rent the phone but if i try to switch to cricket with that phone will it be unlocked so i can get cricket service?????

  220. Just my luck i dont have 24 hrs with Cricket company for transfering from previous company.

    Worst mistake of my life my line is disconnected they asked to pay 19.87$ to restore okay i did why the charge hell beats me wait is not over my line is still not active and now is asking for 21.98 okay i paid i mean my phone is connected with work and im am on call 24hrs but wait now is asking for 21.98 again to restore line …

    This company is such a spam! Is not like any other carrier i called and they close i mean really there is always a 24 hr csr team ..

    Im so mad i would love to say what i really want to say ..

    I gotta call them when they open all i have to say is they better give me the service i had already paid for and my money back for whatever crap they feel they can charge me for..

    Or petition it is ..

    DONT EVER SWITCH WITH CRICKET WIRELESS ..

    THEY ARE THIEF’S AND WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE …

    AND THERE IS A FULL LEGAL TEAM TO STAND WITH THEM …

  221. J is an absolute moron. Let’s all follow J down to dumb-dumb land. Can’t spell, can’t put a full sentence together. “This company is such a spam” Companies can be spams ?
    “Just my luck i dont have 24 hrs with Cricket company for transfering from previous company” – WTF ? You smoking in Colorado ?

    Learn how to spell and put together a coherent sentence and people might, might take you somewhat seriously.

    All the other whiners are like J – bad English. My God, there should be no misspelled words here ! A red wavy line shows up when you spell incorrectly. There’s your first lesson on how not to be so publicly ignorant.

  222. This is the most incompetent and dumbed-down company on the face of the planet. I purchased an Android and since that time, the compliant droids at Cricket keeps changing the default language on my phone to Spanish. When I reach out for help, their answer is “Spanish is a beautiful language. Speaking English is a federal crime.” These inept morons need to wake up and smell the reality. I am NOT a politically correct dumbed down Orwellian, and I will NEVER comply to a mandate because “Hispanics” are the “preferred” race in America. I am almost 59 years of age; therefore, I knew how to survive before this programmed populace emerged, and I’ll survive afterwards. They can never provide adequate assistance, but they do spend all their taco time monitoring and tracking the phone and sending out stupid alerts. If it is a “federal crime” to speak English in America, why in the DEVIL am I receiving these irritating messages from Cricket in English. We no longer live in a democracy, we’re living in George Orwell’s “1984” and I have NO INTENTION OF COMPLYING. AND THE ONLY PERSON OR CORPORATION I FEAR IS JESUS CHRIST AND THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT.

    1. Hola Senor Trump !

      Mucho gracias for your Cricket business ! We have officially renamed our lunch hours Taco-Time thanks to your brilliant suggestion !

      Please go by your local Cricket office from 12pm-4pm and enjoy our tacos in the shape of cell phones !

      We’re so glad you want to get rid of the racist English language, we’ll continue to send you Spanish messages with daily Spanish lessons !

      Gracias Senor Trump, Gracias !!

  223. I started with virgin mobile service, I went and switched my service to cricket. At the phone store they called virgin mobile and acted like they were me😕Another time i had my phone stollen and went to the cricket service phone store and asked about getting another phone. They called to see how much it would cost & acted like they were me. Does anyone else have cricket employees act like they’re the customer?

  224. Okay, I switched to Cricket and I’d like to give my opinion of their service. I would rate my overall experience as 3 out of 5 stars (bottom line up front). If you want to read my review it’s below:

    To let you know, my family is not a “power user” kinda of people. We had phones for a while but needed to upgrade SEVERELY (we had Samsung phones pre-Android). I didn’t get coverage at work or at home with my previous provider (I’m not going to blame them or call them out because I work and live in more remote places and lots of mountains).
    I thought due to the fact that we only wanted to use our phones for calling and texting that Cricket seem to provide that plus some data at $40 per phone, As I researched I found that we could bundle for more savings, and what I thought was going to be $100 for 3 phones a month turned out to be $90. And for the first time, we got service at home! Not sure if it was the new phones (BTW Sonata3, a lot of horsepower, just very little internal memory) or if it was the new provider, but that’s been nice to have.
    I did everything online, ordering the phones, switching the numbers and bundling our numbers (more on that later). I use the online chat to help me through some parts that were proving a bit difficult and they were able to provide what I needed. This is the good part of my experience

    Now the bad part:
    A minor inconvenience is you have to create 3 accounts to begin with and then bundle the phones together later. Again, I employed the online chat to have this accomplished, it would have been a nicer transition if I were able to bundle our numbers to begin with.

    A MAJOR problem I had was trying to receive our phones. They said they were signed for and yet we didn’t receive them. I’ve had issues with packages not being received on Amazon and that was just going online and saying you have a problem with shipping and then they took care of it. I had to call customer service after reading up on the UPS website that the sender would have more information that I could provide, I tried to get them to contact UPS. Then I got transferred, had to tell my story all over again and the person on the other end was not very pleasant. I would say they were somewhere between business-like and curt. They were asking if I checked with my neighbors to see if the package was delivered there. If my neighbor got it they would let me know. I finally had to let them know that I was trying to get the phones that I PAID FOR so I could use THEIR SERVICE! After that, they contacted UPS, UPS contacted me, and the matter was resolved within a week.

    So overall, I think switching was a good option for me. Cricket seems to be pressing people to be more online (saving on activation if done online, $5 off for autopay) but if they want to succeed in the online arena, EVERY ASPECT of the online experience, including the off-nominal situations, need to be handled with less aggravation to the user.

  225. I tested the speed on internethealthtest.org and it came to say 0.9 Mbps with 2bars and 1.5 Mbps at 5 bars. But they say it is 8 Mbps. That Is CRAZY because no one else is talking about this and I might be alone.

  226. They Have the Worst Customer Service. They Sound Friendly on the Phone But, Are Unwilling to Help and Provide services that are promise with them. So the first Phone I bought was a Grand Max ZTE. I Love the Phone and Worked Great. Until one day the Phone Kept Shutting off and on And one day I Restart My Phone and it would not Turn back on. So I Bought a New one Because it has Been Exposed to water So I get it My Fault. Then I Bought the Grand Max 2 ZTE in July 13,2016 No More then 6 Months and it did the same thing. Never Had around Water. I Send Back to Them to Warranty out Because they Promise Anything Happen to the Phone Under a Year and We can Replace if no Physical Damage. There was None, and then they Charge my card 216.00 Dollars and say Water Damage. that is so Untrue They Are Not wanting to Pay there Promise. I Was Extra Careful with this one Never Exposed to water. Its Funny how I Buy a Prepaid Phone from target and Never a Problem. In Fact Target Still Gives Me my money Back Even After 2 Years.

  227. Switched to Cricket after moving to a new state. Activated my phone but I had no service. Called customer service to see if I had setup my phone incorrectly. After TWO DAYS of run around, the service rep finally told me there was nothing wrong with my phone and that Cricket just didn’t provide service for my area. Even though the coverage map said I should have full 4G coverage. He explained that the coverage map is an estimate, so I asked him to estimate the amount of my refund. $0.00. Horrible product, even worse customer service all right in time for Christmas. WOULD NOT BUY AGAIN.

  228. Cricket lies about unlimited data! I switched to cricket wireless from verizon and had my phone for 4 days and have no data connection, called cricket wireless they said I used up all my data and i said how is that possible when Im connected to wifi and I had verizon for a year and never used to 2 gigs of data! Switching back to verizon and filing a class action lawsuit for selling unlimited data that you do not recieve!

    1. I would like to be involved in that class action my email is constopplease@gmail.com I pay 70 a month be assuted me all 4G LTE no slow downs as much as you need you Wil have then I see here online that you get a $100 rebate if you leave T-Mobile and port your number didn’t even mention it got a phone from them the gentlemen was real nice guy I’m not sure if they teach them to say these things or I’m a bad judge of character” top of that had to take the phone back 18 hours later kept malfunctioning. I’m just tired of these companies Comcast Sprint cricket direct tv all lieing where is the F.C.C they get paid by these companies to go on vaca all year around. Just sick of it all

  229. class action suits are next to impossible to get on going – I think you’ll do much better if you try the following. connie, have you compared your download and upload speeds throughout the month?

    get the speedtest.net app and write your results through a month. you’re right, Cricket does say you get UNLIMITED data and doesn’t mention any slow down. So if you see a slow down after , let’s say 5gb of data use, you can confront them at least.

    HOWEVER, remember, that your MAX download speed with Cricket is 8mbps for lte phone, and half that for 4g phones (see below). So if you’re used to high speeds from let’s say, Verizon, then you may be a little let down. I’ve found 8mbps downloading is more than enough to surf or stream any video.

    This is why Cricket is so cheap. They do put a cap on the speed. But not the amount of data. See below.

    Hope this has helped some.

    “With the Unlimited Plan, you’ll receive a high-quality mobile experience from the start regardless of how much data you use. As with all Cricket plans, download speeds are up to a maximum of 8 Mbps for compatible 4G LTE devices and 4 Mbps for compatible 4G devices. As always, actual speeds may vary by location and device”

  230. What a horrible company. I’ve lost track of the times I’ve been lied to, and made to feel like anything but a valued customer. ATT has ruined this company like they ruined DirecTV. Told me I wouldn’t pay an activation fee…charged me an activation fee. Told me they would waive the activation fee…told me they wouldn’t waive the activation fee. Fed me such a line of Bull$hit that it must have come from an ATT training session. Go somewhere else…anywhere else, these people are liars pure and simple. And, they really don’t give a hoot if their customers are satisfied…as long as they lie their way to more money. Try StraightTalk wireless. They won’t blow quite as much smoke up your kiester.

  231. Here is my experience with Cricket Wireless Customer Service. Terrible Brush Off. Hope this cost you some business.
    Cricket: Hello! How may we help you today?
    LauraA: Hi Good Morning (✿◠‿◠) Welcome to Cricket! This is Laura. What can I help you with today?
    LauraA: Welcome to Cricket! This is Laura. What can I help you with today?
    Me: I was trying to transfer a Comcast number to cricket last month and was told you could not transfer directly from Comcast and I would have to transfer it to a wireless carrier first.
    LauraA: thats correct =)
    Me: I then transferred it to h20 wireless. Now when I went to order the a new phone and transfer the number you are telling me i’m not eligible for the bring your own number discount because h20 uses the ATT network. What to deal???
    Me: Whats The Deal???
    LauraA: from h2o wireless yes you can bring your own number, so you will be able to bring your number. and If you want o bring your own Device you can as well as long it is unlocked and a sim card can be inserted
    Me: I wanted the get a new phone. LG
    X power™
    ★★★★★
    ★★★★★ 4.4 out of 5 stars. Read reviews. 4.4 (59)
    $99.99
    with activation
    $49.99 with activation if you bring your number
    Me: But now you dont want to give me the $50 discount for bring your number
    LauraA: as you may see when you click on see offer details you can see that “Excl. AT&T ports. ”
    LauraA: Something else you may need assistance today?
    Me: First i wasn’t told about this when I spoke to you last month. Second you all ready cost me money and time to transfer the number so you could transfer it to Cricket. Third how was I to know H2O was ATT
    LauraA: I am truly sorry for the misinformation Dave
    Me: Im still not sure why you would not transfer the number directly since every other att company could do it
    Me: And now your trying to play the ATT card:(
    LauraA: it is cricket policies Dave, some carriers are compatible and some no, if the number was a landline number is not compatible.
    Me: Since I went through the hoops to get you the number I think you should give me the discount on the phone.
    LauraA: I am afraid we do not have the option to give a discount, the online system is already set and we can’t modify it
    LauraA: Do you have any additional questions?
    Me: Well I guess I will have to reconsider giving my additional business to Cricket. Thanks for nothing . Very dissatisfied with cust service
    LauraA: we apologize for the misinformation Dave. Have a lovely day!

  232. I have a Cricket ZTE Grand Max 3 and filed an insurance claim for a replacement. I spent $40 to expedite the shipment. Claim service is through Asurion and it has been a bad experience.
    The replacement phone arrived as promised. The phone was accompanied with an incompatible charger cord. The charger did not match the phone they sent me. Once I had the phone activated by Cricket the battery went dead after 8 hours and I cannot turn on the phone. I have talked to 5 different reps from Cricket to try to help me. Too bad the operators have a scripted message to read over the phone because they are so limited in how much they can help you. 5 times I was transferred to another helpless customer service representative. The Claims department transferred me to another Cricket Representative who claimed to be supervisor. Then he asked me for a phone # to reach me. HaHaHaHa!!!!! “I don’t have a working phone #.” My landline at work is all I have to make a phone call on.” Finally, I said, “Please send it to my work address that is listed on the insurance claim.” I want you to fix the problem you created. You sent a charging cord that is incompatible to the phone you sent me. I am asking your company to go back to square one and go through the process of replacing my phone correctly. Please do not fail again because I have been without a working phone for 5 business days.

  233. Worst customer service.
    Customer service rep said: All customers of cricket are expected to call in individually to set up voice mail.
    Supervisor Charlie McGrady, Atlanta refused to answer any question, even a yes or no question.
    I was on hold for 45 minutes.
    Their new voice mail set up doesn’t work.

  234. I’ve had cricket family plan for almost 2 years and have never had any problems until recently when I changed phone to Galaxy Amp Prime. Didn’t realize until to late to return that call waiting will not stay turned on. Whenever I go into that screen call waiting is turned off but a green circular arrow comes up immediately and in turns itself back on, but as soon as I go out of the screen it turns off. I did chat with Cricket to make sure my settings were not changed as I have read that happened to other people on other carriers, but cricket says it can’t check my settings to make sure call waiting turned on at Crickets end. Before I do a factory reset or contact Samsung was wondering if anyone else has had this problem? Thanks.

  235. There are dark places in bodies, of makers of cricket phones, where all crickets can be, shoved, into, while their inferiorities are actively on.

  236. There are dark places in bodies, of cricket makers, where all crickets can be shoved, into, while their inferiorities are actively on.

  237. I’m a crickets Customer.. I really need to pay crickets phone account I don’t have money to pay my payment. MY DAD WAS SICK. I REALLY MISS WORK TO CARE OF HIM. THANK YOU

    1. I’m crickets Customer. I don’t have money to pay my phone bill crickets. I two line . I really need my phone on. I have to miss work to take care of my dad. Thank you I only pay $70

  238. I’ve been on cricket for a while now, probably 2.5 years.
    I used to think my phone had issues with missed calls, but I have talked to other cricket wireless users.

    If your a casual user and don’t care about missed calls, then Cricket will work for you. I get some dropped calls and some of it was my signal but when I am very close to a tower people still can’t get through to me. Super annoying and I think cricket simply does this on purpose and I assume this is because Cricket users are “second class” to ATT? Its become unusable as of late as its getting worse.

    I might go back to straight talk for a month or two and see how they do, or just give up the fight and goto Verizon. I know Verizon works great.

  239. I have had Cricket Wireless for about a year – and until about a month ago it was working just fine. But one afternoon, I suddenly found that, with no input from me, all my call forwarding options had been activated. That meant I was not receiving any calls at all! When I tried to change those settings, I got an error message saying there was a network problem. Several days later, after numerous outings on the Cricket chat helpline, I was able to have the issue resolved – temporarily. Now, several times a week, I find that my calls start diverting to voicemail. In order to regain use of my cell phone I have to find a computer or tablet, get online and access Cricket chat help. They fumble through the process – every time, they go through the same steps before realizing that they need to reset my account remotely. Then for a day or two it all works again.
    I’ve tried calling in to actually talk to someone at Cricket, but invariably find my calls routed to a dead end.

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