I have had Cricket as my cell phone provider for years - since they came to Phoenix however long that is. My phone has been giving me trouble for over a year now (my phone, not the service).
Cricket wanted me to buy a new phone at full price which I had a problem with; if I was a new customer of theirs or any other company they would give me a free phone, many other companies offer a new phone every two years to retain their customers. So I resisted, and procrastinated, and drove my friends batty because my phone would be shut off without my knowing it, or it would shut off in the middle of conversations.
My family finally had enough and my mother, step-father and sister got me a new Cricket phone - a real doozy with text messaging and pictures and the works (my other phone was very old - call in/call out - that's it) OK, they also got me the phone because my birthday is coming up. And I am spoiled. But I am going to go with "they were sick of me struggling"
So I call Cricket to change over and I am told it will cost me $30 to make the switch. WTF?!? No one on the Customer Service line can help me because it is "company policy" - the deadliest words in your PR nightmare, right up there with "it's not my job".
$30 to remain a customer doesn't work for me so I email. And write a letter. And Wait. It was a pretty good letter that ended with:
"I paid my July Cricket bill today.They responded - favorably. They responded the way a company concerned about customer retention should. They apologized and promised to waive all fees for my phone transfer. Ideally it would have come sooner in the process, but the fact that it came at all puts them ahead of many companies. So I am still with Cricket and I can't wait to try my new extras! Posted by Vox at July 9, 2005 06:25 PM | general
Your decision will dictate whether I will be paying Cricket or another provider in August ."