Upset About Cricket Fees!
by Anonymous
(New Port Richey)
I’m so upset about Cricket fees that I’m now being charged. When I saw it show up on my bill, I called Cricket and they told me it’s a $1 Administrative Fee. They describe it as a fee to cover the costs of paying for roaming, completing calls, and various other network related costs.
I get that they need to be profitable and cover costs, but I just despise these add-on types of fees. Isn’t that the whole point of the price plan itself? They should simply price their plans to include all of these fees. Certainly the costs they describe aren’t new. I expect that a lot of wireless carriers, prepaid providers in particular, prefer to add these fees on after the fact, as it enables them to market a lower price point.
Although I have a great credit, and hence are fully capable of getting a postpaid plan, I always preferred prepaid because the plans have always been simple and straightforward with no surprises. I don’t like seeing extra fees added on. I just want to have a flat rate monthly price, pay that, and be done with it. Don’t charge me this fee and that fee, and even charge me to pay by monthly bill. Yes, Cricket will charge you a fee for the courtesy of paying your bill! And to add to the confusion, they’ll charge you different amounts in different channels, and nothing in others.
So to avoid payment fees, I pay by credit card, but now I’ve got this admin fee to deal with. I have a friend, also using Cricket, who gets charged a $2.50 regulatory recovery and admin fee. I don’t understand which customers get charged which fees, but from what I understand, it has something to do with what plan you’re on.
The irony of all of this is that
Cricket touts that they keep things simple compared to other carriers, and postpaid in particular. You call this simple; hah! I suppose it’s easier for them to change fees than to redo a bunch of marketing materials and packaging to reflect an entire price plan change when their costs change. I understand that, however, that fact doesn’t make it any less irritating from a customer experience perspective.
I also don’t like how Cricket has bills. While they don’t mail me a physical bill, they talk about paying your bill, and you can actually accrue charges that are added to your next bill. But I thought I was on prepaid? I can’t help but wonder if Cricket is having some sort of identity crisis. They say they’re prepaid, and there’s no contract (which is true), however, their plans and billing look, feel, and work much like postpaid. I’m starting to prefer how other prepaid carriers work. You pay for a month of service. If you don’t pay for the next month by the time it starts, your service is blocked. Once you pay again, you get service again. And aside from sales tax you pay when making a payment, there aren’t any other fees added on. Plain and simple; I like that!
Although there is no contract, once you’ve got a phone and plan, and are cruising along, it’s hard to just pickup and go to another carrier when they add a dollar here and there. But rest assured, once I’m in need of a new phone, I’ll be shopping around for other prepaid companies that keep things simple. I’m really upset about Cricket fees, and the general complexity of dealing with them. The true telling sign will be how they can answer my questions when I visit their store. If employees get confused, how do they think customers will feel…?
