After many happy years using cricket as 1 of my 2 Sims in many international phones that operate on the correct LTE bands and with all the latest features, cricket suspends my line if I use a completely compatible device that's not on their very limited list. I figure there must be more people experiencing a similar issue recently as they suspend lines for "incompatible" phones, so I thought is post this.
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Userlevel 1
I have experienced one of my lines being suspended using a compatible phone, also while under Executive Order 18-276 State of Emergency due to Hurricane Michael. The same device had been in active service for nearly two years and I had been a Cricket customer for 4 years when the device was suspended. A customer even before there was a Cricket Wireless store within the state of Florida. All because I used my devices hotspot while under a state of emergency after customer service hours of operation whereas I could not pay the $10 fee for hotspot use. And yes, my then current device could use the hotspot without Cricket Wireless activation. Although I was more than willing to pay the $10, that line of service was suspended before 8am the next morning and was not negotiable once Cricket opened for business that next morning.
You are not alone. This happened to me also yesterday. When I chatted with a representative this morning, they reinstated my line, but told me that if I took my SIM out and put it in again, it would happen again. When I asked who I could contact to let them know that suspending the account was bad corporate policy, they directed me to this forum. I don’t know if anyone from Cricket will ever even see this post, but I wanted to let them know that:
- Suspending accounts is the WRONG way to go about making sure phones are updated to meet requirements.
- Their assessment of phone capabilities is wrong
- Even if the phone were not capable, it would still work until 2022, so notifying of the 2022 change would be sufficient - there is NO NEED FOR SUSPENSION.
- This policy makes me (a long-time Cricket Wireless customer) want to switch to another carrier. I’m looking in to it now.
I switched from an old phone without the proper capability to a new phone that would meet the new requirements. I’m starting to think that the line was suspended just because I used an outside source to get the phone and they didn’t get their markup/ commission and activation fee. Even if this isn’t the case, SUSPENDING A LINE, ESPECIALLY WITHOUT ADVANCED NOTICE IS POOR BUSINESS PRACTICE and will lose Cricket customers.
Userlevel 1
jc057066, I completely agree. Cricket Wireless' operating procedures are causing long time customers, such as myself and others I know, reevaluate our options as to which carrier we use in the very near future. I am in the process of relocating to a different state and it's also time for me to purchase 4 new 5G phones for my current group plan. This is a big expense, and I am willing to try a different carrier because of how the customer service satisfaction rating of Cricket Wireless has declined so.
UPDATE
Well thanks to the moronic policies of Cricket who suspended my account even though I have FULL COMPATIBILITY with VOLTE (HD VOICE) I have now switched my service over to Mint Mobile. I am too busy to argue with “Peggy” or whoever is answering their phones overseas and clearly reading a scripted response while doing nothing to get my phone turned back on.
WTF were you all thinking? Smartphones with Internet are no longer a luxury, but a must have. And after getting no help from your customer service (suggesting my only option was to buy a phone from your tiny list of “supported phones”) and spending 20 minutes on the line with them, I took my money elsewhere.
I was surprised to see that with Mint my Bold N1 gets over 2.5X the 4G LTE speeds at Cricket and the same amount of Data for about 40% less money.
You need to do your research, think about how this will affect people, and for crying out loud expand that paltry list of supported devices. Not everyone wants a top of the line flagship or a crappy Cricket phone.
Its like as if Cricket was like Nah…… We don't want or need your money, and we don't care that you have been a loyal customer for over a decade, and we don't care that you don't have phone service now. LoL!
Good to see my post from 9 days ago has had no response from Cricket!
Same thing happened to me. I think it’s time to look at switching service. I tried making a call from the suspended phone and it connected to Cricket customer service. He said my phone is no longer compatible with their network. I asked him how I was talking to him on their network using the incompatible phone (which had been fine on their network days before and was Cricket branded bought through Best Buy). As others stated, at least give some kind of warning that the phone will be suspended in 30 days or something. If you rely on your phone service for important things, I would be wary of this service.
Userlevel 3
+5
If you’ve been using the phone before Jan 2021, then you can still use it guys until Feb 2022. But what your CANNOT DO IS REMOVE THE SIM CARD! That will cause a suspension of your line. Even if you’re using a dual-SIM device. The only time you should remove it, is if you know the other device is compatible. I would suggest using their IMEI checker thingy to check first. Reach out to the FB/Twitter Support if y’all need help. They were the ones to explain it to me.
+1
I have a Sony phone and they send software and firmware updates once or twice a year, and after the last update, when the phone came back on, I got a text from Cricket saying that my account was suspended, so I called Customer Service from my landline, explained what happened, and she had my account reinstated and my phone back on in under 15 minutes.
From the other posts here, I guess I was extremely lucky.
The only way we have any chance of fighting this ridiculousness is to file a complaint with the FCC
https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us
Cricket (ATT) are trying to force consumers to buy “approved” phones from them even if you already have a device that supports all their LTE bands (“HD Voice”) By limiting the use of public cell frequencies and towers they are open to fines and class action and trying to force people into buying a new phone is just wrong, especially when there are thousands of compatible phones which do not appear on their very short list
I have a data only plan on a 4g LTE router I bought so I could connect my wired DVR to watch my property while I was gone. It would send alerts to my phone when motion was detected. That's it.
My account got suspended because they didn't bless my device as compatible with their network just because they didn't sell it to me.
They are using the 3G shutdown as a marketing sceme to sell more devices!
+1
Not only did they suspend my phone and say it wasn't compatible (though it operates on all the right bands and uses 4gVoLTE & VoWifi), cricket has also locked my unlocked phone which now cant meet the required amount of activation to be unlocked. It's brand new and useless. I was offered a free replacement only to forced to pay for it. Then when it crapped out a month later I find out that there isn't any way for them to unlock my personal phone they locked. If that were true how then do deployed military persons get their phones unlocked before the six month period? So much for being loyal since their begining. Not even a third party repair shop can unlock it. My career has gone down the drain in the last six months because of this. I've made my report to the FCC but what good does that do me.
+4
It looks like cricket is trying to get rid of their customers. The switch to 5G is nonsense. It doesn’t offer anything new for 99.9% of the people. 5G doesn’t penetrate walls and you have to be out in a field, near a tower to get even close to the advertised speeds. 4GLTE was fine and plenty fast. Why did they do this? Government colluded with the big cell providers. We get forced to buy new phones - either cash outlay or locked into service for three years paying off the phone (or both). The government gets something out of it too, though we’ll never know what that is. Either payoff from big cell company lobbyists or perhaps the new tech somehow benefits the spy state.
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