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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+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.
+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.
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!
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
+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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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
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.
Yes. The same problem of a suspended account. I've had cricket for years…
I changed to a different unlocked cell about 7months ago... Today, my cell fell and the screen cracked. No problem, I think, I'll just go back to my previous cell. I placed my SIM in my previous phone and that's when the "circus" began for me.… Service suspended!
I have been extremely frustrated with this entire process! I had 2 Xiaomi phones on Cricket for nearly 2 years with absolutely zero issues! I had a Mi A3 and a Mi 9. The A3 was my sons phone which he broke, so I was going to buy myself a new Xiaomi phone a Mi 10t 5g and give him my Mi 9.
What is my biggest issue with all of this is that I called Cricket last week and explained that I was planning to purchase a Mi 10 and specifically asked if that phone was compatible. Of course they could not answer my question because I did not have the IMEI number… which who does have that before you purchase a phone!? They could not tell me if the Mi 10 was blacklisted or not… the customer service simply told me if it is a GSM phone it should work with no issues. I also knew that I had 2 Xiaomi phones currently working perfectly on Cricket so I took the leap and purchased the Mi 10t 5g phone.
I got my Mi 10t 5g phone all setup with my sim card installed with no issues! I even went into settings and activated VOLTE and the phone was getting great 4g LTE coverage. After about 1 hour of using the phone I got the notification that my phone was deactivated and not compatible. In the meantime, I also setup my Mi 9 for my son and the very same thing happened to him. Not compatible… Although this phone had been registered on the Cricket network for nearly 2 years!!
I was furious! Furious because I called to ask if I was making the “right” purchasing decision.
So I began to put my IMEI number into other network websites to see if my phones were compatible and YES! Mint Mobile said yes… Hello Mobile said yes! But Cricket says NO! So now I have a $5 - 7 day “test” card coming from Mint Mobile to test coverage in my Xiaomi phones! Oh by the way, they even have 5g coverage that will work with my new Mi 10t 5g phone!
Thank you Cricket for pushing me away and giving me wrong advice!
My Bold N1 was running low on storage space so I installed a SD card. This required me to move the sim card over one slot. Bam! The next day my account was suspended. Spent about 15 minutes on the phone with Cricket customer service (sounds like its in India) with zero help or satisfaction.
MY PHONE SUPPORTS HD VOICE OR VOLTE (whatever you choose to call it) and 4G LTE on your bands I am too busy for another 20-30 min phone call to customer service with some hack I can barely understand following a script overseas telling me I need to buy a new phone when this one worked fine yesterday and you never bothered to add it to your list of compatible devices.
Sadly after being a loyal Cricket customer for close to 10 years I will be switching to Mint Mobile and will also be saving some money with them thanks to your incredible idiocy and lack of business sense.
WAY TO GO CRICKET!!!! JUST TELL YOUR CUSTOMERS YOU DONT WANT THEIR MONEY!
I am a educated professional and have never seen such poor decision making by a company as large as AT&T and Cricket !!!!
Cricket suspended my account on a data only device today saying that it was not supported. I have a cheap netgear hotspot and a nicer netgear router that supports all the bands below. Since Cricket didn’t certify any routers, I apparently have to use an inferior hotspot if I want to continue to use Cricket. When I called about the suspension, I was first told they couldn’t eve locate my account and was told I’d be transferred to a supervisor. That transfer didn’t happen. I called back and received the explanation above. I was then “put on hold” which is Cricket code for hung up on. This is the first issue I’ve had with Cricket, but it is a fairly big one. They should not be suspending accounts claiming the devices won’t work without any notifications. This is ridiculous.
Would someone from Cricket please tell me what Band my device needs that I don’t have? They are listed below and include all the ones from my cheaper netgear hotspot that “is compatible”.
- LTE Support : Built in 4G LTE Modem. LTE Category 18, capable of up to 1.2 Gbps. 4G LTE Band (LTE FDD): B2,4,5,7,12,13,14,17,25,26,29,30,66,71. 4G Band (LTE-TDD): B41. 3G Band: B1,4,5
The compatibility list is not adequate. It doesn’t include newer phones.
Userlevel 1
Got SMS from Cricket today.
Cricket Free Msg: Recently, your service was suspended in error.We have applied a $10 credit to your account for the inconvenience.We value you as a Cricket customer and apologize for the error.
Hope Cricket dose not suspend me again.
Good luck. I hope it goes better for you than it has for most of us.
so did you got your “non-cricket” phone with HD voice capability working again?
Yes. I bought Oneplus 7T.
Got SMS from Cricket today.
Cricket Free Msg: Recently, your service was suspended in error.We have applied a $10 credit to your account for the inconvenience.We value you as a Cricket customer and apologize for the error.
Hope Cricket dose not suspend me again.
Good luck. I hope it goes better for you than it has for most of us.
so did you got your “non-cricket” phone with HD voice capability working again?
Userlevel 2
Got SMS from Cricket today.
Cricket Free Msg: Recently, your service was suspended in error.We have applied a $10 credit to your account for the inconvenience.We value you as a Cricket customer and apologize for the error.
Hope Cricket dose not suspend me again.
Good luck. I hope it goes better for you than it has for most of us.
so it happened to me as well. my phone screen broke. So I thought I will quickly change to sim to my old phone. And boom the service got suspended.
on the imei checker tool, it say cricket support any phone which was not purchased from criket.
for example, LG G8x which is top of the line phone not supported.
but a cheap LG stylo phone which I had brought from cricket in 2017 is supported on their ”5G” network. so it is mostly a tactic to let user buy phones from their stores.
Userlevel 1
Got SMS from Cricket today.
Cricket Free Msg: Recently, your service was suspended in error.We have applied a $10 credit to your account for the inconvenience.We value you as a Cricket customer and apologize for the error.
Hope Cricket dose not suspend me again.
My daughter had her line suspended Sunday for the same reason. Have been through hell wit customer service trying to get it resolved. Cricket never communicated the changes to their customers. They told me I should have received a text, never did. Then they said it changes have been in the news and on many websites for a long time. Why would a budget carrier only support premium phones with HD voice?Unbelievable! I think this is the end of the line for me with Cricket.
Userlevel 2
I just got 4 free phones and 4 lines unlimited on Metro for $100 a month. I did have to pay for the sales tax and the first month up front. They also had to add insurance, but the sales guy at the store let me know I could cancel online and now it shows a credit for the first month that I did pay at the store. To get 4 free phones (oneplus nord 10s on 5g & 100s) I ported 2 numbers and then 2 new lines. No time obligation for the phones, but they won't unlock them for other networks for 180 days. You can't just move around SIM cards as easy on Metro. Unfortunately, their customer service is also ran by 3rd party as well, but they're more polite.
I also ordered 2 - 7 days trial SIMs for Mint mobile from Amazon for 99¢ each on sale and activated 1 to test it out and it works really well. Mint can be really cheap if you pay for multiple months at a time. You can move around SIMs on Mint whenever you want. I'm activating a 4gb plan for my grandpa that uses no data to save a little on that line.
Both services are T-Mobile network, so service quality is subject to you area as with any provider. Both also recognize international phones and have a superior compatibility tool.
Anyone else find a good alternative?
Userlevel 1
I am having the same issues. Every time I call they just run me around in circles. I’m not getting any help from them, and will move if this persists.
This is very annoying. The customer service help me reactivate for the first two time. The second one told me he activate my phone and after FEB 2022, my phone will not able to use in their network.
But after I upgraded and reboot my phone, I got inactivate yesterday.
I called to them again. The first one he didn’t want to help me. Then called again, she just hanged up my phone after run me around. After few hours, I called them, this time the guy checked for me and helped me activate my phone. But he also told me my phone will not be able to use in their network after Feb 2022.
My phone meet all the technical standard of AT&T network with VoLTE. Just not in their limited list.
If they don’t update their list. They will lost a lots customers.
Good Luck!
I am having the same issues. Every time I call they just run me around in circles. I’m not getting any help from them, and will move if this persists.
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