Author Topic: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless  (Read 11863 times)

Jac123

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Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« on: July 04, 2015, 08:27:11 AM »
I dumped  Verizon and went to Cricket Wireless.  Cost me 99 cents for sim card plus $ 40 for the first month ($35 with auto pay after first month)
Got a Nexus 5 from a friend for free.  Cricket is At&t so you have their nationwide service. I live in a rural area so that is important.  Also found a referral code online for $25. This switch will save me  39 bucks a month.  BYOD any At&t or unlocked GSM phone.  If you interested use the referral link below and follow the directions and we both will get $ 25 credit after 60 days.

https://mycricket.sparkrefer.com/5VelXvC

Spork

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #1 on: July 04, 2015, 08:32:13 AM »
I'm not trying to rain on your parade....  but I just dumped Cricket for Consumer Cellular.   With my meager usage, I'm $20/month.  (But that might vary if you are a heavier user.)   CC is also AT&T network.

I also was just plain irritated as hell at Cricket sending me an SMS at 5am once a month saying I'd paid my bill.  Thanks, but... send it after 8am please.  (Yes, some phones can mask that.  The phone I had at the time could not.)

Jac123

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #2 on: July 04, 2015, 09:08:18 AM »
Don't mind the rain.  I looked at Consumer Cellular and for my usage it was going to cost more than Cricket.  Nothing wrong with Consumer Cellular.  I spent hours looking at every MVNO around, for me Cricket was the best for now, but that's the joy of no contract and GSM you can get mad and fire your provider anytime you want.

TheThirstyStag

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2015, 11:19:51 AM »
Very cool.  I got my SO and I on Cricket last year.  Totally worth it. 

Spork, I haven't heard about CC. Sounds very interesting. Does your $20 include tax?   Also, is it 3G data, or do they give you LTE speeds with a 8mbps cap like Cricket?
« Last Edit: July 06, 2015, 11:21:47 AM by TheThirstyStag »

Spork

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2015, 03:45:35 PM »
Very cool.  I got my SO and I on Cricket last year.  Totally worth it. 

Spork, I haven't heard about CC. Sounds very interesting. Does your $20 include tax?   Also, is it 3G data, or do they give you LTE speeds with a 8mbps cap like Cricket?

It is highly targeted towards the AARP set.  I believe it does not include tax... I haven't finished my first month yet.  They do have LTE speeds.  The big difference here is that it is a pay-per-use type of plan.

Cricket is all-you-can-eat with a cap.  CC is billed per use.  You really just have to compare your expected usage to see what works best.  My data plan is tiny... but I don't use much data... and when I do, I try to pull it from trusted wireless connections.

Jac123

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2015, 09:00:14 PM »
So far so good.  The service on Cricket is awesome.  Haven't noticed the capped data speed at all.

Jac123

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2015, 07:39:52 PM »
If you use a referral make sure you follow the directions in the email you receive... go back to the website and enter your phone number once it is activated.  You should receive your credit after completing 60 days of service. 

Jac123

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #7 on: August 13, 2015, 08:34:49 PM »
I still love Cricket.  Service works perfect. If you are interested in giving them a try use the referal link below and we will both get $25.00 Credit. Be sure to follow the instructions  exactly. Thanks

https://refer.cricketwireless.com/5VelXvC

MrMoneyMaxwell

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #8 on: August 14, 2015, 09:27:09 AM »
I'm currently on Verizon. They allow month to month as of yesterday so I changed my plan to that (instead of the 2 year contract that would have ended in February). Does anyone know if I will incur a termination fee this month after I cancel Verizon and switch to Cricket or Republic?

 I have the absolute cheapest plan Verizon offers and it's still $77 (with tax and an employee discount).

MrMoneyMaxwell

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #9 on: August 14, 2015, 09:29:05 AM »
Also, are the plans that Cricket/Republic offer *actually* $40? Or is there some absurd "line use fee" like Verizon (which is $40 per month).

wienerdog

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #10 on: August 14, 2015, 09:39:17 AM »
I'm currently on Verizon. They allow month to month as of yesterday so I changed my plan to that (instead of the 2 year contract that would have ended in February). Does anyone know if I will incur a termination fee this month after I cancel Verizon and switch to Cricket or Republic?

 I have the absolute cheapest plan Verizon offers and it's still $77 (with tax and an employee discount).

Just call Verizon and see.  I switched from Sprint long ago.  I was paying around $75 a month with employee discount and had a little less than a year on my contract.  They charged me a pro-rated $75 termination fee.  I gladly paid the $75 as the pay as you go saved me that in a little over 3 months.  #TeamNoContract

TheThirstyStag

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #11 on: August 14, 2015, 09:43:18 AM »
Also, are the plans that Cricket/Republic offer *actually* $40? Or is there some absurd "line use fee" like Verizon (which is $40 per month).

No absurd fees with Cricket.  Taxes are included in the prices they quote, and you can get $5 off if you autopay.  I pay exactly $35 each month for my line

Workingmomsaves

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #12 on: August 14, 2015, 09:53:32 AM »
We made the switch from ATT to Cricket several months ago.  Still rockin' the iPhone 4 and went from 144/month to 70/month. With no noticeable change to service:)

FrugalTravelGal

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #13 on: August 14, 2015, 04:33:00 PM »
We were paying over $200/month for 4 lines on Sprint. We switched to Cricket and are now paying $100/month for 4 lines. The first line is $40, 2nd is $30, 3rd is $20,  and the 4th is $10. We don't have unlimited data as we did on Sprint, but we have enough for our needs.

TheThirstyStag

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #14 on: August 14, 2015, 05:45:56 PM »
We were paying over $200/month for 4 lines on Sprint. We switched to Cricket and are now paying $100/month for 4 lines. The first line is $40, 2nd is $30, 3rd is $20,  and the 4th is $10. We don't have unlimited data as we did on Sprint, but we have enough for our needs.

Love it.

Also, technically you should have unlimited data with Cricket.  It just gets throttled at a certain point. This point is related to whichever plan you buy.

Throttled data is still good for web browsing and checking email.  Pandora will even stream with the throttle.

Technigull

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #15 on: August 14, 2015, 06:34:22 PM »
Nice!  We also cut the cord with Verizon recently and are saving about $90/month.  We went with Republic Wireless for the $11.26 plan after tax/fees.  Initially we got a defective phone, but support was great and they replaced it and things are good now.  Sprint can be spotty on coverage, but WiFi is almost everywhere (can call over WiFi) so it is good enough considering the massive savings.

Jeremy E.

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #16 on: August 14, 2015, 06:44:47 PM »
We were paying over $200/month for 4 lines on Sprint. We switched to Cricket and are now paying $100/month for 4 lines. The first line is $40, 2nd is $30, 3rd is $20,  and the 4th is $10. We don't have unlimited data as we did on Sprint, but we have enough for our needs.
I was going to say, their family plan is the best, also I think you can add a 5th person for free? If you don't know a 5th person I'd be happy to get free phone service :)

FrugalTravelGal

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #17 on: August 14, 2015, 07:53:03 PM »
We were paying over $200/month for 4 lines on Sprint. We switched to Cricket and are now paying $100/month for 4 lines. The first line is $40, 2nd is $30, 3rd is $20,  and the 4th is $10. We don't have unlimited data as we did on Sprint, but we have enough for our needs.
I was going to say, their family plan is the best, also I think you can add a 5th person for free? If you don't know a 5th person I'd be happy to get free phone service :)

 Our oldest daughter has her own Sprint account now, and she may be our 5th line when her contract ends. Yes, the 5th line would be free!

Jac123

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #18 on: August 18, 2015, 08:55:19 PM »
Wow!  I didn't realize 5th line is free.  Use my referral link and we will both get $25 credit. Be sure to follow directions exactly.

MOD NOTE: Link removed. Please refer to the forum rules about how often it is okay to be sharing referral links and respect the community Thanks.
« Last Edit: August 20, 2015, 09:10:11 AM by swick »

tanzee

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #19 on: August 19, 2015, 05:18:23 AM »
Awesome.  I did the same this week, though I switched to Republic.  I had been planning the switch for about a year or so.  The early termination fee meant that it was cheaper just to stay the course.  Now I'm really looking forward to these lowered bills. 

okobrien

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #20 on: August 19, 2015, 06:28:53 AM »
I'm currently on Verizon. They allow month to month as of yesterday so I changed my plan to that (instead of the 2 year contract that would have ended in February). Does anyone know if I will incur a termination fee this month after I cancel Verizon and switch to Cricket or Republic?

 I have the absolute cheapest plan Verizon offers and it's still $77 (with tax and an employee discount).
After my contract with Verizon ended this spring I went into the store and was able to negotiate down to $45/month ($51 with tax). It is month to month with only 1gig but that It's all I use anyway.  I didn't really want to leave Verizon because their service is best here in CO.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #21 on: August 19, 2015, 07:01:49 AM »
Also, are the plans that Cricket/Republic offer *actually* $40? Or is there some absurd "line use fee" like Verizon (which is $40 per month).

Man, I am so glad I made the switch to Verizon pay as you go 3 months ago.  I pay $45 a month for unlimited talk, text, and some amount of data that I've never hit the cap on.  It appears if I joined now, I'd pay that plus the $20 per line thing they just instituted!

m0nk3y

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #22 on: August 19, 2015, 08:23:10 AM »
We made the change as well- 35$ for the first line, 25$ for the second... A huge savings (and better coverage) compared to our prior T-Mobile service. The only issue I have is that I need to make international calls regularly for work (reimbursed, of course). I just received a 25% off deal through a client's agreement with AT&T, working out the math on that one.

ClassyCat

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #23 on: August 19, 2015, 12:05:43 PM »
I've been thinking about dumping Verizon as well. My employer pays for my phone right now so I don't see any reason to pay the early cancellation fee, but once the contract is up I'd consider Cricket. Any bad experiences with crappy coverage? I'm in a busy-ish city and have 4G in most places right now, so I don't think it'd be an issue at all. Also, can you enter a Cricket plan with your own phone, or do you have to get a certain phone from them?

Spork

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #24 on: August 19, 2015, 12:22:08 PM »
I've been thinking about dumping Verizon as well. My employer pays for my phone right now so I don't see any reason to pay the early cancellation fee, but once the contract is up I'd consider Cricket. Any bad experiences with crappy coverage? I'm in a busy-ish city and have 4G in most places right now, so I don't think it'd be an issue at all. Also, can you enter a Cricket plan with your own phone, or do you have to get a certain phone from them?

They support BYOD.  Use this page to see if your device is compatible.
https://www.cricketwireless.com/shop/byod.html

It's AT&T network... so if you have any experience with AT&T coverage, that would tell you what your coverage would be like.

TheThirstyStag

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #25 on: August 19, 2015, 08:42:45 PM »
We made the change as well- 35$ for the first line, 25$ for the second... A huge savings (and better coverage) compared to our prior T-Mobile service. The only issue I have is that I need to make international calls regularly for work (reimbursed, of course). I just received a 25% off deal through a client's agreement with AT&T, working out the math on that one.

Shouldn't that be $40 for the first line, $30 for the second line?  The $5 autopay discount is not combinable with the multi line discount

Spork

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #26 on: August 20, 2015, 09:11:27 AM »
We made the change as well- 35$ for the first line, 25$ for the second... A huge savings (and better coverage) compared to our prior T-Mobile service. The only issue I have is that I need to make international calls regularly for work (reimbursed, of course). I just received a 25% off deal through a client's agreement with AT&T, working out the math on that one.

Shouldn't that be $40 for the first line, $30 for the second line?  The $5 autopay discount is not combinable with the multi line discount

I forget the actual formula (because I am no longer a Cricket customer)... but when we were on it the multi line discount did not combine and it was cheaper to have 2 separate accounts with autopay than one account with multiline discount.  It could have changed... YMMV.

TheThirstyStag

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #27 on: August 20, 2015, 09:59:53 AM »
For 2 lines, it's the same price if you do separate accounts + auto pay, or if you do same account + multi line discount.  Once you add a third line, it becomes cheaper to go the multi line route.

m0nk3y

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #28 on: August 20, 2015, 06:18:32 PM »
We made the change as well- 35$ for the first line, 25$ for the second... A huge savings (and better coverage) compared to our prior T-Mobile service. The only issue I have is that I need to make international calls regularly for work (reimbursed, of course). I just received a 25% off deal through a client's agreement with AT&T, working out the math on that one.

Shouldn't that be $40 for the first line, $30 for the second line?  The $5 autopay discount is not combinable with the multi line discount

The salesman told me otherwise when I recently added my wife's line. If this is the case... We'll be gone quickly.

TheThirstyStag

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #29 on: August 22, 2015, 09:03:21 AM »
We made the change as well- 35$ for the first line, 25$ for the second... A huge savings (and better coverage) compared to our prior T-Mobile service. The only issue I have is that I need to make international calls regularly for work (reimbursed, of course). I just received a 25% off deal through a client's agreement with AT&T, working out the math on that one.

Shouldn't that be $40 for the first line, $30 for the second line?  The $5 autopay discount is not combinable with the multi line discount

The salesman told me otherwise when I recently added my wife's line. If this is the case... We'll be gone quickly.

That's the beauty of prepaid services.  30 days later you can go elsewhere.

Do let us know whether both discounts apply

Jac123

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #30 on: May 27, 2016, 11:58:23 AM »
Been a year still love Cricket!  Consider switching you won't regret it.  Group save is a great deal if you have several lines.

stlbrah

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #31 on: November 10, 2016, 08:39:55 AM »
Bumping this older thread. I wanted to see if there are any more updates regarding the quality of the service rather than the costs.

I have an iphone 4 (on AT&T) and I was considering just getting one of cricket's free smartphone options and getting the ulimited talk/text and 1gb data for $30 per month. The fact that it has a free phone is what drew me in over other MVNO carriers. It would save me about $35 per month. There is also a store right near me so I can corner them if there is a customer service problem which is another plus rather than get blown off by help desks.

mizzourah2006

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #32 on: November 11, 2016, 09:21:54 AM »
Man, I guess my company discount is really good. We pay $49.68/month for 2 smartphones with unlimited text, unlimited minutes, and 10gb/month that rollover up to 20gbs and we have AT&T.

TheThirstyStag

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #33 on: November 11, 2016, 10:40:20 AM »
Man, I guess my company discount is really good. We pay $49.68/month for 2 smartphones with unlimited text, unlimited minutes, and 10gb/month that rollover up to 20gbs and we have AT&T.

Wow.  That's impressive.  I couldn't come anywhere close to that with my company discount.

fishnfool

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #34 on: November 11, 2016, 11:10:15 AM »
We switched to page plus a few years ago, they also use Verizon network. It saved us some money while we had it but then both of our droid phones died. The deal we got on our phones by signing up again with Verizon was super good, along with  15% employer discount made it worth it. We use the heck out of these phones and will keep them till they die, not sure if we'll stay on verizon?

The only thing bad with page plus was their website always crashing when trying to pay my bill. Getting them on the phone was often a pain in the rear too. Verizon has always been quite easy to deal with on phone or via web.

Unstoppable

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #35 on: November 16, 2016, 01:40:09 PM »
I use Ting, which rides on Sprint's network. With my usage I pay $22.50 a month after tax. If I turn the data on to check something (rarely, I am pretty much always on wifi), my bill is about $25.50.

I got a refurb'ed Iphone 4 from them for $91. My bank and a couple of other apps don't work with a 4 anymore, due to IOS upgrades, but they want $191 for a IPhone 5, which I don't need at this point.

When my business puts me in a position where I need the 5, I will get it, but hopefully it is less expensive then. I don't see the value add, as if I am home I can check the bank on the Ipad on wifi or the laptop. I don't need to check my bank on the go, as I know how much is there and it doesn't change by the hour.

And I am a millennial who thinks all the smartphone crap is a huge drain on people's budgets. No cable, no data, $35 internet, all good.
 

akstarr

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #36 on: November 19, 2016, 02:57:31 AM »
I've been with Cricket since May of this year on the family plan, 5 phone $100 a month. It's a win win for us. They use the At&T towers, which works well for our location. 2 sons and I were previously on Straight Talk, that was running 125 a month. Now all 4 kids and I have phones and it is only a ben a month. And since mom is footing the bill, everyone have to do chores/jobs to pay for their phones. We don't have Republic or Sprint here, so this has been great for us.

t5inside

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #37 on: November 19, 2016, 09:15:00 AM »
Cricket is awesome, even better with the group deal. $20/month for unlimited talk/text and 2.5gB data.

Laserjet3051

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Re: Dumped Verizon switched to Cricket Wireless
« Reply #38 on: November 19, 2016, 11:40:07 AM »
I just dumped t-mobile for cricket. Still a bit wary, the switch over took a long time and had com;plications. Within 5 hrs of switching over I get an unsolicited call from North Korea (which I did not pick up). WTF? Will I get charged for an international call if i didnt pick it up? Never made or received an international call in my life before switching to cricket. Hope this isnt a trend but just a one-off oddity.