Complaint Review: Cricket Communications - San Diego California

    I used Cricket for a few months in 2010. I was charged monthly through recurring debits directly from my bank account. In December, I moved to Canada. Once I crossed the border, the phone became useless, not being able to send or receive any kind communication. I called shortly after arriving to cancel my Cricket service. I'd like to mention as well, that everyone I talked to at Cricket's 1-800 line understood english and spoke english very well, but had heavy foreign accents.

    I talked to the representative on the phone (December 28, 2010), I told her I wanted to cancel my service as it is now useless. She confirmed there is no service where I am in Canada, and offered me another month of service to find somebody to take over payments and use my phone. I explained to her that would be impractical and I'd simply like to cancel my service.

    The representative continued to attempt to talk me out of cancelling service, to which I refused all offers and demanded that the account be cancelled. I've dealt with call center representatives before and I fully understand it is their job to do what they can to keep me as a customer. Concerned about possible language barriers, in very simple terms, I expressed sternly that I simply needed my service cancelled. Eventually, the conversation seemed to have reached a resolution. Just before hanging up, I explained once more that I wished to not be billed any further and for the service to be cancelled. I was reassured it was done and I hung up.

    I recently checked the bank account I had in the states and noticed Cricket had continued to charge me for monthly service. I was not charged for the month immediately after I called to cancel, but in February and March, I was charged for full service. I called once again to request a refund and make sure once again the service would be cancelled.

    I explained to the representative what had happened, that I had called 3 months ago to cancel, but they continued to charge me, and I'd like a refund. The representative had "apologized for the incovenience" (a phrase repeated many times today) BUT they could not give me a refund, because they have a "no refund" policy, which she said was clearly stated on the website. I told her that these charges were unauthorized and I demanded a refund. She persisted in telling me the would not give me any refund what so ever. I requested to speak to a supervisor.

    On the phone with the supervisor, I was once again denied a refund. He proceded to check their records to see if I had indeed called previously to cancel. He confirmed that I indeed called to cancel, but I had decided to keep the service. I told him that was impossible as the phone is completely useless here. He told me, as if I was trying to cheat them, that their phone calls with customers were recorded, seemingly implying that I was lying to him. I pleaded with him to listen to that phone call I made in December, and he would hear me repeatedly demand that my service be cancelled. He refused to listen to the recorded conversation, and continued to refuse me a refund.

    I realized that talking to the supervisor was getting me nowhere closer to my refund, and I ended the phone call at that point. I'm not sure what else to do right now. I'm going to attempt to contact their head office as soon as I can get some information, but I'm realizing that their contact info is hard to find. I can only rationalize this as straight up theft of my money. I plan on doing what I can to get my money back. They can't tell me I didn't cancel my service when I called in December. If they indeed record those conversations, there is irrefutable proof I demanded my account to be turned off.