Cricket Communications Pre-Paid Service - REFUSES to refund if you have pre-paid then canceled!!! Provo Utah

I purchased a pre-paid Cricket plan as well as paid full "retail" price for a Cricket phone in August of 2008. Since then, I have had nothing but dropped calls, text/voice messages that would come DAYS later after the sender had originally sent the message, and random charges on my bill.

I decided that enough was enough, and I switched to T-Mobile yesterday. I wanted to keep my same phone number, so T-Mobile was able to port my number to my new plan. They told me that it could take 24 to 48 hours to switch, then at that time, I would need to call Cricket to cancel. (The switch only took a few hours).

I called Cricket to let them know that I needed to cancel my service, and to inquire about the excess funds in my account. I had just pre-paid my service of $73.80 and also had a credit of $31.41 in my "Flex Bucket" (a pre-paid service you can use to purchase games, ringtones and wallpapers)

They said that my account was already suspended from T-Mobile, which was fine, but that I am not entitled to a refund. I asked why, and was told that it's "Company Policy". I stated that I never signed a contract, I never signed an agreement - so if I have pre-paid for something that I have now canceled and am not using - I em entitled to the amount leftover in my account. They told me no. I again asked why and how that's legal, and was told that "It's company policy, it's not our problem you decided to cancel. Cricket is a non-refundable company." I began to argue this, and was interrupted with "The terms and conditions are on our website. It's stated clearly in there."

Well - ok? At what point did I sign stating that I agreed to the terms and conditions? Shouldn't that be something they should provide to me in writing at some point? Or at least direct me to the website to READ the terms and conditions before making the purchase? Had they not just told me this - I would have had no clue!

So - I ask to speak to her supervisor. After waiting for about 10 minutes on hold, another agent came on the line who was VERY rude and just didn't care. She would not answer my questions, she flat out told me that they owe me nothing. I asked to speak to HER supervisor, and she told me that she's as high up as they go. I asked if she owned Cricket. She said no. So I told her that I have worked in customer service for years and know how it works. She has a supervisor and I want to talk with them. She then told me that he wasn't there. I told her that this is a matter of maybe $50. She could either cooperate with me, or not. But if she didn't, I would pursue the matter. She stated "If you want to waste your time, be my guest. We will not refund you. It was your choice to pre-pay." Um....yes - it was - however, Cricket is a PRE-PAY ONLY company...

I am VERY upset at the way I was treated. I have paid my bill on time CONSISTENTLY for 11 months now. This company is terrible. How is it legal to offer a pre-paid service, yet refuse refund when that service is not used or is terminated? Especially considering that their slogan is "NO CONTRACTS". Well if there's no contracts - how can they bind me to their no refund policy?

If you are considering Cricket - you are wasting your time. I'm telling EVERYONE I can how terrible they are - so hopefully I can save someone from getting RIPPED OFF!!

Butterfly82
Provo, Utah
U.S.A.