Cricket Wireless Communications Cricket's 'reactivation fees' aka 'reactiviation fees' San Diego CA 92121San Diego California

R Small: As stated in my original posting the payment was received and posted to my account three days in advance.

My Response: Again, I reiterate to you what you have stated came from the representative....

"Once I have proven my point on this they then recall it a 'late payment fee' due to me not paying in full because I refused to pay a 'reactivation fee' from a previous month. Then they claim that they did me a favor by waiving this previous 'reactivation fee' only to turn around and state that my full payment was late which is why they had to charge me another! "


Again, I have seen this happen a LOT of times to customers. This is why I said what I said. ANY time you pay a payment AFTER the due date, you will be charged the "reinstatement fee". When I worked for Cricket, I was one of their billing specialists. I had an uncanny ability to recognize patterns.

Whenever I saw a customer having repeat problems with their payments arriving on-time, I would probe into the reason why payments come late. Then, I would remind them about how, when, and why the "reinstatement fee" was charged. If I saw this pattern at least 2 times in a row, I would definitely make the customer aware of it.

What's happened to you is that you've apparently you've paid your bill late in the past, maybe as much as 6 months ago, and you've NEVER caught up. Therefore, the fee would keep forwarding to the following month. I'll give you a scenario:

April 15th - payment due = $50.00
April 16th - new bill generated (no reinstatement fee charged yet)
April 18th - payment posted = $50.00, $15 reinstatement fee added to billing

May 15th - payment due = $50.00
May 14th - payment posted = $50.00
May 16th - new bill generated, includes $15.00 reinstatement fee from April 18th because bill had been generated for May BEFORE fee was charged.

June 15th - payment due = $65.00
June 14th - payment posted $50.00
June 16th - new bill generated
June 18th - $15.00 reinstatement fee charged

July 15th - payment due = $65.00
July 14th - payment posted = $65.00
July 16th - new bill generated, includes $15.00 reinstatement fee charged on June 18th.


Now do you see how you can easily miss the reinstatement fees? I would suggest to take a second look at your billing over the last 6-12 months. You will see the reinstatement fee in there somewhere. Post your last 6-12 months billing and I'll show you. Billing is done in "Bill cycles"...a new bill is generated on the next day following your due date. Reinstatement fees are not generally charged until 2-3 days after the due date. There are a few Cricket markets that do NOT allow late payments whatsoever, and your service is cutoff IMMEDIATELY around 10pm ET on the due date if your payment is not posted on-time.
-------------

R Small: Is Cricket a publicly held company? Which accounting firm does their annual financial audit?

My Response: Cricket is publicly held as a subsidiary of Leap Wireless, Inc. I have no idea who does their financial audit.

----------------------

R Small: You might find this interesting especially the part where Leap Wireless had a $24.4M loss in 2006 which could be contributed to the company's inability to keep customers like myself. A customer like myself who feels that these fees are erroneous (due to timing/cutoff/posting) and subsequently choose to leave Cricket due to thier lack of Customer Service.

Keep reading.... apparently not only can Leap Wireless not keep thier customers but they also cannot keep employees.

My Response: I know you may feel the fees are erroneous, but their system doesn't lie, as I have shown you above. Show where ALL your payments have ALWAYS posted on-time, and you have something to stand on.

I will agree....Cricket DOES have a problem with keeping employees as many of the CSRs who were from the US have quit Cricket because of frustration with their Corporate store representatives doing ANYTHING they want to at the stores. Talk about the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing!! Also, many of their business practices at their stores are pretty horrid.

Despite all this, their billing system is quite impeccable. What method do you use to make your payments?

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1065049/000095013407026111/a36682e10vkza.htm

You might find this interesting especially the part where Leap Wireless had a $24.4M loss in 2006 which could be contributed to the company's inability to keep customers like myself. A customer like myself who feels that these fees are erroneous (due to timing/cutoff/posting) and subsequently choose to leave Cricket due to thier lack of Customer Service.

Keep reading.... apparantly not only can Leap Wireless not keep thier customers but they also cannot keep employees.

Is Cricket a publicly held company? Which accounting firm does their annual financial audit?

Is Cricket a publicly held company? Which accounting firm does their annual financial audit?

Is Cricket a publicly held company? Which accounting firm does their annual financial audit?

Do you use Cricket's online bill payment service through their website at http://www.mycricket.com? I would recommend using it as it's a great resource for paying your bill.

Furthermore, the ONLY time that I have seen that charge repeatedly is when a customer does NOT pay the full amount for their bill. Just because your payment posted 3 days in advance doesn't mean that you paid the account "in full" for what was due. I've seen it happen MANY TIMES. Even if a customer underpays their bill by 1 penny...the $15 fee shows up and the service can be suspended until additional payment is made.

Pay your full month's bill + $15 and you shouldn't receive another $15 "reinstatement" fee. provided that you pay on-time. Also, your amount due is sent to your phone TWICE every month. once at the beginning of your bill cycle, and again 7 days before it's due. They also send another reminder 2-3 days before as well, and up to 2 days after the bill was due too. So Cricket does give you ample warning.

1) What was the amount due for your bill?
2) What amount did you pay?

As stated in my original posting the payment was received and posted to my account three days in advance.

I used to work in their customer service center back in 2004-2005. I don't work there now because I have relocated to an area that doesn't have a Cricket call center. Anyways, I work in Technical Support, and we were trained in billing before moving up to Tech Support.

First of all, this is from Cricket's website:
-----------------------------------
Does Cricket charge a late payment fee?

No. Cricket does not charge a traditional late payment fee. However, Cricket customers who do not pay for their service on or before their designated due date run the risk of having their service suspended and could be subject to a reinstatement fee of $15.
-----------------------------------

To be honest, this "reinstatement fee" is really a "late payment fee", however, they do not list or name it as such because Cricket's service is month-to-month...you're not on a contract. If you don't pay for your service, you don't get your next month's service until you do pay for it.

Basically, your payment is due ON or BEFORE the due date, not after. If you pay your bill after your due date, you will be subject to that fee EVERY time. I have 2 questions for you:

1) When is your bill due? (It should be the SAME day EVERY month)
2) When have you been paying your bill?

Answering these questions will help you figure out why you're being charged that fee.

Hope that helps!!

I used to work in their customer service center back in 2004-2005. I don't work there now because I have relocated to an area that doesn't have a Cricket call center. Anyways, I work in Technical Support, and we were trained in billing before moving up to Tech Support.

First of all, this is from Cricket's website:
-----------------------------------
Does Cricket charge a late payment fee?

No. Cricket does not charge a traditional late payment fee. However, Cricket customers who do not pay for their service on or before their designated due date run the risk of having their service suspended and could be subject to a reinstatement fee of $15.
-----------------------------------

To be honest, this "reinstatement fee" is really a "late payment fee", however, they do not list or name it as such because Cricket's service is month-to-month...you're not on a contract. If you don't pay for your service, you don't get your next month's service until you do pay for it.

Basically, your payment is due ON or BEFORE the due date, not after. If you pay your bill after your due date, you will be subject to that fee EVERY time. I have 2 questions for you:

1) When is your bill due? (It should be the SAME day EVERY month)
2) When have you been paying your bill?

Answering these questions will help you figure out why you're being charged that fee.

Hope that helps!!