Unlimited Directory Assistance

Today I wanted to highlight one new feature that Cricket has started offering - Unlimited Directory Assistance. Cricket actually started offering this service a few months ago. The service is $3 a month for unlimited 411 calls. That is a smoking deal considering that 411 calls typically cost about $1.39 per call.

For the Holidays, Cricket is offering a unique twist on this feature. The deal is that when you sign up you get a 60 day free trial. If you want to keep the service you can just start paying for it in the third month or if you don't want it just call up Cricket to cancel. It is very easy, and totally risk free.

Cell phone + Driving = Verbal Warning!

We recently moved store locations and that has kept me really busy! It has been a bit of a stress but our new location rocks! We are now right on an extremely busy street so we should generate a lot more traffic. Being "right on" the street provided me with my latest topic to write about. About 3 hours ago we noticed that people were being pulled over all over the place. About every two minutes there are cop cars on both sides of the street with people pulled over. In fact, we have had them right in front of our store about 3 or 4 times within the last hour. At first I thought that the cops were just focusing on this area for speeding today, but then one of my co-workers left the store and called me up saying he was just pulled over. I said that he wasn't speeding, but he was TALKING ON HIS CELL PHONE! He was given a ticket but the cop took down all his info and gave him a warning. He said that the one warning was all he was going to get. Next time it would result in a ticket! I've heard people say things now and again about it being against the law to talk on your phone in the car, but now I have proof. So here's my advice to everyone - Buy a hands free, headset! I don't know for sure if those are legal, but at least they free up both your hands.

Motorola W315

We finally have another phone being offer my Motorola - the Motorola W315 a.k.a "The Pebble." This phone is not going to be as loaded as some of the other new phones coming out at the moment, but it is a solid phone. Good quality, durable, and packed with basic features that make it an easy to use phone. We started selling it at the end of last week and it seems to be getting a really good response from customers. I have copied some of its specs for those of you who are interested to read:

• The clock feature on the external display can be set to 3 different modes; Normal (digital date & time), Big Time (enlarged digital time), and analog clock. In your menu, select “Settings”, “Initial Setup”, “Time and Date”, Subclock, then choose the desired clock display option.


• The W315 supports Cricket Clicks, Mobile WEB, Travel Time, and textmessaging. The W315 has a vibrant internal 128 x 160 65K CSTN color display and unique external 96 x 32 vertical display. Additional features include integrated speaker phone, voice activated dialing, predictive text input, contact list, incoming call indicator, and more. This handset is hearing aid compliant with a M3 rating. With the W315, you can get the job done with style and quality that you expect from Motorola.


• This GOOD category handset has a retail price of $139.99

It's nice to finally have another phone from Motorola. Their phones generally seem to be high quality with a lot of really cool cutting edge features. The Pebble should be a really good phone for Cricket.

Christmas = Cheap Cricket Phones

So the big question customers always ask me is "What is your cheapest phone?" Generally Cricket always offers a phone for $100 or less. That always includes the first 30 of service so it's not a bad deal. But this Christmas season, Cricket has a deal that is pretty sweet. The company is offering a "Buy one get one half off" special through the end of 2006 whenever you are activating new lines of service. Half off on any phone is pretty sweet, especially if you are buying 2 of our UTStarcom CDM 7025's.

These are Cricket's basic, introductory phone for the season. All things considered, it is a pretty good phone. It doesn't have all the extravagant features that the more expensive phones have (such as a camera, Web portal, external display, Bluetooth capabilities), but it is definitely a high quality phone. Cricket is currently selling them for $99.99 on a new activation with a $30 mail-in rebate. So if you buy 2 and take advantage of the Christmas offer, the 2nd is only $50 with a $30 mail-in rebate. That gives you a total of only $90 for 2 phones. Not a bad deal!

Cricket phones that are Hearing Aid Compatible (HAC)

We recently received an email regarding a new Hearing Aid Compatibility rating (HAC T4). Personally, I do not understand all the technicalities of HAC, but just so Cricket users know we do offer two phones with this capability – the Nokia 6265i and the RAZR V3c. Here are all the HAC ratings that I am aware of for current Cricket handsets (M rating is in reference to 2005 FCC HAC regulations and T rating is in reference to 2006 FCC HAC regulations):

• Nokia 6265i – HAC M3 & T4
• V3c RAZR – HAC M3 & T4
• Slider Remix – HAC M3
• KX9e – HAC M3
• CDM7025 – HAC M3

The Nokia 6265 and the RAZR are both in our “Best” category for cell phones. I expect that some of the newer, lower-end phones coming out soon will have the HAC T4 standard on them as well.

$5 off with ABP!!

We learned something pretty exciting this week. Cricket has brought back the $5 monthly discount for customers on Automatic Bill Payment (ABP). Cricket used to have that in the past but took it away back in April of 2005. For those who don't know what that means, here's a quick run down.

• Set up with Cricket to have your monthly recurring bill automatically pulled from a debit or credit card. You have to have an actual card associated with your account. Typically you cannot just give your routing number and account number. At least that's how it is at my store. We have to enter in the card number.
• If you set up ABP at the time your account is activated the payments will start coming out on your first bill.
• If you set up ABP in the middle of a billing cycle it is a bit different. It can take up to 30 days for the ABP to be set up so the next payment you have should be paid manually. After that the payments will be taken out automatically.
• Cricket makes a pull on your card about 5 days before the bill is due. So if your payments are due on the 15th your card will have a pull on it on the 10th. Cricket does this to ensure that your card is still valid. If for some reason your card is declined, then Cricket will send you a text message letting you know that the payment was not received and that you need to pay it manually.

Like I mentioned, the exciting part about all of this is that you get $5 off on your bill each month. I'm not sure how long this is sticking around so I would go into a store and set it up ASAP. I have had my wife on ABP the whole time I have worked for Cricket and it has been great. Never a problem with them charging us a weird amount and never a problem with the card being declined. In my opinion it is the best way to go.

Moconews.net and Nokia Data Kit

I received a comment recently from someone who got the Nokia 6265. They said they really like it but that the data kit they wanted costs $50. For those that don't know, data kits include the cable to connect your phone to a USB port and the software to manage your phone on a computer. The typical software application allows you to transfer pictures and videos, store music (mp3's and aac's), and store contact information. My suggestion to the person with the new Nokia is to try and shop around a bit. We sell our data kits for 39.99. I know that's still pricey but at least it's $10 cheaper. Another suggestion - if you buy a micro SD memory card at the same time you buy the data kit you may be able to get a bundled discount. Something like $5 off each item when bought together. If you are buying the data kit you will definitely want a memory card to store your music on. Anyway, I hope that helps a bit.

One other note. I've been checking out other blogs that mention things related to Cricket and cell phones in general. I came across a really good site, www.moconews.net, which is dedicated to exclusively covering mobile content. It was a cool site and I will probably continue to check it out to learn stuff about the phones and services available.