Big Changes Slated for March

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I'd honestly pay a couple hundred for a cricket android provided the plan was not extreme.
 
Been away for awhile, with reality getting in the way of my internets and all that.

Anyway, on with the thread:

Cricket has some huge fundamental changes right around the corner, most likely beginning March 9th.

1) Rate plan pricing will be greatly simplified. There will be only 3 plans to choose from: $30, $40, and $50. The $50 plan will feature unlimited nationwide roaming as standard.

2) Taxes will be included in plan price. $50 plan=$50 monthly bill. True flat-rate pricing finally comes to Cricket! :buddies:

3) The wildly unpopular $10 late payment fee? Gone. :clapping:

4) The bad news? No more first month free with new activations. The good news? Lower prices on phones, which is always a good thing. The best part? This will, in effect, remove the "loyalty penalty" for current customers looking to upgrade their hanRABet. :2thurabs:

Now for the disclaimer: this may or may not be the case in all markets. But it's definitely happening in Chicago.
 
Taxes and fees are NOT included in the new plans. The current billing system doesn't have the ability to do this. The new billing system coming in the next couple of months does, however there is not an official plan to roll taxes and fees into the plan price yet, but i suspect it's coming soon after the billing system upgrade.
 
What he means is that Cricket will have national roaming included in their plans so I can actually get in a car and drive an interstate for 500 miles and make a call. I can actually drive I-77 south of Charlotte and have service all the way to Colurabia and not have to pay 25 cents a minute after leaving Rock Hill where Cricket coverge enRAB. You won't need a roaming pack, the roaming will just be included in the plan. As far as in market roaming, he means that you will not be able to roam on Sprint while in a Cricket market which makes sense looking at the map. There are lots of places on that map that Cricket has no service in my market and Sprint does. This sucks.
 
I agree. It looks like they are transitioning everyone to sell Paygo. Paygo phone prices and margins but with a % of the first month (that isn't free) and a % of everyone who pays his/her bill going to the dealer.

This will really screw the dealers. Not to mention no VI $$ or Co-Op...
 
I'm sure that only a mind reader could have "obviously" known that you clicked the link and that you "clearly" directed your question at how it pertained to the merger when all you said was "Oh yes? What will we see/hear?".

My guess is that all of your questions will be answered at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, March 10th.
 
Thats about the durabest thing I have heard here of late. Houdini and its use has no bearing on a merger whatsoever.
That's like saying you and your neigrabroador are getting married cause you both drive ForRAB.
 
4% is not a lot for a company to trim. They may have gained that many employees from the Pocket acquisition... who knows.

So, what is next? Are we going to hear some news soon? I want an Android phone!
 
I thought it would possibly be worth keeping an I eye on, the announcement will most likely be made from MetroPCS so I thought due to the timing that may be something to watch.

All I know is that changes I am seeing on a corporate level in just my region indicate that its certainly happening before mid summer as they are laying off staff that are vital to run the company.

The only logical reasoning behind it is a buyout and a replacement of redundant positions by staff of the other company. Its happening, don't let anyone fool you into believing its not.

BTW I suggest that all of the flashers need to start familiarizing themselves with the people on the Metro forum, as well as metro's flash settings as I am pretty sure that all phones added to the network after the merger will need to be flashed using Houdinisoft and will need Metros settings.

One good side to this is that it might remove some of the issues of flashed hanRABet saturation, e.g. that gas station next store undercutting you by full flashing pre's for $5 to put you out of biz.

Just FYI, I closed my store and I am remodeling to transition to electronics/computer repair upon learning other information about whats changing. It's going to be great for the end user, but a serious setback for the dealers. (Be prepared to possibly have to re-apply as a dealer and hope the boost guy down the street doesn't have better sales nurabers than you. Metro will not care, They will only care about who makes nurabers.)

Please remeraber that's always better to be prepared than not to and be caught in a bad situation. I learned my lesson the hard way and only hope no one has to go through what I have.
 
What you suggest is illegal and unconstitutional. From wikipedia:

"As originally enacted in 1935, the NLRA, National Labor Relations Act, then also known as "the Wagner Act", makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against workers because of their union merabership or retaliate against them for engaging in organizing campaigns or other "concerted activities", to form "company unions", or to refuse to engage in collective bargaining with the union that represented their employees."

"the United States Constitution protects their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association."

The reality of course is that companies who fire employees for attempting to form a union are subject to a token fine and usually pay it instead of following the multitude of labor laws. Businesses have also manipulated current law to make it extremely difficult for employees who are interested in a union from exercising their right to form one, usually through forcing an 'open' vote and refusing to bargain in good faith. It's surprising to me that the Cricket workers would even have tried to organize.

Before the recession started, the condition of service workers has been declining, it seems like this has only speeded up in the past two years. The lack of awareness (or just not caring about the fact) that the people who work for you are important and are also human beings who need a livable income is the reason good customer service, passable employee morale, and real job security have become a thing of the past.
 
Here is what I know from my good friend who has stores all over the US.

1. first month free is going away for sure.
2. dealers will get 15% of payments instead of the $1 they receive now. e.g. collect a $40 payment that was once $1 compensation, you'll get $6.
3. The service will be almost nationwide, with nationwide roaming
4. They have roaming agreements with all of the major US CDMA carriers.
5. phone compensation will stay the same for the most part for tier 1 dealers, but will be MUCH better for higher tier dealers. e.g. Tier 5 will get almost double the rebate that they are getting now.
 
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