Friday, April 29, 2011

Free first month to add a line

When it comes to affordability in the wireless market, Cricket Wireless beats 'em all. We have seen the prices the carrier offers for years, and now they have the "add-a-line" deal where existing Cricket customers can add their "already-used" Cricket handsets and have first month of service for free. Can anybody beat it? I don't think so. The only fee required is a $15 fee that stores charge when adding a line. So, its a great bargain.
While customers can get a whole month of service for free, they can also make use of an old handset that is just sitting in the house to get rotten. So, this is the advantage side. Any drawbacks? None, however, some need for education on the customer side.
What I have noticed so far about this plan is that when Cricket sends the text message about the "add-a-line" promo, they think that they would need to pay only $15 a month for the second phone that they want to add on to the account, which is not true. The $15 is a one time fee at the time customer adds a phone to an existing account, however, starting next month, the customer needs to pay for the plan that he has chosen to have on that phone, which could be $35, $45, or $55 depending on the features on the plan. So, customers need to be properly educated about this issue, because I have seen customers cursing after the second month saying "It is a rip-off, I thought it was $15 a month." It is not a rip-off, it is marketing on one side, and kinda deal for the customers as well, which one cannot get always without having to sign a long-term contract or having to check the credit score.
Other thing customers need to be educated about is what happens when one of the account holder does not pay the bill that he is responsible for. A lot of customers add a line for $15 without thinking long term. They simply add the phone because it is only $15, and when it comes to making the payment ultimately the next month, they do not make the payment on that account resulting in suspension of both the line. So, customers need to be advised on this part as well.
Everything has two sides, good and bad, and this offer definitely has all GOODs, provided the customers are educated.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Samsung Suede with MUVE music

The company that has been the pioneer in the art of unlimited wireless voice and data plans for the most affordable has done it once again, in the form of unlimited over-the-air music download in the form of a new touchscreen phone called the Samsung Suede. The phone is awesome in terms of look and has a good and easy-to-use interface. It is a boon for music lovers as users can download unlimited songs apart from unlimited talk, text, et al. for a very good price of $55 a month.

The quality of music on the Suede is excellent and one can find most of the popular songs that one can download over the air, though Indie music is not that great in terms of search, which the company is definitely working on to get more of those kinds of music as well. A great touchscreen phone for $129.99 with no signed contract or credit check, the phone is a great bargain for people who want to get a nice looking touchscreen with the capacity of a wonderful MP3 player for that decent price and a very affordable monthly fee.

With all the features that the phone offers, the look of it, the monthly rate, and the growing coverage that Cricket now has, the phone is definitely a YES, apart from the other reasonably priced Android phones that the carrier has now in the market.