Haltom City resident Kim Drees couldn’t get a refund for her cell phone plan even though she canceled it. After spending months without a resolution, she turned to our consumer team for help.
Drees had been a customer with prepaid cellphone company Cricket Wireless since 2015. She needed to add a few more lines for her growing family, but because Cricket Wireless didn't offer the number of lines she needed she canceled her plan.
Drees wrote NBC 5 Responds saying she was still charged and wasn't being given a refund.
“I have five kids and we needed seven lines and Cricket doesn't offer plans over five lines. So, you have to just get and then another line, another plan essentially. I did some shopping around and AT&T has a much better rate for seven lines,” said Drees.
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Drees thought she was canceling her plan before autopay hit but customer service told her she may still be billed because it was less than seven business days.
Their solution? Dispute and flag the charge with the bank.
“It was a little weird, but he said that was their only option because they are prepared and they didn't have any way to refund money,” said Drees.
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Like clockwork, Cricket’s autopay hit her account and debited $176. She filed a dispute and the bank gave her a conditional credit.
“Then, Cricket responded to this stop payment dispute and gave them documentation that showed that they had rights to take that money. So my bank then gave it back to them and re-charged me,” Dress said.
She again called Cricket who told her they don’t offer refunds and she should again file a dispute with her bank.
“The bank teller said to me, you know, I'm not sure we're going to be able to get your money back this way. You may want to go ahead and contact the news media to see if they can step in and help you,” said Drees.
Drees reached out to NBC 5 for help.
NBC 5 Responds reached out to AT&T which owns Cricket Wireless. Within a short time, a spokesperson for the company sent an email saying, “We’ve resolved this matter to the customer’s satisfaction … and they accepted our offer for a full credit in the amount of her final bill.”
“Thank you, NBC 5 for getting $176 back quickly and all of it. I sincerely appreciate you because I couldn't do it on my own,” said Drees.
NBC reached back out to AT&T to ask why Cricket’s customer service told Drees to file a dispute if the autopay still hit her bank account. They did not reply back.
NBC 5 Responds is committed to researching your concerns and recovering your money. Our goal is to get you answers and, if possible, solutions and a resolution. Call us at 844-5RESPND (844-573-7763) or fill out our customer complaint form.
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