In 1999 I joined
Working Assets long distance. I did it almost entirely because they sent you two free coupons for Ben & Jerrys with each bill, and who wouldn't like that? In 2002 I switched to their cellphone service. In the early Wild West days of socially-responsible living, Working Assets was a gamble. It was expensive; service would fade in and out, and once an operator told me nicely that my phone might have problems working in downtown Philly because there were lots of "obstacles," also known as buildings.
(My college advisor had their credit card, and at the time the interest rate was so far she nicknamed them "Work Your Ass Off.")
BUT I loved the fact that they gave piles of money to
progressive nonprofits; that they sent action alerts in my cellphone bill and i could order lefty books; and the fact that my cash WASNT going to a major media cellphone company. And I waited, patiently, for the point where the service was good enough and it was a safe enough bet that I could say to all my friends: There is no reason NOT to have them as your mobile provider, especially if you want a nice easy way (and who doesn't) to do a little something for the left.
Last week, I notified them that I had moved. And my phone company --
my fucking phone company -- emailed me a link to an voter registration form, so that I didn't forget to change my registration info. Two days later they emailed again to ask if I'd changed the registration yet. Two days after that I got a letter, triple checking that I was registered. I thought, okay, that's awesome. It's time. Everyone should take the plunge.
I realize that this is pretty shameless and pretty pushy a plug. Anticipating that, I'm ready to answer questions I'm sure you'll have that are preventing you from giving your $60 a month to a good company and instead paying $60 a month so the
can you hear me now guy can buy coke and hookers.
1. Is it a real phone company?
Yes. It's like Sprint. Or TMobile. Or Verizon. You pick a plan, they send you a phone, you call people.
2. Are the phones made of hemp and cashew nut cheese?
I wish! But they're not. They have real actual phones with cameras and text messages.
3. Ben: You had this idea several years ago that some company should make a phone that doubles as a breathalyzer, so that when you have a crush on someone you don't destroy the budding relationship by calling them after 6 gin and tonics and asking them to gay marry you in Ontario. Does Working Assets carry THAT phone?
The phones exist, actually, but not through Working Assets. But I've matured, and now after 5 gin and tonics I ask my roommate to hold my phone so I don't do that. The question is pretty off-topic, frankly.
4. Can I keep my number, and what about the contract?
Gotcha on this! Yes, you can keep your number. And ... wait for it ... Working Assets will pay off your contract. There is literally no risk or reason. (Oh: the one
debbie downer is that if you have an iPhone, Apple struck a deal and you can't use a different service provider. It sucks, and maybe it will change.)
5. Is the service good? Is it more expensive?
The service, I'm glad to say, is now just as good as any other phone. Totally comparable. As for more expensive, it may be slightly more depending on the plan. But even if it is, those couple more dollars are going to
prison reform organizations,
media justice groups,
nifty indie media outlets, and
womens rights. You help all those people and don't have to do shit, you just talk talk blah blah like usual and pay your bill and then awesome groups get money.
6. Why are you calling them Working Assets? Didn't they change their name to Credo mobile?
Yes. Unfortunately I think it's one of the worst re-namings in the history of sustainable business, so I'm in denial. Who cares what the name is though. Short of
Third Reich Mobile, I'm sticking with them.
7. What do you think of the new Madonna song this post is named after?
It's great! Don't hate. Justin's involved and it's fun. Though one interviewer asked Madonna this question:
"Does the lyric, 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions' have any resonance in the context of your Malawi activism?"
Jesus fuck. I would move to London too. Anyway, new Madonna = good. New Mariah? Ugh. It's BAD. "Imma treat you like a teddy bear. You won't wanna go nowhere." Ugh. I actually liked
We Belong Together but this is a step backwards. What were we talking about?
8. Oh! Right. How do I join Credo Mobile, ditch my corporate cellphone and do good things?
Click here.
Go!
[...] Pinko Magazine wrote an interesting post today on Four (off-peak) minutes to change the world.Here’s a quick excerpt … have any resonance in the context of your Malawi activism?” Jesus fuck. I would move to London too. Anyway, new Madonna = good. New Mariah? Ugh. It’s BAD. “Imma treat you like a teddy bear. You won’t wanna go nowhere….7. What do you think of the new Madonna song this post is named after? It’s great! Don’t hate….Though one interviewer asked Madonna this question:… [...]
I am a happy member of Credo Mobile! yay!
credo mobile rizzocks. it was literally the easiest thing. now i get to laugh at eveyrone who tries to use verizon or sprint in my house and then graciously hand them my new cute gay pink credo phone.
[...] (and funny!) argument on why to ditch your cellphone for a socially responsible alternative! read more | digg [...]
I would love to switch but am stuck with a 2 yr. contract with Alltel which I would love to ditch but sorrowfully can not (2 year contract).
I have been a member of Working Assets (CREDO) for a number of years and love them!! The best phone company out there.
11 minutes ago Liz w. says:
I was in the process of switching to Credo Mobile. My experience with customer service over the last two days has made me change my mind – I am back with my original carrier.
Everyone is very polite, but I get the impression they have little training, and little software support. They do not have an integrated way to look at my account. I called to tell them to cancel, and after that, they transferred my number over to their system. i had to have it transferred back.
This was after I ordered service, and they didn’t even ask me what my old number was. And after they called back to say “Who was your service provider again?”
Amateur outfit. I am all for good causes. But it gives good causes a bad name if they use them to get customers they are unable to serve.
I am currently a CREDO consumer and am trying to get out of my contract because of my many TERRIBLE run ins with customer service… I have spent countless hours arguing about various problems such as internet overage charges and credit limit issues due to customer support issues.
Horrible customer service, major rip off. I was billed three times after disconnecting. Paid twice to get them to leave me alone and finally ended up in collections. Even the collection agency tells me that Credo is a bad customer and they are getting stuck trying to collect on bills that are incorrect.
I signed up with CREDO mobile partly because they were supporting Planned Parenthood. Several months later they ended that relationship for reasons that weren’t revealed. Beyond that disappointment I began to realize that I wasn’t using a cell phone enough to justify the expense of almost $40 per month.
A few days ago I called CREDO to ask if another mobile plan was available since I wasn’t using my phone much. I’d been looking at other pay as you go plans, one in particular that wanted 6.99 monthly with ten cents a minute for calls. The CREDO operative said, no they had no alternative, my contract was $175 dollars, and defaulting would oblige me to pay the difference between that and $5 for each month of past service. I did the math and decided to pay a $100 penalty rather than the $400+ dollars it would cost me to fulfill my contract over the next year.
When I called back today to finalize my decision, the woman on the other end said my contract was for $150, not $175, and offered no credit for months of service. When I choked at having to send them nearly $200 including my current payment she said, “Well we hate to lose a customer. We could discount your monthly payment by ten dollars — would that help?”
I said no, I had only used 3 minutes last month and described the PAYG contract I’d been looking at. So then, and only then, she said, “Well, we have an emergency contract with a rate of $19.95, but we can drop that down to $10 for you and it will entitle you to a total of 40 minutes of talk time monthly.” That’s more like it, I thought. During our conversation she changed the $10 to $5 once but backed off when I called her on it.
This deal was closer to my target so I decided to go with it and at least avoid the heavy penalty for breaking the contract. After I had accepted everything (verbally; there is nothing in writing) she recapped the deal for me and when she got to the $10 off part she added “for the first 12 months. Okay?”
No, it wasn’t okay, but I didn’t seem to have a choice.
Don’t make a contract with these folks unless you’re sure you can use all your minutes. I’ll be paying 32 cents a minute for the present arrangement; when they jack it up next year it will be over 60 cents a minute. Not what I had in mind.
[...] Here is the best one right now: CREDO Mobile (my awesome hippie phone company and brave e-organizing venture) has a petition up that gets to the heart of the matter this week: [...]