We’ve had two mailings from Credo, “America’s only progressive phone company,” alleging that AT&T and Verizon are bankrolling Michelle Bachmann and the Tea Party, and encouraging us to switch our coverage. Anyone had any dealings with Credo? Is it legit, reliable and/or cost-effective?
I’ve never heard of credo but if I used at&t and got this in the mail I’d be looking for a new carrier.
I use Verizon. I’ve never gotten a political mailing from them or anything stating their endorsement of a candidate.
I think you’re confused about who sent out the mailpiece you linked to.
If I got political mailings like this, even ones I agree with, it would be a major turn-off from that company. I don’t want the dentist to sell me Amway while I am mouth-open in the chair and I don’t want my mobile company to sell me liberal or conservative BS.
I do think it’s funny though that Bachmann looks like she is dripping blood from her mouth in the linked photo. The fact that her scleras are hard to see doesn’t help, either.
I’m a Credo Mobile member and it’s legitimate and reliable as far as I can see (on the Sprint network). I can’t say if it’s cost-effective though because I’ve never been with another service. I first signed up with Credo years ago for long distance (anyone remember that?) back when it was Working Assets; never had any problems with them and though they’re politically/socially active they’ve not been overly pushy about it, which I like.
My parents are on Credo Wireless. It’s a little more expensive than some other plans.
They re-sell Sprint, if I recall correctly. I know they are CDMA.
It’s real. Their “hook” is that they donate a percentage of profits publicly to specific liberal causes. If you’re in to that, then you may not mind that they do it. 
If not, they’re not the company for you.
-D/a
That was the second such mailing we got. It’s from Credo.
I am a many-year (probably over 10 year) Credo/Working Assets member. They are known for kick-butt customer service (only needed to call them once or twice, but they were very friendly and helpful.) So definitely legit and reliable, as long as you agree with the politics! You get a vote in which causes get your donations, and which groups they will feature each year.
Please just tell me you’re not going to take their political statement at face value without investigating. If I were to place a bet (not having checked it out myself), I’d guess that AT&T and Verizon, like many big companies, have made donations to candidates across the spectrum. It’s good strategy for getting your lobbyists heard.
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000076&cycle=2010
The Tea Party is not listed as a political party, but Bachmann isn’t even in the top recipients. It seems pretty obvious that AT&T spends its money on whoever is powerful, while generally spending a little more on Republicans who traditionally support corporate interests more so than the Democrats. What a shock.
GIVEN:[ul]
[li]AT&T donates money to Congresscritters;[/li][li]Michelle Bachmann is a Congresscritter;[/li][li]Michelle Bachmann is a prominent Tea Partier.[/li][/ul]
THEREFORE:
AT&T is a major sponsor of the Tea Party, and all it represents.That whirring noise you hear is Father Lynam, my college logic professor, reaching warp speed in his grave.
It certainly doesn’t appear that AT&T itself is crowing about supporting the Tea Party. If that were the case, I’d drop them like a hot brick.
Rather, another company is trying to make the competition look bad by spreading this (probably wildly misleading) information.
This is the sort of ethically questionabe practice that, in my case, backfires badly, as I am now inclined to avoid Credo at all costs, and – unless it’s shown that AT&T did something truly reprehensible, which I don’t think they did – remain loyal to AT&T just for spite.
Member, huh?
I recall reading about a similar ad campaign that they ran in 2008.
I lol’d.
Thanks, everybody. Anyone else had any dealings with Credo?
Back when they were Working Assets. I liked them a lot. I only switched away to enable an iPhone user in the house.
My ex was a Working Assets customer for long-distance and cell phone service when we met, so when we got hitched and wanted a family cell phone plan we went with them, staying with them through the switch to Credo.
Warning: Long story ahead.
My experience was the opposite of what others are reporting. Credo’s actual phone service and coverage were fine, but the customer service was maddeningly incompetent. They obviously meant well, but every time I called them with a service issue I seemed to get a CSR who’d had no training whatsoever. The episode that finally made me switch:
When that same ex and I split up, in a rather ugly fashion, we wanted to split our cell phone plans. So we got together one afternoon and called Credo to get it handled. The CSR assured me that I was on a separate plan now, and they would run a routine credit check and have me all set up the following day.
A few weeks later I got a call from my ex (with whom I would really prefer not to have any further contact), saying she’d received a bill for both of our cell phones. I called Credo to straighten it out. It turns out they’d tried to run a credit check on me, found that the credit reporting bureau had no record of me, and didn’t split us up.
I’ve got massive student loans and a couple of credit cards, and I pull my own credit report once a year–I know damn well the credit bureau’s got a record of me. Clearly, what happened was the CSR wrote down my Social Security number wrong, tried to run a credit check, got no info, and didn’t do anything about it.
A good CSR would have transcribed my info correctly in the first place. A competent CSR would have called me when there was a snag (I’m pretty sure my cell phone carrier has my phone number). When the Credo CSR couldn’t find a record of me, though, she simply did nothing.
So I called again and talked to some new person on the phone until he got it straightened out. I informed my ex that the matter should be handled, and went about my business.
I’m sure you see what’s coming. A month later I got another call from my ex-wife, informing me that she had once again received a bill for both of us. I called Credo, explained in the calmest voice I could muster what had happened, and had them boot me up the chain of command until I got someone who seemed to know what she was doing. I stayed on the phone with her for about an hour and a half while she dug through everything she could find, finally assuring me that the issue was handled and I would be getting a separate bill from now on.
That did finally resolve the issue, but the entire episode typified my experience with Credo, and their unfailing ability to turn what should have been a routine customer service call into a Kafkaesque ordeal.
I wrote a detailed letter to their president and CEO, explaining exactly what had happened and providing names where possible. In return I got a phone call from a chipper young voice, noting that I’d been a loyal customer for several years and asking whether I’d like to upgrade my Credo service? I resisted the urge to unload both barrels on this poor phone-jockey and instead hung up.
Credo donates money to causes that I (mostly) agree with. But that’s no excuse for the rage I was left with every time I tried to get help from them over the phone. My advice: Go with some other carrier (I’m with Sprint now and have had excellent service from them), and donate money on your own time.