TracFone Consumer Reviews - Page 4

MINNESOTA -- I am a disabled adult with some life threatening medical issues. My phone is constantly not working for some reason or the other. The technical support staff is a joke, totally unknowledgeable. They make you sit on hold for at least a half hour at a time then string you along for another 45 minutes not knowing what they're doing. The automated system strings you along and will disconnect you. You can never get a straight answer about the issues.

MIAMI, FLORIDA -- I bought a new TracFone, and tried to transfer my old phone number onto a new phone. Representative on the phone was very rude and unprofessional. And did not activate my phone. I tried to use automatic service prior to that, because I normally don't want to deal with representatives, and **, oh well. I called 1-800-867-7183 number, opted out of all options what I wanted, and it took me to a freaking representative. I really did not want this to happen. Because I could have saved myself some frustration and aggravation.

OREGON -- I was with Tracfone 10 years. I hated the phones & customer service, but I was able to use the phone and it was cheap. I had 2300 minutes accumulated with a lot of text and data time. I tried to make a call and got the message that I had to buy more time. Called CS and they didn't know or care what happened to my time. I signed up with another carrier & they seem much better.

FLORIDA -- Well, where do you want me to begin? #1. Your instructions are impossible. Before I go MAD please have someone from TracFone call me and get me connected. Thank you. **. At the end here you ask for an image. Well, just imagine I am pulling my hair out! Ouch! Come on, have someone help me through this insanity or expect my phone to be shipped back to you. Thanks.

I wanted to upgrade my Tracfone, purchased another Tracfone from HSN. HSN and Tracfone both said I could take my Tracfone # with me on the upgrade. There were still minutes on the old phone. CS for Tracfone and HSN said no problem you can keep your same Tracfone #. I got the new phone and activated it. I had my old # and it was working on the new phone so I put minutes on the new phone and the phone worked for about two weeks then stopped working. It said the SIM card was unregistered on face of phone.

After 1.5 hrs on the phone CS said they would send a new SIM card, but it would take a week to get it. Waited a little over week no SIM card called CS again, where is SIM card? Told it was cancelled, but could not say why, another 1hr + on phone they said would request for SIM card again.

I got the SIM card called in to get activated was told my phone # was not available even though I had that # on my Tracfone for almost 2 years and it was working on the new phone. Now they will not give me my phone # back, nor will they refund the minutes I put on the new phone that no longer works. I do not want a new phone # for obvious reasons, numerous notifications to medical sources, family, friends and business sources etc. A big pain! I am out of almost $150.00 for less than 30 days of service and a phone that does not work.

I did every thing I was supposed to do, it was Tracfone who engaged in deceptive practices by saying I could take my # with me and actually giving the # to me for 2 weeks then taking it away and refusing to make me whole. As soon as the "shut down" is over I plan to make complaints with FCC as well as the Illinois Attorney General.

MIAMI, FLORIDA -- Approximately late November 2012 bought through QVC a Tracfone LG800 with very good deal of 1400 minutes, over a year of service with renew date February 2014, and lifetime triple minutes for every one minute you purchase. Initial cost was $100.00. Phone worked great from my home for about 5 months.

Then one day from my home I could not get a signal. I called Tracfone and after 2 hours and a dozen or more of long sets of numbers to enter into the phone and constantly asking to repeat that I can't understand what you are saying (heavy accent) we finally got a signal. Phone worked until I hung up and tried calling a friend got a weird message "€œemergency calls only".

A few days later I called again, and again was put through the same crap of entering long sets of numbers. I still could not get a signal. I insisted upon speaking with a superior and was given a number to their corporate headquarters. It turned out to be a detour to customer service. I told them to connect me with a supervisor and she said I have to enter all these numbers first. I told her that has been done several times it doesn't work, connect me with a supervisor.

During one of my calls to service she just hung up on me because it was quitting time. I didn't realize they have hours only until 11pm. Imagine that, no 24 hour service. Then my sister-in-law spoke to them and got another phone number to call which turned out to be the same number I had. Again they had me entering long numbers. So after fighting with them I finally convinced them to send me a new phone. Received the so called new phone which was really a reconditioned one. It still does not work at home. It will work in some areas outside the home and not others.

"Everywhereness"??? I really look forward to nights in dead of winter getting into my Jeep and driving down the road to call my friends. I have been cheated out of my $100.00. They picked my pocket! My recommendation is stay away from Tracfone. You never know when they may decide to change the signals. Oh and their commercial about "€œEverywhereness" is a lie. I'm everywhere and I can't get that "€œEverywhereness" signal. Ticked off in New York.

MIAMI, FLORIDA -- I have just spent 82 minutes on the phone with a customer service representative This was my second call to TracFone today. I did not set up a mailbox when I activated my phone. I now need one. When I pressed 1 to set up the mailbox I received the message "Welcome to AT&T voice mail. We need more information to direct you to the appropriate Mailbox." Then "To leave a message, dial the 10 digit number for the person you are trying to call". The other option was "If you have a mailbox on this system, press the # sign." Neither option applied but I pressed the # sign and got "Please enter the mailbox number specified by your system manager!" So I called for help!

The first representative put me on hold 6 different times for 2 to 4 minutes each time and kept coming back to tell me that "The application is loading". He finally came back on after placing me off and on hold for 27 minutes and said he could not help me but he was transferring me to someone who could. I held for another 17 minutes and then hung up and called back.

The second representative told me after 82 minutes of repeating the phrase "The application is still loading" that "it appears the application will not load" and he said there was "nothing else he could do for me today". I asked him to transfer me to a supervisor and he sent me right back to square one in the general queue. These guys know that we pay by the minute right? We do not have unlimited talk time or rollover minutes. I tried to enter an online request for support but the web page went to nowhere land when I hit the submit button!

On hold for an hour, then I get India, then was told I had to call a different department. Was on hold another 45 min only to transferred back to the first department. I was so frustrated I asked to deactivate the phone with over 500 minutes remaining on it. Better service at a McDonalds. BEWARE! BBB now involved. I guess it's only a good phone for drug dealers. I certainly am not one.

With TracFone you have the ability to purchase minutes "on demand" from your phone. It is a convenient feature. I had the payment connected to my debit card. I lost my debit card so I needed to change my payment method for the TracFone. TracFone's website allows you to enter a checking account as the payment method. So I did, because I was waiting for my new debit card to come. I tried to buy minutes but I kept getting a text message that said "Credit card denied, call customer service". I thought maybe I had to wait for the database to be updated with the new payment info so I kept trying it periodically. I tried 7 times and finally called customer service.

They said, "We don't accept checking accounts". I said, "Well, then why is it an option on the website?" Since most of the customer service people barely speak English they will just keep repeating the same line to you like a parrot, so you finally have to give up and just accept that answer. Monday comes and I look in my checking account and lo and behold I have a hold placed on my account for 7 charges from TracFone. So I call them and tell them that they charged my checking account and I didn't receive any minutes.

They say, "We don't take checking accounts only credit cards or debit cards." I say, "I know but you charged my account anyway." Well, they keep repeating this same line like a parrot. They don't have a clue. I say I want to talk to the billing department. They say, "This is the billing department. We don't take checking accounts, only debit or credit cards." AHHHHHHH I hang up before I start shouting at the top of my lungs. I go to bank and explain. They take holds off money.

Today I look and lo and behold they took the money out and I got 2 bounced check fees. I went to the bank and filed fraud charges and it's going to take me up to 30 days to get my money back. I explain to bank that it is impossible to get my money back from TracFone. They are complete idiots.

Luckily the bank (Bank of America) took the claim because normally when you permit a vendor to take the money out you have to get the money back from the vendor and the bank will not file a claim for you. So hat's off to BofA for having some compassion. I start look for new cell phone plans. Don't bother going to Walmart's Straight Talk - TracFone owns them and it's the same crappy customer service you get with TracFone. TracFone has the worst customer service on the planet.

Have you ever felt powerless as a consumer? How about neglected or ignored by a company? If so, maybe you've tried to get service from Tracphone! My son gave me his old Motorola Tracphone with 500+ minutes left on it. He wanted me to have a cell phone to use for emergencies - him dialing in or me dialing out. It seemed like it should be a simple task to reactivate a phone with minutes on it. Not so with Tracphone! The customer service voice-response series of dead-end recordings is confusing and frustrating to navigate. If one is fortunate enough to speak with a live person, the solution that's promised is not delivered.

Online customer service seemed to be more responsive at first. So, I followed the directions given to me as a solution, and Tracphone charged my credit card $74.88 May 26, 2009. This charge was to cover a month of service, which was supersized to a year to give me time to use the new and old minutes. In order to reactivate the phone, however, I was told I had to wait for the arrival of a new SIM card, "which should arrive in 3 - 5 business days." That was 7 phone calls, 10 e-mails, and 60 days ago. I'M STILL WAITING FOR THE SIM CARD.

Meanwhile, the 60 day "grace" period for reactivation has passed, the 500+ minutes should have expired, and I have been without a phone for three months. I have requested assistance from the Better Business Bureau. Three things I've learned from my experience with this company: Take Note: Never let the reactivation date for prepaid minutes expire.

If you do, you have fallen into "their" trap and might not get out without damage to your pride and/or pocketbook. Tracphone needs competition. I would like to work for the competition. If you have a friend with a wireless network, ask to join in. You may be fortunate enough to deal with real people that speak your language when you need customer service.