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My family has had tracfones for the last 4 years and they were an ok company until we needed customer service. We started having problems with 2 phones in the last few months and it took many different phone calls and A LOT of waiting before I was able to reach a person. The people who eventually answered put me on hold multiple times, disconnected me several times and did NOT solve the problem that I was calling about. Since the customer service department seems to be in an overseas location, the customer service people also spoke with difficult to understand accents. (Not their fault, but it only added to the frustration when I couldn’t understand them.) We WILL NO LONGER do business with this company!

I am a TracFone customer and I am satisfied for the most part. The main con is the price. Minutes can be expensive if you are not a heavy talker.I am very happy that I can keep a strong signal virtually anywhere. I also like that the phones are very inexpensive. If you need a phone only for emergencies or you are a very light tlaker, TracFone is right for you!(To all of you people who gave only one star just for customer service, you are supposed to be rating ALL aspects of the company, not just c/s.)

Phones Great But..What Bout the Internet?!??!?! The Only Site Is Tracfone.com

I had a Tracfone for a long time, a analog phone. Service was good. I could get a signal, when others could not.Their system went digital & I traded in my old phone for a refurbished one. I took a month to get the phone. It never worked well I tried to add minutes, it would not take them.I tried to get customer service. I was on hold for 10 minutes then their system kicked me off. I did this twice. I used the option to buy a phone. I got through in 5 minutes. Then I tried to get a credit card refund. I was on the phone for 90 minutes +.

We needed a cell phone for use for short calls and to use when on the road. We had no trouble setting up our phones (by internet or service call). Minutes and contract time were added very easily by internet. If you just need a simple plan for light calling or emergency calling, this is the plan for you! My plan averaged about $10 per month.

Tracfone is the best! I wanted a cellphone for traveling and for making calls to family members. I don’t spend HOURS using the cellphone, but when I want phone service, I want it to work. After having paid monthly fees first to Cingular and then to Verizon and getting NOTHING but dropped calls, no service, calls costing extra because they went through a Canadian tower and were considered international, etc., I finally switched to Tracfone. I started with a Nokia 2285 (CDMA) which I still use. Needing a phone for a TDMA area in another state, I bought a Nokia 1221. It worked great but didn’t function after my husband accidently dropped it in a water cooler filled with water. I then got him a Nokia 1100 (GSM). I think it is a Fantastic phone. I got 1100s for 4 other family members as gifts. Phones I purchased, reconditioned, from Tracfone worked on first try. One phone I got from Walmart wouldn’t activate. I contacted Tracfone customer service and they sent a phone right away, with prepaid shipping labels to return the non-functional phone. My grandson’s 1100 went through the washer and still works! My husband wanted a flip phone so I got him a Motorola V60i. He loves it. I have contacted customer service many times for relatives who have let their service expire and wanted the same phone number and have always been treated well. I have never had a problem with adding airtime online, by phone or purchasing an airtime card. The minutes and service end date always display. I have had a problem with my not entering the correct promotional codes, but customer service has always fixed that for me. I did have one phone that activated with a phone number that was a toll call from my home. Customer service had me change my area to obtain a local number and then no problem.For basic, reliable phone service, I don’t think you can beat Tracfone.

Its pretty good wish it had unlimited texting.

After activating my new Tracfone and additional minutes, I found I was given a long distance area code. After hours of frustrating communication, I was told there were no phone numbers available in my area code and to use the one they gave me. This means anyone calling me from my home or area will now be making a long distance call. Am I happy with Tracfone? NO. I will let Walmart know there are no phone numbers available in our area and they should advise customers.

If you buy this service don’t do anything stupid like transfering your home phone number to it, this is a really good phone to have in a complementary fashion to your regular phone service, but NOT a replacement. I’ve been a five year customer and never had any problems ther than the fact they still don’t offer any web access. When buying these phones just purchase the phone and the plan that you can afford to have some misfortune with and then you will not have to waste your time trying to look for good customer service out of India when something does go wrong. The airtime is NON refundable remember that so you don’t have to have a sad kitten look on your face as someone 10 timezones away tells you ‘tough cookies’ when the phone gets lost or something. This is a really great service just as long as you treat it as a cheap disposable service and enjoy the advantages of that accordingly.

WE THINK THAT YOUR PHONES ARE THE GREATEST

Between my wife and I we have owned 4 Tracfones over the last 4 years. We bought the Nokia 1100’s then upgraded to a better models. I have never has a problem with any of my phones. Adding minutes is very easy using the phone or the website. Bonus codes are always available and customer service has always been fast and professional for me. I have called them maybe 5 times with differant questions and I have never had a problem. I have and will continue to recommend Tracfone. Many of my friends have switched over and I have not heard any complaints from them. On occasion a text message does take a bit longer then I would like but that it a network issue I believe and probably out of Tracfone’s control. I have great coverage with all my tracfones no matter where travel. I don’t understand why some people are having such a bad time with this company. My experience has been very good. The only thing I would like to see Tracfone do is to get newer phones available faster.

I’m not sure how much Tracfone pays in customer service costs but they need to request a refund. I spent most of a day calling customer service for bonus minutes that were not credited and number ports to Tracfone. One of the Trracfone reps deactivated one of my phones SIMS. It took close to two hours to have the phone reactivated. The rep kept telling me the phone was deactivated because of the number port. I knew this was false because I had another number and Tracfone that was ported at the same time that was active.Tracfone customer service and communication skills are beyond poor.

I’m now on my second Tracfone. I recently upgraded from a Nokia 2600 (easy-to-use T9, responsive interface, but extremely crappy screen) to a Motorola W370 (the razr look-alike; iTAP isn’t as great as T9, the processor is a little sluggish, mediocre ringtones, but great screen).I was hoping to be able to check my Gmail through the new phone, since it has a WAP browser. but the phone never can get online. Is this a feature that’s only available in certain areas like big cities or something?Anyway, I’ve always gotten great reception. Plus, when I had to transfer my number/minutes/date to my new phone, as far as I could tell, it took effect almost immediately. but the lady on the phone was quite hard to understand.

I have service through 03-08, but can not get a new 400 minute card since you changed the cards now. I have automatic double minutes through this date also, but now can not get them because you changed your cards. I have tried to use the comp. to buy the minutes, but tracfone will not let me do that, what gives anyway? What a rip off. I can not find the 400 minute cards anywhere now. So I have to pay more for the other cards. You have me now since I get double minutes, but you only let me buy the 200 minute cards which cost more. The corporations win again.

I have used tracfone for over 9 years. I have had a few bad experiences, but I have also had a Cingular cell phone, and an AT&T cell phone and had more than a few problems with them. Having problems can go along with ANY kind of cell phone (tracfone, cingular, sprint etc.) as with any type of wireless device. Things happen. The REAL issue is wether or not they FIX the problem. I have never had a problem yet, in all of those years that they did not fix somehow. I do agree with the fact that the customer service reps are HARD to understand, but they have always taken care of me. I have MANY times gotten an hour or more of free time for my trouble. You just have to tell them you want the compensation. As far as the phones go. My family was at the lake and there were approx. 5 different types of cell phones there (mine the only tracfone) and MY phone was the only one with any reception. My advice..if you got a phone and there is a problem, MAKE them fix it!! Then you will still have a good pay as you go phone AND good service. AND as for the review written here about people laughing at tracfones because they are want-to-be cell phones. How sadly ridiculous and ignorant. I own my own home, do you think I can’t afford a cell phone? Have you ever heard of the right to make a choice? I had the option I CHOOSE tracfone. If I wanted what you call a ‘real’ cell phone I would have one!

I wish I could create a zero star entry. I cannot understand these people. They are in some foreign contry and don’t speak English. I bought 400 minutes, put them on my phone and then tried to make a call. Long story short, the minutes did not transfer and when I called, they told me that I had used all my minutes. I asked them how this was possible to use up 400 minutes when I had just entered in the minutes not even 30 second prior to my attempt to make a call. They would not make this right. I saw how Brian just disputed the charge on his card. I think I will do that now as I have been cheated out of my money.

Terrible service!!! I went on line and purchased some minutes and learned that my phone had been deactivated. I called to try and get it reactivated and they would not let me. I asked for a refund, since the internet did not tell me that I could not use the minutes on my phone, and they told me they were non-refundable. I had to then order a new card for my phone (more money) and they said it would come in 5 days. I waited 10 days and nothing came. I called and they said they never shipped it because I did not create a case (why didn’t they tell me that I had to create a case the first time I called?!?). I then created a case and waited another 10 days…nothing. Called back and they said they had no record of my case number. I asked for a refund (since they did charge my credit card for both the minutes I could not use and the card to use them) and they told me ‘no refunds but offered to sell me a new card. I expained that I already paid for a new card and that I have a credit card statement to prove it. They said they have no record of this and that I would have to purchase a new card. I asked if I could send them a copy of my bill and they told me I would have to send a letter to Miami (since they are in Belize) explaining what happened and then they may or may not ask for my statement. At this point I decided to just dispute the charges with my Credit Card Company (I recorded the conversation on the computer) and they told me they have a long history of complaints with this company and that they would not even send them a letter asking their side. They said Tracfone was so terrible, they would just refund the money and add my claim onto some law suit they were filing against Tracfone for all the fraud they have committed. Just a heads up. These guys are running a scam. You WILL pay for minutes you will never be able to use. You WILL be cheated

Tracfone was okay while I had them. Their selection of phones is okay…they are competent but nothing overly stylish. When I decided to switch and wanted to take my number they were of no help so I ended up getting a new number. Overall I recommend them if you are a basic user. Also…if you want to download graphics/ringtones it can be slow and tiresome to do so.

I must be the only woman here that likes a simple, no bells and whistles mobile phone. I like my Motorola C139 model I bought from a local discount store last year. I bought it only for emergancy use, and it has performed well for the few times I have used it. I have also telephoned to another state, with no problems. I did notice I was receiving text messages from Tracfone for offers. I would delete them every couple of weeks without reding them. Since I don’t plan on using text msging, I turned the SMS alert off, and deleted the text msg. phone number that I had originally set up when I first got the phone. I live far from a cell tower, and still get four bar reception.

I have the Camera phone 261-4 its perfect and the prepaids easy to work. tracphones perfect

Sorry, I left 3 stars they should not have been any stars.. Again they SUCK do not buy or continue to use.

Simply put they suck to do not use!!!!

Well, I have been a customer for about a year and I am very satisfied with the service. I am not one to talk a lot, so this prepaid company is great for me. I have a motorola c155 and although it does not have a lot of features, I am totally satisfied with the great reception I get. My only complain (like so many others) would be customer service. The times I’ve called I was serviced immediately, but not by the kindest of people.

I’ve had my Tracfone for a little over 6 months now and so far I have had no unavoidable problems with it. I have called customer service on many occasions, and have reached a person who spoke quite excellent English, and showed a deep knowledge for the workings of the phone. The only problem I had was that I allowed my units to run out, a fault of my own, and my number got changed. Other then that the minutes are easy to add, and the rates are decent.

Be warned that Net 10 prepaid is owned and operated by TracFone. All the horrific customer service problems and misrepresentations reported here are identical with Net 10. So, don’t even think about going with Net 10 unless you are masochistic and enjoy being abused.

I live in south Ga, bought tracfone 11 mos ago. Used it for 4 calls, or 5 -it would not turn off. Replacementwas a nightmare. Never got any service- 2nd phone failed. I get zero refund!! replacement is go-phone, no trouble!!

I work for tracfone, and I think the problem with you people is thay you do not even know how to follow some instructions…I would never know why some americans are able to understand ‘our non american english’ but other aren’t. Sometimes, people call without knowing how to turn a cellphone on!!! come on!!! you don’t take the time to read the user guide? it is not a booklet, it should give some tips so you are not waiting for a cust rep to ask him how to change the ringstyle!!!!Adding airtime is a nightmare for people that do not know how to follow a recording..It’s so simple, that a child can do that.I’m from Argentina, you know that we don’t speak english, but we do our best to explain you what you need to do. The point is that most of americans understand us, but the one who are racist and discriminate, are the ones who deserves having a nightmare with customer service

I bought my Motorola V170 Tracphone in June, I activated the phone and added 30 mins to it with no problem.I live in south Georgia and went to visit my family in Ohio, the phone worked well every place I went, no dropped calls, I am not a heavy cell phone user so this was a good deal for the phone and 30 mins, less than $30.00

I have used TracFone for several years and I have had no problems with it. I did check the web site before buying a phone to make sure the model would work in my area. I only use it a few times a month. So far no problems with it.

Had to get in contact with the supervisor 10 times while attemting to get this stupid upgrade working. Trac might work when its set up but just try to get it set up!!!!!!

So far have been on the phone(land line) for 4.0 hours to try to get the trac phone upgrade done. The last 3.0 hours I have not been able to speak to a human yet—(still on hold listening to a recording every 40 sec.that says I am a very important customer!!!!!)They have another .5 hours and then it goes in the garbage!!!!! They are not the only game in town anymore!!!!

Hideous. Hideous. Hideous. I used tracfone successfully for a couple of years then had to replace a telephone. They claim it’s easy to do online. I tried. My SIM card was out of date. Per their instructions, I called Customer Service. It took a long time, but I got a new SIM card. This one was also rejected. Now I’m back to trying to call Customer Service. It’s been a couple of weeks, off and on, and hours–Couldn’t they hire more reps? No one ever answers the telephone–the recorded message say too busy and hangs up. Once I did managed to get through, but the English abilities of the person with whom I spoke seemed to be limited to, ‘I’m sorry that you are having this problem.’I hate this company. If help is so cheap in India, why don’t they hire more of it? And train them, for goodness sake?Hideous, hideous, hideous.I am sending a litter via snail mail to these people. I’ve bought the stinking phone, got the card and now I can’t do a thing with it. I had purchased airtime and just called VISA and said forget it. You might luck out, like I did a couple of years ago when I bought the first telephone. (Which died).Or you might not.A hideous company. I join the other reviewers who wish they were a rating zero or minus.

I have the Tracfone Motorola V170, and I am very pleased. I don’t feel the need to get an Iphone, or any other higher tech phone that has enough bells and whistles to confuse the best of techno geeks. I don’t talk that much on my phone as I have seen other people do, I go shopping and see them talking from the time they walk onto the store until the time they walk out. I have been told that a regular cell phone is cheaper, but I don’t agree. I have not spent any money on my phone since 12-06, about $150.00. A regular cell phone would have cost me about $400.00 by now just in monthly charges. I bought my phone for $30.00 and a 400 minute card that gives me a year of service and doubles any minutes that I add afterwards, that card cost me about 120.00. I have a friend that has an AT&T cell phone and his call get dropped all the time, I have never had a call dropped as of yet.

dont let my name fool you-i,m 65 and i am pissed. this garbage co. sent me a new upgrade one which i didnt ask for!!!now for the last 9 working days we cannot get the voice mail working 15 phone calls later , half being disconnected after a 20-40 min. wait two different,problem tickets,and half the people are not understandable to me or my wife. this is my third trac fonethe service when it works is great but getting these little monsters to workin conjuction with customer service is a nite-mare

i like my tracfone ……….there are no hiden charges no big bill to pay every month

I have zero complaints about my TracFone. It was easy to set up with my computer. Easy to add minutes.It is refurbhished and some group were giving them out free after Katrina. I have been very pleased with it.I do not want ANY phone with a contract.Been there and done that.

Three tracfones and no problems. I read and try to understand as to avoid the need for CS. These phones are dirt cheap and I won’t put more than $30.00 of time on any one at a time. Small loss if something goes wrong. It’s so easy to activate GSM tracphones. The Last one I Bought in Utah while traveling, I had activated and working in less than ten minutes in the Wallmart Parking Lot. So far coverage in The western US with both a GSM and CDMA/analog phones is very good. If a signal is present the calls go through very reliably. What’s Double Dialing? Sounds like a ridiculous activity. No need for it with these. For Me it’s about coverage, and by Carrying both an LG 3280 CDMA/analog and a Motorola V170 GSM with p4 sim, I get pretty darn good and reliable coverage in most places, and I go WAY… OUT.

ON 7/5/07, I CALLED TRACFONE’S GENERAL NUMBER AND PURCHASED $22 OF ADDITIONAL MINUTES. A COUPLE OF MINUTES LATER I TURNED THE TRACFONE ON AND I RECEIVED A SECURITY CODE. I IMMEDIATELY CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE. SHE DIDN’T EXACTLY KNOW WHAT THIS MEANT SO SHE KEPT REFERRING TO HER SUPERVISOR. I WAS GETTING A LITTLE WORRIED WHEN THE LAUGHING AND JOKING IN THE BACKGROUND KEPT GETTING LOUDER. AFTER SEVERAL DIFFERENT TRIES TO GET THE CELL PHONE WORKING SHE TELLS ME MY CELL PHONE IS BROKEN. I TOLD HER I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS W. THIS PHONE AND I HAD JUST ADDED ON MINUTES SUCCESSFULLY. SHE REFERED BACK TO HER SUPERVISOR THEN TOLD ME MY CONTRACT HAD EXPIRED. I TOLD HER I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND, IF MY CONTRACT HAD EXPIRED THAN WHY DID THEY CHARGE MY CREDIT CARD FOR THE EXTRA MINUTES? I AM NOW TRYING TO GET MY $22 CREDITED TO MY ACCOUNT AND HAVE WRITTEN TO THEM. (SUPERVISOR’S PHONE WAS SUDDENLY BUSY). LUCKILY I DIDN’T CHARGE A HIGHER AMOUNT OF MINUTES ON MY CREDIT CARD. I WILL FOLLOW UP ON THIS POST AND WILL LET YOU KNOW HOW THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT WILL RESPOND TO THIS.

A month ago my LG Tracfone up and died. I called customer service and told them what happened. They immediately shipped out a replacement. That’s when the saga began.I received a new Motorola V170. I had to call and get it activated. They asked if I would like to keep my old number, to which I said ‘Sure’. Little did I know the old phone worked on Cingular, the new one on Verizon. So the number had to be ported.In short, I’ve called Customer Service 7 times over the last month, spent at least 5 hours on hold (the last time I was on hold over an hour and got disconnected) and still don’t have a working phone. I can call out, but people can’t call me. Apparently, Cingular has reissued the number that was mine, so if you call my number, you’ll get someone else.It seems like every time you call customer service, you have to constantly re-explain your story to customer service. Don’t they have a database? I’m so sick of the hold music. I know the customer service reps script by heart ‘We really apologize for the inconvenience.’ Geez, just GET ME A PHONE THAT WORKS!!!

The customer service is a joke. I bought my phone (Motorola V170) at OfficeMax along with a 400 min / 1 year card. I went on their website to activate it and also filled out the part to transfer my existing cell number. I called support several times over over a week and they keep asking for the same information. Finally I say: Just skip the number transfer and give me a new number. So they go ahead with the activation (I enter long strings of code). The number I end up with is my old number??!! I can make calls but not receive them. Still a problem after two more support calls.

tracfone is the worst srrvice ever

I’ve used Tracfone for about 8 years. I’ve never had any problems b/c I pay attention to details. I pay annually about 1/5 of what my friends do for their outrageous 40-70 dollar per month plans.

I just got my first cell phone (Tracfone.) I found the cust. service to be excellent. I had trouble with the initial set-up but I talked to a rep. named Jose’ (I think that was his name)and he was very patient with me. Within minutes my phone was up and running.

I WAS FROM HOME . I HAD TROUBLE WITH MY TRACFONE CALLED 611 STILL HAVE TROUBLE AND THEY CHARGED ME TO CALL 611 NO MORE GOING BACK TO BOOST

I wouldnt say its the best service ever, but what i would say is that i have had a tracfone for over 3 years now and there were not numerous times that i had to contact the cust service, but when i had to, they were super friendly. I knw trac has the call centers located in another countries such us colombia, guatemala, mexico and i think one in like asia or something. I got to talk to some spanish speakers,and i remember talking on the phone with a rep in argentina,great english. I remember asking her where she wa from and i got totally surprised when she told me she was from there! I wa slike speechless .I had confused her with a native!Crazy huh? She was a total sweetheart to me and knew how to fix the issue that i had with my phone at that time, whats more, she gave me extra minutes for the inconvenience ,so, i cant complain. I wonder:why do we always criticize other people for not havinf our very exact accent ? I sometimes feel kinda embarrased because they can speak a second language at least, and we have to be honest, most of us speak only english. I do agree that there are some that you cannot get to understand a word but its like everything…Maybe its all about luck, who knows.The rates are not ‘wow rates’but they are ok i guess.

well i also didnt have a good experence with trac fone. they are so expensive! i have wasted soooo much money with the this terrible service and what not. when you send txt it charges you .30 and most of the time they dont send so you have to resend it and waste another .30 i never have signal,it cost money to listen to v-mail,also other prepaid companys are so much cheaper for their minute cards like…(200 min-$20 to $30) (but trac fone is $40) its beyond expensive. they are ripping people off every day. but any way i do NOT recomend this service to any one, and if you do have trac fone…good luck to you. oh and if there was an option for no stars, i would pick it. they dont even deserve one star.

That’s right Kaylyn it pretty much the truth.Cust dont read the terms and condition using there ph. and also the prepaid cards. We cannot solve the issue right there and then.Telecomunication network sometimes get complicated. Also we work with different carriers Alltell,Cingular,Verizon, t-mobile etc. and we have to wait until they solve the issue in their network.

I highly recommend this cell phone service for people that don’t use a lot of minutes (less then 400-1600 minutes a year – that’s 30-130 minutes a month). If you do go with TracFone then you should get their higher model phones since they will provide better service connection. The cheaper phones will drop calls, have service area issues, and provide poor voice quality. That’s to be expected of a $15-30 cell phone. Instead, spend the $50-60 bucks and get one of their higher end models to avoid these problems. Also, be sure to get the 1 year card with 800 minutes (it also will double your minutes for life when you add new cards). Don’t worry if that’s more minutes then you need since when you renew the following year your unused minutes will still be there (they don’t go away) and you’ll get double minutes for any new card you purchase (400 minute 1yr card purchase will give you 800 minutes + your unused minutes will remain). Btw, if you find that you use more then 400-1600 minutes a year (not a month) then you should get a normal phone plan (better value). Prepay phones are a great way to have a phone while away from home and not have to pay $40-70 a month for service. They are not intended for everyday talking, as such you should get a normal plan if you intend to use the phone that way. Out of all the prepay phones out there I found TracFone to be the best value and straight forward – you just buy a 1yr card + pick your phone, there’s no hidden fees or reloading of the phone (except once a year), etc. I never had to contact customer services so I can’t speak to that. But why would you need to call them other then if you just purchased the phone and had problems? Once setup (which you can do online without having to deal with a service rep.) you’ll never have to deal with a customer service rep. If you want the best customer service that can be had then buy a plan based cell phone…that’s one of the reasons they charge you $40-70 a month and not $8.33 a month that I pay for my TracFone (1yr $99.99 plan / 12 months).

The big plus is Tracfonre’s coverage. I spend 4-5 months of the year in semi-rural New England. I haven’t found another prepaid cell plan with any coverage in that part of the country. The phone is a refurbished Nokia with an incredibly long battery life and clear sound. Old, but bulletproof. The customer service from India is the worst. This year, I got ripped off on bonus points when renewing my 1-yr activation. Another time, when changing my area of activation (which you are allowed to do up to 4x/yr, the rep told me he was only seeing 60 minutes of airtime left, even though the screen showed me 800+ minute. I decided against the change of area, kept my minutes, but now have to pay roaming charges every time I use the phone. Tracfone needs to get their service act together.

i can’t believe it this phone is ripping me off oxygen wireless is way better.

a $10 card gives u 30 min and oxygen wireless gives you 71 min for $10. NO WONDER TRACFONES ARE CHEAP!!

Error Above: Sorry, I meant one can purchase an extra *90* days for $10 for a total of 150 days. I just renewed in May for $31.79 cents which last through October. One can also buy extra minutes.

We’ve had two TracPhones for about 3 years and haven’t had a problem with either. I normally use both for emergencies, though calls out of state have been no problem either. One can purchase an extra 10 days for $10, so I renew every 90 days. I wouldn’t renew for longer than that because if my phone went, I probably could not face customer service to recoup my minutes. I think the phone is fine for people like me. I have a handicapped son who may need to contact me on the odd occasion. I never had a cell phone before and found the initial setup kind of difficult, looking in all the packing for the numbers, having no idea what a Sims card was, not understanding that I was buying, not adding, airtime on the website, where to find the IMEI number, etc. The website is a bit clearer now, especially if adding, not buying, airtime. Initially, to answer some of these questions, I called the dreaded customer service and ended up with a bill for a year’s service, even though I had told her I decided not to take it. I always use American Express in cases where the vendor is an unknown since they are helpful in cases of disputed charges. I haven’t called them again. The website is very clear and the minutes are added immediately as you print out your confirmation number. Though the minutes are expensive, it would be more so to have regular cell phone service in my case. They’ve recently begun adding sales tax though they never charged it before, even when buying a card in the local Wawa and Pennsylvania almost always taxes everything.

I would definately recomend this phone to anyone. the only time I’ve had dropped calls was when I was inside a building which can be chalked up to any cell phone regardless of provider or pre/post paid. I’ve had mine for a little over a year and its nice to not have to worry about a bill every month and whether you have the money to pay or not that month. I’ve only had to deal with customer service once when switching phones and I didn’t have any problems. The only thing I wish they would do was offer minutes only and ‘short’ service extentions only (ie 90 day, 6 mon. 9 mon. etc) as well since I use mine fairly regulerly and would like to get only minutes since I have quite some time on my service and don’t need the service extentions. The main reason I got it was to have a phone # that was local to the area I moved into and everyone else was wanting alot for thier phones and/or plans and when I saw I could get something for cheap I decided to give it a try since if I didn’t like it, it wasn’t that much of a loss.

I am about to purchase a Trac Phone. I have talked to many who have them, I have read the reviews here. What amazes me is that people on here complaining about Trac phones but have had theirs for 2 or 3 or more years and still giving it a bad rap. If it was so bad as that, why have you used it so long? Most of the bad raps are from people who have had their Trac Phone for some time.As far as non english speaking customer service, if you have Verizon for a home phone you should already know how to interpret non english speaking customer service reps. Verizon is full of them and is a major phone company! Also one person complained about the SIM card notice, they do have right on the TRAC Phone website that this notice will appear and you are just to ignore it and hit the button and after activation the SIM notice will disappear. Did anyone actually read up on the Trac phone?Many other ‘issues’ that were complained about are addressed right on the Trac Phone website. If you would all take time to read things BEFORE purchasing, once you purchase you would probably find you know how to handle the issue yourself before you even get the product.Others complained about their phones minutes, the website clearly states it may take up to 48 hours to actually add them on and if you do it on a weekend it may take a day longer. Learn some patience maybe?As far as poor customer service or customer service where you get an answer right away, show me any company where that happens? Even iwth Verizon you can be on hold or told to call back at a later time even with a home landline phone. All you people who complained about your minutes being used up with customer service, why did you call them from the TRAC phone? Why didn’t you just call them from a landline phone? I’m pretty sure you did not get a Trac phone as your sole service to use? That’s not what its meant for. They are meant only for such things as when you are away from home and emergencies. That is why it is pay as you go. If you want a phone to use constantly you should check into one with a contract with a company such as Cellular One at 50 dollars a month unlimited calling anywhere in the USA anytime. But if you want cheapness and convenience and only for an emergency puprose that is what prepaid is for.It’s like buying a calling card when you are away from home to call home or use in emergency. Thats exactly what TRAC phone is… a calling card phone so that you can just pay and have the phone with you should your car break down instead of having to go to some strangers house that could be a mass murder and use their phone with a calling card. Now you can just use your TRAC phone and call from the comfort and safety of your car.They are great to track your kids with or a great first time phone for a child and if you make the child earn the money for the minutes they will learn some responsibility. I read the reveiws on Simple Freedom and they are a LOT worse than the reviews for TRAC phone. AS for Verizon and others you will pay a LOT more.You get what you pay for for a TRAC phone. For emergencies or for kids limited calling not for every day only phone you have without a landline phone available usage.Try checking your VOICE mail messages from your landline phone. While it does charge you for others to leave you a message you wont pay to receive the message as well. You are told right on the website or in the package of the TRAC phone that you pay for both incomeing and outgoing calls. I read the website completely and have not seen them hide any of the issues others have posted about, they have ansered them all if people would just learn to READ! and take the time to READ!As far as signals, if you look at the coverage map it shows you where TRAC is available and where it isn’t…It also discusses the roaming issue on the webiste and some of the phone models charge you no more for roaming than for home calling.Its a CALLING CARD prepaid phone not a regular CELL phone. People who want a regular cell phone for every day all the time use need to get one with a contract. That’s the difference folks! You get what you pay for!

Customer Service stinks!!! Plus not always a good signal out there, especially when you get No service or Roaming!!!

Awesome is all i could say ..Ibought the c139 and i was’nt really fond of gsm and cingular at the time but bought it, activated it and its great, i would recommend tracfone to anyone i’ve tried to talk my girlfriend into one but she likes the plan ..I did have the simplefreedom kx1 SOHO for awhile but it lost its sound when you turn it on and off and the battery life was’nt very good..With this phone the battery life has lasted me about 10 days,Although the c139 is’nt a camera phone or carry a speacker its a real nice phone ..If i ever buy another tracfone it’ll be the new flip camera phone..thumbs up to tracfone

I love love love love love love love it

I mad ethe mistake of buying a Tracfone off their website..a refurhsihed model and it never worked…DO NOT BUY A REFURBISHED MODEL..I was on the phone iwththem for hours and instead of me shipping it back to them at my cost, I just threw it away..now my kid wants a phone and I pick her up a new one at Sams and it works great..not a problem..when I first called it was difficult to undertand the Indian accent but the people were always nice..I recommended activating yourself on line as to avoid human error problems…i tried calling them when i made a mistkae with putting new air time on my new trac fone and had to wait to get through so i hung up and emaield them in in one day they sent me and email telling me how to fix my problem..they were very nice..so i would recommend it for emergency use or as your kids first cell phone so you dont get hit with a hugh contract bill…in fact when my contract is up, two years of Nextel i plan on getting a tracfone or a net10…as i said, BUY YOUR PHONE LOCALLY AND ACTIVATE IT YOURSELF ON LINE..OTHERWISE, YOU MAY RUN INTO PROBLEMS..DO NOT BUY REFURBHISHED ON LINE..MOST OF THEM ARE SENT OUT NOT WORKING.

It is important for reviewers to mention the phone type if complaining about the phone. The phone is not the service provider. My phone is good. TracFone customer service is rude and difficult to understand for those in the USA. It is outsourced to India. The website functions rarely work, which requires a call to India. No thanks! I’ll find a company that has native English speakers who care about their US customers.

Actually, I give tracphone no stars, negative stars if possible. I have had a problem with my tracfone from day one. It took from the day I got it (4/9) until 4/27 to finally get the thing activated. I tried to port my verizon number, and received a new sim card the second day or so, but that didn’t work because the number didn’t port. That didn’t bother me, as long as I got the phone to work. I called customer service. The person I talked to asked for my SIM card #, the new sim card I had just received, and told me that the SIM card wouldn’t work in my area. She said she would send a new one. I waited 3 days and never received a new one. DON’T LIE AND TELL ME YOU’RE SENDING A SIM CARD IF YOU’RE GOING TO DO NOTHING. I called back and the next person told me that my number didn’t port and that he would have to send me a new sim card so that I would have a phone number. Sim card # 3. On 4/24 it did come, I popped it in the phone, went thru the activation online, on the phone, and nothing happened again. I called back on two different occasions, was walked thru a ton of code-entering. Once they got the phone ‘activated’ they asked if I had an airtime card to add, to which I gave them the number. The typical ending answer would be to ‘wait 3-4 hours and if it isn’t working then call back.’ Which I did. Again and again.In the early morning of 4/27 the phone actually was working, and actually had its very own phone number, but out of my 250 minute card (ended up being 400 minutes total with bonuses, everytime I tried to activate the card it told me that much) I only had 120 minutes on my phone. And that happened by accident by one of the people trying to help me get my phone activated, I entered a code she read me and 120 minutes show up on my phone. So I called back on 4/28 to find why the remaining minutes weren’t received. The last time I called tracfone was the worst. I called and ended up with a man who I hung up on because I couldn’t understand what he was saying because his English was so heavily accented. No problem, I could deal with that. Calling back I got someone I could understand. I explained that I didn’t receive my original 400 minutes, but I had 120 (which seemed to confuse her) and asked why I didn’t receive the other 380 minutes. She checked the airtime card and told me that the card had been redeemed on 4/12 (funny…my phone wasn’t even working then!!!) and that I had used my minutes. I said no, I couldn’t have used my minutes because I didn’t get the phone to work until 4/27. Is someone else using my minutes? She said no, that I had used them. At this point I was very angry. Finally, during one of the many ‘I need to consult with someone, can you hold’ episodes, I asked if I could talk to her supervisor since she wasn’t helping me.After 15 minutes or so on hold, he came on the line. I told him my problem and he told me the same thing, that the phone card had been activated and the minutes had been used. I told him that I hadn’t used them. I was so furious that I then told him I wanted a return authorization number to return the damned thing and get my money back. He said he would have to talk to his supervisor. I asked if I could talk to his supervisor. He said sure, let me get her, and I spent another 15 minutes on hold to have the same man come back on!!! Then he said he would try and get me my minutes. No return authorization number. He fiddled with things, I entered codes, and when nothing worked, he lied to me and told me that the system was down, he couldn’t give me my minutes tonight, and to call back tomorrow. WHAT?!! Tracfone’s service motto must be “Call back tomorrow so maybe you would forget about the whole damn thing because the maze of customer service is so aggravating customers would rather forget they wasted their money than keep dealing with customer support.” So he ended up LYING TO ME because when I got bitchy with him, mainly because I had by then spent over an hour on the phone with customer nonsupport, he fiddled around some more and ended up telling me FINALLY HE SENT THE REMAINING 380 MINUTES and that I should receive them shortly. I have waited. I am still waiting. Still 380 minutes missing. After all of these many phone calls and hours on the phone I have still not received the original 400 minutes that I PAID FOR!!!! This morning, while trying to help myself and going thru the instructions online (which are a hell of a lot more helpful than anyone I’ve spoken to thru customer support) suddenly I received a text message that says ‘0 units and 380 bonus minutes added. Please turn phone off and on. Time: 7:38pm 4/30/07’ I don’t know if my phone wasn’t set correctly and I just now got this message or if it’s been there all the time. But I’ve since turned the phone on and off, on and off, and nothing. NOTHING!!!The worst part about this whole ordeal (worse than the lying) is that you only have one freaking phone number to which you always get people that can’t help, follow that damned script which is very annoying because if you get someone off their script they don’t know what the hell they’re doing, and to which English is not their first language, which I would think would be essential to providing helpful customer support. Divide up the phone line and specialize people, then maybe SOMEONE would know how to fix the problem!

I tried to add air time via my credit card on the web. Well, the credit card went through just fine (TWICE), but I can’t get the phone to activate. Calling their tech support puts you into voicemail hell. Now I’m out $42 and can’t get through to a live person for help. They say to ‘Call back during normal business hours.’ Right. I just know how that will go. They only thing that works is their credit card processing software BEFORE the service starts (or I should say, before it DOESN’T start). Avoid like the plague.

I use the phone mainly for personal phone calls and do not make more than 100 minutes a year. I usually purchase a one year card along with any specials, so the price per minute is low.The last phone card I purchased was a ‘Double minute one year card’ When time came to renew I purchased another ‘double minute’ card but only received the standard minutes.This occured with my phone as well as my wife’s.Tracfone was contacted, but I was told that ‘double minutes’ did not apply to another purchase of a double minute card.NO HELP FROM THEM AT ALL.Customer Service is pretty lousy.I still use a tracfone because my pphone useage doesn’t warrent a contract with another provider.Once you get the phone working it’s not bad.

I loved my Tracfone while I had it…now it’s lost or stolen one.but…it was great since I only use the phone a little (yes I’m a teenager that only uses the phone a little bit…go figure!)…the only complaint I have is I could’nt ever get my voicemail to work even though they said it should…so…I did like that text messages were free to receive!

The plans are very nice only if you need to use them for emergancys only because the mins cost more then the ones if you are in a contract. I had a tracfone and It cost me about 3xs the amount I pay for my mins now through alltel. And I got the mycircle, and where I can talk to anybody on my network for free so I dont even use my 1900 mins that I split between 3 ppl. for only 120 a month

$19.95 with 2 60-min cards and free Motorola C155? How can you go wrong? If you want more than the basics, maybe others are better, but for me this was cheap and easy. Activated right away, no problems adding minutes, good reception in my fringe area. Me likey.

I carry a cell phone only for emergencies and traveling, so it isn’t worth it for me to carry a $50 a month cell phone bill. I picked up my Tracfone several years ago and loved it. My minutes and time left displayed right on the screen.Then last year while traveling, I wouldn’t get any voicemail messages until 3 or 4 days after they were left for me. WTF?I’ve only kept it since because I’ve bought a year of service last time, but it’s due to run out tomorrow. I will let it run out and pick up prepaid from my local cellular phone company. At least then I can stop in their shop and bitch someone out face-to-face. 😉

Same complaint as usual: Their customer service is the WORST on this planet. I’ve had a Nokia 1100 for a year or so, never had a problem (1Year Service date/lifetime doubled minutes)recharged phone on-line no complaints. Then I decided to try to upgrade to the C261. This was a bad idea. Their customer support could be Al-Qaida for all I know. I could barely understand the guy, and he was no help at all- he kept insisting I would have to repurchase the ‘Lifetime doubled minutes for the new phone. Hmmm, I could have sworn ‘Lifetime’ meant exactly that. At any rate, I’m looking at other services rather than deal with these folks- it’s just not worth the trouble.

The time it takes to help a trac-fone customer is my main complaint. I have had several problems since I purchased my phone. Some were resovled, and some have still not been resolved. I wrote the trac-fone address in Miami Florida about a week ago, and have not heard anything. I told them to call me A.S.P But, there is no customer service number for the USA. Does anyone know the Miami phone number to trac-fone?

Trackfone: Great concept, poor execution. I like the phone’s practicality, but not how the minutes are charged. Checking voice mail for instance, should not be charged by the minute when it only requires a few seconds? Why not charge actual real time usage ? Customer Service…what customer service, I was’nt aware Tracfone provided costomer service?

Best Phone period. Even connects and holds a signal when the phone even says there is no signal. I’ve literally been in the woods on my quad, miles from anything and still been able to get calls like I was on a land line.

I have not had trouble with my phone, Nokia 1100 one rate, read text free, add minutes by using Redeem Airtime option. Got my double minutes. Its plain jane model phone but its all I need. I saw new airtime cards for longer service times and more minutes. A card to give double mins on future time purchases for the lifetime of the phone.

I would give less than one star if I could. Service is TERRIBLE! Waiting on the phone forever with their customer service, and you can’t understand them, only to be told to wait ’24 hours’ and it will work. It never works until you call them again at least three more time. Total waste of time to own Tracfone

I recenly added minutes to my TracFone over the internet. I still don’t know what I purchased for $109.00. The people I spoke with over the land phone – to straighten out my order – were rude and not helpful.

I have a tracfone V176 and wanted to call a friend in Canada. I followed their cryptic instructions to no avail. Customer service was no help. After trial and error, I found that pressing 0 for a few seconds gets you a + sign then you press 1 (for Canada)then press 0 again to get another + sign then add the area code and number. Worked great – reception was great like a local call. Tracfone is a good company and would be a a heap better if they trained their people in customer service properly. Present customer is hurting their reputation.

I love my Tracfone, I have had no problems with customer service. I have only had to call them once , got right thru to a human being and the problem was resolved in just minutes. I have amazing coverage, get much better signal than any ofmy neighbors with their contract plans with other carriers and have never had a dropped call. Also, every time I add minutes they always give me bonus minutes…usually anywhere from 30 to 120 bonus minutes. I would never go back to any of the major cell phone providers that I have had in the past.

I had my tracfone for two years now and I have not had any problems with it. I would recommend it .

this phone service is horible a call will go thourgh about ounce every 20 dials and it takes your minutes just for dialing even when you do get through it drops calls about half the time

Should be zero stars. Have been using Tracfone for several years. Wanted to upgrade my phone so I bought a new phone from the website and had it delivered. All I wanted to do was transfer my existing Tracfone phone number to my new Tracfone – simple, right? I was advised that I would have to wait 7-10 business days. After 5 days I called ot check on the status and was informed I needed a new SIM card! Apparently they sent me the wrong SIM card for my area when I purchased the phone!In addition, many times when I added minutes I was charged for the addition but the minutes were never added to my account.If the phone styles were at leas no greater than 1 yr old and had more selection of features – I guess it could justify the crappy customer service. But since the phones are 3-5 yrs old and lack many popular features I can’t recommend Tracfone to anyone.

After using the phone only 3 months it stopped working. Tracfone promised to send a replacement in 3 to 5 days but after 60 days and several phone calls I am still waiting. I’m sure I have spent far more time on the phone with customer service than using the actual phone. I would not recommend.

Tracfone used to be marvelous until they outsourced their cs to India. That is why you will notice that some reviewers mentioned that they have had their service for some time until they started complaining.

The WORST. Poor customer service (non-existent, AND when / if you can get a real person, they cannot speak a language understood / spoken in the western hemisphere), and they cannot even give me a local number in my area code even though I live in a coverage area. It was a big runaround and a buncha lip sertvice (well, I got tired of trying to call, so, via email – I guess it was ‘finger service’) that only told me to call (?!) Well, I tried that, it does not work. It is unfortunate we cannot give minus stars, because no one is more deserving of negatives than ‘trac-phoney’.

have had my phone for at least 2 years havent had any problem from service to customer service. very pleased with my phone.

tracfone is a good value. they have great prices for kids and you don’t have to worry about paying ANY bills, buy your card and phone, activate and your ready!!!!

I own a tracfone and always thought highly of the company. until a month ago. When my phone stop receiving and making calls (no service). I’ve called four different times spoke to four different persons who were hard to understand. They kept putting me on hold from two – five minutes. They sent me a new sims card didn’t work. Two weeks ago they said they were going to send me a new phone I still haven’t receive it yet I still have 47 units left. The service department is terrible. I’m looking into a different prepaid plan.

As a followup to my last review, I decided to replace my old Tracfone with a newer Nokia 1112 that is smaller and has text and vibrate. I had to call cust. service to activate the new phone and transfer the minutes from the old. The support phone service was intuitive and the cust. rep. answered immediately. The units and phone # were transferrred while I was on the line, albeit with entries of long codes. The phone was able to call out 10 minutes after hanging up the support cal and was able to receive calls 15 minutes after that. The cust. service rep. was, by the way, fluent in English. All-in-all, well done, Tracfone. I’d give you five stars if your phone supported bluetooth, but I can live with wired earpieces for the amount I use this phone.

If they had a no star rating I would use it, their customer service sucks, they are robotic morons, that read from a script and tell you to call back in 24 hours if your having a problem. You call back and they run you through the same events. Punch in these code reset the master reset. All I can say is run away from these phones. They are the worst. Bring these hotlines back to America so we can under stand what the hell your saying.

I’ve had a Tracfone for over 4 years now and am reasonably satisfied with it for infrequent use. Never had to use cust. service since initial activation, so can’t comment on that. Note that the fee structure has changed. Call minutes other than 1 year plan bought on their web site are now good for 90 days and you can buy additional 60 days (but no additional minutes) for $10 more. Tracfone now also offer international calls to many countries at same per minute rate as local/LD calls.

Have always felt leery of the infamous ‘TracFone.’ Now i know INTUITION works. My sister just bought a Motorola C155 phone for me like 4 hours ago. Went thru the material it came with while it charged. (Anxious to start the process and find that serial number that u can only find in the phone apparantly_to start activation)I found it odd that it wouldn’t come on even though it was only half-charged, I mean, a phone should at least come ON with any kind of a charge, RIGHT? Well, thought ok, must need the full deal at the get-go. Waited, then it beeped. ‘Charging Complete’ it declared. Still the phone will not turn on for nothing. Only lights up when plugged into charger. WHAT A RIP, Huh?

I have had my trace phone for about 8 mouths. Its been great except. Time disapears fast. You think you get 120, but you really dont it more like 80. The phone is what it’s used for a phone nothing else. You get SMS msg for 3 cents a msg. That was the cheapest thing on there. But all in all it was a good phone. But now it time to move up and get a real phone Black Berry. I would agree this is a good phone to have if you are waiting for a iPhone or for kids, so they wont run your phone bill high or just someone who just wants a plan old phone that works.

I bought this tracfoney in Jan/07. By the end of Jan, the battery would not hold a charge. We are full timer RVers and do not stay at one place for more than a few weeks. After listening to the lies from the East Indian customer service people for over a month, I have realized that we will have to go with another plan and use the tracfone for a paperweight. I have never dealt with a more disreputable company in my life. When we have stayed at the same address for three weeks and all I get from them is ‘3 to 5 working days and you will receive your battery’, it ranks up there with some of the other biggest lies in the world.

I live in central Florida right in the middle of the green service area on the coverage map. There are few areas where the phone will get a signal. Calling Customer Service gets you someone who speaks broken English (probably Bombay) and is not too swift. I have too many minutes to just quit, but they’re almost useless. Going to NY & NJ is completely useless. I’m sorry I got the d___ thing.

TRACFONE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO CHARGE FOR MINUTES AND NOT ACTIVIATE THE PHONE

I also would rate Tracfone a 0 if the rating was available. I purchased minutes for an existing phone, was charged for the minutes but then was told the SIM card did not work. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with customer service who did not understand me, and I still have not gotten service nor activiation for minutes I have paid for. THEY ARE TERRIBLE

I have had my tracfone for 2 months. I buy my minutes on ebay, and get GREAT deals on them. I use the international service daily, and I buy a calling card online, and have no problems with using this. Texting internationally is done with ipipi, and this has let me text internationally, without high fees. I simply played with all the buttons to figure out what did what. And when I had customer service issues, I went online, asked, and was given a response within 24 hours. Overall, I am completely satisified with my tracfone. Doing most of the service features online has made it highly affordable for me to keep in touch with my boyfriend internationally. Just make sure you press menu and then * before you put it in your purse or pocket so you do not dial out by mistake. I would recommend, if you want an inexpensive phone, use the tracfone,buy the mins online and make sure you use the bonus codes to get the most for your money.

Would give zero stars if it was an option. This company sucks! I have had my phone for 2 weeks – have called Customer Service numerous times – and have still not been able to make or receive ANY calls! Always says ‘No Service’. My daughter is in the last weeks of her pregnancy and I had to be reach-able, so I had to go to another carrier and get a reliable phone. Now Tracfone says they will not refund my money and I am stuck with a worthless unusable phone. To my mind this is FRAUD!!! Use Verizon – it is a great carrier!

Well, so far tracfone is ok. i just wish their minutes weren’t so expensive.

I’ve had my tracfone for over a year now and as of the beginning of this year my phones been messing up alot. I called customer service because when i turn my phone off it deducts units from my cell and it shouldn’t be doing that.They told me that they were gonna send me a new cell but i told them what r they gonna do about the mins i lost and they said they dont know. I even talked to the supervisor and she had a very bad attitude with me. I was very upset cause i told her im a senior in high school and she told me that i was probly useing my phone thats why they were gone. That was the worst service iv’e ever had.. I dont even know what i should do.

Tracfone sucks. At first I had the Nokia 1100 as a phone just to hold me down for emergencies. I bought it for $30 and it ended up being $19.99 a month after. If the phone devaloration wasnt enough, it took me 2 hours to activate, and they never told me how to activate my voicemail. It took me 1 1/2 hours to get the 10 minutes back. After that, they tell me that my phone is defective and make me get a new one. 6 months after the phone woulnt work and i bought a motorola c261. I paid $79.99.they told me to wait 24 hours to transfer the units and phone number from my nokia 1100, but it took a week to get service on my new phone. 2 months after i make a 10 minute call and they charge me 100 units. I called custumer service and it took me all night to TRY to get my units back but they only gave me 10. After that, in the new year, the text and wap browser stops workin. 2 hours just to fix the text. To this day, they never fixed the wap browser.Some advice to people looking for a phone DONT BUY A TRACFONE!!!!!!!!!!!! they’re phones are crap and so is their customer service and their minutes are expensive. i was doing some research and i found out that tracfone is a reseller of cingular, t mobile, sprint, and all the other big contract companies so if you get good signal with tracfone, get one of the big company’s prepaid service

I’m on my third Tracfone. I’d guess I ve been a customer for 7-8 yrs. One phone was given to me. My next one cost $30.00 and free minutes and now I got a great Motorolla c-155 for free with my year card. Costs me about $10.00 a month to keep my emergency cell phone in my car…that’s cheap! no dropped call problems. I have used it all over the country with great success. I agree that the non-english speaking reps are very difficult to communicate with but any problems have been corrected including setting up voicemail. A great phone for someone who really wants to use it for the infrequent calling needs.