View All TracFone Reviews

I am upgrading my review from two to four stars since Tf finally did add the minutes I purchased (and then some) and I am otherwise happy with the service.

I barely use the phone but wanted one for emergencies and when I'm on vacation. I got a tracfone a few years ago, did everything online, buy a year of service at a time and never had a problem. I didn't like the Motorola V190 very much but nothing else they had looked much better.I just added another year and looked at their phones again while online, then read some reviews of the Samsung T301G. It is cheaper at Target so I bought one there today. I could not transfer my number online–as others have said, it gave me an error message saying the phone number was incorrect. If you click submit another time or two, the website says it has a problem and can't help you now so you have to call customer service. I went back later and tried again; not sure what I did but after the same ‘incorrect number' message, I then got a message that said they needed to send me a different SIM card and I would have to call customer service. ??? I read the reviews on this site and I dreaded calling. But–maybe I was just lucky. The operator I talked to had an accent, but I did not find her difficult to understand. I read her all the serial numbers and she repeated them back; then she had me enter one code into my old phone. She told me it might take 72 hours for my minutes to transfer. The whole process took maybe 5 minutes. Within 5 minutes of hanging up, I had service and minutes on my new phone. Obviously I did not need a new SIM card. However, they did short me about 300 minutes (not a big deal for me, as my minutes have been rolling over for 4 years.) Not perfect, by any means, but better than I expected. I live on the West Coast and vacation on the East Coast and have never had trouble getting a signal either place–except sometimes in my own apartment. I'm still charging the battery on my new phone, so can't tell yet if that will make a difference.

Every time I purchased a new card, the minutes on the phone were never updated. Each time I had to spend several hours on the phone with a service rep to try and get my phone updated. This last time the service rep refused to add the minutes I purchased to my phone, so I'm looking into alternatives.

Worst customer service in the industry!!! I have never had an EASY call with customer service. None of them know a thing about these phones or how to fix the problems.

i have been try to get mine turn back on because i did know tha messing with the code entry mode would shoutt my phon down

I AM FIRST TIME USING TRACFONE I DONT KNOW HOW TO CALL INTERNATIONALLY LONG DISTANCE. I HAVE BOUGHT TRACFONE SAMSUNG T301 3 DAYS AGO.IS THE TEXT MESSAGING IS ALSO USING 3 UNITS FOR SENDING AND RECIEVEING LIKE OTHER TRACFONES PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO BUY MINUTES FOR LONG DISTANCE CALL AND HOW MUCH THEY CHARGE FOR IT. I AM VERY TENSE PLEASE SOME ONE HELP ME.

Tracfone customer service is terrible. I bought a phone and was unable to activate it and then was sent to customer service which could barely speak english. After a week they fixed it and now the minute packs wont show up on my phone. Also all phones are old and outdated.

It is what it is. If you thought you would pay $10 a month and get the best service on Earth, you are a moron. It is basic phone service where if you leave the phone on to get your minutes you will be fine. If you need to call customer service, you will be frustrated. After saying that, I have 4 phones on the family plan for $25 a month total. I purchased double minutes for life cards on three. The only problem I have ever had was when a phone was left off the night the minutes come. That sets off a chain of events with customer service that will drive you crazy. Other than that, this service has been extremely reliable and more importantly, inexpensive.

having promblem to call to cananda have no land phone in condo to talk with tracfone 1-800-867-7183 -they say to call from other phone—spent moneyon phone and calling card – help

Tech support was the worst I've seen in ANY industry! My Tracfone shipped without a SIM card. That would seem simple enough to fix (send a new card, or let me return the phone), but after two phone calls to their tech support (1.5 hrs. total) I received only empty promises. They kept passing me to different people, but no one knew how to even enter the problem into their own database! It was also unnecessary to keep me on the phone for so long. Most reputable companies will call you back if they need time to develop a solution. Did I mention the obnoxious ‘may I put you on hold for another 3 minutes' question? Sometimes you get what you pay for. I bought another phone through T-Mobile, was online in 10 minutes, and the plan is almost as cheap.

I bought a Tracphone in early February 2010, it's now late April 2010. I've used it a lot in Minnesota, Iowa, Tennessee and Florida and have absolutely no troubles with it at all. It works really well, adding minutes has always been very easy & quick. I haven't needed to contact customer service for anything, so I can't comment on that.

the phones themselves are ok, not allot of problems with everyday use, though the batteries need recharging seemingly every three days, even with no use. But customer service is HORRIBLE, they are in India, every 2 minutes they need to put you on hold to ask a question of a supervisor,help is slow in coming, I was without my phone for ten days because i wanted to keep my number from my old tracfone.

Bought my first Tracfone YEARS ago, I'm talking like 8+ years ago. NEVER had a problem. I don't know what all these people are complaining about b/c not only have I had 2 Tracfones myself, but my parents have them and my brother. ALL work great. ALL have no issues when adding minutes. NEVER had an issue with poor customer service. AND, one of my phones broke and they sent me a replacement one within 1 week. NO BIG DEAL!I've dealt with Sprint and ATT and hated them. Sprint, especially, was AWFUL – you want to talk about not being able to understand your customer service personnel??? Go to Sprint and try to talk to them!NO PROBLEMS with Tracfone – not sure what all the fuss is about.

Customer service is awful so don't waste time calling. You can't determine your carrier. That is set by the zip code you use to activate your phone. To Bill – you will never get Verizon on a Tracfone because Tracfone's are GSM and Verizon is CDMA

I live in New York City. Phone is Motorola with camera, web and text – the one that's on sale for $19.99 now. Great phone; excellent payment plan because there's no contract. You just pay for minutes as you need them. However, the network cuts off every night when I get in the elevator in my apartment building. The only way I can keep bars is to call voicemail before I get in the elevator. In Montauk, NY – about 110 miles east the only way I could get bars was to climb up on the roof of the house. However, the phone works just fine in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. Go figure. My carrier is either AT&T or TMobile.

I spent an entire day trying to activate a Trac Fone to no avail. Their customer service agents (if you can call them that) are the absolute worst that you can imagine. Purchasing a Trac Fone was the biggest mistake that I've made!!!

I have had nothing but great service from tracfone over the past 5 years! Let me go into details:1. Great cell coverage: I got this phone for my wife in Florida and I then moved to Washington state. The nokia 6610 I have is a basic phone, but it always showed 4 bars even when my AT&T or T-mobile showed low coverage. It has been our most dependable cellphone to date.2. Excellent customer service: I lost my phone, and I got a new handset. Tracfone tried their best to retrieve minutes I had on my old phone, but they could not and still gave me credit for it. They deactivated the old phone, so that I was not responsible for it anymore. When I finally got back the old phone, I tried reactivating it but failed. Customer service offered to send me a new SIM, and to my surprise … I had it over-nighted to my address the next day.Thank you!

I could not activate Tracfone online either. I had to call their toll free number. Within hours of activating, I started getting phone calls even though I had not given the number to anyone. I was getting calls at 2 a.m! I had to take the phone back!

Don't believe the great service hype. The technicians do not understand English well and become confused easily. The website sometimes does not work when activating a new phone and even when the information entered is per their system an error message informs you that you have entered incorrect information preventing you from completing the desired transaction then you may or may not reach an assistant that can help if they can can hear you.

Tracfone is terrible. I got my phone and activated it, I didn't get my phone number. I called the tech support. After transferred 3 times and waited 10 minutes, I was told it was a system issue, they would fix it and I need to wait for 24 hours before I could use it. I waited 24 hours. I still did not get my phone number. I tried it again, I got the same info and wait for another 24 hours. after 24 hours, I found out, my phone is deactivated. I activated again, no phone number. I called the tech support. got the same request. waited another 24 hours, the same results. I don't know what I can do.

DO NOT USE TRACFONE!!!!!!!!1 There customer service is worse then incompetent. They make yuo wit on line for hours repeat your information repeatedly, and don't resolve the information2 Do not call 411, the will deduct 30 + minutes3 I live in the Boston, and most of the city is in a dead zone

I began an online purchase which I canceled online before leaving the web site. Guess what — I've been charged for that purchase even though I cancelled it before leaving the website. Customer service is rude beyong compare, non-native English language speakers. After my online experience I have discussed my problem with about six or seven different Tracfone reps. Customer service reps will not cancel a purchase even minutes after it is made. This company is corrupt, and the top execs should be ashamed.

Very good service. However, how can I check voicemail from another phone so I don't use up minutes? Does anyone know? Thank you.

Beware of Tracfone's incompetent customer service. I had a Tracfone for a year and decided to upgrade and give my old phone to my son. They promised me that I can move my phone # to my new phone, but keep all the airtime and minutes on the old phone for my son to use. When it came time to do the transfer, the minutes stayed on the old phone but the airtime got transferred to the new phone. So I ended up with double airtime with very little minutes on the new phone, and lot's of minutes with virtually no airtime on the old phone. I had to speak to at least 10 people before they would even admit their mistake. (that's because they're all in India and afraid to lose their job for making this mistake!). It finally got escalated to head office in Miami, and all they would do was compensate me with 3 month of airtime. I paid for 1 year, but they would only compensate me for 3 months! This is how they treat their customers for their mistakes.

For those that gave this phone a 5 star rating, just wait till you start getting screwed out of minutes. I've had my phone for 3 years and have had difficulty adding minutes, and now when I added minutes somewhat easily, I can't check my voicemail because now I have to enter a password that I don't have. I've always dialed into the voicemail and retrieved messages, now I have to enter a password. What? I've never had give a password before??? HELLO What the F***?! Now I've eaten up several minutes trying to figure this thing out and I'm ready to throw this piece of Sh** away. I tried to call but got some Indian Chick I couldn't understand. I had to ask her to speak more clearly or in an accent I could decipher. I am furious with this – Now I have to wait 24-48 hours for them to reset my voicemail – I understood the lady to say 4 hours and I asked like 3 times to clarify – but to no avail it's still not working. I checked online and they say 24-48 hours. I'm seriously done with this CRAP. You do get what you pay for……If they had ZERO stars that is what I would give TRACPHONE.

A lot of us-including myself had Tracfone/Net10 phones for years and no complaints. This was because the phoneswere simple,worked well and never had to deal with customer service. In addition ‘simple'transactions like activating,tranferring and adding minutes worked OK. But now, the phones are more complicated and even the simple transactions don't always work. So now we deal with CS and find out how bad everything is.I've spent almost a workweek(40 hours) on different calls to their CS,Executive resolution and corporate office. It is a puzzle to me why they're so screwed up. As I told a Corporate rep.' I'm not asking you to fix my TV or car. You're a cell phone company and I expect you to provide a working phone. ‘As a consumer you vote with your wallet. At this point I am running down the minutes on the phones that do work and will then jump ship.

Don't waste your time with this company. I was out of state and lost my cellphone. I had seen Tracfone ads before and decided to buy a cheap phone to use while on this trip. The phone would not activate online or through their automated system. I had to call CS. When I finally got through they said the reason the phone wouldn't activate is because the SIM card didn't match the calling area. They said they could send me one via snail mail which would take about four days. I declined. The alternative was to take the phone back and get another one or use a zip code from a nearby city. Why are they sending phones out with SIM numbers that don't match the calling area? I think it's incompetence!

How can you buy a tracfone and be surethat the network is verizon not Att

The only good thing about tracfone is the price but you get what you paid for. I bought a refurbished phone then asked them to xfer the mins over from my own phone. 1st rep sez ‘no problem' and ‘you should be able to use the phone now'. 5 phone calls later they tell me my sim number doesn't match in the new phone and they have to send me another sim card and they give me some lame excuse that they can't transfer my mins back to the old phone without sending me a new sim card for that phone too, so here I have to wait for 3-7 days. I say, wrap up some dog poo and send it to tracfone headqrtrs.

Don't know if it's my physical phone or the network, but, often it will display ‘no service' in large metro areas. What's up with that?

Tracfone is probably the worst company I've ever had to deal with. customer service is abysmal. Every time you have to talk to them, it's a disaster. No matter what your problem is, you'll spend hours on the phone talking to someone overseas who at the end can’;t fix the problem. They just give a bunch of lame excuses of why it's not their fault,etc. Waiting 20 min to talk to a ‘supervisor' also accomplishes nothing. My last problem was that my phone died while under warranty. They refused to replace it. After 10 calls of an hour and a half each they sent me a replacement, only to tell me my phone # and minutes were gone. This company has the worst customer service ever!

SUCKS SUCKS I would not even suggest this phone to my enemies, they are the worst, sure you save but the hassle you go thru for simple transaction is unblievable, transfer of phone number and airtime can take up to 72 hrs, adding airtime is the same, you take the chance of not having a phone for that long, drop calls all the time and roaming is not good , you never know when you can make a call, most of the time you have to wait to get a signal. good luck tracfone sucks

Customer service sucks sucks sucks sucks sucks sucks and sucks some more. Pathetic. Garble garble, gibberish, echo, garble garble garble.

This plan is okay. Customer service could be improved though. I want to upgrade my phone and am wondering what to go for.

LOVE LOVE LOVE the service. I am saving over 150$ a month. My husband and I don't use many minutes and buy minutes yearly–I've never had a problem, adding minutes is super fast and east (if you keep the info card for all the numbers.) I will definitely keep this when my kids get their phones: then I can limit the minutes used!!

I purchased a tracfone for my mom two years ago. Activated it on-line with no problem. I then purchased one for myself. Activated it on-line with no problem. Last year purchased two for my in-laws. Activated them on-line with no problems. This year added a one year four hundred minute card on-line with no problems. Last week purchased a new 290C and went on-line to transfer my number to the new phone and within one minute my number and minutes were transferred. No problems. I do not understand what all the fuss is about. I think this company is great!

I've been a Tracfone user for a number of years. Actually, I barely use the thing but have it for emergency. I've no problem with its use but once a year, when I renew my account, it's always a nightmare. Never have I been able to renew using their web page without having to make multiple attempts. Recently, the web page froze (typical) with my charge card number filled in and I had to log out. I couldn't tell whether my renewal had gone through or not. No response to my emails. Finally, a couple of weeks later, when I received my VISA bill, I saw the charge. They had charged me but the new renewal date and units did not appear on my phone. Half a dozen emails later, having tried to enter all the supplied codes (seems they always leave out a step or two), I called the 800 number. After speaking to Bangladesh for about a half hour, the adjusted info finally appeared. Today, I decided to buy a new phone. Once again, no way I was going to be able to transfer my number to a new phone using their web site. After another hour talking to Calcutta, the lady tried to give me the previous number of units – basically ripping me off for the new ones I had bought. After being on hold so she could talk to her supervisor a half dozen times, she made another offer, which was still around 600+ units short. I politely expressed my dismay at being screwed and demanded to speak to her supervisor's supervisor. Surprisingly, I got through to someone I could actually understand and after another 45 minutes of hocus pocus, read the lines out of the three ring binder crapola, I finally got it worked out. I couldn't believe that the higher up person I was dealing with was getting a bit raggy with me. They were the ones screwing up! Anyway, for my needs, Tracfone still makes sense. I just am not looking forward to a year from now when I have to go through this ridiculous process yet again.

Tracfone seems to work fine for us. However, the service is crap. I have been without a phone for 5 days just trying to change from one tracfone to a new one I bought. What's the big deal?Just transfer my minutes already!!!

After being a loyal customer for years, I am now totally disgusted with the service, or I should say lack of service. It used to be easy to renew airtime and minutes online, but after trying unsuccessfully to renew online recently and so sure it was simply a problem with a new debit card, I confidently bought a $99.99 1-year card at the supermaket. I was expecting to be able to renew my airtime without any problem, even use one of the promotional code in the e-mails I get from Tracfone every few days. I have since tried to use the PIN number to renew through the ‘add airtime' option on the phone, as well as online, and using Tracfone customer service. After spending hours and hours, and being told by the customer service representative to ‘please just hold the line for another 2 minutes' repeatedly, I have given up. I will try to return the card to the supermarket and explain my predicament in the hopes of a refund, but I am not holding out much hope. It's a shame, because Tracfone had been exactly what I wanted in a cell phone – a basic, cheap service that I could use for the ocassional call when away from my landline. I don't know what has happened to Tracfone, but certainly something has. I expect to see ‘Tracfone bankrupt' headlines any day now.

I bought my phone 2 weeks ago from HSN with double minutes for life. It took all of 10 minutes to activate my phone using the 800 number. I was also able to pair the bluetooth with my BMW X5 with no problem using 0000. I'm giving 4 stars because no plan is excellent.

I've been a loyal tracfone customer for years until this month. 2 weeks ago I bought my daughter a tracfone and had it activated. There was an error with the phone # and it couldn't make or recieve calls. I called customer service and after 2 hours on the phone with them they gave me a case # and said call back in 24 hours and the problem would be taken care of. I did and after 2 hours on the phone again they gave me a new case # and told me the same thing. That happened 4 more times. This went on for 10 days! The last time they said the problem could be fixed but I needed to call again in 12 hours. I finally said forget it. I don't think this problem will ever be fixed and I took the phone back. My advise is to keep the receipt and if the phone activation doesn't work the first time, take the phone back! The people I dealt with were extremely patient and friendly but they had no idea what they were doing. As long as you never have to deal with them, you'll be okay. Oh, and whatever you do, DON'T transfer a phone #. It totally screws them up. Get a new phone #.

tracfone is great, 5 stars, the best thing since sliced bread (hold on, mail here, lemme see if their check came)

Nothing but problems, I spent more time on a land line trying to activate, add airtime, and work out problems than I spent using their product. It was to be my primary phone so any problems had me unable to contact anyone. Stay away unless you like being on hold trying to get problems fixed.

WOW ! WOW !!@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@I JUST GOT A $190 BILL FROM AT&T !!!TRADED IN THE IPHONE FOR THE SLIDER.PAID $520 FOR IPHONE 1400 mins w/ 2nd LINE FOR $190.00-$220.00 MONTHLY.NOW $60.00 MONTHLY (2 lines) FOR 1000 MINS $79.00 CELL PHONESI CAN DEAL WITH THE ROUGH CUSTOMER SERVICE !!!W-A-K-E U-P !!!!!!!!!!!!You are being RIPPED OFF by these large corperate phone companies to have a ‘nice cell phone'. They are a status symbol and you don't use all the features you just brag to your friends about them. 7 years ago you were HAPPY just to have a cell phone but now you are so ‘HIGH UP' you have to have what ever the T.V. says…..5 STARS 5 STARS 5 STARS !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like tracfone. Been customer for years and the cool part is now they seem to be offering mobile web. I can check emails and everything. Mom has the same thing so it isn't just me. I have the LG600g currently and it is great! Don't see what all the fuss is about.

i wish i could give a negative 5 stars. my son took this phone to airforce basic training where he is allowed 1 short call a week. i tried to add minutes from my land line, as i was told i could do, and the minutes didnt take. when the minutes never appeared and he called he had 8 minutes left. i called customer service and they told me over and over again that they needed him to call. i couldnt believe that they didnt understand he was in boot camp. we still dont know what happened to the minutes. we were told the manager doesnt take calls. all io can say is this place sucks. dont get it!!!

The worst tech support. Incompetent, unhelpful people. They lost my number and were still unable to fix the broken account after two weeks. Run and don't look back.

Three stars for Tracfone is insane! I have had this service for about 5 years. I have most recently had the automatic prepaid option. I have to call support every couple of months to get my hours updated, and this involves talking with someone with an accent so bad it is difficult to understand what they are saying. I have spent hours on the phone entering hundreds of numbers into my phone to get it activated. Last year I got another phone and told them to pay it through the same account. It took several hours long phone calls get it straightened out. Then last month I realized I was not being charged for the second phone. I tried to call to get it straighted out (again), and kept getting a message that they were busy and I should hold for awhile. I finally gave up and tried sending an email, explaining the problem. I got a return email saying to call Customer Service. Time on phone has expired, and I will drop the other one as soon as I find a better company. Unfortunately I can't use this review site, as the 4 star review for Tracfone leads me to believe that it is not a reliable review site.

Customer service is truly the worst. You usually get someone with a heavy accent that is hard to understand and does not know the English language very well. Connection to customer service is full of static and time delays. Several times I had to hang up and call back. Beware – if you lost your phone and need to transfer to another phone they will ask you how many minutes you had. I guessed between 800-900 (its my 2 sons' phones). They transferred only 800 minutes. I had to call back the next day and complain that both accounts were almost 100 minutes low. Magically this time, they could get the exact minutes and put the missing minutes on each account. Also, they always want you to type in all these numbers. You really don't need to do this. They tried to get me to do this on my sons' phones, but since I did not have physical possession I did not need to put in any numbers. It also depends on who answers. One man tried to help me change the email address on my account. However, his connection was so bad, I had to hang up and call back. The next lady was insistent that I put in all these codes before we proceeded with changing my email address. After so many codes, I just hung up. They can keep my old email address. So why do I keep 3 Tracfones? Price. All 3 phones get a one year card with 900 minutes for $100 each. That will last us for the year. I am sure if I had 2 girls instead of boys, we would need to have a different type of plan. Another review from today mentioned that tracfone would not transfer one of heir own numbers to a new tracfone. I had the same probelm 2 years ago and the same deal witrh them sending me Sim cards that did not work. For some reason, I was able to transfer numbers yesterday for my 2 sons' accounts and it was all done without me punching any numbers in and with no new sim cards sent to me.

Tracfone was the first cell I ever used. I've always used prepaid because the monthly charges for regular accounts don't give me a thing more than I can get through prepaid for less (only true, usually, if you don't talk a whole lot). I had no troubles with them, except I put my wife's phone on double minutes and they never activated it even though they charged me for it for 3 months. I'd already changed mine over to test Virgin Mobile (talk about awful!!!) and Net10 (didn't realize it was the same company) a couple of years before. So I switched us all over to T-Mobile prepaid after they screwed up the autopay on the wife's number. Overall I thought Tracfone was pretty good, although I can now see I was spending more than necessary for the little bit of service I was using.

I can't believe how horrid the customer service for Tracfone is. I had to call 12 times and spend more than 5 hours to get service restored and it never happened.I got ticket number after ticket number and transferred and cut off 30 times but no one could clear their error from the system. The thing won't work. They wouldn't refund my card or send me a new phone so I threw it away tonight with 50.00 of worthless minutes on the damn thing. What a useless piece of garbage. Save your money and shop elsewhere.

NO STARS THIS COMPANY IS THE WORST EVER I CALLED ASKING ABOUT MY DOUBLE MIN THAT NEVER WERE DOUBLED AND AFTER THE REP SENT ME THE MINS THE PHINE FROZE AND KNOW IT DOSENT WORK.. WHAT THE HELL I HAVE NEVER HAD SUCH A HARD TIME WITH ANY COMPANY EVER.. I WANT MY MONEY BACK AND THEY CAN PUT IT WHERE THE SUN WONT SHINE ……

I wish I could rate them in negative numbers since they don't deserve a ‘1'. Avoid these people at all costs! Phones are ok but NO/ZERO/ZILCH customer service.

The first phone they sent me did not work so they sent me another one but it was not the one I ordered but they would not take it back because it worked???

I would not suggest that you do antthing but talk, if you want games, don,t do it. They charged me for a game that won't download and as of now a month later they still can't do a refund or make it right in any way. DO NOT USE

Tracfone is great. Been a customer for several years. Don't understand what everyone is complaining about. I take care of everything on the website and never a ploblem at all.

Unspeakably bad customer service. Plenty of time to write this as I am trying over a period of three days to get phone activated, have been hung up on twice by their support reps when they can't solve the problem. Day three: I am on the phone for the last 90 minutes being put on hold, being asked for the phone serial number at least one dozen times during this transaction. I think I will experience post-traumatic stress if I ever have to call them again.

I was with Tracfone for 5 years and had purchased their double minutes for life option but last year they would not honor it even though I could prove I had purchased it. I did not change phone or plans after I purchased the double minutes and the agreement had been honored previously. I am very unhappy as a result.

1 Star. There are No benefits to Tracfone, I bought the phone and paid for costly minutes including the double minutes for life. I used the phone a while and the phone broke. I bought the exact phone, and used the same number.They wouldnt give me the remaining minutes that were left $30 worth. I add minutes to the phone, only to find, Double minutes cannot be transferred.Sorry, I feel I bought Double Minutes for life, not the life of the phone AND no where does it say this is the policy. People are led to the bait and switch trick. So BUYER BEWARE. TRACFONE IS NOT a good TRUSTWORTHY BUSINESS.

Tracphone should be taken off the market. I have had one for years that worked well until I bought a double minute card. Ever since then, my phone roams taking 2 units for every 1. When I call, taking over an hour each time, they fix it for a little while and then it goes right back. At the present time I have 355 minutes and my phone hasn't worked in over a week. I have called 4 times. they gave me a ticket # and said they would fix it. Every time I call, I get a different answer but my phone still does not work!

tracfone has begun to engage in fraudulent business practices. Whenever you upgrade, your number is switched to a carrier without voicemail services, even though their ads still state that this service is provided. Please write the attorney general in yours and tracfone's jurisdiction requesting that a criminal investigation be commenced.

TracFone IS BAD – Avoid purchasing their products.They defraud users by RECHARGING over and over for failed messages. The phone will say ‘Message Failed! Try later from outbox' – but charge your time. Guess what? Try later from the outbox and it will charge you again! Try 5 times – pay 5 times for NOTHING. Eventually (say, the 11th time) if the message goes through – you have paid 11 times MORE THAN what they advertise to send just 1 message!TracFone is a rip off and I switched to Virgin Mobile xtc keyboard phone. Easier to type on and better at messaging than TracFones.

ABSOLUTELY THE WORST IN CUSTOMER SERVICE. I JUST RECENTLY SAT ON HOLD FOR AN HOUR TRYING TO TALK TO SOMEONE IN REGARDS TO REFUND THAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO RETURN TO MY ACCOUNT WITHIN 24 HOURS FROM 3/7/10 TODAY IS 3/10/10 STILL NO REFUND. YOU CAN NEVER CAN ANY SATISFACTION FROM CUST SVC. THERE WHOLE SYSTEM STINKS I AM LOOKING FOR ANOTHER PLAN IMMEDIATELY AND WILL BE DISPUTING CHARGES THEY ADDED ON MY CARD FRAUDUENTLY WITH MY BANK. SAFE YOURSELF THE HASSLE FIND SOMEONE ELSE.

Customer service is horrible. When you call them, there are kids answering your phone and laughing at our phone issues.I cannot set up my voice mail and customer service does not know how to fix it. You can only get incoming calls and you can make calls.It is like a public phone.Once my minutes are over, I am going to throw it away.

I actually wrote them a complimentary email four a five years ago. Not really certain what's happened, but their service has deteriorated to the point where it's by and large useless.

I wasn't able to activate my phone online. The website said there ‘Seems to be a problem with your phone activation. Please call customer service at…' I couldn't get through the other day and now I've been on hold forever. I'm going to take my phone back and get a T-mobile.

I purchased a tracfone about 5 years ago. I have experienced some problems purchasing minutes before. But this time it was impossible. I used the online purchase for a 1 year plan. Inputed my credit card info and there was an ‘error' I tried 2 other cards – all valid that same ‘;error' message came up. I tried to phone at least four different times. Several time the recording just said to call back at another time. Once I actually got a rep. who was difficult to understand – or to understand me. I was transfered but the connection was dropped. I tried again – no luck for several attempts. then the phone was inactive! Trying to reactive was even more difficult – I send an email hoping for a response. Was sent a ‘canned' message and called the number listed. It began all over again – I gave up!

Hello, I brought a Tracfone a year ago that was very easy to maintain. I had no problems with it until all of a sudden one day people couldn't hear me when I talked on the phone. I had a lot of minutes left on that phone and didn't want to lose it, so I brought another Tracfone and I was able to have those minutes transferred to my new phone. When I got the phone I had a lot of trouble activating the phone, Customer Service helped me, the phone was working. When it was time for me to apply more minutes. I spent $40 for 200, it showed on the website under ‘my account' the minutes was applied to the phone but it wasn't and I received no help from Customer Service, they kept telling me that according to their records, the 200 minutes was transferred to the phone, but I didn't received the minutes. I now have to buy another phone from another company. I would recommend this phone to anyone.

<>Everyone needs to scroll down and pay attention to all of the ratings of 1 and 2 stars. TracFone needs to also pay attention to these scores as times are hard and hopefully they are concerned enough with the reviews so that they will begin to do something about it for future customers. The overall average rating at the top is all anyone new or old needs to see.

Satisfied customer for over 5 years. Have had 5 different phones for family. This Prepaid review is incorrect about International calling. It is free and uses local minutes or roaming minutes. Most newer phones have no extra cost for roaming. Double minutes plans are big savings. Use one year plans and get 600+ minutes. My average cost is under $10 per month!!! Good customer service if you read the instructions, etc. Just got an LG-290C phone – works great USB and Bluetooth connection for camera pics, etc.

I bought a Motorola with free double minutes for life. I followed all instructions during set up and thought I may have a problem, but no, it just took a few minutes longer to load. I didn't have any problems-I used Tracphone's number that came with the phone. I live in Portland, OR and haven't had a dropped call and I have great reception. I just bought my first refill card at RiteAid and loading the minutes was completely painless. I haven't had to deal with their Cust Svc, so I can't comment on that. For me, Tracphone has been great. I also don't think it charges me to re-view texts I've already looked at. The reason I gave 4 and not 5 stars is because of the price of refills. It works great if you have double minutes and buy the 200 minute card for $39.99. When done that way minutes are .10. But if you buy the other cards, 60, 120 minutes and double it, it's over .10/minute.

I have been a trac phone user for several years. I have tolerated many irritations by using a pay as you go phone(Trac), however with the attempt to obtain my last purchase of units from them unsuccesfully, I will no longer use them again and want to warn others of the possiblity of being ripped off. I purchased a $40 card on 1/5/2010 at which time I tried to input it right away in the parking lot. The phone message said unavailable at this time to try later. I tried several times since that time. Today is 3/8/2010 and have again spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone trying to get then units purchased. I am being told I have already been given these units and there is nothing they can do about it. They leave me know other choice than to say good by. I have 55 units left on my phone as I speak and they will be used if for no other reason than to call 800 #'s I could care less but I will not allow them to steal those units also. I asked them to verify to who those units were issued to and to inform me of the units I have used since 1/1/2010 and they say they can not do that. I know that this is hog wash because in to days technology they can tell you every number dialed and recieved along with the duration. SO they can now add me to their list of has been. I always purchased 1 year cards, and added minutes to it as needed so as to not have to be bothered with the monthly renewals. Now I will not have to be bothered wih either. Hope no one else has this happen. I have spent and wasted so much time trying to get things straightened out and to no avail. Not very user friendly customer service offered. Now it is my fault for wasting so much time and giving them chances to make it right ‘because it is March and I should have taken care of it before now.' Waste no More!

Wanted to purchase TracFone but had some questions. 1st page on web site is a ‘buy now' page without any other choice unless you scroll to bottom and select a tab. Called ph # shown on vendor site/Contact Us. Menu selections did not include ‘talk to human being.' Finally found a menu selection answered by a person in Djoubuti. Poor English. Said would transfer me to a supervisor. Actually transferred to cust. svc. line. No one answered for 10 min. If TracFone can't afford to hire enough people to help a customer make a purchase, I'll find someone who can.

Am extremely disappointed that mobile web service is not available. It didn't tell me that when I bought the phone. In this day and age it's a given for this to be available. It would certainly bring in more money to Tracfone to offer this service since every thing you do with this phone uses minutes. Also am disappointed that there seems to be no USB available so that photos can be downloaded to computer..what good is a camera phone if your not able to share it with any one? Am not pleased with this LG290C. It's not what I thought it would be at all.

I am writing this review because I read other reviews that stated they coulnd't activate their phones online. I just got my phone yesterday and I was able to activate it online. Only thing was, when I thought I had activated it, it actually wasn't I had to relog-in to my account and then I was able to activate it. So maybe that will work for you. The phone is working great, I got the Samsung T101G on sale at Target for only $9.99 and since I only need it for making and receiving calls that's all I need and you can't really go wrong for that price. I got the $9.99 monthly plan so I won't have to worry about refilling or buying cards and plus I don't talk that much anyways so I didn't need too many minutes. I was surprised that I have to pay to receive text messages, I didn't have to with my T-Mobile pre-paid but I only got 40 minutes of talk time with the $10.00 card. I also got the phone that gives you double minutes for all the minutes you purchase for the life of the phone which is nice. I paid my $9.99 and got 110 minutes added, I had a 10 minute promo number I used so I actually got 100 minutes for only ten bucks which I think is great! Plus the phone came with 20 minutes of talk time after activation so for ten bucks, I got a phone and 20 minutes, you really can't go wrong with that deal. I really like the phone also, it types text really fast compared to my old phone and it's just a cute little phone. I already bought a ringtone for it, you can pay for the ringtones or use minutes to purchase them and I know that I will always have left over minutes so I will be buying more ringtones and graphics.

The phone & service are good. My complaint is with customer service(like others here). I have their 50 Min./30 day plan($10.00).The min & time are added automatically every month. I like it! I've used it for about 1 yr or so.HOWEVER, I started having a problem in January. The min./days weren't added. I went to the website. After logging into my account I went through the steps they give to get the update as they call it. After 3 attempts(putting in the codes, etc.)my phone was disabled! I still had about 7 min. left on it.I called customer service. After waiting about 15 min. on hold, I got someone not able to speak English well(no surprise). After a few attempts at giving me various codes she said she needed to transfer me to someone else.When this second person finally came, I had to explain my problem yet again! I would think the 1 st person would have explained it all to the second one; not so! So, after again having me enter different long codes into my phone several times, it finally ‘took' the update! As this rep was saying goodbye, she basically told me not to let my mins. run out; that hadn't-DUH!!Now in Feb. once again, I did not get my update automatically!! Once again I went to the site, but only tried the codes once. When this did not work I emailed customer service, which btw, I had done in Jan. as well. They replied telling me to call. This time in my email I explained how I got poor service before & would not call again.After a few email exchanges, they emailed me a code to put in & it worked!! So why couldn't they just have emailed it to me to start with?!! We shall see what happens this month.So, in summary, I basically like TracFone, but would give customer service 1 star.

I have used tracfone for years. I am finding customer service is much improved and their english is so much better. As for cell phone signal in upper New York State I have found the Samsung or Lg cell phones get reception exceptionally well and Nokia , Motorolla cell phones are very poor. With careful minute purchasing I get minutes at 8 cents..No contract, great service and a reliable website. A+

I just read Rochelle's comment about problems activating Tracfone online. She is not alone. I don't know why they even have their site setup for online activation because their phones NEVER activate online. I agree with her concern about personal information Tracfone asks for online. Don't give it! It's not required. Since you can't activate their phones online, the site instructs you to call their customer service toll free number from a landline. When you call they will ask you for your home phone number. If you don't want them to have it, call from a phone other than your home phone such as a pay phone. Even if you have caller id block they can see the name and nummber you are calling from. When they ask you for your name, address, DOB, etc. tell them you don't give out personal information and they will activate the phone anyway.

As long as you don't have to deal with them on the phone, they're okay. Otherwise, good luck! They have people who barely speak English and are extremely rude when told politely, ‘I'm sorry, I can't understand you.' It's important to understand someone when they are rattling off dozens of numbers I need to input in my phoneto add minutes!

I bought a trackfone $139.95 + tax with a one year time and double minutes. After the phone was stolen from me they refused to honor the double minutes or the time I had left. So I am looking for new company!

Tracfone would be better if their phone models were updated. Example, something with a qwerty keypad.

why anyone would use a tracfone I don't know. I absolutely hate customer service. When is tracfone going to improve? I am looking for another prepaid plan. I have had enough

I own a Tracfone Kyocera K126C model cell phone. It was given to me by a young lasy whom I used to carpool with to and from work. She got herself a different cell phone, and when I learned that there are no monthly bills or other fees to pay, I felt that Tracfone is the best way to go. It is wonderful to be able to add minutes whenever possible, and to always know how much airtime is remaining on the phone's screen. Every call that I've made and received on my phone has been sharp and clear. They go through and never get dropped. After telling my mother about Tracfone, I suggested that she get herself one as well and she did. I have not called customer service, but have sent them emails regarding any questions that I've had about my phone, and my suggestion to people who have had problems communicating with Tracfone customer service with a phone call, do it via email. This way, you'll know that their response will be easier to handle. My phone doesn't slide or flip, and doesn't have a lot of fancy features, but that doesn't bother me at all. As long as it makes and receive calls the way any phone is suppose to, then there's nothing for me to worry about. And when getting a Tracfone, there are no:monthly bills,credit checks,contracts,overage charges for when your minutes roll over,activation fees,cancellation fees.Plus, you can add as many minutes to your phone as you like. With other phone service carriers, another problem is that you'll be charged for minutes that you would never use. Activation fees would have to be paid upfront, and cancellation fees could run anywhere between $150-$200 (maybe more). These are things that you won't have with Tracfone. Some phones have the Double Minutes For Life benefit already installed in them, which means that all minutes that you add to your phone will automatically double. But, some other phones don't have this feature already installed, therefore, you can buy a Double Minutes card and add it to your phone so that the benefit can be enabled.Tracfone is the way to go, so that you can make and receive calls (long or short, local or long distance) without having to deal with the hassles of expensive fees that will hurt your budget.

When I first got Tracfone I had a great phone that lasted for several years. Then I decided I wanted a Blue tooth so I could use it in my car that had SYNC. So I bought an LG 600G. This phone is terrible. No bars in a building. I have to use it outside. And that is only if I can get bars outside. A friend and I drove for about 2 miles all over trying to get bars so I could make a phone call. Just bought a new house 5 miles outside our city and I have no bars at my new house at all….! None. Not inside, not outside. Pretty much useless. And if you try to make a call it says ‘for emergency use only' and you can't retry without turning the phone off and then turning it back on again. It doesn't hold a charge more than 2 days without charging it. If someone calls me I am not notified of a missed call other than the screen when I look at it. And if I get a voicemail message it will be 3 hours or so before the phone decides to beep and let me know I have one. I bought this phone instead of the cheaper ones thinking it would be a better phone. What a joke. Stay away from this one!

Can not get through to customer service which rendered our phone useless

ABSOLUTELY DISSAPPOINTED IN TRACFONE!!!4 DAYS IT TOOK TO ESTABLISH A EXISTING ACCT. 15 HRS ON HOLD…CUSTOMER SERVICE WAS DISPICABLE!! BOGATA AND THE PHILLIPINES WERE WHERE THE CUSTOMER SERVICE PEOPLE WERE FROM, ALL THEY COULD DO WAS PUT ME ON HOLD.NEVER AGAIN!!

Tracfone sent me a ‘teaser' email offering 20 minute bonus if I refilled my minutes with one of their 60 minute cards. I did but was turned down on the bonus 20 minutes stating that I had ‘already used the code'. That's impossible seeing that they had just emailed the bonus ‘code'. Multiple calls and emails to Tracfone has resulted in their steadfast position NOT to honor the code they sent to me when soliciting my business. I am switching carriers and placing a complaint with the Kentucky Attorney General.

I have just bought 2 phones for my family, I have activated them online but phones did not get activated and I had to call customer service.After 4 hours of talking and verifying sim numbers now phones are working, an a new problem now is with setting a voicemail; I followed an instruction and process fails and every time one minute is deducted from my time.I would not recommend to do activation or voicemail setup online, anyhow you will have to call support. When a rep tells you that your phone is activated please check that you can see your phone number and you can make a call before you finish conversation.

**Warning** Never deal with tracFone The company is a big rip off. My phone says roaming and I am not. They can not fix the problem or pay me back for my mins I can not use.

Trcfone claims their phones can be activated online. I bought four different Tracfone models from four different retailers and none of them would activate online. It tells you to call their customer service toll free number instead. I waited fifty minutes and never got through. They also ask for a lot of personal information including DOB. If you scroll past this section it says ‘If you wish to skip this step, click here.' How many people willingly give them personal information when they don't have to. Tracfone outsources its call center to a foreign country. Beware!

We have had nothing but trouble with our tracfone plan. We enrolled in the family plan and every month the money is deducted from out bank account but we don't get the service. I have to call their tech support number and go through 30 mins of punching different codes into the phone before we get our minutes. I might also add that I have run into some very incompetent service reps whereby every time I asked a question, they had to put me on hold to find the answer.

Years ago, my first tracfone offered only 90 days of wireless service regardless of the number of purchases to add minutes. I only began to seriously use a tracfone as my personal cell phone after they began to add to the days of service with each purchase, i.e. 60 days of service with 200 minutes, new purchase of 200 minutes, now 400 minutes and 150 days of service. This is great! If not for this feature I would simply add another line to my AT&T Family Plan or use a Go Phone. I also used Tracfone Cutomer Service to transfer minutes and service from one phone to another. I could not complete this online, but a C.S. Rep make the transfer very smoothly without a problem. AT&T, you are not the only game in town anymore, and that includes you home service, which is becoming far to pricey.

the calls are clearer than on my att and cricket phones and texting is fast but it gets costly

Not only do they not speak english, but their phone service is terrible (!). So much crackling I can't understand even a single word. They are actively not helpful and RUDE. What's more, I accidently entered a number wrong when buying airtime online, and they gave it to the other number (NOT ON MY ACCOUNT!), even though I notified them immediately, and refused to give me a refund. If I could give 0 stars I would.

Excellent customer service. Already owned a Tracfone, purchase new slider. Activation for new phone almost immediately! Customer service transferred minutes from old phone within 5 minutes. I couldn't believe it. Was reluctant based on some of the reviews, but I am glad I decided to continue with Tracfone

I have been with tracfone since 2007 and I am satisfied with their service and the phones they offer. The phones are not the most up to date, but for the price nothing else can beat it. I have never had any major probelms with tracfone. I have tried out every phone model they have offered. I currently own the samsung T301G and I love it. The internet is fast, text messaging is great and the calling is crystal clear. I only give a 4 star though becasue I belive that everything can be better and improve :)The best pre-paid service offered!

I have been a fan since my husband and I broke down on the interstate in 2001 on Good Friday. It was at that moment we decided to get a cell phone for emergencies. I did alot of research into prepaid companies, and decided TracFone was the way to go. I get exactly what I need from my two phones. Yes, they are not the most cutting edge phones, but I don't need all the bells and whistles. I am looking into buying new phones this spring, and I will be staying with TracFone.

Absolutely the worst customer service I have ever encountered. After 4 phone calls, and 4 different answers; I could not can an answer that made any sense, and now have a phone that does not do what it is described to do, and TRACPHONE will do nothing to rectify the problem. In addition, if I am going to take the time to press 1 for English; I had better get English. The customer service reps are nearly impossible to understand, I have spoken to 5, and not one could speak english well, or even close.

TRACFONE SUCKS !! WHY ?! Almost one month of delay Tracfone said that they cannot transfer my (2 years)old number (that was with Tracfone too) to my new phone number( also with Tracfone. When I bought a new Tracfone (Motorola W260g), firstly, while transferring number from one phone to another they corrupted the SIM card on new phone, and after a long discussions and waste of time, they ask me to give them mailing address in order to sent ‘new SIM ‘ card to me. After two weeks of delay, they finally sent me a new SIM card in the mail, and when I called them to activate the new SIM card for me, again after long delays and waste of time, Tracfone's technical service says that they are not able to transfer my two years old number even with a new SIM card (just imagine, within the same Tracfone they are not able to transfer phone number). IT REALLY SUCKS !! DO NOT BUY TRACFONE ever. it is Total Risk !! THEY LIE !!!

After dealing with Pocket this phone is WONDERFUL. EXCELLENT customer service when transfering my number! Takes a while and their English is not perfect but their hearts are great. Be PATIENT and they DO a great job. If you use your phone a lot there are better plans but for those of us that use this seldom or for travel only this is PERFECT. PS if you buy a cheap phone expect cheep quality. Go ahead and get a better one, it is worth it. Many of the reviews written here are the phone's issues and NOT the companies problems.