This is the worst thing I have ever bought!!!!!
I was first interested in buying this product because my husband is deployed overseas and they advertise that you can use the phone for international calling. I thought great I can get it to use just for me and my husband becasue my contract phone bill was getting way too high. So I bought today put 200 mins on the phone activated it through the website.Then went to text my husband and it would not go through. So I tried to call still nothing. So I text my other cell phone and it worked fine. So i tried one more time to call my husband and nothing. So I called coustmer service and do you believe I got told well we do have international calling but not to that country. So i was like you mean to tell me that you are doing false advertising. The guy agreed. So I said fine I can take the phone back to the store and get my money back for the phone but how are you guys going to pay me back for the phone card? Well finally after being transfered through lord knows how many different people and getting hung up on as well one guy had an answer for me. He told me that I would have to go to the store get the original reciept scan it to them and they would send me a check in the mail. lol!!! Who has time to hunt down an original reciept at the store? I told him I can send you my reciept but Im not going to the store to get the original reciept. I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old and I am in the Army too and i dont have the time for that. The guy then told me that that was the only way I would be paid back for my purchase! I then asked for the phone number to the manufacture and he would not give me the number. So if you are thinking about getting this product for international usage u may want to find out what countries they do service because in their advertising they do not tell you what countries they use. If you are considering getting this product at all be aware that their coustumer service is the worst I have ever come acroos! DO NOT BUY THID PRODUCT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It reaaaaally sucks. When some one calls you they deduct your minutes anyway, what kind of service is that?

You don't mention that they have the cheapest unlimited use plans.

its me again.. wow i feel like i live on this site LOl ..ok as we last saw i feel like i maaking a tv show ..LOL last epsiode witrh trac fone situation ..seriously.. spoke to a rep on the phone for 90 mintues and then said we will ship you new sim card in mail,over night,im like ok cool..etc etc.. then at 200pm i recived a phone call and said im calling about your email response..and told the rep all is well,and confrimed that all was shipped and he agreed..i took a nap cause i was exhausted from being on the phone all day.. and so anyhow was woken up again from trac fone this time this rep was horrible tried to tell me that the rep who i spoke to did not order the sim card,and they did not note the account,ok so what happened from 200pm till 500pm gave them the same interaction number..and then it got worst,i admit i was ticked,i dont like getting calls when im sleeping and i dont like to be told that its not done when i was told it was,so imedeiltey she kept saying sir we breaking up,sir you there sir you there,saame crap that the guy did today this morning,and finaly i realy got mad and sad im calling my lawyer..LOL like i have one LOL.. anyhow then immeditely she jumped on a srpit and verbatum did exactly what the guy did today.. hello thank you for calling trac fone,hello LOL i was on the phoen already with you ,you ... for 30 mintues and now you saying hello,and she stioll had no clue why i was on the phone,need lessthe call got disconected,then recieved email from her saying sir sorry that we got disconected if you need further asistance you may call us at... wow ..no one knows whats going on..i will be abck for epsiode 7 LOL and to let you know if my situation gets respoleved..ps thanks tim for that posting totaly agree with you... man they need to go bankrupt not blockbuster.sorry
ps last comment also called today and got a messege saying we are closed for the holidays..oh by the way happy holidays everyone LOL

To new tracfone users. I feel for you. One advantage of cheap prepaid like Tracfone is you can buy their phones cheap and if doesn't work out you can bail out and you haven't spent much. However if you cancel your old number to port in or buy a year of service you are negating those things. Advice to Tracfone/NET10 users. NEVER port your number and NEVER add lots of minutes.
To address your situation. There's no need to spend money on an attorney. First call their Corporate Office in Miami's "Executive resolution office" at 800-876-5753. They can fix a lot of problems that CS cannot or can't figure out.

its me again.. called trac fone today the sim card that i was suppose to get never came you know why ? cause it was cancled ..so i waited for 1 week and no sim card,to make matters worse i no longer have old sim card cause they told me to destroy old one.and now im out 107 for 1 year plan that i bought after so called phone being activated .. another note was hung up with tech support, guy kept saying sir you still there you still there and i could hear him clearly and i was on a landline phone and he was talking to his co worker about the situation with me and was not answering me.. he then hung up on me,i went to call back a few min later and they blccked my number,yeah you guessed it,what a night mare.. luckily the store where i got it knows everything going on but they cant issues me a refund for 1 year.. but im not done yet with trac fone.they will be hearing from my attorney LOL ..

ok its me again,i made a mistake on spelling.. i have posted 4 post already with the name new trac fone user,first i put uses,sorry for the typo..ok here it is.. received email from trac fone,heres the email ..Dear Mary,

Thank you for your interest in TracFone Wireless. We are responding to
your recent inquiry.

We would like to take this opportunity to apologize for any
inconvenience you may have experienced with this issue.

Your port in request has been completed with the SIM card number that
you are using right now and we don't need to send a you a replacement
SIM card anymore. However, please be advised that in order for us to
resolve this issue regarding the replacement of SIM because of the phone
number that was ported we need to speak to you.

Should you have any further questions or concerns, please contact one of
our customer care representatives at

the number they gave me was not a trac fone number and by the way my name is not mary..so ? where is my trac phone sim card? and how can i use old sim card when they told me to destroy sim card,cause old sim card was defective.and now when someones calls me it goes to voice mail,which no one can use at all ..its not set up..who said customer service is good for this company..they probaly work for them ..LOL anyhow worst expirece ever.so now its 8 days and no cell and my old account that was transfered over as well is deleted,so nice no phone at all.. bad bad bad ....grrr

its not a 3 star.. its a 1 star or in this case a no star..

hey its me again.just contacted tracfone via tech support online through a so called confirmation tracking info.. yeah right,heres the error messege ..Current Status: We are unable to get the status of your case at this time. Please contact our Customer Care Center, at 1-800-867-7183 , and provide your case number.

come on 1 week and you dont know the status of my situation.. give me a break.. again tracfone horrible customer service,and as far as signal issues etc,have no clue,i have a brand new phone and 1 year plan and cant use phone.. wasted..but im not done yet...

oh my gosh where do i begin,well it all started on Aug 23rd 2010 and so i purchased a trac fone from a local store,rep from store was awesome ..kmart.. and she was very helpful she called tracfone for me and had phone activated,awesome cant wait to use my new phone.. yeah right went home and phone did not work.. .. contacted support,said phone was not activated,,ok so why did kmart rep on phone for 1 hour.. grrr .so anyhow he activated phone, ok great.. tried phone did not work,called customer service again.. everything is ok they said all should be working fine.. yeah right,why cant i make calls? they replied it must be your phone ,so they checked .and it was a bad sim card.. ok bad sim card..no such thing,truth of the matter was my sim card that they gave me did not work in my area so they had to re program the phone .. oh my gosh what horrible service recied 4 phone calls from auto matic service saying everything is good ..and emails after emails all should be well.well guess what it is Aug 30th 2010 and still no phone and waiting for email for status of my sim card shipped to me.to make matters worse after kmart rep activated phone for me..i bought 1 year plan.so its been a complete night mare..and all what i just rote above happened in 1 day of getting the phone and the rest of the week was a nightmare... worst customer service

If you value your time and sanity do not purchase tracfone services. Their customer service is god awful. You will be stuck on the phone for over two hours with an overseas individual who sticks on script the entire time. I have given up on every being able to use my remaining 400 minutes. Don't make the same mistake I did.

I am very dissatified with the service I am getting right now. I had to get new phone and it has already been 72 hours and still no activation and they tell me it will be at least another 24 as someone closed the activation file. Your error--you should be able to correct your error someway instead of making me wait more time.

So far, my experience with TracFone has been very positive. The Tracfone family plans is so affordable, plus the service is extremely reliable. Although the plan does not come with a lot of minutes, it work for us as our family is not particularly chatty.

If I could have given it a 0 for stars I would. I have been trying to get my phone working. I have been with trakphone for a while and until recently I have been satisfied. I had to get another phone. It took a week for them to decide it was not working and that was what the problem was. They transferred my old trakfone number to my new phone. When it did not work they de-activated it twice and both times I was given a new phone number. They must have failed to note this in the tickiet numbers they gave me-and yes for some reason there had to be two. The women on the trakfone service line asked how much minutes I had on my phone and the days left. I told her. They sent me a new phone. I called to activate it and it looks like it will work except because of alledgly trakfones service screw up no put down the correct last new number and they gave me a hard time over hot getting my minutes and days. There is 669.50 minutes and as of today 289 days left. They said they would go ahead and give it to me-wait 72 hours then call back. It has been almost 72 hours and no min. or days. I was holding the phone that did not work with the new phone number and the very same sim number as when I first tried to activate it and the min. and days on it ALL TOGETHER ON THE SAME PHONE. It has been a frustrating nightmare. I have been hung up twice on. Re-connected to the wait for assistance recording. A woman who told me I need to get my area code and zip code right and tell her becuase she could not find it and still could not find it by the end of the conversation. One man who just sounded rude.
And home based office here in the United States-if you are reading this the ticket numbers are: 102 184 2745 AND 102 199 1352. Maybe one of you can get it straightened out. I WAS HOLDING THE PHONE WITH ALL THE INFORMATION ON IT AND IT WAS TRAKFONE'S CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT SCREWED UP-NOT ME. CHECK THE RECORDINGS. I have explained over and over that I need this phone. It is my emergency phone. I have diabeties. I would have gone with another service if I had known just how bad it was going to be. I have had three other trakfones and never had these problems. It has been bad.

Neither of the TracFones I have can have airtime added via internet. The website says "service temporarily unavailable, call Customer Service". They tell me to do it over the internet or via the phone itself. I live in a dead zone & have to drive 25 miles to get a signal, so I don't consider that an option. After 6 months of the issue, with the same BS from TracFone, I cannot recommend the service.
In addition, the second phone I prdered was inop, and the replacement was a cheaper unit. Complaints have gone unanswered to date...

ave been with trackfone for 2 or 3 yrs If you have a computer its easy to load a new time card. you can get one on receipt at dollar general near your home. I like that you can roll over your minutes and if you let the card expire all you have to do is buy a new one. great job trackfone.

Am I the only person in the country who have just made a short and quite pleasant customer service call to Tracfone? No really, reading some of the comments on here I can hardly believe I spoke to reps of the same company. They solved my problem in no time, were VERY friendly and helpful. Three stars for good network coverage, another for cheap rates and the fifth for customer service which is definitely not as bad as I was led to believe.

why all the negative stuff i have a tf and it's i have double minutes and it rocks, I just use the phone the wau the phone was originally for to use, make calls, and recieve calls all the other stuff I dont need.

Just read Tracfone placed second in JD Powers & Associates's Customer Satisfaction survey. First place went to NET10 (a Tracfone subsidiary). Good going Tracfone & NET10, we already knew you were the best anyway.
Happy Tracfone customer.

The very worst, The customer service is very bad, When you try to do things with your online account it will not work and you will be encouraged to ring customer service, this will cost you 30 mins min every time, You cant swap phones without ringing you guessed it, customer service, My last call to customer service the guy who could hardly speak English told me to ring him from another phone because the reception was so bad on mine,,DONT DO IT NO MATTER HOW CHEAP IT IS

It is such a relief to be finally out of my cell contract! I could not afford the ETF but my cell bill was seriously messing up my budget every month. That's the problem with those contracts. When you sign them you might be ok but who says you can manage to afford a contract for two years. Especially in these trying times.

That is why I now chose Tracfone. No contract means no lengthy commitment. I can vary my usage from month to month and not get penalized with overage fees or by paying a huge bill on something I'm not using that much.
Prepaid with Tracfone has been a real budget-saver for me.

Good service and low price. Nothing really to add to that except that this is a low-cost prepaid option. If you use hundreds of minutes per month don't get Tracfone. If you are an occasional user then Tracfone is probably your best choice for cell phone service.
As simple as that.

I love Tracfone because they have a simple and cheap way of providing service. I can vary my usage and never get penalized by overage charges or by paying an expensive plan I'm not using to the full.
If you look out for special deals you can often save HUGEly on your minutes. Something you can't do with contracts because you're signed into a plan and they tend to stick you with so many other charges on top of your bill.

I never call people, just text. TracFone's good for me. Overall, I enjoy TracFone.

Buy a Double Minutes card! It's the best investment. Also, the $10/month plus the DM card will get you 100 min a month! So cheap.

Check options on the official site, as well; $150 for 2000 minutes (with DM card)! Verizon wants $2000+ per year, but for me, $150 gets me service for a year. Maybe even more than a year. :D

Customer service is typical, wait periods are to be expected. Be patient and nice. They have ALWAYS helped me.

Sometimes, minutes don't transfer correctly to phone; annoying, and my only complaint. However, you can go online or call customer service, and it's simple to fix.

A very good prepaid provider for light usage! In spite of some serious CS issues they get my recommendation because they do offer a low-cost, reliable prepaid service. It is the cheapest way you can own and keep active a phone in the States. Their family plans are the cheapest I have ever seen and provides a viable alternative for cash-strapped families.

Don't expect this to be the kind of prepaid where you can talk all day - there are better options for high usage. If you want cheap, this is for you!

Stay away, stay away from tracfone. I just spent 3 hrs. trying to resolve a simple issue. The poorest customer service that I have ever seen. I repeat - Stay Away from tracphone.

Thanks for all the posts about this terrible company. These posts saved me money and time (especially with foreigners that don't speak english).

I did a lot of research about TRACFONE before ending my previous cell phone service. We bought two of the TV advertised LG420G tracphones with a 60 minute card for each & gave it a try. One phone worked perfectly and the activation process was simple, quick and without any problem. Setting up the voice mail also was easy. Both were done by the automated service and everything promised worked beautifully.
The second phone worked well for one day and then began to shut down after about an hour in standby mode. It would not turn back on until the battery was removed and the electric contact was broken. I did a lot of switching & trouble shooting before calling the 800 Tracfone number from a landline and going thru the prompts.
I first received a service Tech named BISRAM ID#55096 who walked thru step by step from his terminal with me attempting to correct the problem. I was impressed that he would continually tell me this or that process would take 2 - 3 or more minutes - in case I was using a cell phone. This was a nice advanced warning, even though I didn't need it. After the last try he told me to complete another task with the phone and if it still retained the problem to call back. He had entered all the repair efforts into a folder and gave me the Ticket # to reference if needed. I was very pleased with his services and had high hopes.

I have read many horror stories about Tracfone service on the Web and was happy it didn't happen; however the problem returned with a few hours so I called again.

This time the Tech assisting me was ALEJANDRA ID# 52869. She listened to my story and opened the ticket number information. Without hesitation she advised me that a new replacement phone would be sent immediately. She told me what to do upon receipt of the new phone and that when it was activated by me that the minutes, service time period and old phone number would be automatically transferred. I thanked her for the exceptional services and remembered the Web horror stories as I hung up.

Exactly as promised on the third day I received a new phone by FED-EX this morning. I Activated the phone just as before and just as I was promised the minutes, service period and original phone number popped up on the screen.

Iwas also please to find out that a pre-paid return envelope was provided to return the defective phone. I would not pay one penny for this problem.

After reading this disertation I can only tell the reader - Tracfone provided me a most excellent, immediate and satisfying service. I am now a really 'happy camper'!

Kudos to the two service Techs Bisram & Alejandra and to Tracfone for an excellent Customer Service experience.

Jim Reno, Nevada 8-20-10

Hi,
Trac phone issues, service seems fine until you have a damaged or problem phone. you CANNOT switch simm cards even with the same brand/model tracphone each simm card is locked to each phone & can never be moved to another phone of any type, this also prevents you from ever purchasing a really nice phone & using it with their service. PROBLEM #2 that can retrieve data out of your old phone. I had to ship my old tracphone to Motorola for repair service before trac could retrieve any old data, I should only need one company not two for this problem which caused delay of weeks. NOT HAPPY CUSTOMER. I will say that their service is OK in general, but after the hassels I now want to change my service to Mobel PCS which in So, Cal. costs a lots less.

Ive had tracfone for almost a year now. I get 2x mins, and i've only had 2 problems and luckily I havn't had to call the foriegn speaking customer services yet! The only problems are... 1. it is very easy to hit browser and if you hit it by accident it says deducted 0.5 and you have to get out of it before it says deducted 0.5 again! It's almost like tracfone wants you to hit browser to suck up your minutes faster!
2. You get a limited amount of time to use all your minutes! I don't call/text a lot so my I have to buy new cards to avoid losing all my minutes! I currently have 182 minutes but only 11 days to use all of them! Looks like I have to spend another $20 to keep my minutes another 90 days!
~If you text people like every 5 minutes than buy this phone! Otherwise get a phone that doesn't have "expiring minutes."

Poor coverage, dropped calls, failure to receive calls. Phone shows message "check call restrictions 34" . Tech support unable to help - - apparently that message means "poor signal" despite being in airports and major metro areas.

I'm writing because I enjoy this phone. I don't have a need such as just talking to friends. It is a necessity for being in touch or available for someone to find me. This has been quite a love affair. Of course I only know how to charge, power it on, dial, receive calls and hangup. I need to learn more. But I am really enjoying my service.

As a small business owner trying to expand, making the switch to Tracfone has helped save my company. These phones are high quality, but low-priced. My employees love them and the best part is how affordable it is for my company. Such a fabulous deal! Great savings and great coverage come as part of the package as well :)

ive had nothing but trouble with tracphone.i always had to call to add miniutes as they wouldnt activate automatically like they were suppose to.went threw 3 phones and lost all my info every time.customer sevice is a joke!foriegn speaking people you cant understand that appear to know nothing,and on hold for hours.this last time they were going to send me another phone and i told them to forget it,ill start over somewere else.cant tell you what to get but DONT GET A TRACPHONE!

I too.Have a problem with customer service.They do put you on hold,each time three minute's.I cannot understand them and the WORST of It,I have been on the phone with them"SAFE LINK"TRACFONE" for 2 weeks now 3.trying to get my Original phone number back,which in fact,It was a "NATIVE FROM SOUTH AMERICA OR??"customer that screw up the whole thing as far as transferring ALL MY INFORMATION TO MY REPLACEMENT PHONE..that Safelink sent me which is not USER FRIENDLY..When you have certain Handicaps..It is the most horrible phone LG 300..Any way it has been a NIGHTMARE WITH COSTUMER SERVICE..THEY LIE..They tell you your phone will not be DE-ACTIVE..Until the SIM CARD ARRIVES ..BS..Because I was Out And Went to use my phone 2 day's after Customer rep told me my phone would be working until I get the SIM Card And Tech Support as well.And my means of Transportation is My Legs..so when I went to use the Phone ..Guess What Not Working I was STRANDED..So hows that for felling..SAFE...WITH SAFE LINK..AND ONCE THEY DO NOT TALK GOOD ENGLISH @ALL...I just want everyone to know this about ."SAFE LINK"/TRACFONE...I hope this was helpful to you.And I AM ON THE PHONE AGAIN....Good Luck

I feel weird recommending TF after reading all the negative reviews here, but I've had the service for about 6 years now and like it very much. My wife, 2 sons and 2 parents also have the TF. We're not in business and we don't play games etc. The phone is just for personal use. I've never had any unusual probs making calls, sending messages etc. Admittedly, the phones are cheesy. As for the CS I used to RAVE about it (as great!). The web site promises big, but rarely works. I used to get an english speaking guru on the line in 2 secs who'd fix any prob. They were knowledgeable and cheerful. I always hung up satisfied. Lately, I guess you get foreign agents. I hate this too, but guess what? EVERYONE is doing this. I called my local (in the sticks)first name basis State Farm Agent of 30 years and got . . . INDIA. I thought the guy died or something! I read that Dominoes is using INDIA to route pizza orders. Crazy right? You call your local pizza guy and expect to talk to Louigi and you get Tanisha 8000miles away.

i have had 2 tracfones and they both broke. the one i currently have has a white screen on it and i can't see anything on my screen. I will not buy another tracfone in my life.

I switched from Virgin Mobile to Tracfone 14 months ago, and I couldn't be happier. Cheap, reliable, no-frills phone service across the USA. I have used my phone from Washington DC to Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park and never had a problem.

Like most other Tracfone users, I want to free myself of a monthly charge for a regular cell phone. Tracfone does provide that, but it's definately a lesson in patience when dealing with customer service. Because of the area I live in, I can't load minutes using the phone, I have to call CS to load the minutes for me. I just about have a stoke each time I need to call because of the frustration involved with trying to talk to these foreign speaking people. It is VERY DIFFICULT to understand what they are saying. However, every so often I get a call from the company and they leave a message on my answering machine. Hmmm - I wonder why they have a sweetly speaking lady extolling the virtues of Tracfone and offering so many deals. Perhaps they should have the same people that are on the line when you need help - that way you know to STAY AWAY!!

Tracfone is a simple and cheap way to stay in touch. If you just want a phone and not some fancy handheld computer then this is your deal. Customer service is lacking but the phone and minute plans remain good value for money.

I was going to order a Tracfone until I read the horrible reviews on here! Thanks for enlightening me.

Tracfone ported my daytime phone number instead of my wireless number.
Now I've lost my home land line and my DSL internet service.
I'm using the library computer now since I no longer have internet service.
Customer service at Tracfone is a waste of time.
I can find no physical location for Tracfone where I might speak in person to a human.

Absolutely the worst customer service I have ever encountered. Their phone service is not worth the aggravation you will have to endure to activate, add minutes, etc.

Waiting a very long time on hold to speak with a customer service or technical support rep. is typical. My latest dealing with the company concerned transferring a phone number and minutes after my son lost his tracfone. After more than an hour on hold, I finally got to a representative and was repeatedly put on hold "for 3 minutes" while the rep. consulted a supervisor and then "another department" about the issue. At last I was told that the department that would verify how many minutes were on the lost phone was unavailable and that it would be necessary for me to call back the following week (even though they would be operating the following day)—more than 2-1/2 hours absolutely wasted!

The next call took about 1-1/2 hours on extended and "3 minute" hold before the representative could come to grips with the unbelievable situation that a teenager had lost his phone, and before the "other department" could reach a decision.

I used a tracfone for a bit more than a year and suffered through a few instances of having to resolve minutes that did not load, or promotion codes that did not work. Eventually my limited need for a cell phone increased to the point where a conventional phone plan made more sense and provided a far better phone. My son inherited the tracfone for emergency purposes, but when it runs out of minutes we are done. Forget any potential cost savings: Tracfone is not worth the trouble!

My grandfather has this phone and I am quite happy he does. Since he is getting a bit up there in age, he tends to need help more often than not. With his Tracfone, he is able to call us whenever he needs anything. He used to just have a landline and when he went out, he was completely out of contact. Now, he/ we just pay $10 a month for a 30 minute card and we are able to check in on him more often and if he ever needs anything, we are a phone call away, no matter where he is. The other day, he went for a walk to the local strip mall and it started pouring and he couldn't get home. He called me and I was able to pick him up and drop him off at home. The phone is great because it is easy to use (he has the LG) and it is innexpensive to maintain. I buy the minutes for him because I know he gets frustrated with simple tasks, but it is easy to do.

tracfone has served me well up to this point, however when my old phone got wet and thus stopped working I went out and purchased a new phone, activated it and got a phone number with an area code for Florida...I live in Ohio...so I called tech support, was given a new numbe and was told it would take up to an hour to activate, an hour and 30 minutes later, cant call out, cant recieve calls, I called tech support again and was told it would take 72 hours...as a long time customer I can be forgiving for now but I will say that as long as your phone works tracfone is great...the minute you have a problem you seem to be screwed and your money is as good as gone.

For the price it's good for light use such as emergencies. But if you ever have a problem or issue with the phone you're basically screwed, because customer service is 0% help.

Have used Tracfone since late 90s. Never had a problem. A week ago my phone cracked while charging. I picked up a new one and tried to port my number on the web site. Didn't work. Told me the phone # I was trying to port was incorrect. So I called customer service. Put on hold. Turned on speaker phone and waited...and waited...30 mins passed...1 hour passed...2 hours passed...I finally hung up. Next day...same thing. Gave up after 2 hours. Next day...a robot voice told me avg. wait time was 15 min. Great I thought, I can handle that. Two hours passed...I had to use the land line so hung up. I even tried at 2am because their customer service is overseas. Same result. So after 15 years or so as a customer I will move to another provider. Too bad. I used to highly recommend them.

I love my Tracfone! I can not find any other provider that gives me a better deal. I regularly compare prices and plans 'cause I like to get a good deal. Tracfone is that deal! Great coverage, low prices, convenient service.

I admit I have had trouble with customer service but all problems were in the past and always resolved. I have used Tracfone for years and for the price you get good coverage. My phone costs around $120 a year and I have more minutes than I'll ever use, since I'm on a double minute plan and your minutes roll over to next year.

I've used a tracfone for about 7 years, and it's been just fine - not the greatest coverage, not a smart phone, but very adequate for my limited use. However, something very bad has happened to tracfone recently. IN EARLY aUGUST 2010 I had to purchase and activate a new tracfone. None of the onloine activation options worked. It took exactly five - five - different landline phone calls to tracfone tech support to get the phone activated - but I still couldn't buy additional air time, because there was no phone number assigned to my tracfone. Two requests that my problem be directed to a supervisor or what they call "tier two management" were not honored. The first time, Tracfone just hung up on me. The second time, after an endless wait, at least 15 minutes, I could not wait longer. On the basis of this experience, I have to say that if you have a current Tracfone account and it's working, good for you. If you need to activate a new Tracfone, buy the least expensive one you can get, because you may never get your new phone working.