Tracfone is a big ripoff. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!!

I purchased a phone for my Fiance while she was here for a week. The package advertised low rate international calling.
So we get the phone and I call and activate it at that time the operator tells me that it will take another day to activate the international calling.
So the next day we try to call out. Nothing. I spoke to customer service and was told the same thing, wait another day and try it. We try it the next day. NOTHING Basically this happend for the next three days. "one more day, wait"..... and nothing from this crappy phone.

So after a week we still don't have the international calling so I call to deactivate the phone because I am going to return it. They deactivated it instantly just fine, how come they couldn't do that with international calling.

I ended up getting my money back but wanted to tell other potential buyers that this is a scam. They do not deliver what they advertise on the packaging. This is also knows as "False Advertising", a lovely case for the Better Business Bureau.

This company is a scam do not waste your time and money.

A dishonest company.

I purchased minutes from these people, and they sold me a double minutes feature that I had already bought. They then refused to refund my money.

I paid them $50 and I got NOTHING !

Do not do business with these people !

John

Just believe all the bad things you read in the other reviews and assume all the good reviews are written by tracfone employees. The customer service, when you have problems (which is frequent) is a joke. It seems designed to get you to hang up and give up on the problem. There is no recourse with supervisors. And yes cheating the customer is the norm. I don't see how this company survives, guess most people don't read reviews (I didn't, my bad). I won't waste any more time going into details, just read the other bad reviews.

Though the tracphones have decent coverage, the phones are cheap quality, customer service is a hassle, and I can only recommend this to adults.
None of the phones will really cater to teens.
Unless you are looking for simple phones and plans, you are better off going with another company.

I have never had a problem with my tracfone. It was very simple and easy to use with no hassels at all. I just wanted a phone to dial out and recieve calls and it does that plus more. The voice mail is a nice feature along with the texting. I also like the caller id feature. I just wanted a basic simple easy to use no hassel phone and that is what I have. I like it alot.

trac is a good deal if you know how to play their game, get the 60 min cards in a 2fer, for 19.99 you get a 60 min card then a phone (you can donate) and another 60 min card, you have to have DMFL (double minute) and you have to use bonus codes, so for 10 bux you can get about 180 minutes, which is a little more than a nickel a minute, but you have to watch their website for the specials, I have it cheaper with them than my contract phone, i have one under verizon to use in places where the att doesnt work

The phone itself is OK however if you have any sort of problems and need customer service good luck. I had a problem where my voicemail icon kept showing up indicating I had a voicemail. I would check my voicemail ( eating up 1 unit each time I called) only to get a message- "you have no messages" .
After contacting customer service they were unable to resolve why this was happening and they told me just to igore the icon. When asked if they would replace this obviously defective phone, I was told I could go purchase a new one.

I would give three negative stars if there were such a rating. I won't go into hairy details but there's a common theme above: CUSTOMER SERVICE STINKS. Some are Indian, some are South American, but all of them were TOO polite in my opinion. I kept hearing "I am so sorry" and "I do apologize for the incovenience" -- but after 10 45-minute phone calls and several weeks, I still have no service!!! After three "defective" SIM cards and two "defective" phones, it gets pretty darn tiresome. If they can't give me service, why don't they just say so and refund my remaining minutes? By the way, ALWAYS ASK TO SPEAK TO A SUPERVISOR -- the rank and file workers have very limited capability, can fix only obvious things.

If you want to get free TracFone bonus code minutes, or deals where you can buy a 60 minute card and have it double for free, go to ebay and type in tracfone.

There are literally hundreds of places selling these deals. I paid $1.99 to get free bonus codes and they worked.
I paid for a 200 minute card (which was doubled to 400 because I have double for life on the phone) then entered one of the codes and got another 100 minutes added to that. 500 minutes for $40.00.

Ebay can be great. Just check the sellers ratings and feedback they have received from previous buyers.

On a scale of 1-10 this compnay's service deserves a -10. Spending hours on the phone repeating the same task of entering SIM code and EMIE codes leaves one exhausted when finally left with no result. I wanted to add time over the Internet. Could not do so - message told me my phone was no longer accepted in my area code. Finally - after a week of trying - I purchased airtime. When trying to activate by phone - a very inept CSR who did nothing but read from a script and never listened told me that I needed to get a new phone - sent to me within 10 days free of charge. I was given a workorder number and when wanting to make sure that my 543.7 units would be transferred to the new phone I was told yes - while given this info I watched my unites disappear from my tracfone never to return. I am now told that my minutes had expired, that I had not used my phone since May of last year (how could that be if the date to add airtime was 2/22/08???)and that there was nothing that could be done. Can't speak to a supervisor - they all play supervisors as they pass you down the line! My phone arrived, it is the exact same phone it is to replace. I called to get one of them reactivated and have them reinstate my 543.7 unit plus the additional airtime I had purchased but was told that this was not possible. All they could do was to activate my new phone - all airtime lost. I believe this is a scam and my airtime was stolen on purpose. Obviously I only have my cell phone for emergencies thus I had accumulated a lot of units by addint airtime over the years. I feel absolutely helpless and stressed out knowing that I have to take this abuse. Let this be a lesson to anyone. Don't ever sign up with TRACFONE!!!!!

Check out websites on TracFone. It has been the subject of an INCREDIBLY HUGE number of complaints, going back to 2003! And doesn't seem to have changed. I won't bore you with the convoluted details of my story, but Customer Service simply doesn't serve any customers. Minutes are expensive and everything is excused with "your phone/SIM/area transmitter must be defective." Read the horror stories and think about whether you REALLY want to be on hold for hours. Or go for weeks with no service. Or argue with poeple whose constant refrain is "I do apologize" or "I am so sorry."

this service sucks it is near imposible to renew restart or buy minutes ive been trying for weeks ,sent letters ,there is no phone no to call , whats up with that ?

My Tracfone has always worked well. However I find their customer service/tech help absolutely terrible. I purchased a new phone to replace the old one. I have 437 minutes left on my old phone and was told I had to contact customer service to transfer my telephone number and minutes to the new phone. 2/21/08 first call, 45 minutes on phone. They said they had an error and the problem would be fixed in 3 days. Well on four separate occasions since 2/21/08 I have been on the phone to them, each call time was about 45 minutes and each time I get the same response, call back in 3 days and the phone will be fixed. I asked on the last call to have them forget the new phone and reactive my old one. They said that couldn't be done. Now I don't know what to do. Report them to Better Business Bureau? In the meantime I have no access to long distance calls because I don't carry long distance on my land line. I rarely make long distance calls and when needed I used my cell phone. I'm totally frustated and would do without a cell phone except my kids want me to have one with me whenever I go somewhere by myself. I feel because I don't use the phone often that Tracfone has no intention of transferring my minutes to the new phone.

i hate it because i've been a customer for many years, i paid for the double minute card and they told me it couldn't be transferred from one phone to the other yet when i transferred minutes to another phone the double minute card is on there twice and i would rather have it on the phone that needs it obviously. same as other people, no refunds, it's a rip-off...to me, if you pay $129 for a double minute card 2 years ago then you should be able to do what you want with it. that money's down the drain, just like that. it's ok to pay them the money but not ok for them to refund it. told em i'd be contacting an agency and posting it on the web and getting a refund also.

The problem with tracfone is the "calling areas". Phones are availabe in one area and not in another. For some reason our area cannot get the Motorola models. They seem to work the best and we can't get them. Why can't a phone be a phone be a phone? I have had problems with customer service being able to understand their THICK accent. We stay with Tracfone because it is less expensive than other plans, but sometimes I feel we pay in other ways.

I really do not understand all the bad reviews... I guess these people are very happy paying well over $20 a month for a cell phone. Yes, I agree calling the 1-800 Tracfone # is not usually a joy talking to someone from another country (most likely but not always), BUT for me, someone who prides themselves on saving $$, and having more than my friends with Big plans & fancy phones who are always BROKE, I can easily put up with this. Tracfone has many options, MANY codes, many ways of putting your minutes on your phone, I average about $6 A MONTH to have this wonderful cell phone & 5 they offer allows FREE Text to your phone. So that is a plus. Never would I pay over $10 a month for a cell phone. BUt that is just me. Tracfone is the absolute cheapest route to operating and owning a cell phone for occasional/emergency use and this is why they get 5 stars from me.

If I could have given 0 stars I would have. I've now spent a total of 5 hours trying to BUY a phone. They kept telling me my credit cards were declined, which I knew was a mistake. When I called the credit card company, I found that my card had been charged something like 5 times for the purchase. Yet they never sent the phone. After several calls and way too much time, they were able to reverse the charges but are still unable to sell me a phone. Why? Because my charge cards are being declined, of course! They said that the only way I could buy a phone would be to pay cash at a local store because my cards were "bad". They just can't seem to understand that if the charge showed up on my card then it couldn't have been declined! Now I'm afraid that if I do buy the phone in a local store, I won't be able to buy minutes. I think my head is going to explode...

I had a Nokia phone with TracFone and had no troubles with it but lost phone and had to replace. Hours upon HOURS of waiting for customer service to help me, transferring me to supervisor upon supervisor, no one could answer my question, dropped calls, hangups, TracFone's customer service SUCKS! No one can answer your question, they don't speak English very well and they repeat themselves ad nauseum. Sick and tired of this nonsense, I am on the verge of complaining to the BBB. This company mis-represented what the phone I asked about could do. THEN I went through heck and high water to find the phone to pick up from WalMart but no such luck so I had to have it shipped to me. After getting the phone and having trouble getting the computer to recognize my phone so I could upload some PROPER mp3 ringtones (note, motorola ringtones SUCK and so do the ones that are offered for sale on the TracFone website), hours and hours and HOURS spent with customer service ending with lost calls during a phone transfer, or hang-ups, or simply obfuscation - nobody knew how to answer my questions in tech support and all had to check with their supervisor who also knew nothing. I think they're paid to keep us on the phone as long as they can. This is the most horrible experience I've ever had with a company and I'm hoping someone from their corporate office calls me tomorrow or I WILL post a scathing complaint on the BBB website. These people owe me for misrepresenting the phone I bought and also for all the time I spent trying to get HELP. TracFone is NOT going to get my continued business unless they do something QUITE AMAZING to retain me as a customer. I wish I could post a LESS THAN ZERO RATING here. :p

Good coverage and great for minimal usage. However, if you want good rates you have do a treasure hunt for discounts. CS is is mediocre.

tracfone has the most expensive minutes i have come accross i used tracfone for many years before i took a good look at the money i was throwing away, i have 3 and want to know what to do with the old tracfone they all still work.

I love tracphone because not one of my calls were dropped.

this plan is terrific . i currently had the virgin moblile plan . totally sucked !! so my friend recommended this plan so i decided to take it i got a great phone for 13 dollars and then i got minutes for 20 . wow what a great deal and since i only use my phone about 3 times a week thiis plan is so right for me . I totaly recommend it.

This plan is so totally great . Like sierra I recently had the virgin mobile plan . And just a she said it sucked . I wasnt even able to activate my phone . But anyways i heard tracfones were pretty good so i decided to try it . was i in for a surpirze ! they were great and virtually have four bars everywhere .
i so totally recommend it !

I've had Tracfone for almost 5 years. Overall I have been happy with them. They have decent coverage areas. I do prefer not to talk to their service reps due to the fact that it is difficult to understand them. Adding minutes is simple online.

My advice, buy your phone, a double minutes for life card and a minute card. Make sure you add the double minute for life card first, then add the minute card. There is no need to buy a year service card if you do the minutes right. Buy airtime online and service time is added as well, usually 90 days at a time. You can also add service time to your phone for $4.95 for 30 days if you run out of service before your minutes are gone. Just look for 'Bundle' info on their website.

I am looking for a different provider though. All other carriers in my area offer data services, tracfone does not. I have tried to work with them on this and they for what ever reason don't understand or choose to care. I also am looking for nights and weekends and a national calling area without roaming. Where I live their 'Single Rate' is not offered.

For a basic phone, I would recomend Tracfone.

Great for an emergency only phone. We did not want a contract, and bought our first tracfone for a vacation. I just upgraded to a flip-phone with dbl minutes for life.

Yes their cs reps are hard to understand, but I've been able to do all i need from my landline with the automated system.

I have dbl minutes for likf on my phone and i alwayd google for coupon codes before i purchase minutes. doing this i've been able to get my cost down to 10 cents a minute.

If you need a phone for emergency use, this is the way to go.

I've had this tracfone for about Five months now. It's ok, but it's not the best in the world. I recently looked on line for differant phones and found much better phones. These phone were prepaid but you pay monthly. I'm going to give them a try. Tracfone just eat up to much money. the money I spend on tracfone I can get better else where.

Adding airtime through the website never works. I have to always call customer service a minimum of 3 times to get minutes added to my phone

had tracfone for 3 years. bought on line, purchase minutes from walmart (they install them for you)

never had a dropped call or difficulty in connecting.

NO MONTHLY PAYMENTS

no need to talk to support on phone. just go to walmart. They are trianed and familiar with sytem.
love no billing monthly.

I recently bought a TracFone and wanted to port my number in from my Verizon Inpulse prepay plan (inpulse was too expensive). So I logged onto the TracFone Website and looked around. Finally I found the port in button and I did what it said. After that I got a case ID number. I waited 2 days for it to clear. When it did clear it said to program my phone (activate). So I proceeded to activate my phone, I had to re-do the port in process. After that I got another case ID number. Waited two more days for that. Called TracFone and they activated it right there and asked me when I was born and all that neat stuff. Next thing I know I get a birthday card in the mail (VERY LATE birthday card) and a birthday email from TracFone! WOW! I've gotten perfect coverage, and everything you need in a basic cellphone! I am VERY pleased with TracFone and their service! THANKS TRACFONE!

Avoid at all costs!! Completely incompetent
reps (what language do they speak?) Ive had nothing but trouble with this company,bad phone,bad sim card,bad response so as you can see a bad experience.I've been without a phone for 2 weeks asked twice for a remedy or refund both requests have been rejected. Save yourself some grief and avoid the "service" It's an outsourced company run by IDIOTS. Please pass this on to anyone considering a pre-paid plan!I've omitted any hateful and offensive language but surely would've like to have included it to show my true frustration.

I am very disappointed with customer service. I have received text messages from the company stating to use promo codes with my next refill, only to find out the promo code has expired before it was even sent to me. When bringing this to the customer service they were unable to assist me. After speaking to a customer service rep, customer service supervisor and then a manager I am still with out answers and full of more questions.
I am very dissatified with company and will be willing to pay more in order to not deal with the customer of this company again.

I love tracfone alot. its my 1st cell phone and i've had it for three years now. the costumer service isn't bad like how everyone says. they help you all the way and know what they are doing. i have the motorola w370 which is an excellent phone. it has everything that u could want in a phone, including internet. i can check my myspace and yahoo messages on my phone anywhere!!! also it gives real ringtones from popular up to date songs. tracfone is pretty much up to date, no one would know that you have a prepaid phone. the only thing is they dont have any blue tooth phones yet, im sure they will soon enough tho. i would definately recommend this phone to people because its not a bad company at all and your in control. plus they have double minutes. you have to try this phone to see that it really isn't a bad idea.

had trac phones for as long as they have been out.some say they have all sorts of problems,i never have had one.i suggest that people just learn all you can about the phone you have.

Great plans.You people need to take your time and find out all you can.All of these negative reviews are B.S.Tracphone is in my opinion well worth the little money you spend.

okaa well i have a tracfone and ive had it for about a year now. the phone was given to me as a christmas present and i loved it when i first got it. but now i HATE IT! im a teen and i like to talk on the phone and text alot. i plan on switching mt plan to another company soon becuase tracfone sucks. i have had alot of problems and if you like to talk and text alot this is not the type of company for you. im constantly out of minutes and i hate it.

I've had tracphone for about 5 years now. The phone was given to me for a birthday present all I wanted was a comunication device and that's what I got. I'm satisfied with there service. I just bought a new motorola flip phone v170 becouse the phone I had before had open bottons and I would dail out every in a while and not know it and thats the only problem I've ever had with them

I bought my first TracFone three years ago. I called a CS rep and she had me all set up in about ten minutes. I have been very satisfied with the service; the only minuses are that occasionally the network goes down and 'emergency only' appears on the screen. During stormy weather (I live on the coast of Washington State),the network goes down yet again--we had a hurricane in December and had no power for several days, and my husband's Verizon service worked, but not TracFone. I have since upgraded my phone to a flip phone because of the random dial out calls, and have also purchased one for my husband--both activations were done on the website in a matter of minutes!! The menu is user friendly and uncomplicated. The cost of the phone(s) and minutes are very inexpensive. I highly recommend TracFone.

tracfone isn't too bad but they should get at least a unlimited text plan

I bought a trac phone 11 months ago. It does not work and has 387 units on it. I have had 4 technitions try to trouble shoot with no success. I can not get a supervisor to respond. I would never buy another one.

I have been a tracfone customer for over 6 years it has worked everywhere Alaska colorado florida new york . as to customer service it has gotten better as with all customer service it all depends on the rep .I had a problem about a year ago and their rep stayed on the phone with me for over 20 minutes until he found the glitch and resolved it a very determined young man . I was impressed enough to talk to a supervisor and complement him as with all tech. their can be problems check out horror stories with other carriers

I am very happy with tracfone for the occasional need I have for cellphones. Once I lost my phone in another state. The person who found it kindly mailed it to me. In the mean-time tracfone deactivated the phone till I had it back with me. They re-activated it without loss of any minutes or time (date for recharge). FIVE STARS to their service.

If they make it any cheaper, I guess many other cell-companies will go under water or will have to improve their offers.

Only reason I give Tracfone 1 star is because there is no option for 5 negative stars. I had Tracfone service for several years & was relatively happy with the service (never had to contact "customer service" during that time.) Last year Tracfone contacted me & told me that my V60 would no longer work after Nov 07 but that they would send me a new phone with updated technology that would just make my life wonderful. Since then I have spent 4 months and literally many, many hours trying to get my service to work. I had to fight my way through their off-shore customer service where nobody understands English - they operate off of scripts. Finally demanded a number for the corporate office in FL and got somebody that understood English, but after 4 months and hours on the phone with these people, they still can't get it right. Tracfone is much better at getting your service deactivated than getting it activated. They managed to get my service (and phone number) deactivated at least 3 times. I had to demand (unfortunately pretty obnoxiously) that they get my phone number back. Tracfone does not seem to understand the importance of keeping the same number from day-to-day. When they deactivated my number this last time, they lost it back to Allnet permanently. They offered me 200 - 300 minutes as “compensation” for my “inconveniences”. When I told them that no, I’m done with Tracfone and wanted a full refund of all unused service and minutes, I was told that company policy is that they will not refund anything against the service and minutes I paid for, even though they seem completely unable to provide that service. All in all, I would equate doing business with Tracfone customer service with simultaneously having root canals on all 32 teeth at once without benefit of anesthesia while being poked in the eye with a sharp, smoldering stick and having your fingernails yanked out with a pair of rusty pliers. If you value your blood pressure, do NOT do business with this company.

Believe everything you read. I activated my phone, but could not get the SIM card to register. Customer service sent me a new SIM card, and that one won't work either. They were impossible to understand and difficult to deal with. I'm $100 into this mess, and now I'm just giving up.

I've been with TracFone for about 3 years now. My wife and I both have a phone and update the minutes once a year with a yearly plan card. Everything was fine and we'd had no problems up until my wife accidentally dropped her phone in the toilet at Wal-Mart! Don't ask. The phone was on because we always use them in the Supercenter to keep track of one another. I thought surely it was dead meat but took the battery out and let it dry on the heater vent on the way home and then let it sit near the heater at home for another full day before putting the battery back in. It worked!!!

But a week later my wife called me from work and told me she'd left the phone on a few days and now all of her minutes were gone. The phone had dumped the memory and zapped 845 minutes and 8 months of service time. I called customer support and after about an hour and a half the minutes and service time was restored. Happy days! The service rep even added a complimentary 200 minutes for our inconvenience. That was 3 months ago.

Yesterday, my wife called from work with the same problem but this time she lost over 1,000 minutes! I just went to Wal-Mart and bought another phone (Motorola C139) and started the online registering process. When I saw the option to transfer minutes from another phone I stopped and called customer service to get the minutes restored (for the second time). The long and the short of it is that I have wait 2 weeks before they'll tell me if my wifes phone actually had over 1,000 minutes on it. Two weeks!!! The rep suggested that I buy more minutes after he transferred the number from the old phone to the new phone when he activated it.

I'm sitting here scratching my chin wondering why the two weeks so I decided that wasn't going to work and called them back. No change. I'm disgusted and suspect that those minutes are long gone but I won't know for two weeks. Meanwhile, I'm looking for another pay as you go cell phone service just in case. My phone still has 475 minutes on it so I need to use those up on long distance calls. It made my head hurt to realize that the rep didn't see the problem with losing $250 worth of airtime. That's just wrong...

I've been using Tracfones for years, and have even provided them for my elderly parents. But when it comes to customer service, it's virtually non-existent. I've been getting the run-around for over three weeks. I've called, I've written, I've been nice, I've been rude...nothing has worked to resolve my issue. Over the years, I've had a few other similar experiences.

I have had Tracfone for a little over a year and its okay. The customer service stucks though. I upgraded my phone and had to jump through so many hoops just to talk to someone. And they were always busy and kept telling me to call back at a time where they were less busy. The coverage isn't always the best. Some days I lose service in the middle of a texting conversation and i dont get service for another hour or two. they also dont have the biggest selection of phones. depending where you are you can get a flip-camera phone. Not the best phone selection if you're a teenager.
Also, if you want to buy a ringtone or wallpaper, its gonna cost you anywhere from 10-20 "units" and it just keeps going up.

I made the mistake of buying a track phone. It died on me. Just died for no reason. customer service barely speaks english. Had to wait one week to get a replacement phone and the replacement phone has a faulty sim card. I now have to wait another week to get the replacement sim card.. It is now two weeks without a cell phone. As soon as my time is up on the air card. I will get another phone from another company I still have 60 min left that I can not access because the phones don't work.

first time using a tracfone wonderful I use it for emergency only.

I've had my Tracphone for months now, and it's never given me any problems. I've never had to deal with customer service, so I can't say whether they are reliable or not, but as far as the phone and service goes, I haven't had a problem yet. The coverage sometimes sucks, and I find the prices a little high, but then again I use my phone alot and often travel to weird places where cell phones don't usually get reception anyway. If you need an extra phone for emergencies or as an alternate, I recommend this phone.

Make that negative 5 stars. My experience echoes what others have said here. Tracfone's customer service is AWFUL! I can't even think of all the wasted time I have spent talking to their "customer service" reps without getting really irritated. I try really hard to be patient. It's not their fault that they are poorly trained and are not native English speakers, but I just can't take it any more. They talk from a script, can't understand simple questions, the intercontinental phone connection is bad (where on Earth are those people?) and sometimes disconnects -- great after fighting everything else for an hour or so -- and after all that, they nearly always do not get things right. If you have to call them, allocate a MINIMUM of one hour clock time for something that should take no more than 5 minutes. And I'm not talking about time spent on hold. This is time spent trying to explain something to someone who doesn't understand. It will drive you nuts the sixth or seventh time you go through all this. Been there, done that, too many times! If their website wasn't such an abomination, you wouldn't have to call. That would be the best solution. Bottom line: their prices are great for infrequent use -- especially their value plans -- but once you need their customer service, you are hosed. Believe what you read here.