Tracfone experience? Beware.

[eviinrude115]

I finally bit the bullet and purchased a cell phone.

Two calls to customer service and no action yet.

Serching the web, I find a high percentage of these never get activated and Tracfone never makes good on them.

Think twice if you're looking at tracfones.

Anyone had a similar experience and know of a good pay as you go cell company?

[LABS4ME]

I owned Tracfone back when I had Nextel and needed a "traveling" cell phone. Never had a problem wiht it. Gave it to my daughter to finish High School with, it taught her how to use her minutes responsibly and now my buddy has it for his "traveling" phone. I just bought it at Best Buy, took it home and activated it and continued to buy my minutes on line. Never had a problem... isn't there a 1-800 you can call to talk with a rep live? Maybe a little cage rattling will get your problem resolved.

Good Luck!

Ken

[SPIN DRY]

I've had one for a year now and it works great never had a problem. Bought it at Wal-Mart my son set it up for me that same day, still buy minutes there. I don't use it very much so it works great for me, it even worked up on Red lake when no one elses would, that was a surprise. Good luck

[Jeremy airjer W]

The only problem I had with tracphone is they couldn't provide me with a 651 area code. Found this out after I activated the phone. Brought it back to wal-mart for a no hassle return. I'm proud to be cell phone free for almost a year! Remeber if you don't have one they can't call to tell ya to come home!!!!

[walleyehawk]

We bought my parents a cell phone for Christmas and had some hassles getting it hooked up. My parents are REAL low tech, so that contributed, but it took 2-3 calls to get it all taken care of. I think the customer service depts are staffed with low wage folks and minimal training, so you have to be patient.

I have Verizon pay as you go and have had no problems. I bought it at a Verizon kiosk at the mall. Had to wait in line 30 minutes, but it was active when I left the kiosk.

Good Luck

[Ed Carlson]

I use a Trac-Phone seasonaly as I need it just for guiding. Because I need a dedicated phone to meet regs I went with the Track Phone.

If your not a cell phone junkie they are not such a bad deal..as long as you watch your settings and time usage. The whole Track Phone system is set up for X-cell junkies if you ask me. You pay if you use it, and you pay if you do not.

The fact that if you suspend usage and then force you to get a new number is a big pain in the you know what.

Getting charged for incoming calls no matter what kinda erks me. Now the darn telemarketers are after more cell users and I see that as totally wrong. The heck if I am going to pay to listen to a marketing ploy! If you pick it up you still get charged for a min even if you quickly hang up. I had one TM call me back 4 times the same day...I could have killed that one!

Other then that...the coverage is good here in the US and Canada. Canadian zone rates are high if you do not switch the zone ahead of time..found that one out too. Wrong zone setting in Canada and it cost me over $4 a min...ouch!

Handy for some but you need to watch how you use them.

[Pops']

You don't say if you bought it new,used, or refurbished?

I bought my first Tracfone a couple of years ago when my engine went out in my pick up and had to spend 2 weeks in a small town waiting for a replacement. (long story ) Worked great, no trouble....recommended one for my father...you both get a bonus 100 minutes but need to collect on line....he does not have internet...I was in Az he wwas in Mn so emailed customer service and they gave him the bonus anyway!!(had to call and give them a code).

Dropped mine in the lake going fishing one afternoon They don't float....and of course it was ruined.... bought a 100 min card and they included a refurbished phone for free....it was programmed for 911 use only....after several calls got it reprogrammed....wanted to get my unused minutes from my ruined phone....rep on phone said no way....more calls and emails and got my 240 minutes added to my new phone......happy camper. Yes it can be a hassle but just about anything nowadays can be ( don't even ask about wi-fi and cable modems) I would recommend Tracfone without hesitation.

[eviinrude115]

In all fairness, they did make it good today.

So, started Sunday, one call each day to customer service, get the "wait 4-6 buisness hours and try it again" routine.

Tuesday they finally got it. Maybe thats the trade off for having no contract, no tie to a phone company.

Based on these posts, Im looking forward to using their service. I really like the pay as you go deal.

Thanks for the info.

[danny berg]

I have been using tracfone for about 6 years now, the only issue I have had with it is I can't get my voice mail using the phone. I can retrieve the voice mail if I use a landline. I am on my second phone, I upgraded this summer to a digital phone.