TracFone Wireless review: missing minutes from account - again 23

Tracfone deducted my minutes 4, 011 June 11 to to Junes 13, to 0 same with the text and data. I call and talk to three different people before I got the answer why and the person said because it was not updated I do not know what that means. She gave me 23min 23 text and 0.02 data. I rarely talk on phone only do text messaging. The service End date is 2020 Was given because same problem a year ago with transferring minutes from old phone to new phone which never was resolved had to return New Android Tracfone to seller on Ebay. I have been Tracfone customer over 10 years. The minutes last 5 years are roll over paid minutes. This is the first year to have android for me. As I write this I was on hold with tracfone for 30 minutes they just return my call I am now on hold until the lady contact her supervisor Just finish conversation with a lady, she said I use the minutes up I ask how is I use minutes up in one day she says they gave me too many minutes. On the website was in error. I wanted to know when am I suppose to add minutes? And how do I know when I need more minutes? She says anytime you can add minutes. She did not understand the question. She says down load app for track minutes I guess from time to time I will have to call to see how many minutes I have left, I don't think it is a guarantee for accuracy of minutes. She kept giving answers not related to the question. Since I lost the minutes I will upgrade to new Android with prepaid minutes hope this work if not any suggestions? Is there a provider that can give prepaid minutes without a problems? I read others had same problem losing the minutes on Tracfone. Thank you for hearing me out.

I am in the same boat; this is the second time I have had more than a thousand minutes "disappear" from my account. I rarely call anyone, so have rolled over my minutes for years. I'm actually in a chat with an agent right now who says that the minutes were used, and I want to know where as I've had one call since my balance was listed at 1407 minutes and that call lasted one minute and thirty-two seconds. They returned some of my minutes, but there are still 407 missing, and most of my data.

I bought a unlock android from Consumer Cellular and they are now the provider.

October 22, 2015: AGAIN Tracfone has screwed me over on minutes. I'm using the phone and I hear the "toot-toot... toot-toot" that I think is an in-coming call. No, it's the "under 10min remaining" alert. UNDER 10MIN.? I had well over 30! And I only get 1-min incoming calls calling me to work, or the rare text mssge. exchange. Where did they go? This is the 2nd time my crapfone has done this. The previous time, I finally got 20min out of them, but they used this against me this time, as if I didn't deserve it originally and should've been grateful. For life. I googled this and it's not uncommon. This is outright stealing, on top of their deceptive advertising, "No contract". Well, if you don't use your phone by the "service date" it shuts down. I call that condition/date combination a "contract". For God's sake, is there anyone out there not endlessly trying to trick you and screw you?

You might need to take your issue to the right people for an immediate response. Try sending an email to this email address email address is TF.CorpResolutionTeam@tracfone.com, or contact them via live chat. These people can help you!

BEWARE of TracFone -- Same thing just happened to me. I have been a tracfone user for at least 10 years and have had no issues until this week (4/11/2016). My over 800 minutes and 2 years worth of days suddenly are at 0. I spoke with a customer service representative and a "supervisor" with the same response -- "You must have used them up." They provided no assistance; could not look up a list of in/out going calls (You have to fax them a signed statement that you are the owner of the phone!); just pushing me away saying it was my fault the minutes disappeared. I only use the phone for emergency purposes and occasional calls. Time to change providers.

Total Ripoff... Just a couple of weeks ago, my mom had over 800 minutes showing on her balance.
I know because I had been showing her how to send an attachment, then, I showed her how to check the balance on her phone.
What I should have done was take a screenshot of the minutes balance, but it didn't occur to me that they might disappear.
We bought a card good for a year plus we got a double minutes deal, which seemed like a fantastic bargain at the time.

Well, we should have known it was too good to be true. A little over halfway through, the 800 she had showed just 2 weeks ago were gone.
Now, we have to get another card if we want to use the phone any further.
I think it might be time to switch to another service like straight talk. I haven't had this kind of issue with them in over 4 years.

Horrible horrible company. Agreed so far with everyone. I purchased mine and my children's phones this time (reoccurring problem but thought it was the phones) with 1200 mins on them and I since we hardly use the phones thought they would easily last over a year. Within a couple months all the mins were gone. I have called on it several times & told to make a photocopy of the battery, sims card or whatever & send in a verbatum disclosure saying they are my phones. Which is ### so i've never done it. Just called again and apparently there is a verification department which can supposedly go over your minutes to see what has happened. However, i haven't even been transferred to that department yet & the "manager" RYAN PAZ looked at it for less that 5 mins & told me he DOESN'T BELIEVE ME that the minutes disappeared, because it is impossible and it never happens. HA! Just google it. He ended up hanging up which isn't surprising with the poor service they provide out of Honduras. I called again & they have trained them to say it is not common & in fact impossible. What a rip-off company they are. My next step is to try to find out how to contact corporate headquarters in Miami, FL. From others peoples comments i am still hopeful that just maybe they will reapply them back to my phones. Wish me luck!

Same here. I tried to resolve the issue via their support chat on facebook. When this proved a very aggravating experience, I wrote a post on that page and added replies as changes happened - or not. Screenshots are attached:

I lost all my text balance, it was well over 2000 and went to 0. I buy time every year and never have to add what I have left rolls over. I seldom check my balance since I know I have a lot, so I don't know the exact number I lost. My data and minutes were OK, just texts. This happened a couple months ago and I didn't have the time to contact Tracfone so I just bought more texts to get me by until I had the time. Well I didn't and I guess I used all the texts I bought because I found out I wasn't getting texts and no one was getting mine and when I checked I was a 0 again. So I got on a chat with Tracfone and they restored 4000 texts for me. They can only check usage, not balance history so they made an average of my usage and gave them back. They couldn't tell me why it happened in the first place, they said maybe it was a system issue.

Chat history:

Thank you for visiting Tracfone today. How may I help you?
Karol: Thank you for visiting TracFone Wireless.
Karol: Hi Dennis.
Karol: How may I assist you?
You: My text balance disappeared to 0. Do you keep track of my balance?
Karol: I’m sorry to hear that.
Karol: Yes. But, we can also check the daily usage of the balance to check if there is a discrepancy on the balance that you are claiming.
Karol: Does your TracFone number end with 1725?
You: yes
Karol: Let me check the account first. One moment, please.
You: This happened twice. The first time maybe 2 months ago when I had over 2000 left. I didn't check then as I didn't have time and I bought more texts. It now went to 0 again.
Karol: Sorry for the inconvenience.
Karol: I checked the account on our system.
Karol: I checked the time that you last added airtime into the account as well as the consumed text messages on our system.
Karol: It shows that the text message units were consumed.
Karol: Please be advised that the My Account application may have a delay or may be outdated if you are not checking or refreshing it time by time.
You: The last time probably as I bought the minimum. The prior time is the problem.
You: I know I had a lot left when it went to 0 as I don't text often.
Karol: I apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced due to this issue.
Karol: How many text message units left on the account before it happened?
Karol: Are you still there? If I do not get a response from you within two minutes, this session will have to end.
You: I don't know the exact number as I don't check it daily. I know It was over 2000 close to how many minutes I have. I never use all my time before I have to extend my time and it carries over.
You: Sorry I don't type as fast as you.
Karol: I will need to review the account about the text message units that you are claiming. Alright.
Karol: That is fine.
Karol: One moment, please.
You: Go back to when I bought the last texts which is when it went to 0 and it should show how many I had before that date.
Karol: Yes, I will do that. I am still checking the account.
Karol: One moment, please.
Karol: I can see that some text messages are consumed on the account. I can work with your 2000 text message units on the account.
Karol: Would you like me to add it now?
You: Yes please, does it show the exact amount that I lost?
Karol: Alright. No, it didn't. We can see the usage of the text messages and the estimated benefits on the account that we can add into your phone.
Karol: One moment, please.
You: OK, I guess it's the best that you can do, Thanks. Do you know why this happened? My wife checked online and saw that this happened to others.
Karol: Alright. You are welcome.
Karol: The application may not be updated. If you can refresh the account once a day, it would be best for you to do that to get the updated benefits. Make sure that you are connected to Wi-Fi or data in doing this process. This will allow you real time balance on the device.
Karol: Other customers experienced this process because they didn't log in the correct email address on the account.
Karol: Let me add the text message units first.
Karol: One moment, please.
You: Not what I mean. What I'm asking is why the text balance went to 0 when the texts were not used.
Karol: It may be a system issue or an application issue.
Karol: We do not have a specific information about the issue that had happened.
Karol: I am sorry.
Karol: Please allow me a moment to look into this.
You: OK, have the texts been added? I wish the smart phones worked like the old tracfones which gave a running balance that you saw all the time.
Karol: No, not yet. I am still working on it.
Karol: I understand your concern.
Karol: Since Smartphone devices have different softwares, we need to use the My Account application to get your balances display on the device.
Karol: I successfully added your text message units on the account. Can you check your account balance and let me know if you receive it?
You: OK checking.
Karol: Alright.
Karol: Did you receive it?
You: The texts are there, Thank you.
Karol: Great. You are welcome.
Karol: I am happy that the issue is now resolved. I hope that you are interested to participate in a short survey on how I assisted you today. Would you be interested?
Karol: Are you still with me? If I do not get a response from you within two minutes, this session will have to end.
You: Will do. I will be checking this daily now in case it happens again. I don't know when the current texts went to 0. I had a friend call me and say I wasn't replying and he didn't get my texts. Is there a way to know when this happens without checking all the time.
Karol: Sorry for the inconvenience.
Karol: Yes. You can estimate the usage that you have on the text messages that you are using.
Karol: If not, you can check it twice a week to ensure that your balance is still on the device.
Karol: This is the only way to see if the balance are there. There may be a system issue if the text message balance gets deleted and you never used it.
Karol: Would you like to participate in a short survey about the service I provided after we end this chat?
You: I did do that and I had a lot so I don't check it constantly. I will more often.
Karol: Sorry for the inconvenience.
You: Yes I will to the survey.
Karol: Alright.
Karol: Wonderful! We really value our customer's feedback for improvement. We are really thankful to have a customer like you and we are hoping to get a positive response for the service I provided.
Karol: There will be a text message that will be sent to the phone number provided with instructions for you to start your survey after the chat. The survey is free of charge.
Karol: Is there anything else that I can assist you with?
You: Not at this time.
Karol: Thank you for chatting with TracFone Wireless. If you have any further questions or concerns, please Chat with us or contact one of our customer care representatives at [protected]. For your convenience, our representatives are available Monday-Sunday from 8:00 A.M. to 11:45 P.M. EST. You may also text the key word HELP to 611611 to view our self-service menu with a list of help key words with valuable information.

@ clement cheng (what do you mean by "no one really has the time to read all of the fine print"

As for me I had ~ 3300 minutes, 3300 text, and 2.3 gb of data on 08-26-2020 with my service data ending on 09-04-2020 so I paid ~ $200 for 1500 more minutes, texts and 1.5 gb of data with 1 year service plan plus an additonal 1 year of service and when 09-04-2020 at 5pm rolled around all my minutes, text and data disappeared. Its been 2 days and 2 hours+ of being bounced around and I still dont have my minutes text or data back.

11/15/2020 Have Samsung 8 running on BYOP Tracfone Have tracfone for over 10 years no major issues.Past 2 week text message units are disappearing at about 10 units per day with a grey screen showing no activity.Calling tracfone no help.Changing phone number is my next step.Any help appreciated.

I ran out of minutes two days ago but had remaining texts and data and service for another 3 months. I purchased extension plan of 30 days service, plus unlimited minutes and texts and 1GB of data. Immediately upon purchase at tracfone.com site of plan, my phone balance on all three became 0 0 0 though Tracfone.com site proved my recent purchase! My phone is working - no texting, no phone calls, no data allowed. WHAT is going on?! I want a refund of added plan and reset to original balances! Customer service has not been able to resolve the issue after I called 5 times with different agents over the past two days...

I bought a 365 day plan for a friend because he has no credit card. But a week later all his minutes are gone. And his plan is for one year but he have to go out and buy more minutes again. And he had an active account with minutes I thought would have rolled over. I'll just stick with my $45 per month Verizon plan. Verizon seems to err more in my favor. TracFone treats you like an idiot when you call. WHERE ARE HIS MINUTES?

My auto-refill comes on the 11th each month. Have a 3 gig, unlimited talk and text plan. I check my balance after the refill date, 3.7 gig. Less than 2 weeks later, no data at all. I hadn't been using it much. In 'Settings', under 'Mobile Data', the phone says I used 480 mb. All I could get from the 611611 chat, was my data was consumed, would I like to purchase more... Called the 1-800 number, and pretty much the same thing, over and over. I know there was no chance I used even 1 gig. Going to Email corporate, see if they have interest in resolving/losing a customer. Won't buy any extra mobile data. Just two week, until the next auto-refill. Happens again, I'm an ex-customer. Going to try shutting off the phone, when not using it. Keep Mobile data switched off, until I use an app, or go online. Don't think the problem, is on my end though.