TracFone Wireless review: Tracfone customer service sucks! 34

Tracfone DEFINELTY SUCKS!
Bought a DOUBLE MINUTE PLAN for 1 year. It is Dec.1, 2007 ..the plan was purchased on Dec. 12 2006 but they say it is expired and will not honor it. So today I got riipped off..AGAIN by them.
Have had to call them every time we purchased minutes this year in order to get the DOUBLE MINUTES on my phone at all since Dec.2006!
SO STAY AWAY from Tracfone! I am going to try Cingular!

Same crap here, in fact I'm on hold with Tracfone right now. My original phone broke. They required me to send it back for a replacement and said that if I did not return the broken phone my service would be disconnected. So I sent it back. They sent me a total P.O.S. that sold for a fifth of my old phone. When I called to complaine I was told my phone didn't work in my area anymore. To make up for it the guy gave a promotional deal in which I got 30 extra minutes every time I added airtime as long as I kept my service current. Some time after that I purchased a double minute card. Then my crap phone went through the washer. They sent me an identical crap phone and I got all my minutes and service. Unfortunately when I added minutes to it for the first time, last night, no double minutes or bonus minutes.

I've been on the phone with these butchers of my beloved English language for a couple hours now. Spoke with one guy who doesn't speak enough English to order a Big Mac. Then I got his supervisor who's angle was another THICK accent combined with a .005db speaking voice. He told me someone would call me back, I think. Couldn't really hear or decipher a broken word he said.

Now I'm on hold with a very nice woman whom I can understand clearly and she's telling me she should be able to get me what I've paid for but after reading all the complaints I'm holding little hope.

Wow, I'm stunned. AND I stand corrected. I called Tracfone back today and my issue has been resolved. I'm now getting the double minute plan I paid for AND they even gave me double minutes for the card I activated the other night when I realized I wasn't getting the double minutes I had paid for.

Wanna know how I did it? I simply called [protected] which is supposed to be their corporate office. I was so fortunate to be connected with Jennifer who speaks English as well as I do! She did keep me on hold for a hella long time before telling me she would have to get back to me which she didn't. She did however give me her phone ext which is 3149. When I called her back today she appoligized for not getting back to me but she had it all worked out. In addition, as I mentioned, she was able to add the double minutes I hadn't gotten on my last airtime card while I was still on the phone with her.

I went out of my way to speak to her supervisor so as to make her aware of the outstanding service I received from Jennifer.

Honestly I couldn't be happier with the way she handled the situation. PLUS she sounds hella hot.

Thanks Steamin Steve, I called that number, [protected] and it's true they were great. Got a great rep named Shindy, she really knew her stuff!

Thanks again for the tip Steamin Steve!

Yes ive been going tru the same stuff bought a new from from there site had my number transfer from my old phone and it dont work my old phone still rings instead of my new one i went thru 3 sim cards and two new phones still nothing they said it was because my old number wasnt able to be transfer to the new phone so i told them to give me a new number they told me had to send me a new sim card for that so when the new sim card got here they put the old number back on it (idiots) then try to tell me i need to buy a minutes card to get it to work so i tried that wouldnt take it so there sending me another new card i dought it will work so ill try the [protected] number if it dont hope that will work.

I really like the representative who assist me in transferring my number and my minutes in less than 15 minutes, the transaction was successful. I recommend when you call tracfone, please look for davis. And dont forget to thank him for the assistance he rendered. I talked to davis' supervisor and congratulated him for a great customer service. Its my way of thanking davis. Every representatives deserve an appreciation. Davis' supervisor promised me that they will clone davis and will give a break after a job well done. Just a tip for everyone, if the representative successfully resolved your problem... GIVE THEM A KUDOS call. It works sometimes!

Yes, they SUCK! After paying a hundred bucks to extend my airtime, they tell me they've 'upgraded' their system and my phone will no longer work and I have to buy a new one. I will, but it damn sure won't be another Tracfone.

Here are the people I called, please print them to help other readers:

F.J. Pollak-President
8390 NW 25th St.
Miami, FL 33122
[protected]
BBB lists phone numbers:
[protected]
[protected]
Fax: [protected]

Vice-President's name is Stephan Ritter

Tacfone's Corporate Offices:
1020 NW 163rd Dr.
Miami, FL 33169

Head of the refund department:
Monica
[protected] ext 3214
or ext 6673

Tracfone sucks !

I know you have spoken English for like many years, oh yeah actually since birth!and I know you will speak that langauge for like a lifetime. It is not right for you to discriminate reps who are trying their best to provide great customer srvice for all of you american people who knows nothing about PHONES!For all you know, reps can actually DEACTIVATE your phone in one click!But, take note that our job is at stake so can't you just appreciate the patience that we have for all of you who doesn't even know how to use your phones, how to send a message, how to make a call and how to turn on you phone and make it work. All of you AMERICAN people are discriminating these reps but we never did discriminate you for being such an IGNORANT when it comes to using your phone.!

You are asking stupid question because you don't even know how to USE IT!so that's why it's a STUPID question for us..

You are constantly discriminating us for our accent but we dont care about that.. We know that we have he right grammar..yeah, you americans can speak well considering that its your native language BUT!you don't even know simple subject verb agreement!and GRAMMAR in general..

Considering the time of our work, the pay that we get and how stressful it is to work in a place that is full of health hazards!(IN CASE YOU DO NOT KNOW)!
So, why dont you put yourselves in our shoe and realize that it's not right to say something like that..WE ARE NOT ROBOTS, WE ARE HUMAN BEING!

And Why are you people so demanding?!WHen in fact TRACFONE is giving you low rates..Are you that POOR?..

You are discriminating the only company that you can AFFORD!so cut it OFF! we know, you are in economic regression so dont be rude..

You should be thankful because reps are not rude to you becasue for all you know OUR PAY/BONUSES depends on how we assist you!

For all Cust service rep..let's just do our job!
For all you IGNORANT TRACFONE CUSTOMERS!WHy don't you get a class about PHONES!It's bette that you know SOMETHING about it..

Here are some scenarios that Ive encountered in my work as a cust rep of tracfone..

**A cust cant turn on his phone..And he was so IRATE..
WHy can't he turn it on?.BECAUSE HE DOESNT HAVE ANY IDEA THAT IT NEEDS TO BE CHARGEd!How ignorant...

**A cust don't have any idea how to disable the alarm..VERY STUPID!

** A cust is lying about the minutes..ARE YOU THAT POOR?

**A cust is asking a refund for just 1 MIN..WOW?! very poor!

I know there are a lot of crazy scenarios when dealing with a customer..that's how IGNORANT you are american people..

WE KNOW BETTER ENGLISH THAN YOU DO!because in the first place, its not our native language but we are still good in speaking the language..

CUT IT OFF KARLA!

Supervisor heizel in bogota is the most incompetent and rude person. She dont know how to treat a customer, let alone speak english.

After being a TracFone customer for nearly 10 years I too had to replace my old phone. Well, Mr Saro, I know how to operate my phone and my English and Spanish are both very good. I think the problem is I do not speak TagLog and I'm pretty sure the Phillipines are where the service center is . At any rate I bought my new phone on November 17. It is now December 2, I have spent 8.7 hours on the phone with support and I still cannot make or receive calls. On top of that my original number that is printed on my business cards and stationary has been re-assigned to someone else. Right now I am waiting for "John" to call me back. TracFone has offered me 200 minutes for the "inconvenience". I frequently have to buy a new card as it is because the time has run out and I still have minutes remaining. It would really not help that much to get extra minutes when I don't use the ones I have on time. I have 524 minutes now, what the hell do I need 200 more for? I am no teenager, I just don't spend a bunch of time on the phone. As for trac Fone being the cheapest? HAH! Give Me a break. My Virgin Mobile works good at half the price-only no coverage in Montana where I spend my winters. The Florida number does increase the odds you might get somebody you can understand and they SEEM more helpful but we'll see...Meantime If you have any other choice in your area avoid TracFone like the PLAGUE! TRACFONE SUCKS DOUBLE!

Gosh... I never had a lick of trouble with my Tracfone (s) until I let the time (days) run out... then let the phone sit for 6 months before trying it again. (I was in a 'I hate everybody and I'll be damned if'n I'ma gonna anybody' phase) but then of course, the phone said "unregistered SIM" and I was screwed. They refused to REregister the sim, and refused to refund the dam $20 the (great working) phone cost. oh well. ### happens. I bought a new cheapass Tracfone at wally world, and it sure works well.

I purchased a new tracfone because my old one didn't work any more. It was delivered on a Saturday and right away I tried to activate the new phone. First Rep. I talked to gave me all the codes to activate the phone. Didn't work! I called again, Went through the same process, rep said everything was resolved. Still, no service! Called 2 more times...had a good attitude but now my patience is running thin! I called this morning and asked to talk to the manager once again and Now I was told my NEW Phone that they gave me doesn't exist! I now need a new Sim Card! Now I need a New Phone because this New one I just received 2 Days ago can't connect to a tower! Now I am HOT! They said I will be getting a new phone in a few days! DO NO TRUST ANY THING TRACFONE SAYS! PHONEY COMPANY FULL OF PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THEIR JOBS!

Is there any way to retrieve messages that were sent a few months ago but were not saved from the LG440G Tracfone?

Have a tracphone that service had expired on so i went and bought a prepaid $20 card to add minutes. Then after going to the website to sign up was told phone "SIM" was invalid or something. So called them up and reached the automated service. Gave all info related to my specific phone model and number on calling card. Then was transferred to a live operator who proceeded to ask the EXACT questions i had just answered. Only this guy was like a Forrest Gump or something because he spelled out each letter of my name, David...D as in delta, A as in Alpha, V as in victor, as so on, as if there were more than one way to spell it?!?!? Did the same thing with all info in my address, only kept spelling the street the way he wanted to and not the way i kept telling him. Basically sounded like a professional dyslexic or something? Anway, long story short, said my phone's SIM number had expired and i needed a new one shipped FEDEX. And had no clue what i meant about someone needing to be home when it was delivered?! Well a few dayd later i found it had been shipped through email confirmation only i wasn't home. But it stated it had been delivered, somehow? Probably to the wrong address, and probably had to do with the wrong street name the guy kept misspelling. What it scary is this is probably a good case scenario when dealing with tracphone! Basically it is a company that makes there money off continual sells of their phones, hence the short 6-month life period for each phone. What else is this piece of crap phone good for other than for drug dealers, con artists or inmates? Any shady person who needs a disposable phone that cant be tracked, so more like UNtrackedfone would be better name. Anyway, still haven't got my precious piece of ### SIM card via FEDEX...which btw doesn't have a clue either, which is why they are used by MR. POLLOCK and his company...i'm over it, and OUT...

"crazygurl" comment from 2010 was right on as far as us people being ignorant for buying these cheap plastic imitation phones and keeping this company in business. There is a customer service center only because of people like us who continue to tolerate owning a NON cell phone just to save a few bucks. On the other hand, we should be thankful(WTH) that these "reps" don't cut off our service with a "click" for being rude to them...really? I think she doesn't understand where we come from about the poor english speaking "reps". WHY can't tracphone corporate spend a little more and actually hire some of the many unemployed AMERICAN phone reps with prior xperience? Are they really obligated by our corrupt employment laws to hire only minorities? If so, then these foreign "reps" better be thankful just to have a job and that it's in a FREE country where you only have to put up with ignorant citizens, rather than violent ones. If i went to some middle eastern country and got such a job, I would expect some harrassment as well, only more severe.
So again, it is US who are indeed the stupid ones for keeping this company up and running, but then that's mindless American consumerism at it's worst, as usual!

Tracfone sucks. Upgraded from LG800 to LG840, discovered that when receiving text messages it only displayed the phone number not my contacts name. After multiple phone calls and representatives saying try this, try that, they replaced the phone with another LG840. Still having same issues. Escalated to 3 different levels, each and every time they make me explain the whole situation over again, when they claim they are taking notes and putting them in the system. The end resolution every single time is to just replace the phone that I have with the same model or give me an dinosaur model with features I do not want or like. Send emails to corporate office, they send me an 800 number with a pin, told me that they will be able to help me. Call the 800 number, put in he pin, what happened, same song and dance. Same trouble shooting screens they are reading, same solutions! My heads about to explode. Rewrote Corporate Office with a little sterner email, this time they called, gave me another 800 number and pin and assured me that they would be able to help with my situation. Guess what, same thing all over again, whoever gets the call, can I help you, what's your phone number. They see the problem, but they keep reading the same damn scripts every time and give me the same answers. I don't believe there is anyone to call or anyone who will assist. Basically tracfone does not care about any issues with the phone, all they care about is that they sucked you in to buying all these minutes and make you settle for a phone that doesn't work. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!

I've been trying activate my BYOP all day, I paid for the activation fee but then was directed to another page that had NO OPTIONS for activating my BYOP and when I tried to go back I was taken to the Tracfone sales page, my BYOP is still NOT ACTIVATED but Tracfone has my money, I've tried their "Help Forum" and can not get past the registration process, I can not log in, keep getting all kinds of ERROR messages instead, .. at this point after spending HOURS trying to deal with their OFF SHORE MERRY-GO-ROUND I have to agree with the majority of the comments here regarding how much Tracfone SUCKS, ... I've about had enough of their BS !

My story is the same as those posted. New phone "no service". Three phone calls about an hour each, no help. So I tried e-mail as suggested. Same thing different tracfone people responded, like they don't know someone else trying to fix problem. BUT same o same no resolution to problem. CALL head quarters in Miami [protected] ask for Custtumer service. I talked with Michelle. She read back some of the notes on my account:nothing was correct. She listened to my problem. She made sure she understood where I live and promised to send new phone in 3-5 days. Hope it comes and is correct one. I asked her why others I talked with couldn't help me. I was told they can only do so much. So forget them and call head quarters.

Same story, new phone 'no service'. Three hours, three different people no help. Tried e-mail, five different people responded with same c***. Really don't they know some is working on problem (NO). I called head quarters on Miami. [protected] Asked for Customer Service. I was connected with Michelle. She read back some of the notes on my account:all wrong. I told her my problem. She checked my service area and promised to send new phone for the area. Hope it arrives and works. I asked her why she could help me and not other. Was told they can only do so much. Ya, like push this button ..
So cal. Head quarters. It's frustrating and unacceptable for a communication company to not have good internal communications. It's like working for the 'widget ' company, no one knows what the other is doing.

F J Pollack, CEO and Steve Ritter EVP of Sales & Marketing have sold their souls to the devil! What other explanation can there be for people who knowingly promote and sell a product that they don't support with their customer service? Isn't that called fraud?My complaint is similar to the others, same 'ol same 'ol issues. I plan to file a complaint(s) with the attorney general's ogfice in two states, the BBB, the FCC and a whistle blowers hotline for the media to get involved. If everyone will do likewise we can "together get resolution! Contacting the company gets you nowhere but if someone wants to take the lead on a class action law suit, count me in!

Hello, Might as well add my story to the list. I have been a Tracfone customer almost since the day they were started. Phone was the kind that was open face and if you carried the phone wrong it would activate numbers by pressure. Well I dealt with that for a long time and then one day recently decided to get a new Tracfone. Purchased a LG 306G on Amazon for $ 9.95. Very nice phone and loved what it could do. Okay now to activate phone and transfer number and minutes. Went online and went through the procedure to do just that and then wait 24 hours as instructed for it all to transfer. In the mean time I could keep using my old Tracfone to keep making calls. Wow this was great and simple so it seemed. Day 1, 24 hours later and no transfer had taken place but old phone was still working. Okay so off to call support (with my working Tracfone ) and try to resolve the issue. Okay so it was off shore support and not a problem understanding the support person and it seemed to go along as they assisted in getting everything taken care of. Was told to please allow 24 hours for the computers to get everything right and after that period dial *22890 and let the phone activate. Day 2, 24 hours later I dialed the *22890 and listened to " MD32 Us Cellular please wait for programming to complete, we are sorry programming cannot be completed at this time please contact your provider for further assistance MD32". Okay so it did not work and this means another call to Tracfone support. Okay drag out the old working Tracfone and dial in the support number, "We are sorry this call cannot be completed at this time, please contact your provider to purchase a pin number for making calls". WHAT! Okay so something happened and I cannot use my old Tracfone which has worked for years. After asking the wife nicely if I could use her phone ( US Cellular ) to call Tracfone to find out what happened. Okay back with them and was told it was a programming error and they would resolve it, after spending an hour on the phone typing in a crap load of numbers over and over to program the phone they said I would have to wait another 24 hours for the system to update and I would have to go through the whole procedure again. Day 3, 24 hours later I performed the ritual again. By now you probably have a good idea where this is going, Yup it was the same situation with the same responses. Okay back to support with the wife's phone. An error, how quaint. I would have never guessed that. But wait now we have a new twist. After some research Tracfone is now saying that the LG 306G is a GSM style phone with a SIM card and will not work in this area. Okay wonderful so what next? They are going to replace the phone with an LG 305C which is a CDMA style phone and when it arrives call them back and go through the whole procedure again. I also mentioned the fact that my old phone has not worked since programming the new phone and was told they could get that working again. Went through all the number sequences with that phone and to wait 24 hours for activation and they would add minutes and extend service days for all this hassle. Day 4, still waiting for new phone. Went through the procedure to get old phone working again and the same result with US Cellular saying they cannot complete programming. Day 5, new phone has arrived and I ask the wife nicely if I may borrow her phone again and make the call to Tracfone. Back on the phone with the friendly support person from Tracfone and we commence to doing the number thing again. Of course we have to wait 24 hours for it all to collate and get ready. Day 6, Okay this is going to work I can just feel it. NOPE. Same all the way with the same results. Back on the phone with support and low and behold it is another error. Kinda wondering by this time if anyone there knows anything at all about programming these phones. I am being very patient about this whole thing. Okay so back through all the numbers again and then have to wait another 24 hours for activation and have to call *22890. Day 7, My wife told me she did some research and found an e-mail address for Tracfone and sent off an e-mail to it. Again I was back on the phone with Tracfone and we went through the whole procedure again but this time I noticed something odd when they asked for some phone information. The phone showed no minutes, no service days and the phone number had changed. The support person said the wrong coding was entered from the previous session. I asked if it was possible to get the number back and was told it was not possible. Okay so went through all the numbers again and have to wait 24 hours. They must have really slow computers. Day 8, I had done some research about Tracfone by now and found out they do not like to use US Cellular towers due to expense. Okay so all I have within 10 miles of me is US Cellular towers, how come my old Tracfone worked fine in this area for ten years and now it doesn’t! Anyway I drove 15 miles and sat below a verified Verizon tower and went through the whole *22890 procedure to be told the exact same thing except it said they were Verizon not Us Cellular. Guess might as well call Tracfone as I sat there and the wife came along for a ride and she had the phone I needed to talk with them. Okay so the support person went through the whole thing with me again and had to wait another 24 hours. I told them on the phone that I was not driving over here again to just program this phone. Okay I will wait. When I arrived back home the wife’s phone rang and it was Tracfone from Florida calling. Okay she was polite and very easy to understand and we went through the same thing the rest had. I had explained to her the whole scenario of where I am located and my old Tracfone used to work with no problems and she assured me this would be resolved and get the old phone number back and restore time and service days. Wonderful. Day 9, Why did I ever think this would work. Same thing across the board with the same results. Back on the phone and was now at a point of saying I am just wasting my time. I was told no matter what this would be resolved today. Okay well after a few hours I finally have service. I can make calls again. Or so I thought. They called the phone and it rang and I heard them and that was the last time it worked. The signal strength was all over the place inside the house or outside. The rep I was talking with had to go as her day was done and another would call me back. Okay so now I have another rep on the line and she seems puzzled with the erratic service and she asked what the phone was. I told her what it was and she responded with “Those phones don’t have the reception ability that the old phones had”. Are you kidding me? That was the last straw and I commenced to tell her that I was extremely displeased at what has transpired and to be told the phone was not as good as my old phone was, that was nuts. Okay well I told her that I would use what minutes I had and would not be purchasing any additional minutes and would make it a point to tell others about this whole ordeal. Day 10, the phone would not work at home so I drove into the nearby town and the phone showed five signal bars. Placed a call and it worked. Day 11, tried to use the phone today and the response was this phone is deactivated. Okay that’s it and I was off to the US Cellular store to add a line to my wife’s service. I know a lot of people have had problems with US Cellular but for right now it is working for me and I can make calls anywhere that I know of. Tracfone is not the way to go. If you have a Tracfone and it works I would say do not upgrade the phone but keep using the one you have. Had to vent. Have a great day.

trac fone sucks my brother tried to change his phone number from Wisconsin to a florida number and was on house phone to do all this crap which never got it completed after 5 hours of holding phone and no satisfaction he got nasty and hung up and then I had put $40 on his phone and they deactivated his phone that made me upset so I called and cursed them out they did turn it back on but still no 386 number I think they should take all trac phones put them in dumpster and burn them all he done with trac phone after he uses his time on it

I just bought a new phone and am trying to transfer a Verizon landline number. The first clerk told me it would take 2 hours maximum. I called Tracfone after 4 hours, wasted 1 hour online with Chat, and finally was told 2 days (like we're no longer going to bother trying so we give you the default excuse). I bought it at Wal-mart and I can still return it to get my money back. We'll see.

My old tracfone a smartphone locked and I bought a new tracfone and them to transfer my minutes to my new phone. To keep from giving the minutes from the old phone they claimed I have a straight talk phone

Hey! If you are fed up with talking to Customer Representative, try sending an email at TF.CorpResolutionTeam@tracfone.com or contact them via live chat @ http://bit.ly/18WfOoC. They will be able to assist you immediately. Believe me, I've tried it, and I was satisfied. I knew I came to the right people from the company.

I just called that number above and so called Manager just gave me the run around too. They did nothing but give hassle. All their devices are at least year old operating systems. Even the newest released ones.

Tracfone has changed their name to SUCKS BIG TIME FONE

My husband sent his brand new smart phone after being on the phone 5 hours to representatives that have no idea and ask the same damn questions over and over. Three so called corporate managers. I get a used Obama phone and now they claim they cant locate the phone through their ticket #, my husbands cell, nor the sim number of the phone that was mailed to Tracfone. Guess what Tracfone isn't getting away with stealing my phone for a damn Obama phone. All my husbands, minures, texts, data, telephone number and his phone are GONE. So I'm contacting BBB and putting it on the internet, telling customers that are going in tracfone stores about what Tracfone has done, any means possible. They are making this right for me. Or they will pay more then for a replacement phone and minutes, texts and data... TRACFONE STOP RIPPING PEOPLE OFF. GET PEOPLE WHO SPEAK ENGLISH AND STOP TRYING TO [censored] YOUR CUSTOMERS

You must initiate the dispute process with TracFone, which can be found in the fine print. See item 17: https://www.tracfone.com/termsandconditions .

Their customer support is incompetent and seemingly trained to concede nothing to the customer no matter how obvious it is that they are at fault. There internal systems are designed so that customer support cannot find any information that will help you prove your case. For example, they mistakenly failed to credit minutes to my phone when I added time. They extended the "days of service" but not the minutes. Would have been obvious if their customer support could have checked their own records. Seemingly they have designed their process so customer support cannot see that, and they just call you a lair when you claim they're system is wrong.

I began the formal dispute process and someone from the legal department called. They were able to access system logs that provide I had been correct. Still, they gave no apologies and only barely gave the disputed minutes even though by that time I had wasted a few hours with customer support.

I have been trying to get tracpone to stop billing my credit card company since August. All I want them to do is end the service and stop billing me..so far they've charged me for three months where i didn't use the service. I've called and explained SEVEN TIMES I no longer use the phone given to me as a gift years ago. All I want them to do is stop charging my credit card number and it has turned into an act of congress...While I had the service it was good, only needed it when I traveled, don't even use it ever day. They have my name, my bank, my address everything but they insist on an account number...How can I give them an account number when they just charge me every month without a bill and my sister purchased the phone years ago for me...Verizon is in the same boat, surely in 2022 your companies can find an easy way to sign on and off...it isn't rocket science.