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TracFone - Activation Problems

TracFone • Missing minutes • Activation problems • Can't get local number • Defective phone • Network problems • Lost the phone • Advertising, promotions • Rebate problems • Inside Trac --- News • TracFone Pays $50,000 for Violating Missouri's Do Not Call Law

david of duluth, MN March 15, 2010

purchsed a new tracfone, called to get it activated, transger the old number to the nwe phone phone and transfer the old minutes. Dude took all my info, all the phone info and said wait 72 hours. Waited the 72 hours, nothing...new phone didn't work, old phone number were gone and so were 1454 minutes.

Called tracfone agian, spoke with a 'supervisor' this time. new phone works, gave me 10 minutes. wait an hour for the balance of your 1454 minutes to appear. Old minutes never appeared. Called a third time, old minutes appeared but then shorted 8 months on the date of service. Called a fourth time (40 minutes on the phone this time) and service date is now correct. Total time on the phone...143 minutes. Yikes!

June of East Hampton, CT March 15, 2010

Purchased new phone from Tracfone on 3/12/2010. They transferred my old number it worked for 1/2 day and no longer am I able to use it. As soon as minutes were added something went wrong. Everything restricted. Spoke to them twice so far same questions and answers. 1st time said 24 hours to resolve now 72 hours.

Have had Tracfone for years but this not acceptable. Told them to reactivate old phone and they said they are unable to do that. Now it has been 4 days and I have to wait another 72 hours? In middle of jobs, use this for contact on resumes. Have young son in school.

evelyn of napa, CA March 14, 2010

In 2009 I bought the tracfone on line It worked well-I got the minutes I wanted. It was easy to talk with a rep. I received a lot of calls from numbers I did not know. They charge for those if you open them. I found out that they recycle the phones and the numbers. When I wanted new minutes I called. got a rep right away and it went smoothly.

As of 6 months ago things began to change. I wanted to buy new minutes and had to wait up to 2 hrs to talk with someone. Then I could not understand their English and the interference was horrid..it came from somewhere around the world. (outsourcing) The reps were always very curteous if one can understand them.

3 months ago I was sent a new sim card with no written instruction. I thought I had to put it into my phone which I did and threw the old one out. (Big mistake) I tried to get the new simcard registered (3-4hrs wait over 3 days) and got hold of someone (very polite again) and was told by the third person that after 24 hrs the simcard would be registered. No luck. The next day came- no luck. Again I tried to phone someone at 11 pm (only 45 min. wait with constant reminders (that your call is very important to us). I gave up.

2 days ago I got a call from the Philipines that I needed my simcard to be registered. That person had ab solutely no idea about my previous debacles. He must have read the email I had sent to tracfone complaining. I told him that I had no time to talk and that they should call back. That of course never happened

it is now 2 days later and I am worn out. The promised new tracfone never arrived. I give up. I am now looking around for a cheap phone because I only need it for emergencies. something must have happened to that company over time-because in the beginning (last year) the service was much better. The physical damage to me was that I got so worn out at times that I started to cry out of frustation

Debra of Jacksonburg, WV March 12, 2010

Tracfone concern: On March 8th, I purchased a 20, 60-minute airtime PIN from a local store, brought it home, tried to add the minutes to my phone, got a message to leave the phone on while the minutes were processed. Looked like processing was taking place, then stopped. No minutes were added. I called Tracfone in an effort to rectify the situation and, after a few minutes, was told the minutes had been applied to the phone.

I said they weren't on my phone, was asked questions: name, date of birth, Tracfone's number and ESN, my home phone number, home address, etc. The rep said the airtime minutes from that airtime PIN went to a phone with a different Tracfone ESN. I asked what I could do to receive my minutes or a refund and was told to take my receipt and airtime PIN slip back to the store for a refund or airtime minutes with another PIN.

I called ahead to the store, explained the situation and my Tracfone rep's instructions, asked if they could take care of the store refund, was told they could, and took my slips back to the store. A clerk called Tracfone, fully explained the situation, and asked for clear directions on how she was supposed to handle the transaction. She was told the airtime had been applied to a phone with a different serial number - she said she understood that - Tracfone's rep told her there could be no customer refund - and added that if the store elected to issue a refund to the customer, their store wouldn't receive credit and be reimbursed for it by Tracfone.

The store manager came to the phone and tried to help, told the Tracfone representative that mine was the third or fourth complaint from customers who'd bought airtime PINs from their store in the past two weeks. She was told the same thing - no credit to the store if they issued a customer refund. I said that was fine, I'd accept the 20 loss and buy another airtime PIN. The manager told the Tracfone rep that she wouldn't sell any more Tracfone airtime PINs at her store - didn't want the customers to run into the same problem and be out even more money - and said she'd contact her corporate office to report the problem.

Still no compensation to me, the customer - which I understood from the store manager's perspective - she had no recourse. With the store manager's utmost apology, I left the store with my receipts, thought over the situation, called Tracfone from home, said that my airtime inadvertently could have been applied to the phone with the other ESN and that the recipient of those minutes could be unaware of how s/he had received them.

I asked if Tracfone could contact the phone customer with the other ESN, explain the error or system glitch, and transfer those 60 minutes to my phone. They couldn't/wouldn't do that. I was transferred to several different people - not because I requested it, though - explained the situation to each Tracfone representative, and was finally told that there would be an ongoing investigation into the problem, was issued a reference number, and was asked to call Tracfone after 24-48 hours for a follow-up on the status of the problem.

As instructed, well after the 48-hour waiting period, I called Tracfone, gave the rep my reference number, gave a full story on the situation, explained that I was told to call back for a follow-up - didn't know why, because I hadn't been promised a refund or added airtime - but that I was doing what I was told to do. Even though I'd explained the situation to that rep, he asked all the pertinent questions again - I answered each one - and he informed me that those airtime PIN minutes were added to a phone with a different ESN - not mine. I told him I'm aware of that. He said he was sorry for the inconvenience and said he'd transfer me to another department where someone else might be able to help.

Another rep, same story. All the reps were extremely polite, and I was, too. It wasn't their fault any more than it was mine, but, after all the same information being given, repeatedly, and after having several deja vu moments, and after being told that those airtime minutes with that PIN had been assigned to a phone with a different ESN from mine, well... Actually, it started to get sort of funny long before that point, but I went along, refused to hang up just because each transfer had prompted no change in the conversation - eventually said I was willing to forego the loss of 20 - that I'd never had a problem with Tracfone in all the years I dealt with them - but the biggest concern I have is that if I buy another airtime PIN

I might run into the same problem and be out a 40 loss. The rep said if I buy another airtime PIN and call them to let them apply the number, there should be no problem, but I didn't feel confident in that response. I haven't made up my mind on whether or not to give it another try - especially after reading the concerns posted on this site.

Linda of Millville, NJ March 10, 2010

I purchased a new phone and attempted to get minutes and the phone number transferred. The experience has been a nightmare, and my new phone still does not have the minutes. After three lengthy phone calls, involving continually repeating the same information over and over, and one hang-up by a service representative, the most they have been able to do is activate the new phone without transferring my old number and without transferring the minutes. Tracfone has been great because I don't make a lot of calls, but this experience has been absolutely horrible.

William of Brownville, ME March 9, 2010

Time ran out on my wife's tracfone as she doesn't use it daily. About 5 days ran by. Got a card and reactivated with a computer assisted call. After 2 hours I called to find out why the phone did not work. I was told there was an error in the PHONE. I was told to wait 48 hours and call back. I did so.

I must relay that each time I call tracfone it is a minimum of one-hour, Waiting, talking, being on hold, being switched around. the being told to call back in 24 and/or 48 hours. This went on from Tuesday to Sunday night. Sunday night I started looking for Tracfone Corporate info. I found phone numbers, fax numbers and the old stand-by 800 number. I typed a letter (on asbestos paper) just kidding. I typed a letter, printed it out and faxed it to Tracfones fax number. Hurray today I got a call from tracfone, said they are working on the problem and will call me tomorrow. Why would I doubt their word?

Pamela of Spokane, WA March 3, 2010

I purchased a Tracfone from their website and they sent me a phone without a SIM card. I could not activate the phone. I spent over 8 hours in two days on the phone with customer service and they could not help me. I was told to call back later. Their call center is located in South America and the people working there do not speak good english. I am stuck with a phone that will not work and I am angry. Tracfone is a horrible company and Americans need to stop giving them our hard earned money!!!

Andrea of Fairfax, VA March 3, 2010

I purchased a tracfone and 60 minute airtime card. I called to activate the 60 minute airtime card and followed the prompts and automated operator. At the end the automated operator said that the minutes were add so I threw away the card. Long story short, no minutes were added to my phone. I called the company and even though I have the receipt for the minutes they show no interest in reviewing the receipt and say they can't help me unless I have the pin code from the card.

But I don't have the card! I have the receipt. In addition, no other minutes have been added to my phone besides the free 10 minutes I recieved with the purchase of the phone so its not liked my receipt can be confused with another purchase of minutes. Poor customer service. I have wasted 20.00, unless Target is good enough to understand my situation and make it right. I am going to try to take the phone back to Target and get my money back for the minutes and for the phone. I'll never use Tracfone ever again.

istvan of redlands, CA March 1, 2010

my experience with tracfone activations and buying minutes until now have been also very bad. very long tiring procedure, international call failed, etc. this time I decided to extend my service for another year - on line. previously i have had bad experience using on online, but not this time! it went through within several minutes and my 2 phones were immediately activated for another year with bonus minutes. i could not believe it!

Mary of SUN CITY, AZ February 28, 2010

Trackfone tried for 3 weeks to transfer my phone number that I have had for 15 years. They were never able to complete this. I am still having a problem getting my number back to my old service. I had approximately 15 phonecalls to them for help. Of which, about 10 were over 1 1/2 hours in lenth. They were not helpful. This has been a nightmare for me. At this age, I didn't need anything to be so frustrating for me.

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