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TracFone - Defective Phone

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

Weldon of San Antonio, TX November 12, 2009

Tracfone is their own worst enemy. In my case the main office failed to send a correcting SIM card that their Belize Customer Service reps promise "has been shipped", three times now. Worse than that, they simply ignore it and wait for me to call and complain again. After much phone-holding the Belize reps apologize profusely and start over to understand, then promise again. They never read whatever ticket number info is there. No matter how long past, they try to put me off by saying "it's an open ticket, someone is working on it". I was a happy Tracfone customer for five years or so, until I updated to a new Moto cell phone. It did not work because the tower system was changed. I've been trying for a month now; many long waits on the telephone; for them to send the SIM they say is necessary. The Belize reps both say and e-mail me these words "A replacement SIM card was sent out to you on this same day...It normally takes 3-5 days to receive your replacement shipment...You may check the status of your ticket anytime by visiting our website". Not so, three times, and the web page ticket status says there is no status, call Tracfone (waste more time). Now I'm waiting again after the fourth Belize promise.

Brenda of kingman, KS November 11, 2009

I have had my tracfone for 3 years with no problems-then suddenly my password does not work-cannot retrieve voicemail messages-and customer service is a nightmare. They do not speak english-I have made 6 calls-45 minutes or more-on hold-and they cannot resolve this issue. tried online support-says to call-cust service. Email support-generic-solutions that do not work if password doesn't. manual w/ phone no help either. suddenly we are locked out of our phones-I have read similar issues on this website-many similar-including disconnected after 45 minutes from 5 different rep who cannot speak english. online tech suport used to be good-now just error-please call-the same 800# sent my 4th email to their tech support this morning.

Sydny of Chandler, AZ October 10, 2009

Purchased Tracfone for my father in 2006 and would purchase one 100 card per year and no problems UNTIL the phone needed to be replaced. Paid for a phone card in January 2009 and had to purchase a new phone April 2009. Had phone number and minutes transferred to new phone. New phone wouldn't make outgoing calls and minutes transferred didn't transfer. Called Tracfone, and after an unreasonably long hold time and another 30 minutes trouble shooting I was told I needed a new SIM card.

New SIM card arrived but I couldn't activate because I needed to purchase an airtime card in order to activate. called Tracfone, and waited about 20 minutes on hold; I finally get a CSR and explained my issue, that I had purchased a 100 card a few months before and won't even use those before they expire, AND the phone problem was *their* issued not mine. I got no where and ended up purchasing a 25 airtime card, this card was supposed to extend my service from January 2010 to June 30, 2010

Phone was working but still did not show my transferred minutes and showed by end of service as August 28, 2009. I called and was assured by the CSR that despite what my phone was reading, my service was good until June 2010. July, unable to make long distance calls. Called Tracfone on several occasion over the next 10 days trying to get issue resolved. Never did and gave up.

August 28, 2009 my phone would make or receive calls! Called Tracfone yet again. Was told phone would be working within the hour--never did get an answer to my question about why this happened and how to keep it from happening again. Four hours later, phone still is not working.

Called yet again. I kid you not; I spent 30 minutes waiting for a representative. Transferred to three different people to try and get phone issued resolved and phone working; was now being told that they (Tracfone) put my phone on the wrong carrier (apparently they use GSM and CDMA carriers) and I need another new SIM card!? Not sure I buy this story. I ask if I am going to be required to purchase yet another airtime card and was told "no", I guess not all I can do is wait. .BTW, I spent an hour and 43 minutes on the phone trying to get this resolved.

During my last phone call to Tracfone I asked for a refund on my minutes since they seemed to be unable to provide the services that I paid for and I have giving them multiple opportunities to correct the problem. They completely ignored my request. Defiantly will not be purchasing any more minutes or using Tracfone once this is over with and will tell anyone who asks to go with another company

Akia of St .Albans, NY October 7, 2009

I ordered a new tracfone and was unable to use it.I asked for my old tacfone number to be transferd to the new phone it was never transferd. Each time that I call tracfone I am put on hold for long peridos of time,when I am, able, to speak to a represenative no one is able to fix the problem.

Katy of roch, NY October 4, 2009

Once upon a time, I had no problems with our trac phones. But now we are talking nightmare city. One phone was defective (sorry-nothing we can do) One phone had a defective battery (sorry). The Web site never works, there is never any response to any complaint except for computer generated generic responses.

Need to add time? At least 3 hours on hold, another hour to enter a number of codes etc. Or you are told that the time will be added "within 72 hours". This has never happened, three more hours on hold. I've tried to add minutes directly to the phone (has never worked) and via the website (also, has never ever worked). Often you are just disconnected when the customer service rep cannot understand or speak english. Disappearing minutes? You bet, from the phone that broke, one week after adding a 60 minute (double min) card.

I've probably lost at least 100.00 via defective phone/defective batteries and lost minutes. Not to mention the frustrating exercise of trying to get relief via customer service, (via phone) or the web site. They claim that the web site is always undergoing "maintenance" Ummmm 20 times? One customer service rep told me that they prefer to add minutes via credit card purchases. Yeah, I'll bet.

Michael of Lake Charles, LA October 4, 2009

My wife purchased a TracFone approximately one month ago, and since she received it she has been unable to place or receive calls with it. We have made several calls to their customer service line, each time spending more than an hour, and they have as yet been unable to resolve the issue. They had told us after two or three calls that the SIM card neded to be replaced. We received the SIM card (later than promised), and it failed to resolve the issue.

Whenever she tries to place a call, she gets a message saying "Emergency Calls Only". Incoming calls go directly to voice mail. Even though they assign a case number for the issue, on subsequent calls they do not seem to have any history on the case. They take us through the same troubleshooting steps that failoed in the past, and when we tell them that we have tried these steps already, they still insist on walking us through the same failed process.

At this time I do not have any confidence that this issue will get resolved. I have a Tracfone that has not experienced any problems, but if we cannot get my wife's issue resolved in the next few days I am going to change to another service after I have used all of the minutes left on the working phone. This issue, if not rersolved, will have cost approximately 75 in sunk cost for equipment and airtime minutes that could not be used. It also caused several hours of wasted time on our part to resolve it.

Bobbie of Edmonton, KY October 3, 2009

Purchased the above on Oct 1 at Walmart; brought it home and 7 tech support people and over 5 1/2 hrs later-returned it to Walmart. Each time I called Tracfone for the "No Network" & "Unavailable service" lines- I spoke to a different person, could not get the same person any time I called. Each person would ask the very same questions: when did the problem start, how many bars are showing, what is the serial number, do you want to add minutes (had already added 60 min),then we would repeatedly go through entering codes, removing/replacing battery, etc. Over 5 1/2 hrs of this! Each person assured me they would get it up and running. Wrong. I was complaining that each time I called we went through the very same things- they said it was "procedure"- well- they should have gone to chapter 2 of the procedure manual because chapter 1 did not work. Never, ever got it to network or work in this area. Did return it to Walmart on Oct 2 for a full refund (phone and minutes) as had not used any minutes since it would not work. If there is someone on your gift list that deserves aggravation/irritation/high blood pressure and loves totally wasting time- then this would be a great gift!Otherwise- not worth the time or trouble. And in all fairness- we do live in a rural area so maybe that had something to do with it, however other cells will work in this area.

Chris of E. Stroudsburg, PA October 2, 2009

My wife's tracfone suddenly stopped working 2 days ago. Air time display shows 86 minutes and service good until Jan 16, 2010. Reps repeat same litany, in garbled English, "Your phone does not work because it is not active". I keep saying, "I know...why??" They don't know, there is nothing they can do. Tonight I spent 80 minutes speaking to a supervisor, Candy, who discovered that, at some point, minutes were transferred from my wife's phone to something called a safelink phone, whatever that is. I told Candy we have made no transfers, the phone display indicated plenty of minutes and airtime. They don't know how to answer that. Candy did say that the ticket attached to the alleged transfer had no name associated with it. Interesting.

So, we have a tracfone with 3 months of service and 80 minutes, but no way to use it and no hopes of geeting satisfaction. Tracfone customer "service" has to be one of the biggest jokes I have ever encountered.

Chuck of Westcliffe, CO October 2, 2009

For six years, or more, I've been a faithful Tracfone customer, simply because Tracfone took me everywhere in my town. People would look at me in amazement when my cell phone rang, and ask "whose your provider?" I would sing praises to tracfone and swear by it.

From before August 2, 2009 the old tracfone broke. The warrentee was outdated by now. I called Tracfone sales, purchased a new phone that's built for my area, and paid for it with a credit card. There was no problem in the sales department, nor in the delivery of the new phone, however, programming the new phone became a whole new chapter. I spent countess hours tying up my landline in one setting with Tracfone technicians trying to transfer the old number and accumulated service date to the new phone. No signal. It couldn't be done.

They sent me another new phone. More hours with them. No signal. Couldn't be done. New cellphone sent. More hours. Phone number and service date 04-05-2022 eventually transferred. No signal. The technician thinks it's not the phone after all, but cannot fix the coverage even though this is "a strong coverage area." Days and hours later, no more could be done, and I had to live with lousy reception whether I liked it or not..

I complained to the Better Business Bureau. Somebody by the name of Fred P. answered the complaint and told the BBB There was a call placed to my phone and that I answered which is absolutely untrue. I never made a connection from anyone at Tracfone. Trying to adapt to my new Tracfone system, which included failed messages, dropped calls and not being able to make or recieve calls, I recently I made a purchase for 90 (not including the double minutes) of airtime online on 09-26-09. The minutes would not transfer.

Once again I called tracfone. Once again more hours. I went to another town. Called Tracfone. Four more hours. No time was added. The technician added 500 minutes to the account for my inconvenience, but it wouldn't be added until I get a new phone. On 09-27-09 called Tracfone again. The technician tried to "fix" the phone again, but instead, deactivated the phone, and said I need another new phone. The new (180) minutes were dropped

09-28-09. We (The technician and I) found the number has been suspended, and is an un-available number for programming and there are no other numbers available, and voicemail will still be in-accessable. In attempt to restore the number the tech removed 183 minutes, and service date. They were really sorry that I've paid the money and nothing delivered, but everything will be restored when the new phone comes; However, my situation dictates that I have at least voicemail accessibility now, and it should be no extra effort for Tracfone to carry through with that, given the advertising.

Frustrated. No voice mail, the technicians are hanging up on me, and no way for me to be contacted for business, but Tracfone is quick to enjoying the money I paid. on 09-30-09 I recieved the new phone #. I called Tracfone at 7:am the tech programmed it, and said to wait an hour. An hour came and went. Nothing. I called back. Same response. I call back a third time. The technician gave me the 500 minutes, but refuses to give mee the 180 minutes that I purchased because there was already 500 minutes and I didn't need anymore.

Wait another hour. Called back, I now need another new phone, but I also have 3-5 days to make sure my programming is in place. Incidentally The Cell phone number they programmed manually in my unit is (719) 557-0791 a long distance number. They couldn't keep the number I had for six years.

Today, after six years plus, I'm without service, voice mail, I'm not being heard, and I don't believe everything is being done to make that happen, rather I'm being bounced from technician to technician waiting four hours here or 48 hours there. One technician told me the corporate would call, but somehow, given the circumstances, I doubt that will happen.They continue to advertise simple coverage in my area.

I own a service business and cannot be without a cell phone, which why I made the purchase in the first place. I've lost business, and have had to take extra measures to set up my landline to accept voicemail. I've put in many hours tying up my landline on the phone with technicians. My time is very valuable. The saga continues today....

LeAnn of Franklin, TN September 21, 2009

Bought defective phone. Returned defective phone in June (on their dime, after a big harangue). Still don't have a refund. They are now telling me the serial number belongs to someone else (basically accusing me of stealing the phone?!) and they are closing the case. Customer reps don't speak good English and you have to repeat things over and over and over ... they still get it wrong. Worst company I have ever dealt with. Ever.

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