TracFone is reasonably priced for as long as you don't need to use a large volume of minutes. If you start getting to the point where you use more than 500 minutes per month, you will be better off switching to a cheaper prepaid service. TracFone also has a very poor selection of telephones to choose from so if you want to be on the cutting edge of telephones, this is not for you.
If you are just looking for low cost, reliable cell phone service and you don't use heavy minutes, you may be a perfect fit for TracFone.
SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE MOST RECENT REVIEWS
Tracfone brought out Straight Talk a year ago and it's the best unlimited deal on the market! For $45.00 a month you get unlimited calls, texts and web access and you can even have a smart phone if you want one for $79.00 only from Walmart!
ReplyDeleteI don't talk much on my cell phone which is why Tracfone has saved me allot of money by using their cheapest plan $19.99/60min/90 service days. I keep my phone for little emergencies and for the free '911 emergency locate assist' feature that you find on all Tracfones. I believe every person from young to old should have this facility to rely on in times of emergency and it is so easily affordable.
ReplyDeleteI agree Tracfone is the cheapest prepaid phone, BUT, their customer service is not good. Their web-site is non-functioning. You get an Arab if you try to call them and only after a wait of at least 15 minutes. Another 10 to 15 minutes trying to understand them and if you are very lucky you might get somewhere. I have tried emailing them, no response and after 3 days, 2 attempts on their website, 3 phone calls and a couple of wasted hours I was finally able to add minutes to my phone. Do yourself a favor and get a real phone service. It's well worth the money to save your sanity.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. I am now on hold for 50 minutes and while waiting, I can't get into my account on the website even though I have a password! Says I'm non-existent even though I've had this phone for 1 month! My voice hasn't worked since I bought the phone--all I want to do is transfer my account to a new phone--THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING!!!!
DeleteWORST.CUSTOMER.SERVICE.EVER....I am trying to transfer my old phone number back. I have been on the phone with someone for at least 2-3 hours every night last week. The issue is still not resolved. I did get an email response, but the phone representative did nothing with that info. WOW. I really cannot believe they are seriously this bad..
Deletewhen you get older all you really need a phone for is to be reached on by your family and friends, for the odd call and sms and of course for emergencies. the svc phone is under $20 and can cost as little as $7 a month from then on. free incoming texts and 411 calls
ReplyDeleteI really can't think of too many cons for Straight Talk. Although I wish they had an iPhone-ish kind of phone, i know that is asking a lot. It is kind of hard to beat a plan that offers unlimited everything (including internet) for $45 a month. They have a few phones that allow you to use the internet, and I am pretty sure they offer a PDA phone, however, I am not sure off the top of my head. I have the Samsung slider and have used that since i started using straight talk.
ReplyDeletethe tracfone deal that i have heard the most about is the senior value cell phone! it is under $20 for the actual phone and then if you don't need to call/text that much each month it can be as little as &8 a month to top up. no contract involved either so you pay for top up as and when you need it..
ReplyDeleteWe bought our TRACFONE from HSN or QVC or one of the other TV shows. Can't remember which one, but what's the differents their all rip offs. However, It sure sounded good when we purchased it. $100.00 for two phones with 800 minutes good for one year. (not bad). Now this is where they get you. To continue the service you have to buy a card for $100.00 for the year again or you can buy one for $19.99 for 60 minutes. Are they for real!!! (although mind is double minutes, so it would be 120 minutes,wow big deal) and you're forced to use it by 30 days or you lose it. That's like spending $240.00 a year or more.Give me a break!GOOD-BYE TRACFONE!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI am comfortable with tracfone. Before I was on a contract and I found that I was paying for calls that I didn't make and wasting precious money. With Tracfone I am not tied down to any contract and they have a deal of when you purchase minutes you get the same amount free. I use the SVC which costs me $7 a month and I don't think that anyone can beat that. If you have the phone for emergencies as I do I can't think of any better way of doing it
ReplyDeleteI have had various cell phones over the last twenty years and Tracfone is by far the worst deal and the worst customer service I have ever seen. If you have a problem, their call centre is out of India and though they've trained their staff to speak with Southern accents, they forgot to teach them English comprehension. Keep jobs in the US and boycott this company!
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued by the offer so I ordered a $20 TracFone with overnight delivery and 60 minute starter card. The phone arrived as promised, but that was the end of the good deal. Upon activation, I was assigned a number with an area code 250 miles away. If my neighbors want to call,me they must make a long-distance call! But that really doesn't matter, because I get "No Service" at my home location without going across town to the highest hill for reliable service. Both of these situations are allowed under TracFone Terms and Conditions of Service. My Verizon service is perfect. TracFone is a joke, but perfect for pimps and drug dealers. I only wasted $20 for the experiment, I'm sure it cost TracFone much more than that to send me the phone. I will toss the phone, and buy no time. Be a careful consumer!
ReplyDeleteI have had tracfone for a couple of years and have had numerous occasions when there were a couple of glitches in service. Every time I call I have had to sit on the phone for more than 1 hr. and every time they make an error in my plan and I have to renew the entire plan and they cannot get things back to where they should be. Recently there was an error in billing; the person was supposed to have taken care of everything but he left off my husbands phone and I then had to call back and attempt to put my husbands phone back on it but that didn't work, they still have not been able to get us back on the family plan. I telephoned today, was on the phone for 1 hr. ten minutes and eventually had to hang up due to the woman not being able to comprehend what I was saying or because she was trained to not give any satisfaction in service. I give up!
ReplyDeleteI activated a Tracfone 10 weeks after purchase using customer service in Spanish. This required special handling.
ReplyDeleteOn the same day, I received an incoming call from a (786) area code offering me, in Spanish, a free cell phone sent to any address I cared to give them without any identity check whatsoever.
I am done with Tracfone, and I destroyed the phone itself. What you do is your choice.
My wife has used a tracfone for about three years I think. Bought a double minutes for life phone so 365 days of service with a 1000 minutes is $160. Ends up being 2 x 1000 = 2000 minutes which is plenty of minutes. Phone does texting, mail box, caller ID etc. Works out to be about $13.33 a month and I simply don't know why people complain??? Phones come in two versions, any model that ends in a "C" will be on the Verizon network, any others are on ATT or sprint. If Verizon works well where you are use a "C" phone if ATT works better get a non "C" phone which is actually a GSM phone. In our case Verizon is by far the best carrier where I am which does limit the phones you can purchase but I'm not 18 and I don't need all the bells and whistles. My wife's phone worked so well I canceled our land line which was $40 a month and bought a tracfone. For us two tracfones is cheaper than one land line and is much more functional.
ReplyDeleteThere are better phones available lately for the texting crazy crowd and some phones come with triple minutes so heavy users can still get a good deal. If you want to spend $80-100 a month go get an Iphone or what ever. If you want a Porsche buy a Porsche don't buy a Chevy Cruze and complain that a Porsche can blow you off the road.
Pros works well for a phone calls and texting. Cheaper than anything else if you use under maybe 300 minutes a month. You really need to run the numbers.
Cons, the web site doesn't work right I always have to call to add minutes. Really my only complaint but I always have some extra minute code so maybe that's the problem.
Horrible....horrible....horrible...
ReplyDeleteOne customer service rep tells you one thing...
the next tells you another...
and,
you guessed it...the next one adds a third opinion...
Supervisors(STUPIDVISORS) are no better than front line attendants!
All Morons...non can speak a language that is clear...must have said "excuse me" a dozen times...
My advice...stay away
Two tin cans are better.
ReplyDeleteI've had Tracfone for four years. Customer service was always incredibly frustrating. You have to use minutes to call them, are on hold forever, then talk to "Jane", who has an unusual accent for someone named Jane. Charged 84 minutes for a 411 call when stranded in Utah with a flat tire. Ran out of minutes. None of my friends have been able to leave voicemail, despite adding 240 minutes (which lasted less than a week - and I probably was on the phone for less than an hour total). I'm done. Just got my landline today, and GOODBYE TRACFONE!!!
ReplyDeleteA real "Peggy" experience. Long story. If my land line goes dead, we can't even call 911 in an emergency, because our cell phones won't work here. We have to drive half a mile in any direction to get service. A nice young man who works at my cable office said that even though other services will not work at my house, TRACFONE would work anywhere.
ReplyDeleteOK, I got on line,put in my zip code and that sent me to a page of phones to buy. I bought one. It came in the mail...plugged it up and it won't charge. Got back on line and typed in my zip again. THIS time there is a pop-up, plain as day that says Tracfone won't work in my area code. Now I have a new dead phone and no way to even try it! That's NASTY!
I am just a few minutes away from switching to trafone and all these negatives reviews scare the living hell out of me. I currently have straight ttalk but I never use up my minutes in a 30-day cycle. I simply do not jabber like most of you. What should I do now? I want a definitive answer to facilitate a proper decision before it is too late. Thanks humongously!!
ReplyDeleteits not that bad... but if you do switch get an lg 800 or a samsung slide.
DeleteI have been with Tracfone for years. I don't have a complaint. I have saved money and right now I am switching to the LG800 which is real value as you get triple minutes for life with it. Compared to a contract and a lot of other prepaids Tracfone has really worked for me and I have no regrets about switching -
DeleteStraightalk is owned by Tracfone....customer service sucks....you cannot understand them. I have had my phone for a year and a half...no problems til last Oct. 2011 when I renewed my minutes online...they took $140 out of my checking account but did not deliver my minutes....after over 3 hours on the phone with them, filing a dispute with my debit card carrier that cost me an additional $20 and emailing them a copy of my bank statment where they received my money.....I STILL HAVE NOT GOTTEN MY MONEY BACK.....I will march my happy butt down to Walmart and pick up a prepaid card from now on.....that's my only complaint...
ReplyDeleteI got charged even when I didn't make the connection. I totally regret getting tracfone.
ReplyDeleteProbably the most incompetent and ineffective customer service I have ever encountered. Their online service authorized two different credit cards but couldn't complete the purchase - bottom line: no minutes and no credit. Over three hours on the phone with more than six people (half were supervisors) and still no resolution and my credit was tied up for over a week. So I wrote a letter complaining about the incompetence of their telephone customer service reps and they called and left me a message to call them back at the same number I'd called before about the problem. I promised them that if they didn't satisfy my loss of credit and bonus minutes that I would inform the world of what an incompetent, inconsiderate, really stupid company they are - so consider yourself warned, world!
ReplyDeleteI've had a Tracfone for about 3 years. I spend about $100/year for minutes (I got a phone that provides double minutes for life) and it works great for me. I add minutes via the Tracfone website using promo codes I find online; it's always worked for me. I text rarely and don't use my cell phone much (we have Comcast unlimited long distance at home so I use that for most of my calls). I guess most people are the opposite - they use their phone a lot and wish to text. Well, if you're in my category, it beats $50/month for a contract phone. Works for me!
ReplyDeleteIf you need a phone, buy a very cheap one and just get it activated. From your most common area of use, make a few one minute calls, like to your home or the like, to see if you get good reception. I only get one antenna bar at my house so I never use my cell phone at home.
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you ever have to call customer service, you will wish you did not have Tracfone. IT is the worst imaginable; incompetence combined with bad English, and hour-long waits to get someone.
Tracfone was my only cell phone provider for ten years. I let my landline go two years ago, and also now use a
ReplyDeleteStraightTalk phone. Tracfone is the cheapest way to go for low volume cell phone useage. You can often find a one-year card with 400 minutes for $100 or less. I paid $82 for my last one. You can add the DoubleMinute feature to your Tracfone for $7.00-20.00. If added before adding a one-year card, this will allow you to obtain 800 minutes from a one-year card, and if you plan ahead, you can usually find an active Bonus Code that will add 150-250 minutes when you activate the one-year card, for a total of 950-1050 minutes. These airtime minutes only expire when used, as long as you keep your Tracfone active.
Tracfone customer service is very difficult to use. Use a landline when calling them, or just toss the problem phone, and purchase another. When you join Tracfone, it is best to purchase a NEW phone from WalMart or another vendor IN YOUR AREA. Refurbished phones have problems, and if Grandma sends you a new Tracfone for Christmas, you get Grandma's area code for your phone. Purchase the $19.99 card for initial activation in order to make sure that your phone works. If you are satisfied, buy a one-year card and add to your Tracfone. If the new Tracfone does not work to your satisfaction, return to WalMart within their FIFTEEN DAY return window. You will not get a refund on the $19.99 airtime purchase, just the phone cost.
Five years ago, I got Girlfriend a Tracfone for auto emergencies. She keeps a landline, so seldom uses her Tracfone. She has about 4000 minutes accumulated on it. Were she to lose the phone, there would be no recourse with Tracfone. All would be lost. But, for $75-100 per year, the monthly cost is dirt cheap.
Heavier cell phone useage is best handled with StraightTalk or Net10, also American Movil companies, and also impossibly bad customer service. My Tracfone is my permanent "official" phone number for employer and government. I ask my friends and family to call me on my StraightTalk number, using Tracfone only if they are unable to reach me. The biggest downside with StraightTalk is lack of an airtime meter on most of their phones. You have to telephone StraightTalk or go to their website to check your airtime balance.
Tracfone models with a "G" suffix operate off AT&T or T-Mobile towers. Tracfones with "C" suffix are Verizon.
NEVER enroll in Tracfone-Net10-StraightTalk automatic refill programs. They will screw it up, along with your
credit card/bank account. Use refill cards. Porting your old phone number to an American Movil service is hit-or-miss. And, only a FOOL would purchase advertising for his business, using American Movil as a contact number. If your livelihood DEPENDS upon a cell phone number, PAY the price for service with Verizon or AT&T.
BE CAREFUL where you buy airtime. Dishonest Asian vendors will sell you CHEAP airtime purchased using stolen
credit cards. When the chargeback hits Tracfone, Tracfone turns off your phone, permanently! Good Luck with your Tracfone.
This was an epic post. I salute you, Anonymous.
DeleteThe Tracfone Lg800g is a really grand phone except for one factor. The screen is very sensitive and the phone does its own little thing when in my pocket or purse. Someone suggested that if I wanted another option I should go for the LG401 which also comes with triple minutes. Has anyone had any experience?
ReplyDeleteThe 401 is a g8 phone!
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe the bargain of the LG800g.
ReplyDeleteUnlike annscones I don't find this phone too sensitive and considering it cost me less than $50 including the triple minutes for life, I feel as though there is nothing to beat this. Another good option, but it only comes with double minutes is the LG500. This is not a touchscreen and before I got the 800 I was using the 500 and was a very happy chappy. Unfortunately I am not familiar with the 401
So its funny when I hear about other people writing about what prepaid to get. I chose tracfone because I read so many people write horrible things about other ones. In all the time I have been with Tracfone, I don't really have a complaint. Service has been adequate, reception has been good to excellent - I don't get dropped calls, and I have the double minutes on the LG500 which saves me a BUNDLE. I am saving on average 50 dollars a month if i give a LOW estimate.
ReplyDelete