TracFone - Network Problems

My husband and I both have TracFones that we purchased several years ago. Bars are on the phone indicating service, but when attempting to call, we get a "no service" message. We have had trouble with this at certain places such as at Lowe's on Bellflower in Long Beach, LAX Airport in the United Airlines terminals and on the UAL planes while waiting to take off or deplane.

After 2 sentences spoken, my phone gets silent. I can't hear my voice mail. My mothers' phone and my boyfriend's are doing the same. Calls drop on their own, and I'm very frustrated.

No services - My phone has been out of service for the last 2 days. I cannot get my text or to see who called me. I know I have minutes on my phone.

This is a complaint of dropped calls and no bars, and after hours of email and on the phone with them, their resolution was, "We don't guarantee coverage even in our coverage area."

I tried to get my number and minutes transferred form one TracFone to another new TracFone . After being on the phone for about 40 minutes, I was told that I could only transfer 418 minutes of the 810 minutes on my phone. He kept telling me that I had transferred before. This old phone is the only Tracfone I have ever had. I intend to use up all these minutes and have the phone turned off. I see how they make their money. You buy the minutes then when you buy a new phone they keep half the minutes you have already bought. The old phone is not like the new one. You don't get double minutes; you only get what you paid for. So I think they should transfer all the minutes.

I hate giving Tracfone even a one star rating. If I could give them a negative 9000 rating I most certainly would. My favorite part about the whole Tracfone scam is that even when your texts don't go through, it still subtracts all of the appropriate minutes which is just lovely when you're sending a two or three page text, let me tell you. 0.3 minutes is subtracted per SMS page sent. It's just great when you finish typing a three page long text and go to send it, it tells you that it was unable to be sent. Only to return to the main screen to see that the ****heads still stole 0.9 of your minutes from you.

Wow! It's also great when you go to open an image that has been sent to you, let me tell you. It subtracts 1.00 from your total minutes and if you're super lucky like myself, your phone will tell you that the media is too large and the message containing the picture will just automatically delete itself and bring you back to the main screen where upon returning, once again, you see that 1.00 of your minutes have still been jacked from you and you didn't even get to see the picture that was sent to you!

This is my third TracFone and I am getting more problems the longer I have them. It does not have any coverage and the phone quit working. I had to buy a new one and I had even more problems with it. They charge you per minute whenever you call the tech support and they leave you on hold for 45 minutes. If you buy a double minute card, it's only good for that phone and you will be buying more phones. It's all a scam.

A year ago, I bought a "TracFone" and a card to activate it. I had trouble getting a "signal" in our suburb and at the lake house (none there). When I did get a signal, it would sometimes disappear! My wife left a message that was not understandable by the receiver! When I called customer service, I was told that I needed to buy another card (at another $20!), activate the phone again and call them back! I told them I'd call the Better Business Bureau instead!

I bought a TracFone that was supposed to work in my area, but it did not. When I asked for my money, they said that they would replace it with the exact same program. After spending hours on the phone with TracFone, they replaced it but not with the same program. I am still waiting for my money and I had to pay the return shipping. I accidentally hit one star but I do not prefer to rate TracFone any stars. They are a bad company to do business with.

After seeing mostly bad experiences here, and only one good review, I thought it would be fair to relate my overall good experience with Tracfone. I have had one for several years, and renew it one year at a time. There has never been a problem and two years ago we purchased one for my mother, too. She also had no problems. On the other hand, I have never tried to transfer the number to another phone or had to deal with customer service, which seems to be the source of most complaints. I don't use the phone a lot (and my mother uses it even less), which is why we went with Tracfone, which can be renewed for $80 to $100 a year if you don't use more than a minute or two a day. For the price, it has been a very good service for us. My one complaint is that when you turn the phone on, sometimes it doesn't find a signal right away. First it says "No Service", then sometimes "Emergency Only", but usually within a minute or two it finds a signal and is ready to go (I'm guessing that Tracfone buys their cell service from another provider, and perhaps they don't have top priority.). This can be mildly annoying if you're in a hurry, but compared to a much more expensive full-service plan, it's a minor inconvenience.

I have been having trouble with both of my TracFones for over a month. I can't make a phone call from my own driveway. I have full signal bars but keep getting failed calls. I can travel 1 mile from my house and make a call, sometimes! I have talked to numerous people at TracFone about this problem. The last phone conversation I had with TracFone lasted one hour and a half with the person telling me to call back on Tuesday, Sept. 13 and they would replace my phone. Of course when I called on the 13th, no one had any record of the conversation and we started back at square one trying to resolve the problem. I have made a total of five phone calls and I still have a phone that only works sporadically. The issue still remains unresolved.

My first TracFone is great. But I got one for my handicapped son yesterday. I had it activated yesterday and got our minutes. But my son can only call out 50% of the time and receive call 50% of the time. Every so often, instead of TracFone over the min., he gets "no service". And often, when trying to call, it says network not working. My phone works fine . Now, I just sat for 1 hour and 15 minutes holding for a service person to talk to. I was told that it would be 15 minutes. I'm tired and he is upset. What is going on? I have been pleased with TracFone until now. Please help us.

I purchased a new phone on 1/22/11 and had my number and minutes transferred to the new phone that night. After using the new phone, I noticed it was charging me for text messages but not sending them out. Also, it was charging an additional minute to open picture messages and sending me multiple blank text messages.

I contacted customer service to transfer my number and minutes back to my old phone. I was told by a supervisor that when they transferred everything to the new phone, they deactivated the SIM card and had to send me a new one. I was told that when I received and installed the SIM card, all I had to do was call them back and they would transfer everything to my old phone. When I contacted them on 01/29/11, I was told that I would have to buy an airtime card and add it to my old phone before they could transfer everything back to my old phone. I told the guy that I did not want to do that and wanted my money back for both phones and all the minutes. He told me that he could do that but than just sat on the other line, not saying anything or processing the refund.

I emailed customer service on 01/29/11, telling them I wanted my refund. I received a call on 1/30/11 and was told the same thing about adding minutes to my old phone. I explained what the supervisor told me but they wouldn't listen. I then told them I wanted my refund and was told that I could get one but she refused to issue me one.

I am disabled in a wheel chair with broken spine (fireman). I have used a Tracfone for the last 2 years and suddenly the entire system does not work, yet, they allow you or even tell you to buy time and then the SIM card that they send does not work. Every time you try to get a dial tone, it fails but still eats up your money (time) (97.44) minutes. Can you do something about these people? Consequence is $80.00 in time card gone, and now I have missed my Sitrin appointment for a new wheel chair and my chair here is broken. I am stuck here. I have to reset my next doctor's appointment for medication blood work, which affects the next prescription given by law! I now have to find a new wheel chair company, and as for online is concerned, I cannot find the one I need to contact.

Called back and was told the same ticket # and to call back again in 4 hours. Then I was on the phone for about an hour and a half, and after constant repeating of questions, answers, put on hold, I was told to call my friends and have them call their cellphone carrier to update their info! Tracfone said it was not their problem.

Obviously SD ** had owned the phone, SIM card, voicemail before me! I even said when I called my own home number, which my carrier knows the updated info, that it still showed the wrong name on the cells out going caller id. Tracfone did not offer a new phone or SIM card. I told them I would no longer be a customer and hung up. I will be returning the phone for a refund. The tech dept. was lousy! Do not purchase!

Tracfone service reps make us sick. Here are all our bad luck with Tracfone:

Tracfone shipped us the order without its accessory kit. We reported the problem after we found that no accessory kit included. At first, they won't able to credit the cost or to ship the kit until we decided to cancel the whole order. After forwarded to another line, we waited half hour. Then he said they can re-ship the kit if we keep the order. But we need to talk to another dept to deal with it. So we waited for another half hour to get the thing settled. It took us more than 2 hours to solve the issue.

The phones was purchased for my boys at school as required for emergency use. Immediately after we activated the phones, we found they experienced bad receptions, due to the school's location in the mountain. I called in and the Tracfone service nailed down the problem on the network carrier after more than half hour trouble shootings. They said to send us a new AT$T SIM to replace the T-mobile SIM card. We would receive it within 5 days. It took us one and hour hour to get the promise.

After waiting for 2 weeks with no replacement arrived, we called in and asked where the AT&T SIMs are. Then, they told us they never sent out the replace, because the data from the last time trouble shootings was not adequate to support for the replacement. They need to run the test again. They refused to send out the replacement without a new test. What a bad service!

I purchased LG290C TracFone for internet service and camera, only one available in my area. Anyway was unable to access the internet so I called and all technicians were not of English descent and was very hard to understand. Waited and waited for him to check with supervisor only to find out I was transferred to another person requesting all the same information over again. In conclusion they advertise internet access but I cannot access it as it is not available in my area. This is false advertisement!

I had purchased a TracFone for personal use, including international calls. It so happened that I am not able to make calls to Guatemala because there is no service according to them, something that didn't say so in the package. It seems to be a misleading to the consumers. I try to get my money back but it is no returns on the purchase. In other words, the phone is useless for what I paid.

I have had a TracFone for 3 or 4 years, with no complaints until this summer. We purchased it at Radio Shack and have always had good service from them. However, while traveling in Canada this July, we suddenly found out that we no longer had any service in Canada. This happened without our knowledge, and we had always had coverage there before.

The associate at Radio Shack told us that TracFone is discontinuing all its coverage in Canada. This is unacceptable to us, as we travel frequently in the Canadian provinces which are so close to our state of Maine. What is the reason for this?

Also, it is a pain in the neck to have to buy more minutes than we will ever use, even buying the minimum possible. There needs to be a plan for older users like us who use cell phones mainly for emergencies and when traveling.

While I'm on Ft Leonardwood I have service, but as soon as I leave the back gate (south gate) I have no service. I live 20 miles outside the back gate and I don't get any service at my house. I will not buy minutes if I can't use my phone at my house. I like how the Tracfone is supposed to be working all across the United States, but it doesn't. When my Sprint phone got shut off and when my house phone got shut off, guess what? Nobody could reach me. I am on active duty in the US Army and it is really important that I have a phone so they can reach me.

My husband and I both bought the $10 phones with the double minutes automatically added. We bought them as I was leaving to visit my daughter out of state. I registered my phone to an Ohio number. My husband we left in a MN number. What a total nightmare. My phone still says I'm roaming. My husband cannot get any reception on his phone. He also tried to put 60 minutes on his phone (which would have doubled to 120 automatically), it didn't work. He called and spent 3 hours trying to get his minutes. The representative told him he could only allow 60 min to be put on the phone. I am still trying to resolve this issue with them. I can only say Good Luck to anyone with dealing with this company. We lost $50+ dollars on this phone. Not to mention the time we spent speaking with unqualified reps.

I have had a Tracfone phone for a couple of months. When I needed to use it, it was out of service. When I called Tracfone, they said I transferred the number, which I didn't. The second time they had no explanation what happened. This last time, They said my credit card wasn't accepted and I owed 42 some dollars. What a ripoff. Warning to any new customers. This company is bad business.

This not a complaint per se. TracFone is a company that does provide a valuable service. However, it does take some serious time and patience to receive the advertised service. There is no doubt that there is an issue that has to be addressed within the company. With that said, however, they do eventually deliver exactly what is promised. For those with little patience, back off, lighten up. Be patient and work with reps, they will come through.

I told TracFone that I was leaving their service because they were able to charge me every month for service but would not give me my minutes automatically. I would have to make a half-hour call every month to get my minutes. I then tried to have my number ported to my new carrier. When the number didn't port, I called the new carrier to find out what was happening and I was told that TracFone waited to respond to their request (five days) until after my contract had expired.

Then, I was told by my new carrier that my number could not be ported unless I activated my account with TracFone again. I have had my number for more than 14 years. I know it's not a big deal to most people (getting a new number) but it's just the principal of the thing. What TracFone did was wrong and they know that they can get away with it without any consequences. I am just sick of getting treated like I'm nothing.

I've been using a TracFone for several months now to skimp on money. My work hours were cut and so I had to scale back to a prepaid cell phone. So far, the TracFone, which I bought at a dollar store for $9.99 with its own carrying case, ear piece and car charger has been a lifesaver. For $20, I can get 60 minutes of talk and it covers my basic phone call needs. If it weren't for the TracFone, I couldn't afford a phone at all. I'm glad I found it and that it doesn't tie me down to a contract so I don't have to feel obligated to pay for it when I just can't spare to do so.

I have been unable to use my TracFone for about a month now because it keeps saying "roaming" when I'm in my own area code. I also get messages when I try to call that I have reached the "American Roaming Network" and that I need to provide a credit card and PIN number or call collect. I already paid for TracFone minutes and now, some other company wants to charge me to make a call. I have contacted TracFone support 5 times (somewhere in the Philippines or India) and they read me the same scripts to try to fix the problem. Every code they give me to reactivate my phone or change my phone number never worked. I now have 324 units on my phone and can't use them. I can't believe that Walmart would have exclusive deals with TracFone and even advertise their products. I am now waiting for 30 minutes to yet punch in another code to reactivate my TracFone. This is after a one hour phone call to TracFone's customer support. Wish me luck.

I leave in the country with no other service. I told them that I could not make or receive phone calls and not receive or send texts. She said to cut the phone off and see what happens. I told her that I did that numerous times. It took 20 minutes to make one phone call, then I could not make any more calls. She asked how many bars did I have. I said 4. She said that I would have to call her from another line for her to try and fix the phone. I stated that I have no other service and I live eight miles out of town.

She stated, "Is there a pay phone nearby?" I said, "Ma'am, I live in the country, pay phones are almost extinct." I told her that I only had the service for three days. I said, "If you can't help me, may I speak with a supervisor?" She said that the supervisor is on break. I asked, "When can I call back to speak with the supervisor?" She stated that I can't give out that information. I said, "Can someone walk me through your Web site?" She said, "No, we don't have that service." Well, I got tired and just left. I am going back to the service I had and pay $6 more per month.

Someone else was getting my voice mails and I was getting harassing text messages. When Karen could not resolve the problem, I asked her to change my telephone number. When she changed my telephone number, she changed my IMEI number. She added an extra digit to the back of the number. I believe that she has created two records for this number which means that someone else has my real IMEI number and my real telephone number. This, I believe, is called identity theft perpetuated by a Tracfone employee. I am having a real problem with identity theft here in this county.

It has lousy network connections, and no service, always searching for signal. Emergency only appears all the time now.

I needed to use my phone but had to shut off at Dallas Airport and when I turned it back on at Springfield Airport to make a call the phone reads "No Service." It has been 24 hours and still no service. I have not made any changes and my air time is up to date. What is the problem?

I purchased the phone and had it set up at WalMart with minutes and was told to wait for 48 hours before it could be used to call any International Number. We followed this protocol and could not successfully reach a Canadian number as per their instructions.

After two or three phone calls to Tracfone, to set this service up, I was told that the service was not available in Ontario, Canada. (the most populated Province in Canada and the home of our nations Capital City, Ottawa).
To be frank, I do not believe that Tracfone should be allowed to be providing Infomercials on TV that are clearly not stating the true facts about their product. After reading some of the complaints about Tracfone, I strongly suspect, I possess a very useless product, which may not even be usable in the USA.

The monetary consideration here is not of the same importance as the principle of "False Advertising" and I would welcome some action to eliminate or at least curtail this practice.

i just want my tracfone to work in my zip code area (83540)

I have had multiple problemss with my tracphone from not being able to get online to not having pre-paid airtime added. I expect remedy and satisfaction.

For 9 days have tried to use tracfon and the american roaming network is the only call allowed to be made. There is no help choice or avenues to persue, to correct the problem. We are not landline capable, this is our only form of phone, We have to drive to purchase phone minutes out in the weather to call Everyone to conduct business, all business, We are on a limited income and this is annoying

I lost my Sprint phone. I normally use this as my primary cell phone. When I was pregnant I picked up a tracfone to use as a backup, as sometimes my Sprint phone would have battery issues. I used up my first cycle of minutes on the tracfone and let it deactivate as I no longer needed it. As I previously stated, I lost my Sprint phone last week. No big deal, I thought. I will just purchase some minutes and use my backup Tracfone. I called customer service and I was told my SIM card had expired and would no longer work in my calling area. Also, it would take a week to get a new card. I asked Rachel the customer service agent, just basic questions regarding this, she could not answer anything. She tried everything she could to get me off the phone. She would not let me speak to her supervisor. I would not recommend Tracfone to anyone. Please buy something else.

My phone service was cut off last week because according to the company "rules and regulations" the country I was caliing was not on their approved list.Plus I was paying too little for the service.This is my phone and I pay for the minutes i use so what does it matter to them how much money I pay?To add further insult to injury over 300 minutes of time purchased would not be given back to me.This was a family emergency-my father was ill and my parents needed a way to contact me and I them.Melissa refused to turn my phone back with the same rules and regulation rigmarole.I told them I have used tracfone for many years and would do all in my power to prevent my family and friends from purchasing their product.Heaven forbid they have a family emergency!

I attempted to upgrade my phone and I discovered after a few days that I couldn't get incoming calls. I can call out just fine, but my incoming calls go into a voicemail that I cannot access. I have spoken to at least 6 people using their customer service line. Like others here, I've been told several times that the problem would clear up in 24 hours. It never happened. Finally, I filed a complaint with the Georgia Public Service Commission, and I got my first return call from them, telling me they'd fix everything. They were supposed to call back two days later and I never heard from them again. Their people are always polite, but this is just an endless runaround. Now, they're not just jerking me around, they're also jerking the Public Service Commission.

So the next night I call. Same thing. After about 65 minutes "No one is answering the phone tonight. Please call tomorrow." Same thing the next night, and the next night.

I sent an email to their customer service dept. and got a computer response. "We are so sorry you are having problems. Please call this number to get it fixed." Well, it's the same number.

I sent a rather heated email to TracFone stating everything in detail, and got the same email "We are so sorry . . ." So I sent a third email and basically wrote "Happy Birthday to you, etc." You guessed it; I got a response saying "We are so sorry . . ."

So, I feel TracFone has grown to big for it's own britches, and needs to be brought back down. I am helping do so by not purchasing any more time. I plan to do some shopping at WalMart and switch to a competitor.

TracFone is no longer a quality business. It has joined the thousands of other businesses who are going downhill quickly.

I will not only NOT recommend TracFone to anyone, I will be sure to tell all my friends how horrible they are.

We have had a trac-phone for 2 years and I use to recommend it to people who only needed phones for traveling and emergencies. Not anymore. Recently our phone went to roaming and wouldn't let us make calls with 1331 minutes and a new 1 year fee. When we called the company they said we needed a new phone because we didn't purchase a 3 year warranty. What!

So we go purchase a new phone the next day, and while transferring minutes, they claimed we only had 1050 left. What!

Okay now we get a supervisor on the line and he is trying to tell me that is all we had. I have no proof. Then I get angry but politely say how can we have lost 280 minutes, and I tell him to listen to there recording because this is theft on their part. After being on hold several times, guess what he says it was a communication problem and gave us our minutes back. But now when I made a local call for 10 seconds to see if the phone worked, 2 minutes were gone.

I am using up my minutes and will tell everyone how bad Trac phones are.

Tracfone claims to be the best pay-as-you-go cellphone provider. However, they don't tell you that airtime is used up for unsent messages or calls due to loss of signal. I had purchased a few phones from this company. The most recent was a TracFone with a camera in Dec 2008. My previous phone was a cheap basic phone that I could use anywhere without any problem. I decided to upgrade to a camera phone for personal reasons. Since I have had the phone, I have lost over 400 minutes due to dropped calls or unsent messages due to loss of signal within minutes of sending messages or making calls. I have also had problems with sending pictures from my phone even when I have a signal. TracFone is a joke. I would not recommend these phones to anybody I know. Buying this new phone was a mistake I now regret making.

My LG 230 TracFone was destroyed and I purchased a new TracFone over the internet, an LG 600. It was an absolute nightmare and "daymare". I spoke with rep #1 who told me it would take 5 min. to activate, transfer my old # and my minutes. Then, rep #2 told me it would take 72 hours. Nothing happened. I emailed them for no response. Rep #3, finally after a zillion codes later, activated it to find it doesn't even work in the area we live in. Go figure! TracFone has seen the last of me and we went to a landline. Poor, poor, poor. It is a shame for people to be able to stay in business who have no pride in their job!

I have had the Motorola phone from 2004 it has bin a good phone and I always had 100 miles befor it went roaming worked good I got a new one year time card and tryed to put the # in and my phone locked up I went to Radio shack and they said your phone is to old you would have to call in to have the # put in I ask about a new phone they said this one would work in its place so I got it had everything trasfred to it and got home 13 miles from town it don't work not even a bar

I call and tracfone says we need to send you a new sim card so ok I wait for that and put it in spend several more hours on the phone and they say you have to wait a day ot 2 for things to work well after waiting I call back the new phone will not work so I try and get my old phone back in to play. I can not tell you how many houres and times I called it is more than I have fingers and on my feet. I do have my old phone working again the V60 with my old phone # but I have lost my 100 mile roaming it goes roaming 2 miles from town. And I have as of yet to call trackfone back to try and get like 30 min back for test calls. I just wish I could have talked to a person that was from this side of the world .

I lost a lot of sleep over this losing everything in the phone that I got when I got it. I am at a loss I do not know

My daughter purchased a tracfone to use to text message her friends. She purchased a model that was advertised as a model that would work in my area. Sadly, the phone was not equipped with the proper technology to work with the cell tower in our town. To date we have spent at least 10-12 hours on the phone with tech support...possibly even more hours. I was told several times that I needed a replacement phone and that I would be contacted withing 24-48 hours to confirm shipping information and be provided with a ticket number.

After not receiving the confirmation call I was forced to call back, only to be told that I needed to go through the troubleshooting process again. This happened several times! When I finally was able to get an agent to provide me with a ticket number for a replacement phone, they sent me the EXACT SAME MODEL PHONE that does not have the proper technology for my area! I'm beyond frustrated with this phone. The sad part is this: the phone was purchased by my 14 year old daughter with her own money and this company has taken her money and not delivered the service that she paid for.

The phone plus airtime card cost approximately $55. The 10-12+ hours we've spent on the phone trying to fix it...priceless. Those are hours that should have been spent with my 5 children.

I,m on my 3rd fone since Oct.The phones were Motorola, I was told by a rep they didn't work in my area.They were to send a different brand. Well today a Motorola showed up,another reconditioned one!Wouldn't activate, put bunches of codes in.Finally my minutes showed up,but lo & behold no service! Restriction-34, just like the other2.Theylady I talked to hung up on me.I,m disabled & was stranded on the road,had to finally walk for help!

I have lung problems & the walk sure didn't help! I,d just gotten out of the hospital for this problem when I was stranded.

I was given a Tracfone for a valentine gift. I constantly get wrong numbers 5 to 10 times a day. Bausch & Laum, a lense company has the same number with a different area code but people don't always use the area code. Yet I get people calling for other companies also.

It is a hassle just to own one of these phones unless you know every persons phone number that you ever associated with.

My wife, Karen, wrote in November 2008 about receiving spam text messages on her Tracfone, apparently from Tracfone, trying to sell Tracfone promotions. I, too, receive these Tracfone messages. She has quit using their service, and when my minutes run out, I will too. Until Tracfone's business declines, nothing will be done by them. I encourage everyone to visit as many complaint websites as possible and also spread the word about the Tracfone's poor business practice. If anyone hears of a group lawsuit against Tracfone, please write and let us all know--we will join.

Be extremely cautious of purchasing a Tracfone from the Tracfone web site. The phones listed based on the zip code question they ask often will not work for your area. I spent more than 10 hours on the phone with customer support over 10 days to find out the phone I purchased will not accept a local phone number due to the technology of the phone not supported by the service providers in our 608 area code whom Tracfone contracts with.

The web site is a classic Bait and Switch. They offer you a wonderful phone with lots of cool features at a price you can not turn down. Only to find out after you order the phone and waste countless hours of your life on the phone with non-English speaking service reps, that the phone will not work in your area. Then to complete the classic Bait and Switch, they offer to replace the useless cool phone you have just purchased with a lesser phone with very few features. then to add insult to injury, if you choose not to accept their replacement phone, you have to pay return shipping.

This classic Bait and Switch' should really be looked into by someone. The end result is I've wasted over 10 hours of my life struggling on the phone with services reps who either could not understand me, or me understand them. I put my credit card out on the web for potential loss to identify thieves and now have to pay an additional $5.65 for shipping and handling to get my money back.

We have no cell service. Walmart says that this area is serviced by tracfone. It is not. Time warner phone has problems. We are in our late 70's and need a phone service that is totaly reliable. How soon can we expect tracfone to operate in this area

My wife's TracFone becomes inoperative when outside our local area. Messages include Unregistered SIM, No Service, Emergency Use Only. I have made calls, emails, and service ticket entries. Usually the response is wait 24 hours. Regardless of the methods the phone dooes not begin working until she returns home.

Recently upon return from the last trip the voice mail no longer responds to the security code. Technical Support supposedly reset the code to the default but that code does not work either. The experience has convinced us to not continue the service. It is a nice idea but the reliability is not acceptable. As a service for people traveling and needing a method of contacting family it is not dependable.

I have had my Tracfone cell for 5 years. Always I have been able to use it in Victoria & Vancouver B.C. Now when my car broke down & I needed to use it in Victoria to get assistance, also when at Tswassen Ferry terminal to call my daughter to let her know what ferry I would be on I get the message NO SERVICE

I have been told that I am NO longer able to use the phone in Canada. There has never been any warning that in future This service would not be available. If, I am no longer able to use it I want a refund for the 916.9 units available. The idea that ALL of a sudden I cannot use the phone makes it absolutely useless.

after several years of "dealing" with tracfone scams, the latest scam tested my patience; thus cancelling service. for several months,myself and other tracfone subscribers are unable to receive phone calls. Message: mailbox full. yea, mailbox is full of unsolicited tracfone text messages, costing me minutes to delete, and of course, I am unable to receive phone calls. Kiss these bums goodbye. Investing in a cell phone plan that allows me the opportunity to redress my grievances. Apparently, the corporate owners of tracfone are "friendly" with U.S. government agencies whose job is to protect the consumer. Thousands of complaints over the years, and tracfone is still in business. Why is that?

I just want to say that I have used Tracfone for several years without a problem. I have had to call once or twice for issues and they have treated me well, and have immediatly acted on my concerns. They were very helpful to me in learning how to use a cell phone and even though my old phone is totally outdated and huge, I keep it because I like Tracfone.

Three years ago, I gave up on my TracFone because the Cingular network they assigned was worthless where I live. Recently, hoping that things had changed, I e-mailed TracFone and asked whether I could get the Verizon network (the only one that works reasonably well here). After two irrelevant replies, I finally was assured that Verizon was the network for my area code. When I tried to reactivate the old phone, I discovered in a very lengthy, broken-English phone call, that it would no longer work, but that TracFone would send me a new, $15 Motorola to replace my old $49 Nokia. When the new phone arrived, I discovered (a) that its battery would not take a charge and (b), after another hours conversation, that my network would be Cingular! I decided to give TracFone one more chance. They are sending me a replacement phone and I will try to get them to honor their assurance that I can have Verizon. Truthfully, I am not holding much hope.

Consequence: a waste of this writer's valuable time.

After purchasing a new Air Time Card, I was informed that I needed a free upgrade on my TracFone. All was well until I went outside my local calling area. On a trip to NC, I tried to use my phone only to receive No Service messages on my screen. When I called TracFone to ask why, I was told that I did not have the right technology. I could wait for a new SIM card, wait for the area network to be changed, or upgrade my technology. There were no other alternatives available. All of this might have been OK, except I speaking to TracFone on my husband's TracFone that was working perfectly well.

The damages are personal inconvenience. I cannot retrieve voicemail, make or receive calls if I'm in other parts of the country. I as essentially without cell service except in my home area.

I have a Tracfone and I am getting nowhere with them. I received a ticket on 1/17/08 for talking on my Tracfone, which I was not doing and I need proof from Tracfone before my court date on 1/30/08. I need my dialed out numbers from date1/17/08 between the morning hours 10:30-11:00 am. They tell me I HAVE TO WAIT 30 DAYS and IT'S TO LATE. What horrible service, I will never recommend this service to anyone.

My Tracfone one day all of a sudden when I called said Welcome to Verizon Wireless, please hold while your call is transferred to an external operator. I quit using the phone, it still has the airtime good till 2009, and still has units on it. I decided tonight to test something, and I called my Tracfone phone number from another phone. Someone answered that has a Verizon Wireless phone, it appears to me that Tracfone has given my phone number to Verizon Wireless somehow. This phone was being used as a temporary business phone, and was going to be used again for the same purpose, so Tracfone has cost me business and alot of money.

I have been a customer since 2004. In October 2007, I received notice that due to upgrade in the company's technology, my old phone was to be disconnected. They sent a new phone. I have called their customer service line 1-800-867-7183, got the press a number for this or that, and always get the run-around to different employees speaking broken English. I had over 1200 minutes balance on the old phone but cannot call the new phone. It says 10 units airtime. A call from a landline gets the message that the number you dialed is not a working number. I have been passed around, on at least FIVE (5) calls, to different people with poor English, and have had to repeat things such as serial number, SIM#, IMEI#, my name, landline phone #, zip code, over and over. The last employee I talked to, Duma in Bogota, Columbia, kept asking me the same questions because my system is falling down. Her only solution was to give me a different case number so I can call back and talk to someone else. Yeah, and get the run-around from others equally deficient in English skills. Their lack of service amounts to consumer fraud.

I have spent at least 3 hours trying to communicate with these people and get the phone activated. I am a health care professional. My time is worth $90.00 per hour, but the frustration and stress cannot be quantified, not to mention the lack of emergency phone service.

I was informed by email that my Tracfone would not work anymore unless I upgraded to a new one; they were upgrading to new technology in my area. I did and was sent a new phone that I had to transfer all my units and number. It works to call out, but I cannot receive calls. After three attempts to correct the problem via the 800 number I still cannot receive phone calls. They gave me a ticket number and told me to call back in 24 hours. I did this three times. It still does not work, and I am frustrated because they want to do this to my husband's Tracfone, also.

I might have to buy a new phone and lose all my units and time on the Tracfone that I bought, with same problem to my husband's.

Tracfone basically has No customer phone service. I have called several times seeking assistance with a value plan problem and am always put on hold.

Their computer isn't working or I need to be transferred to another department and then the transfer never happens, I'm just disconnected.

Twice within the past 45 days my Tracfone with a 1 year prepaid card has become disconnected from the tracfone network and would not complete calls even though several months and over 500 minutes of airtime remained. Each time it took over one half hour on my landline with Tracfone technicians to resolve the problem. Neither of the collection of technicians could give me a satisfactory explanation of the problem but were profuse with apologies which , of course, are of little use when the phone fails to connect when you need it. My advice is to avoid the Tracfone if occasional or emergency use is primary. Other providers such as Verizon are more costly but vastly more dependable in my experience.

On recent trips to Denver and Los Angeles my cell phone was useless, informing me that there was no service available. These were metropolitan areas that certainly had cell phone coverage. Locally, the phone works.

I ordered a prepaid phone online and I have still not received it after one month. Worse than that, I have called the company 5 times and EVERY time I get a representative, I am told numerous times that they need to talk to a supervisor. I have received no explanation and when I called and told the representative that I want a refund, I am told they need to talk to a supervisor.

Late in December 2006,I was informed through my telephone message machine that my nokia tracfone would no longer operate after janurary 1st 2007. This was because of Tracfone implementing a new technology.I had just recently purchased more airtime and minutes. I called them and was told I would have to buy a new phone. I ask why I was not informed of this before I purchased all this air time and minutes. I was told that the person I was speaking to did not have that Information I was upset to say the least.

Because I have been a customer for about 5 years and was happy with the service, I would overlook this FORCED PURCHASE and got a new phone. I called the company to have my phone turned and put my airtime and minutes on the new phone. Since then I have spoken to 5 or 6 representatives, put hundreds of numbers in the phone,and still have no service.And each time I call them back to inform them that the phone still does work, I am requested to wait another 24 to 48 hours and try again. This has gone on for over a month.

I purchased Tracfone minutes in early November this year which should be good for 60 days. Prior to the 60 days, the 101 units still remaining were emptied and the cell phone is inoperable. After over 6 hours on HOLD over 2 days no one in technical support has even answered. I filed a Web report and no reply received. I have filed complaints with Wal-Mart and the FCC for Tracfone’s lack of service.

I transferred an older Tracfone Motorola to a newer model about 1.5 months ago. Upon transfer, the voicemail had issues with the new phone and they reset the original mailbox with a new password losing all my old voicemail. It took 4 or 5 calls and web complaints for them to respond to reset the mailbox, which took about 4 or 5 days. Now, for about the past 2 weeks, I am unable to access my voicemail from a land line.

I have talked to 3 different people, including 2 supervisors, who have been unhelpful. I am told that the only way I can access my voicemail now, on the new phone, is by using the cell phone itself, for which I am charged by the minute. I have lost voicemail that is essential to my business and now am burdened with having to use minutes to check voicemail, doubling the cost for my being able to use the phone as a business tool.

I purchased a Tracfone early in 2006 and installed 180 minutes (60.00). The phone itself cost $47.00. This phone lasted about 3 months before the battery would no longer recharge. I looked on Tracfone's website and discovered that replacement batteries were no longer being offered for sale on this Nokia built phone, so I bought another phone. I was informed that I would be issued a new phone number.

After this number was issued I discovered that Tracfone had subtracted half of my airtime minutes. I questioned the Tracfone representative regarding this and was told that those minutes were lost because I had activated a new phone and received a new phone number. This made absolutely no sense at all to me. When I tried to place a call with my new Tracfone I discovered that I did not have service in my area. When I called Tracfone again I was informed that my Tracfone Motorola cell phone was not the correct model for my area and that I would be sent a new cell phone in exchange for the Motorola.

I did receive another Tracfone in the mail approximately a week later (a reconditioned Nokia built Tracfone that was missing several of the features the Motorola). When I called Tracfone to activate this new phone I was informed once again that I needed a new phone number and that I would lose my remaining airtime minutes. I finally gave up in disgust and followed through with the activation of the phone. When the wireless service became active on my new cell phone I had only 20 minutes airtime and the phone continues to show a constant "roaming" icon.

I have no local service in my area despite the fact that all Tracfone representatives have claimed that service does exist in my area. I have suffered a monetary loss of $100.00 and cannot afford this because I am a disabled veteran trying to survive off of a very limited disability income.

On 09/07/2006, I had purchased a 1 year, double minute plan. We started to have difficulties right away with our text messages. Apparently, when you send a text message you still get charged even if the other person doesn't receive it. When we called Tracfone we were told that the problem was taken care of. We have had the same problem over the last couple of months. Each time we complained we were told that the problem had been resolved.

We have had dropped calls that we were charged for, phone calls that we never made being charged to us, and have lost numerous business accounts due to the fact that we were not able to communicate on a timely basis. We also had printed our Tracfone number on our business literature and now it will be meaningless because we’ll have to change carriers.

Tracfone has the worst customer service ever. I had tracfone for many years and was actually very happy. Over the last year or two its service has went down hill drastically. I was having some problems with the phone roaming when it shouldn't have been and could not get any help from customer service. I finally gave up and ordered a new phone. It worked OK for a while but then went out of state twice and phone wouldn't work at all and it shows it in our covered area. The tracfone rep. told me the only way he could help me is if I called him when it was happening. How do you call him when you are driving down the interstate and your phone doesn't work!!

I finally gave up and went to cingular (which had great customer service). Tracfone was still a problem though. Cingular could not get them to transfer the phone number. I had to call and throw a fit (finally talking to a supervisor) with tracfone and cingular had to call 3 times to get this done.

We had been Tracfone customers for a couple of years and decided to upgrade the phone and have the older number ported to the new phone. We spent countless hours speaking with customer service, received three new SIM card and never got the phone to work. I wanted to return the phone out of frustration and their obvious incompetence but was informed we were outside of the 30-day return window. So we are stuck with a phone we cannot use and out the purchase price. Don't just walk away, run away from Tracfone. By far the worst customer service we have ever encountered.

I ordered a phone for a gift. Upon arrival I activated the phone via the internet. I waited the suggested waiting period and consequently found that I could dial out with the phone but could not dial into the phone; I would receive a "the phone is not in service" message. I called TracPhone ane they gave me a case number and said it would be fixed the next day. It was not fixed the next day so I called again. They said the case was still being worked on and it would be fixed the next day. The next day it was not fixed, so I called again.

They said it would be fixed in 4 hours. Four hous later I called again. This time they said the phone number was different than indicated in the phone itself (they said this was normal for Motorola phones) and gave me the real number. When I expressed dissatisfaction with this arrangement and wanted a phone that indicated the real number the hung up on me.

I was able to activate the Tracfone BUT cannot record my voice mail message because the passcode they give me online doesn't work. So far, I have wasted about 1 1/2 hours on the phone with their so-called Customer Care people, who are poorly informed and even more poorly trained to handle a problem like mine.