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TracFone Wireless

TracFone Wireless review: Customer service 28

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8:06 pm EST
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I am a Christian man I swear upon the Holy Bible that the following is the truth, the whole truth and absolutely nothing but the truth.

This story is about the horrific experience my dying wife and I have had with Tracfone. Tracfone operates four brands of phones. Tracfone, Net10 Safelink and Straight Talk. All these companies use the exact same call centers and are handled by the exact t same people. This story applies equally to all four of these brands. All of these brands are under the control of Frederick J. Pollak, CEO who is personally responsible and liable for how his company treats its customers.

It is the worst customer experience we have have with any company in our whole life and I have dealt with thousand of companies, Tracfone is honestly and truly the worst. This experience is so unbelievable that I cannot even accurately describe it in words. The following is not a complete recounting, only highlighting some of this absolutely terrible experience.

This experience started approximately November 2011 when My wife Tracfone was stolen from her hospital bed. My wife is extremely sick in the hospital about to go under extremely risky surgery. The phone being stolen is of no fault Tracfone, but the experience to follow is.

As soon as it was discovered that the phone was stolen my wife immediately called your Tracfone customer service 1-800 number to have the phone DE-activated. Tracfone sent the call to someone in their India call center and after explaining the situation and asking for immediate DE-activation the call center representative claimed that the phone was DE-activated. The next day after calling the the stolen phones Tracfone number, it was determined that the phone was still active and accepting calls. My Wife again called the 1-800 number from her hospital bed and again the call went to Tracfone's India Call Center. My wife again requested to have the phone DE-activated. After the agent claimed the phone was DE-activated, I called the phone and it was still working. It took Tracfone's agent approximately 40 minutes and putting my wife on hold many, many times before the phone number stopped operating and went to the message “This party is not taking calls at this time”. Because the phone was not De-activated on the first call, the person who stole the phone used approximately 80 minutes from the purchase of minutes made several weeks earlier.

Trying to get a new Tracfone activated and the existing minutes transferred to the new phone is the start of the truly horrific experience. Tracfone's call center personnel absolutely positively do not listen to anything that a customer tells them and/or they do not understand the English Language. It is unbelievable that Tracfone ask people to press one for English and then send the call to agents that do not understand English. This is just one of the proofs of your incredible disgusting customer service.

I started by purchasing a new Samsung Tracfone from a local store on 11/26/11. I called Tracfone 1-800 number from the hospital while visiting my dying wife. My wife needs to call and talk with her relatives before her life threatening surgery. Since my wife is medically unable to preform the steps to activate the phone, I attempted to work with the agent to get the phone to operate so my dying wife could talk to her relatives. After working with Tracfone agents for one hour entering and re-entering codes into the phone the agents were unable to get the phone to activate. Due to the extremely strong Indian accent and the agents inability to speak English it was incredible difficult to have him speak the numbers clearly to enter into the phone. Time after time the codes had to be cleared and re-entered because the agent kept saying the wrong number sequence to enter into the phone. After the one hour spent on my cell phone eating up my cell phone minutes with your agent,
your agent determined that the new Tracfone I purchased was defective.
The Tracfone agent refused to accept me telling him that I was returning the phone to the store. Your agent demanded to me that he will send me a phone in the mail. I told him that I did not have the time to wait for you to send a phone and my dying wife needed a working phone immediately. The agent refused to listen to me the customer and demanded that he send me a phone in the mail. I did what I had to do to save the minutes on my wifes account and gave him the information he demanded after I had stated several times that I did not want a phone to be sent in the mail.

I returned the original phone that I purchased and got another of the same model of phone from the store On 11/27/11, again I called your 1-800 number to get the second new Tracfone activated so that my dying wife could call her family for possible her last words to them. I again spent 30 minutes on the phone with the India call center to try to get second Samsung Flip Phone activated. I again stated that I was trying to get a brand new phone activated that you did not have any record of this phone but your agent insisted on only the last four digits of the serial number of the phone. I explained again that this is a newly purchased phone that is not on the account. Your agent again insisted on the last four digits of the serial number. I again explained that this is a newly purchased phone. Again the agent insisted on only the last four digits on the serial number. After I finally relented and gave the last four digits to the agent, he then states the phone is not on the account.. Well Daaaaaaaa. I told him that five previous times. Apparently these Indians cannot understand English and have absolutely no ability to think on their own and can only read a script. This wasted at least five minutes. When he finally realized that he could not activate a phone on an existing account, I had to be transferred to a so called supervisor. After having to give the exact same information that I had spent at least 10 minutes giving to the previous agent. The so called supervisor again had me enter code after code to keep receiving error codes from your phone. Again after entering code after code and your phone giving various different error codes it was evident that you have a whole lot or a whole model that can not be activated.

Instead of me being able to spend time with my dying wife, knowing how important it is to her to speak to her family before passing, I now have to go out to a different store and purchase a third Tracfone. Upon calling your 1-800 number and going to your Indian call center, I first had the very unfortunate experience of talking to an agent claiming to be “Jaime” which I'm sure is a falsified name. I explained to him that I am activating a brand new phone on an existing account and this must be handled by a supervisor as was required on the previous call. I requested to be transfered to a supervisor, . This agent absolutely refused to transfer me. He demanded that I give him that last four digits of the serial number. Same script as the previous agent. After him telling me the phone is not on the account Daaaaaa. It's a brand new phone, I requested to be transfered to a supervisor. He again refused to transfer me to a supervisor. I literally repeated myself at least 20 times, no exaggeration, to be transferred and your agent continuously refused to transfer me. I spent at least five minutes requesting to be transferred and your agent continuously refused for at least five minutes. Finally I was transferred to a supervisor. The supervisor was able to activate the third phone (a different Samsung Model) through just the SIM card number. Upon activating the phone the supervisor refused to transfer the minutes on the account to the new phone. I told her that she must transfer the existing account minutes to the new phone, again she refused. I told this so called supervisor that I would immediately call my credit card company and put the Tracfone charge for the purchase of minutes in dispute and have the payment retracted from Tracfone. Then and only then did this so called supervisor transfer the existing account minutes to the new phone. This is absolutely reprehensible that I had to threaten you to get the minutes that I had purchased. This is a demonstration of Tracfone's extreme dishonesty and attempted fraud.

This example of the extreme disregard that Tracfone has for its customers, the worst customer experience ever inflicted onto its customers in the history of the world is reprehensible.

The time that you robbed from me and my wife from spending time together while she is dying in the hospital is unforgivable. I hold you Mr. Pollak personally responsible and liable for your decision to put your customer support in India where your agents can not even understand English or communicate with your customers in America, or have politeness to even listen to what the customers are telling your agents, or have any responsiveness to what the customer is telling them or fulfilling customer needs. As CEO it is your continuing decision to inflict your customers with agents that do not have a drop of humanity and subject them to this truly disastrous and horrific customer support from your India Call Center.

When the existing minutes are used up on this account, we will be permanently and forever be terminating our business with Tracfone.

It is now my life's destiny to tell everyone of how Tracfone treats my dying wife and of your company's complete disregard for its customers. I have many, many friends and family that will be terminating their business with Tracfone upon hearing of this experience.

I will be stopping everyone I see on the street and telling them of my family's experience with Tracfone. I will be posting my experience on as many message boards as I find.

After sending a letter to Frederick J. Pollak, CEO About this incident and the 3 hours of my time spent on the phone with Tracfone, The 80 minutes used up on my cell phone and the gas consumed by bringing back defective Tracfones to the store, Mr. Pollacks offer of compensation was a measly 100 Tracfone minutes that have a retail value of $6.20 and cost Tracfone absolutely nothing, so in essence Tracfone offered nothing in compensation and of course I did not accept the measly 100 minutes.

Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

28 comments
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anygood providers?
Barrie, CA
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Dec 12, 2011 4:18 am EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Check who the regulator is for telcom providers. In Canada we have the CRTC and the CCTS. Filing a complaint with them really has an impact on how you are treated. Your experience sounds awful but sadly, I had an experience with Rogers that was far worse. In Canada there do not seem to be any mobile providers that have good or trained customer service people period, excepting perhaps some regional providers that are not countrywide. If you do some research you'll see the same complaints, long hold times, followed by intentional disconnects, untrained staff, service issues, over billing, all of them treating customers like dirt right up to the point where you can leave them contract free and all strictly enforcing contracts many people don't understand. As to the personal liability of the CEO, I would be surprised. Companies are separate entities and he is not personally liable in my understanding. Faxes in general work better than phone calls for action, inconvenient perhaps but you have proof of communications or buy yourself a tape recorder and start taping those calls, they are!

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mgth8118
US
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May 07, 2012 2:45 am EDT

The company did not refund my money sor the unused minutes for a prepaid card that was unble to use for a straight talk sell phone. The company refused to fix the problem. I am a disatisfied with the service and the merchandise. Don't buy from this company it is bogus!

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nepa76
US
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Jan 25, 2013 2:27 am EST

You are so totally correct. I've spent just about 10 hours in the past two days trying to get my "new" refurbished replacement phone that tracfone sent me activated properly, to no avail.

The very first person I spoke with got the "new" phone out to be in about a week. The nightmare started trying to get the phone activated with my current number, transfer my minutes and service time on my new account, and get my triple minutes for life plan back.

I was originally given a case number, with all my info attached, so it'll be simple to get everything settled. Not one call center rep or supervisor ever allowed me to give them this information. They never deviated from their script, not even when I told the one rep tonight that when trying to call out from my new phone it would take one minute of my airtime, then give me a recording that my cell phone was currently deactivated. When I told the rep this she then proceeded to ask me, twice, if I was calling from that cell phone. Idiots. Every person in that Indian call center has got to be an idiot. Not once did I ever get an American, but each one with a thick Indian accent whose name was Bob or Wendy.

After two days and hours upon hours on the phone my cell still isn't working. I have to spend another day tomorrow on the phone to India.

Again, like the original poster, when my minutes are up so is my dealing with any company related to tracfone. If I do choose another provider I'll be sure to call their customer service number before buying to make sure their reps are actually in America first.

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UnlimitedServiceNOtreallyUnlimited
Christiansburg, US
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Mar 22, 2013 11:57 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have been using straight talk for over 2 years now and so has my husband. Just a few days ago my husbands Internet stopped working I called thinking it was not connecting but when i talked to them they said he used to much data? To much data? Isn't it UNLIMITED? Well they wouldn't quite answer my question but said they could not turn his Internet back on because he used too much data! Really So what does unlimited mean to them then?

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donsgirl
Arcadia, US
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Sep 23, 2013 6:45 pm EDT
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I ordered a new phone that was suppose to work in my area code and it didn't. I too went through putting all their "codes" in until finally the rep was "defective" & agreed to send me a new phone in its place. When I received the email stating that the replacement phone was being shod, I noticed that they were replacing the defective phone with a refurbished phone. If I wanted a refurbished phone, I would have ordered a refurbished phone. Of course the refurbished one was in the mail and it was too late to stop it ! After much discussion, she finally agreed to send me a new & different model phone. She related that when the refurbished one arrived, I was to put it & the defective one in the shipping bag and call them and they would ship the new phone to me in 3 to 5 days. I called them and told them I was about to return both phones in the bag provided. This rep told me that was the wrong instructions bc each phone had to be mailed to different locations. When I told them I had had enough and wanted my money back including the balance of my mms. she told me I would not get a refund of any kind b/c I was not returning the phones correctly ! The refurbished phone still sits in my kitchen and I am still waiting for the replacement phone and additional shpg bag so I can send back the refurbished phone. Whenever I try to get info via their website, they claim the case number is not in their system. I dread calling them as it is impossible to understand a word they are saying. I have spoke to "margie", "john", "leandra" & most recently, "july". I am convinced that they are probably 2 ppl sitting in a little mud hut that change names everyday. It is obvious they have a script that they have been told to repeat over and over to customers. I believe everyone is entitled to have employment but if these US companies owned and operated by US citizens hire non-english speaking employees, it is incumbent upon them to educate them to speak and understand the english language so that they can perform their duties & not cheat the customer. It's obvious Mr. Proctor's priorities is to steal as much money as he can from unsuspecting customers & pay these people a few indian rupees.

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Cmcontracting
Bethlehem, US
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Nov 15, 2013 8:34 am EST

My name is Chris with cm contracting of Bethlehem Pa, and I'm adding to these complaints that back on September 23 I decided to use auto refill for both my business lines and the line delegated to all my business flyers for incoming calls. We at cm contracting we're wondering why we weren't getting anymore calls. I thought work was slowing down or something. Keep in mind I use this for incoming calls and have spent thousands of dollars to send this bulk mailing out. We'll! It was deactivated without our knowing, when this auto refill was set up I gave numerous numbers for contact info in case of a problem. I don't receive one call or text for that matter. We just realized that this happened on nov 12 th when somebody I know asked what was wrong with the phone number I provided on the flyer. I almost had a heart attack! I now have been trying to resolve this matter and they have the worst customer service skills I have ever experienced. I'm sick to my stomach. They are incompetent and are now, after they admitted they were wrong, now say to me we explained this to you. So very wrong they are, and transferred me to countless people. Hours and hours of lies, passing the buck to other people and not putting me in contact with the right people and they can't communicate properly. I was speaking to the Philippines, Guyana Africa, hondurous, Indiana, Mexico, Kentucky, Miami, Puerto Rico and who knows what other countries they had me talking to. Point, they said they were wrong and have not done anything about it. O btw, they have 3 call centers in the phillpines. I want to know what can be done about this. I have had it, and who is gonna replace all the money spent on these flyers that were prepared and sent out. I can be contacted at cmcontracting@rcn.com . Ya know the people that received these flyers haven't been able to contact me, and all the wages lost due to that could range up to $10, 000-$250, 000. I have all the projected call volume and cash flow statements projected drone financial banking records. This really hurt me considering I was just starting out in business this year. I'm very angry. There is so much more involved. Somebody please contact me

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Cmcontracting
Bethlehem, US
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Nov 15, 2013 8:37 am EST

I guess I have to get an attorney for this because I'm currently on hold for 2 hours again for an operations manager, I have lost thousands and I want my money

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smilezply
Lodi, US
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May 05, 2014 6:40 pm EDT

> So first of all the let me start with hello.>I'm a nice person. But I've gota talk to someone About this cuz I'm getting walked on. :-/...
> My name is Pennie Johnson... I'm just an average Joe. And I am getting thrown around by my tail and I'm begging u to help me.
>
> So 2 months ago this all began. My bill is due in 3 days and to tell u the truth if I have to pay for another month I won't be remaining with net10, which sux cuz I do enjoy some of ur qualities as a company.
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> I bought and paid for a new SIM n 1 month service, unfortunately there was a problem with the activation with the card, I was on the phone for 1 hr with them the first time. N 3 hours on the pc trouble shooting my issue. They explained I had to go to target where I bought the card. So I did thatand the guest service lady spent 52 minutes on the phone explaining that their system was locked so she couldnt process an item that said activated on her side. They still did nothing. They gave me a fax number n requested I sent my reciept, the front, the back of the activation card and they gave me a reference number (that took 20 full minutes to retrieve) so that my case cud b reviewed. So I did that... NO RESPONSE at all and now my service is ending yet again and on still out 60.00 and now about 6 hours I've wasted ... Begging and pleading for what I paid for 2 full months ago. I have 4 kids. I can't even afford a phone. And then to lose my #.
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> At this point to me ... I think I'm owed more then just my months service. Cuz this has been a mess and u really need to speak to ur customer reps. Cuz I kno of 2 other people this same things happened to. Right in my home town.. I can just imagine how often this same problem arises else where...

[protected]

Thank u
Pennie johnson

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Tgdowski
Barton, US
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Jul 30, 2014 11:05 am EDT

Hi. I purchased a straight talk phone in Jacksonville, N.C. at Walmart. I explained to the woman there that I would be going from N.C. to Bowling Green, KY for the birth of my grandson and was showed and assured that it was in the coverage area. I used my phone for one week haven't been able to use it since. There was NO SERVICE COVERAGE for this phone there. I came to my sister's house in MD on July 27, 2014 and bought a minutes card. I then started the nightmare of your customer service. I called 6 times Sunday and spent hours trying to get assistance. I was told by "Mary" a supervisor to give her the pin number off the card and it would be fine. I told her I was reluctant to and she assured me it was the only way to fix the issue. I did and followed her instructions of calling * 22890 and it would activate my phone. It didn't and I called back like she said. I have been told several things by the agents. I am SOOO UPSET and have never experienced anything like this ever in my life. I looked online and found the number 305.640.2000 called yesterday afternoon spoke to the only helpful person. Unfortunately I didn't write her name down. I told her I would call back today with a phone that had a "G" and she assured me everything would be remedied. I called back and the first person I spoke to said I never called yesterday. She was SOO rude and condescending I asked for her manager. She transferred me to a Kim's voice mail. In the meantime the voice mail beeped and I was cut off. I called back and asked for the manager voice mail and explained I didn't think the number was left on the voice mail. But the woman wouldn't let me speak to a manager. She was even nastier to me. I then called back and told the next person I wanted a manager and left a voice mail and am waiting on the call back. I have worked customer service for over 12 years myself and I was trained for world class customer service. And I have not experienced anything close to it except for the one person I spoke to yesterday afternoon. BTW when I called today the second time the woman said it was noted I had called yesterday. PLEASE contact me at 240.920.8526 and I do not want to deal with your customer service I want to speak with someone in upper management or Mr. Pollak himself. Thank you.

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LovetoLove
Miami, US
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Aug 08, 2014 1:34 pm EDT

I wanted to reactivate my TracFone phone that was not used for a long time and wanted to keep the old phone number. I was on the chat with this link http://bit.ly/18WfOoC which took me a little time to get it working. I am glad that I was being assisted well. Happy Camper!

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Readywriter
Dallas, US
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Oct 15, 2014 9:47 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Agree with HORRIBLE customer service. Have 2 notebooks full of dates, people and promises and still nothing. HOWEVER, I thought they were in India until I asked. They said they are in the Philippines.

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Brushstrokes by Nancye
Blackstone, US
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Jan 16, 2015 11:23 am EST

I'm having the same trouble as everyone else. Have had great service for years and now when I would like to update to a new phone, nothing works. My account has been abolished, and I've lost all the minutes that I just, recently, bought. So discussed. I'm through with this company and like others I'm telling everyone that I know.

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auto741
US
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Mar 09, 2015 11:23 pm EDT

what a day, 6 hrs. on home land line with total wireless trying to set up 2 cell phones. their customer service is a total joke, they are out of the country [ usa] and do not care will hang up on you if you get upset because they do not care about customers feelings. this co. will not last long if we refuse to put up with this. after all this still no phone, back to wall mart for a complete refund [ will demand it ]

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benghosh1
US
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Aug 25, 2015 3:23 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Dear CEO:
Take NOTICE that pursuant to Indiana Trail Rule 4 and applicable local rules of Hendricks County Indiana Court system, we intend to file a suit against you and other parties. This notice will also serve as a Demand Notice for punitive, exemplineary and actual damages, attorney’s fees, court costs and other related cost in excess of $110, 000.00.
Enclosed please find an order history which I have obtained from my account in your website in exhibit “1.”. On July 4, 2015, you were paid $65.72 by Barclay Bank’ Master card to stacking renewable pins for 5 telephone lines with variable renewal dates. See exhibit “ 2.”
On August 4, 2015, you disconnected our telephone lines without notice. On repeated contact with your customer service by ‘chat-on-lines’ and by phones by myself and by my daughter, you alleged that you have disconnected the telephone lines due to credit card fraud. On August 4, 2015, we contacted our credit card company by phone and on their website of my account, we found no fraud and you have been paid $65.72. I have asked the credit card company to further investigate your allegations.
You advised us to buy reloadable pins from your page plus dealers. We spent about $153.00 to have our lines reinstated for another months on the top of $65.72 that we paid you on July 4, 2015.
Wherefore. we are asking you that you satisfy our demand notice by paying $110, 000.00, and make sure that our telephones are never disconnected without a court order.
If you fail to satisfy out demand within seven (7) calendar days, we will be forced to file a lawsuit in Hendricks County, Indiana.
We have contacted your customer service on –line and expressed our interest to file a suit if the matter is not resolved and you have failed to act in good faith.

Sincerely,

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Ruth Johnston
US
Send a message
Oct 31, 2015 4:39 pm EDT

I bought my Trac Phone at Walmart April 2015 and went back to Canada for 6 months. When we came back to Florida this winter my phone said it had been deactivated. Went to Walmart and spent 1 hour on the phone with someone who claimed she was a supervisor. I had 1084 minutes and not due until May 8 2016. She said my phone had been reported stolen and they sent a new phone to someone unknown. Not my Florida address. Not sure why they take information if they can't use a computer to check or send an email. Told me I had to have a new sim card which I received this week. Took it to Walmart and the girl spent with me on the phone to trac phone over 1 hour again. This time the genius on the other end took away all my minutes and it now says I have 1 day of service. When I said if they can take away minutes they should be able to put them back. Latest story is they gave me a 1 800 number and said I have to wait 72 hours then talk to a manager and explain what happened and I might get my minutes back. I wonder if Mr. FREDERICK J POLLAK had this service if he would be satisfied or does he care that he has incompetent employees who give lousy service. I would like his address so that I could write to him directly. Maybe then there would be some satisfaction so if anyone knows his phone number or address I would love t get it. Ruth Johnston

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TWT
US
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Feb 03, 2016 8:06 am EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Don't buy an Alcatel Tracfone because Tracfone can not activate them. I have bought 2 of them lately. I charged them and turned them on. The screen says "SIM Lock Code-1". There is no sim lock code. When I phone Tracfone Technical they don't have a clue on what to do. They sent me 2 new SIM cards that don't fit the phone. Don't buy Alcatel tracfones.
Terry
[protected]

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Xierra
PH
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Feb 19, 2016 5:02 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Hey! I used to have a lot of issue with my phone. I looked online for a solution since Straight Talk's customer service is poor and bad. I found this contact information that helped me a lot. My phone issues were taken care of immediately, without frustrating me. Try it also. The email address is TF.CorpResolutionTeam@tracfone.com. You may also chat with them live for faster assistance at http://bit.ly/18WfOoC.

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Merica L
US
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Mar 02, 2016 1:16 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have a complaint against Total Wireless, which is a subsidiary of Tracfone. After each renewal of minutes every month and prior to the minutes running out or ending I receive texts. These texts come in at all hours of the day, including after midnight. As our phones are expected to do is to notify us when there is a text. I leave my volume on my cell phone up loud because sometimes I am in another room, during the daytime, and need the volume up loud. I called and asked to speak to someone who can give the suggestion to whomever has the control and ability to set the automated notifications in regard to the time zones, so they are not sending these messages in the middle of the night waking me up. I spoke to a Senior Manager & said she was only able to give her first name & give her Manager's first name & cannot give out their last name nor telephone numbers to any one in upper management. So my complaint stopped there.

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Margaret Baskin
US
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May 23, 2016 3:45 pm EDT

I recently received a text from Tracfone that they were upgrading from 2G to 3G and that my Samsung 2G will soon not work. When I called them, they said they would send me a replacement phone. My Samsung is a triple minute, slider with qwerty keyboard. The replacement phone I received is a flip phone, double minutes, abc keyboard that you have to press the key 2-3 times to get to the letter you want when sending a text. I called back on 5/13/16, explained that the phone I received was NOT comparable to the one that I have and was told that they would check the warehouse and send me a comparable phone that I should receive it by 5/20/16. When I did not receive it, I called back on 5/23/16 and was told that the original replacement phone that I had received was the only one available. Mind you, I have been a Tracfone customer for 20+ years. Through the years I have upgraded from the flat phone...to the Motorola V170 flip phone... to the Samsung. I upgraded to the Samsung for the triple minutes and the qwerty keyboard which makes it much easier to text. Now Tracfone has reverted me back to the stone age and costing me money because they are UPGRADING THEIR SYSTEMS. I AM VERY UNHAPPY AND TELLING THE WORLD ABOUT IT!

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bmiller998
US
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May 29, 2016 8:24 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I been with trac fone for over 10 years and loved the service recently I was told I had to upgrade to a 3g phone and would be sent one comparable and was sent a very cheap phone so I went out to purchase a comparable phone when I activated it I noticed they only transferred 171 minutes of the 828 I had when I called back was told they couldn't transfer minutes from an inactive phone even though they just deactivated it less then an hr ago and I would just lose the minutes so once my 171 minutes are done I will be switching to a new carrier for service trac fone is a rip off and I will tell everyone I know to stay away from them and to go with some one else for service

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dpboss44
US
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Jun 06, 2016 5:49 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

First of all, the LG Treasure L51AL that HSN is offering is a fantastic offer. I received my Treasure on Thursday, June 2nd and fully charged it. I went to Tracfone earlier and obtained my minutes, text and MB data amounts including when my Service expired as I wanted to make sure that everything was transferred including my old Tracfone phone number.
1. First mistake I did was use the Tracfone online transfer process Thursday night, June 2nd. I didn't want to deal with Tracfone customer service as had problems understanding them due to the language and my hard of hearing. Everything was going well but when nothing showed up on my new phone on June 3rd I made the dreaded call to Tracfone customer support. Things started to get better, they got my phone number to show up on my new L51AL and said the all the minutes be on the phone and told me to retry in about an hour to see if they were added - not.

2. Now the nightmare begins. I finally have the HSN advertised 1350 minutes, 1350 text and 1350 MB data loaded. I did not have the 4598 minutes, 5209 text or 5273.21 MB data from my old phone. Computing what this equates to would be about $420 dollars. I called Tracfone customer service and after a total runaround and over an hour on the phone asked to speech with a manager, what a joke. The manager stated that the information on my old phone was gone and the office that verifies the information has stated I didn't have any minutes, text or MB data on my old phone. I said "of course not my old phone including telephone is inactive since Tracfone wiped it out, not me. I stated I have a copy of the minutes, etc. with date done from June 2nd to proof I did have the amount and asked to speak with someone higher than her and she said the decision was final and I would not be getting the loss minutes, text or MB data.
I have read most of the reviews about the Treasure L51AL and the number one complaint is the lack of Tracfone customer service. I have had about a dozen Tracfone and this is the first time that I am totally upset with this purchase. HSN has been a provider of Tracfone for years and after reading just the reviews for the Treasure L51AL phone it is apparent that HSN does not care about after sales support. HSN needs to take responsibility for Tracfone lack of customer support and become involved with making sure the customer is treated honestly and fair. I cannot return the Treasure L51AL because I do have it working and the minute, etc. that were offered by HSN.

HSN - this is unacceptable, I am completely outraged that I am out the 4598 minutes, 5209 text or 5273.21 MB data from my old phone which equates to about $420 dollars.

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Care_Bear1999
US
Send a message
Jun 06, 2016 10:39 am EDT

When I had minutes on my phone my parents said that they texted me and called and I did not receive it and I always got in trouble because I did not answer them this service was good but I'm gonna have to leave it

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Xierra
PH
Send a message
Jun 11, 2016 11:03 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I see so many people complaining on here, but I don’t think you guys are going to the right people to get help. My whole family has a TracFone. Every time something is wrong with it, we send an email to this address and the people working these emails are wonderful. Try it. The email address is TF.CorpResolutionTeam@tracfone.com. Send them your name, cell phone number or serial number and they will help you or you can chat with them live @ http://bit.ly/18WfOoC.

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bigdaddio99
US
Send a message
Jul 30, 2016 7:38 am EDT

I am officially done with Straight Talk after my phone plan is up! I have been dealing with issues with a phone I bought in March! When I added air time in May, STRAIGHT TALK told me there was an issue with the phones system update! At that time, I was told we would be emailed a return slip to send phone back! Weeks went by and called back AGAIN and was told was sent an email again! Weeks went by and then was FINALLY told they had wrong email! EVERY time I called they couldn't find the info and then after 30 minutes of trying and transferring to numerous people they found it! FINALLY, they send me out a return box to send messed up phone back and told 5 business days and would receive it! As of July 31st 2016, 15, business days later, STILL NO PHONE! I told them NUMEROUS times I wanted a refund only to be told the phone was shipped out! I am done with them and they refuse to refund my $120 for the phone and $48 for my phone plan and keep blaming Walmart! DO NOT USE OR SWITCH TO STRAIGHT TALK AS THEY WILL RIP U OFF, CUSTOMER SERVICE IS A JOKE FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY, CANT UNDERSTAND THEM MOST OF TIME, AND THE PROCESS NEVER ENDS! As I type this I noticed Mr Pollack passed away in May so who is running this circus now? I think Walmart needs to be made aware of these HORRIBLE COMPANIES CUSTOMER SERVICE and let them know these companies BLAME Walmart for the issues or problems and say Walmart must refund me!

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Keilana
Greenville, US
Send a message
Aug 13, 2016 11:48 am EDT

Because I really connot afford a contact phone, I have used Tracfone for at least 8 years. Seems they have improved customer service wise until recently. Buy a simple talk and text and it's good to go, but their androids and the service that goes with it is abominable. A few months ago I bought an android and it never rang. All calls went to voice mail. Just wanted it to ring, phone constantly buzzing with notifications which I thought I had turned off. Never was able to use phone for calls so gave up and used for camera. Received an option for 2g migration, supposedly upgrading system, and this LG they sent me is worse!. Was told they would senf me a new sim card so I could make calls. After the arrival of the sim card, I have been able to do nothing but take photos. No calls, no message, no ability to reset. Customer service is totally useless if you have a severe problem. I don't want to spend hours taking out the battery & sim card to no avail. I'm sorry that I have so many minutes to waste because I can't use phone and they can't help. I will never get a smart phone from tracfone again because their service is dumb. I don't like to criticize business but they are not providing me with service that helps, only frustrates and wastes my time.

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James56
US
Send a message
Dec 28, 2016 3:31 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I'm having exactly the same problems that everyone else is reporting with TRACFONE. This company needs to be investigated by the U.S. Justice Department and shut down.

If I ever get them to activate this phone, I will use up my 3, 000 minutes if I have to call people halfway around the world that I don't know, and then trash this phone. Before I put money down on a new cell phone carrier, I will call their customer service department and see how responsive they are.

NEVER, NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH TRACFONE. THEY ARE A BUNCH OF CROOKS.

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Bud Long
US
Send a message
Sep 29, 2017 1:21 pm EDT

TO: Frederick J. Pollak your tecks need better training. i had called the 1 800 number for help about my phone but while waiting for a call back i got my phone working right but had found out that i con't get in my tracfone account. it sad the it was not there and i tried again it sad that my info was not right so i marked forgot password it had sad that it was sent but never was i did it again and again . same same . then i got a call back i told them what was going on got no where with the tec got a supper got no where. soo bad i told them i was going to verizon after a hr i finally got a password email and i got in. but tecs should know what a phone is and what the web is !

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Ruth McGee
US
Send a message
Feb 05, 2019 11:55 am EST

I sympathize with each of you and I can see why they are rich. They live off the money of other people who can't afford to lose it. I brought a phone for my granddaughter at Christmas. I went to Walmart in January to pay for more minutes on her phone and told the salesperson that I wanted to put $100 on her phone. He gave me the $100 gift card to purchase but both he and I were unaware that the $100 gift card is for 4 lines. When my daughter-in-law told me that I need to add more money we both called them and explained that it was an honest mistake on my part and the sales persons part and could they please credit her phone for the remaining balance of $70. The answer was NO, but we could purchase 3 other devices with the remaining money on the card. Why would I do that. Their closing comment was "you will need to add money to her phone in two weeks to keep it activated" How rude and inconsiderate can you be? Any other company would have worked with me to correct the error. Total Wireless (aka Total Ripoff) should be ashamed, but I know they're not.

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