I originally purchased a Tracfone in Oct. 2007. It worked great. No complaints whatsoever. Then they came out with the "double minutes for lifetime of phone" phone. Since my phone had been so great, I got my hubby and son each a phone. I wanted to register all 3 on their website so I could enroll all 3 in the value plan offer they have.
I transferred my original phone and activated the other 2 phones (hubbies and sons). Then I started putting them on the internet. When I got to the 3rd phone and put it on the internet, Tracfone deactivated 1 phone. I called them, and as so many of you have pointed out, their customer service is awful. They told me that the phone that was deactivated showed it had never been purchased (stolen). It had been active for 8 days!
So I took the phone back and exchanged it. We brought it home and activated it and all was fine. I enroll it on the website and one of the other phones is deactivated. I call Tracfone. They say the 2nd phone shows it had never been purchased (stolen). It had been active for 9 days. Then I go to Walmart and purchase another phone. Since my phone is the one deactivated, I'm going to transfer my minutes to the phone I just purchased at Walmart and take the deactivated one back. Well, guess what! They won't transfer my minutes because the phone has been deactivated. Well duh... I wouldn't be transferring if there wasn't a problem.
By this time I'm fed up and just want to get the phone working. Then the 3rd phone gets deactivated. All the same reasons. Not purchased, stolen etc. This phone had been active 10 days.
I decide to take all the phones back to Walmart and be done with the whole deal. I returned 3 of the phones and the fourth I had lost the receipt somewhere so I had to keep it.
My husband decides to call Tracfone. He is told to fax them a copy of the receipt, IMEI of the phone, all of my info and the cell phone number. We do that and are promised on 3 different occasions the phone will be working in 48 hours. Needless to say its not.
Now, Tracfone keeps telling us to fax the info. We've faxed it to them 2 times and they still can't find it.
Tracfone has a good racket going. They get you to purchase their phones with the promise of good and cheap service. I also purchased, on the internet, the value plan for all phones. So there was an extra $40 spent on time for those phones that they won't reimburse me for.
This is a foolproof way to get rich! Advertise good, cheap phones, cheap time on the internet and double minutes. Don't provide any service, no minutes, nothing. What a profit!!! Get money given to you and you have to provide nothing in return!!!
There has to be someone who regulates prepaid cell phone companies. I'm sure they can't just operate ANY way they want to and all is legal. Isn't that fraud? There has to be someone who makes these companies operate legally?
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