TracFone is such a rip off!
My mom bought a Tracfone for her granddaughter after watching a commercial thinking this would be a great way to introduce her to using a cell phone and manage her minutes. She spent over $100 to get the 365 days of service plus minutes & promo codes to redeem. Her understanding was that by purchasing the most expensive service that the minutes were included, as well as the 1 yr of monthly promo codes to redeem.
Wrong! Once the minutes ran out for the initial setup, regardless of how much time you have with the service, you have to continue to buy additional pin codes in order to access minutes AND then use the promo codes for that month.
Each new pin code is assigned a specific amount of minutes; the lowest being $20 for 60 min). However, the minutes are costly. The going rate is roughly $1.00 for every minute and $. 30 for every text/call received or sent. To receive and respond to a call will cost you $2.00/min whereas using a retail calling plan from major carriers may cost you much less (i.E. $. 02 to $. 03/minute). Outrageous!
This should make most customers run to the hills and get service with a real carrier. The tracfone phones are very cheap and have very limited functionality. When I called the customer service number to redeem the promo codes since I had 1 yr of service, I was told I had to buy MORE service in order to get a new pin code (even though I already had 1 yr of service). Found out the $100 spent was only good for keeping the phone number only for one year. However the new pin code is what gives you access to the assigned minutes AND gives you the chance to redeem the promo codes for that month. You can't use your original pin code to redeem the monthly promo minutes.
The new pin code will give you access for the promo code of the month, thus $20 for the new pin code 60 min plus redemption of promo minutes. If I my mom knew the ripoff Traacfone game, she would have saved a bundle by buying the cheapest service and redeem the available minutes per month.
When I called customer service to complain, I asked to speak to a supervisor. The rep Jean, #57988 (not sure if she gave me a bogus ID number or not) never transferred me to a supervisor and told me they would say the same thing. We discussed the service and the expense and she couldn't really explain the benefit of spending $100 for the service when in reality you have to buy new service each time you run out of minutes. I repeatedly asked for a supervisor and was denied.
Customer service is horrible and the service plans are a ripoff.
DO NOT BUY A TRACFONE unless you like being RIPPED OFF!
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