In early 2007 I purchased a Tracfone and paid $139.99 for a card that provided 800 minutes of airtime for one year plus double minutes for the life of the phone. Since that time I've purchased additional minutes on a number of occasions and always received the double minutes. Recently, since my old minutes were about to expire I bought a new 1 year 400 minute card and went online to add the units to the phone and to take advantage of a 250 unit bonus code offer. I got the 400 minutes and the bonus, but no double minutes so I called customer service and was told that my double minute card was only good for one year and had expired. I pointed out that the double minute card has been functioning for more than two years now and indeed, what I had originally purchased was clearly an offer that, to quote Tracfone: "Adds 365 days to your service end date, plus double minutes on any future airtime card you add for the life of your new or current phone". While the person I spoke with acknowledged that their system showed that I had been using this card for more than one year and that I had purchased it with the phone two and a half years ago, they insisted that this was now an expired one year card. They stated that they could only resolve the matter if I provide the serial number from the original double minute card I purchased two and a half years ago, which I no longer have. I know of no one who keeps their old used airtime minute cards for years. Essentially, they've reneged on the original double minute card I purchased. What a scam!
The customer service person (in the Philippines) I spoke with on my second attempt to resolve this was allegedly a supervisor with some authority to resolve the matter, but she sounded more like some kind of mind controlled robot who could only repeat the same script over and over regardless of how illogical it was. Finally, when I told her that I would use up the minutes I've purchased and switch to another prepaid provider since I don't appreciate being ripped off she said that she would escalate the call the the "executive resolution department" and that I would receive a call within 24-48 hours. You guessed it, I have never heard back from anyone at Tracfone. All in all, I wasted about an hour on the phone with CS trying in vain to resolve this.
It is clear from the number of similar complaints I see online about Tracfone Wireless that such problems are not glitches in their system, they are a business plan.
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