TracFone Wireless
reviews and complaints

I am unable to make or receive calls on my phone. I have spent over 4hours with "customer service" today and have gotten more and more frustrated. I have: removed and replaced my SIM card multiple times, rebooted the phone more times than I can remember, been told to call back in 10 minutes (only to be put on hold for the 5th time and when answered asked to perform the same tasks that the previous "tech" had me do. In the meantime I have missed a call from my physician's office, had all my minutes text and data removed (some of the minutes were replaced by one of the reps but no text or data, I am unable to access my voice mail, I cannot receive authorization codes due to no text, and as you can probably tell become VERY FRUSTRATED with Tracfone. I have been a customer for over 15 years but you have lost this customer. Your service is TERRIBLE. The representatives are simply following some kind of trouble shooting charts as is obvious from the exact same questions asked by the 6 different people I have spoken to. No one really seems to be qualified to fix a problem.

Robert Paul

I have an LG221C. I received a notice from Tracfone that my phone system is no longer acceptable and I would receive a free phone and could transfer my existing phone and minutes to the new phone. To do that, I would receive a text with a code number on my old phone and I would tell the rep. the code to verify that I had that phone. You company has been trying to send that code to me on a system that is not acceptable on my phone and the text will not go through. I tried to explain this to several of you rep.s over numerous calls but they will not listen. I called them on my old phone but they must not have caller ID. Icalled on our house phone and told them to call the cell number and I would answer to verify that I had the phone but they would not listen. I asked to speak with the supervisor, and they would transfer me but no one would answer and after 20 minutes or more I was disconnected.

On December 30 2022 I purchased a tracfone SIM card and three month data card. I was online to activate and could not connect. I tried calling with the new SIM card and was receiving no service?

I went back to Walmart in New Smyrna Beach and was informed they have been instructed NOT to assist setting up any tracfone. I continued to Verizon for help as Verizon is who answers the tracfone calls, I was disconnected three times. I went to a Verizon store and was informed they couldn’t help me also. The service advisor did look at my set up and informed me all looked good on my cell phone settings and shouldn’t have any issues. At this point I am out $50.00 plus and without a phone number or tracfone.

If tracfone had an available person I could talk to I might have had the opportunity to have this resolved.

I will never waste any money purchasing any tracfone products again.

Their motto is take the money and run!

I don’t like being taken advantage of

I purchased a new flip phone on 11/15/22. It only lasted approx 2 weeks and went dead. I called Tracfone and was told that a replacement phone would be mailed to me in 3-5 business days and that a return label was emailed to me. This was on 12-17-22. I was told to put the old phone in the box when the new phone came and put the shipping label on and return. I waited 11 days and the new phone never came. I called again and was told that the shipment was pending until they received the old phone. This was never told to me and I have been without a phone 2 weeks now. Very poor information and service.

I rarely use my phone for calls/messages so I have been accumulating minutes on my phone since 2009 when I got my first Tracfone. I reupped my service agreement in October 2022 and at that time had over 4000 minutes available. On 12/21 I tried sending a test message and received the message 'waiting for connection' - figuring it was just a glitch I didn't pay much attention until I got home where I knew I was connection but the message still would not send. On 12/22 I tried placing a phone call but the message 'cellular network not available' appeared. My frustration growing I contacted Tracfone via their chat option on the phone that I was having issues with (WIFI worked just fine but no bars available). The first agent I spoke with via chat told me that I would have to contact them via a different phone/computer so that my phone could be troubleshot. The second agent I contacted via computer was no help either - mind you I had already gone through the Google process of trying to self diagnose my phone (turning it off and on, turning airplane mode on/off, removing the SIM card, etc) so I was growing increasingly frustrated when I was being told to do the exact same things by the agent. At one point I was told to take my phone outside, turn it off/on and try to place a call. Mind you it is December in Wisconsin, temperature is zero and I needed to put a few more layers on to do this. When I didn't come back to my computer within a few minutes she ended the chat... wanting to not waste anymore time with this nonsense I went on with my day and planned on resuming the 'adventure' in the morning. On 12/23 at 7:30 in the morning I called the 800 number using my fiancée's phone. After 45 minutes of turn on/turn off, removing the SIM card, system reset, airplane mode AGAIN I was finally transferred to someone higher and thought perhaps I was going to get somewhere. After fifteen minutes on the phone with him and just about doing the same things AGAIN I was told that they would need to research the problem and I would get a callback in 20 minutes. I never received a call. I called the 800 number back after 1 1/2 hours and had to go through the same thing again with someone new, meanwhile repeatedly asking that they transfer me to someone higher up. After twenty minutes they finally did and I had to go through it all AGAIN. Then I was told they couldn't resolve it and would call me back in two hours. The only thing they did right was actually call me back on time - then I had to reiterate all over again what was going on, and had to do the same troubleshooting AGAIN. Finally she looks at my account and says, oh you have no minutes would you like to purchase some? Dumbfounded I said, WHAT?!? That's IMPOSSIBLE! I hardly ever use my phone and should have at the very least a couple thousand minutes for both calls and texts. I quickly looked up my account online and saw (to my extreme disbelief) that my entire account had been wiped out. All had left was service days. Still in shock I tried to explain to the woman that there was no way that I could have gone through all those minutes because I hardly ever use my phone for calls/texts. She just kept repeating that there was nothing she could do unless I wanted to pay for more to be added. At that point, feeling quite helpless, frustrated, angry at having wasted almost six hours of my day - I said I was going to end the call and hung up. I am at a complete loss at what to do - I absolutely do not want to pay to add more minutes when I was not at fault for them being gone. But I have over 280 service days left. Without being able to speak to someone who is not continually reading from a script and being of no help at all I feel helpless and screwed over. Merry Christmas...

I have had over 400 minutes taken, stolen whatever you want to call it in a little over one months’ time. I am retired and don’t talk much on my phone. I have Wi-Fi at home and Wi-Fi calling on my phone. I only use my phone at home while on Wi-Fi. All updates etc. are set to update only on Wi-Fi. After checking my balance, I called TracFone and could not get through, so I did a live chat from my computer. I spoke with someone named Caroline and she offered no help. She said a minute is a minute like a broken record and that the information was correct and then this silence. I said that I want to know how my minutes disappeared and told her the above. No response was given. This happen 12-22-2022. I only have 14 minutes left on my phone. Something seriously wrong here!

I have called twice today 1223 2022 and I keep getting the runaround I’m trying to get my sons phone transferred and there’s a transfer protection on it. The lady earlier this morning told me I could get it emailed to me that apparently is not true. According to the lady I just talk to at 1 o’clock mountain standard time and her name is Rosemary badge ID 516053. She refused to transfer me to a higher up manager she just kept saying the same thing over and over that she understands every time I’d ask for a supervisor or manager she would just say I understand I need the phone number you provided and it went on and on and we went around in circles, she is claiming now that if I put the Sim card in my sons phone, I’ll get a pin. If this does not happen for me tomorrow I’m gonna lose it she would not explain anything clear to me. I had a hard time understanding her she would not let me verify my email address as to what she had on file. She said it’s not allowed which I think is kind of ridiculous on TracFone‘s behalf if this is true . And I don’t understand why I would not be able to get that pin number to be able to do the transfer email to me. I am the account holder or even sent to my phone via text if I provided all the information needed. I verified my payment information to her I verified my sons phone number in my phone number. She still would not email me the pin she says she did but that never came through the gal. I talk to this morning sent me a verification code that came through instantly so I don’t know what her problem was but she and I was we are not getting along and she would not send me to a higher up. I would love for you guys to go back and listen to the tape on this I was angry I am mad, and I am actually going to turn this into the Better Business Bureau because this is wrong, you guys should be able to have people Access this information fairly easily to be able to unlock this phone and if I’m calling, verifying certain information, it shouldn’t be rocket science to get this transferred. I should be able to get that pin to me in a minute or over the phone. It shouldn’t be this complicated. The thing that is the worst is she refused and would not send me to a manager. I probably asked over six times and she would not send me to a different person higher up. She claimed at one point she said it once only that they were busy well, if this is how TracFone runs their business, I hope to see them out of business someday

I've been a tracfone customer for around ten years. Now I renewed my service for another year and after only three months I'm running out of minutes when all I ever use is wifi to make calls! I'm furious. I see this happens to lots of people.

I just spent an hour on the phone with customer support and he would pretend the connection was breaking up, then talk so I couldn't hear him, then ask for my emi number, then put me on hold a long time, then come back and again talk so I couldn't hear him, then tell me that I had 700 minutes left, which I had told him I see on their website, on and on this way wasting my time. I hung up and he called back and once again was talking so I only heard every fourth word.

I also had minutes rolled over from all my previous years that are now gone.

My 1500 minutes are down to 700 after three months when I only make internet calls on my phone and never get any phone calls. I have always liked tracfone but for some reason they have begun to take away minutes. I'm going to contact BBB about this.

Restrictions on phone again. Same problem as before. Hours on phone all to no avail! Now I am being told I have no data, minutes or text. Before I called Tracfone, they were all showing on my app! I had tons of everything. I am running out of patience! Please fix this phone once and for all. Sick and tired of "please allow me a moment." Cannot text, access voice mail, receive a call, make a call or text.

I was having problems with my cell phone and continued to call in for help. This started mid-November. Finally had to reset phone to factory and still continued to have issues with it. Was told to send broken phone back, it took 2 weeks to receive air bill for return. Sent phone back on November 30, they received it on December 3, was told to wait 3-5 days for new phone to be sent to me. I have 5 different ticket numbers and continued to be told to wait 3-5 days to receive new phone, called today (Dec 20) and told phone is waiting to be picked up to be sent out. I called Thursday (Dec 14) I am tired of waiting 3-5 days. every time I call I am being told to wait 3-5 days. tired and losing a lot of calls by not getting a replacement phone.

ive had my phone for only three months and was told it was going to be on for a year free service. My phone deactivated without warning Because of this i have missed important dates , phone calls , and appointments .VERY UNPROFESSIONAL . if i would have known this i would have never chose Tracphone

Tracphone has caused me a great deal of stress and now i wouldnt recommend them to anyone , I will let as much people i know how shady this cell carrier is , unless its not handled the right way which would be my service turned back on

My last 2 text messages were undelivered. I called Tracfone 4 times today, Dec 16, 2022, and talked to 4 or 5 people but was never able to get my issue resolved. One of fhem said restrictions were put on my phone. I gave them the answer to my security questiion but I don't remember my security pin #. They asked for the last 4 digits of a credit card # I've used but I haven't bought anything from Tracfone in the last 90 days. They asked for phone #s I've called in the past 2 months. I gave them about a dozen phone #s but kept being told that they couldn't verify any of them. They said they couldn't text or email me for verification. One woman had me waiting for almost half an hour and then said she had to transfer me. I don't know what she was doing. The last person that I talked to was Ruben in Business Assurance who said that my phone is suspended. I don't know how it went from restricted bo suspended within 2 hours. Also, I signed into my Tracfone account and someone placed an order on Nov. 29 that I did not place. Ruben said he couldn't contact anyone in Corporate because it was past 6 pm. So I spent about 2 hours with Tracfone with no resolution. This is so frustrating. It makes me angry and it makes me want to cancel my Tracfone service. In addition there are problems with the Tracfone website. It keeps taking me to the login screen and is so slow. I bought another 1 year of service last month with refills so there's no reason for disconnecting my phone.

Tracfone told me that they could no longer supply me with service after my phone had not been working for over 2 months. They sent me a replacement phone for free which was defective. They sent a label and I sent it back. I have proof of delivery on the return. I have called 4 times and all I get is the run around and rudeness. I just bought 200.00 service for a year and they will not refund that so I can cancel the phone and my account. I am tired of this mess and want my phone or I want out.

When I ported a landline to my tracfone, and after the tracfone person helped me ck that the number appeared on the phone and that I could make calls, receive calls and I could make and receive texts, and as we were checking my minutes texts and data the connection dropped

Previous Tracfone and I confirmed my balance

When I cked my balance, my minutes, texts and data were nearly all lost

I will provide details, IMEI and dates

Please get back to me

12/12/22

Last week I was unable to text or receive a call, make a call and access voice mail. After hours on phone w/corporate I was told I needed a new phone or new sim card. Nobody ever called me back. After further investigation, I was told I had no plan and they had no record of my existing plan which was( 4 or more GB, over 2,400 minutes and 750 texts). A nightmare dealing with customer service. I have a statement from my credit card company showing I purchased texts in November. Soooo in order to have a working phone, I purchased 1 G airtime. I am exasperated; feel cheated out of my contract to 3/3/23, Why in the world would Tracfone not have a record? I have been a loyal customer for many years. Now my new plan expires in June. I was robbed! Can someone help me go back to my original plan? This senior is thoroughly disgusted and angry!

Thank you!

Hello,

I have a single account with Tracfone that covers two phones. On or around May 27, 2022, I purchased a 1-year service contract for my primary phone ($138.69 including tax), and on or around November 11, 2021, I purchased a 2-year service contract for my husband's (secondary) phone ($220.52 including tax). These dates are from my record of credit card transactions and might be off a day or two depending on the time from purchase to posting.

Last night (December 11th, 2022) I attempted to make a call from my primary phone and received a recording saying my phone had been deactivated. This should not have happened since I still have approximately 5 1/2 months left on my service contract.

When I called the service center to attempt to resolve this I was told that there had been a purchase for an unlimited plan for 20 days that had voided my 1-year plan. Granted I had some trouble understanding the agent (didn't catch his name either) so the details might have been something different but the bottom line was 1) he could not tell me anything about this fraudulent purchase, 2) he could not tell me anything about my usage, and 3) the only way to reinstate my service was by paying them more money, and try as I might, 4) he could not (would not) connect me with a supervisor. He also said that it was a done deal and there is no way to get back what I had already paid for. Though sorely tempted I did not yell or use profanity but was eventually disconnected.

I called back and spoke with "Angel", who was much more helpful but could not offer me any resolution. She stated that they have no record of the transactions I cited, although interestingly enough they do have my credit card stored. She at least told me that if I get them the "confirmation numbers" of the transactions from the bank they can research this and I will get my minutes back. I still had to spend $17.72 (including tax) to have my service reinstated (it included text and voice only, no data). Interestingly, once the phone was reactivated, my data reappeared, although they "have no record" of my ever having paid for it.

Another thing, when I look at my account online, my husband's phone is now missing, although Angel was able to tell me that he has until June 26, 2023 on his plan (it should be good until November 11, 2023) even though they "have no record" of my ever having paid for this either?

There is another number on my account, which they list as Inactive Default_Old - [protected]. I have no idea what that is about, but this doesn't look legitimate and definitely isn't mine.

This is the weekend - Monday I will contact the credit card company and see if there is anything they can do, and if they even have confirmation numbers for transactions that are over a year old, but I am not hopeful.

I returned my defective phone 11/9/22 using the label sent to me. Was told I would get my replacement phone in 3-5 working days. After 1 1/2 weeks called and was told again 3-5 working days. Called after that and was told the replacement phone was put on hold but they would release the hold. That didn't happen. Called again after a few days and was told the phone was (finally) sent out. Received the replacement phone 12/1/22 and now going thru hell trying to get it activated. Been calling for 3 days and spoke to 5 agents. They can't validate the account, an account I've had for 9 years! I am again waiting 24 hours for a call back. Was told they have a system problem. I am getting physically ill over this. It was bad enough that they took $128 on 10/26 for a new 1500 minutes card when I still had another year left. I called on that day and they wouldn't reverse the transaction so now I have 4.77 gb, 11,169 minutes and 10,081 texts remaining and I can't activate the phone and they can't authenticate the account. This is the worse treatment I have ever received.

I have been on the telephone 5 times today with 4 departments trying to activate a new phone with my old number. I have been told the phone is activated and had no service initiated to the phone 4 times today i have been asked to prove the account with last 4 of the credit card and all 4 times this has worked. then on the fourth call eployee number (514786 tells me the card is incorrect. and refuses to transfer me to a supervisor and then hangs up on me. this was done at 9:42 pm on 11/26/22.

Couldn’t transfer my existing minutes or even activate the new phone that they provided to me. I heard every excuse and you can’t even imagine the incompetence of those people it was unbelievable such idiots. So I lost my already paid for 3782.10 minutes thanks T F you suck! From October 1 to November 26 tracfone didn’t, can’t, or won’t transfer my minutes or activate the phone they send, Imagine that a phone service provider who can’t even activate their own phones that they provide to you.

Tracfone has terrible customer service. They just say the same thing over and over again, but never try to solve the issue. They took me off my unlimited talk & text plan 3 months early and wouldn't give me the credit back for it. Then I had to purchase another plan and they closed it a week after I did it. It was good for a month. After being hung up on 3 times and chatting and speaking with about 7 different people over 3 days, they still just say "sorry for the inconvenience". Absolutely terrible. This was for my Dad's phone. Now I'm trying to add time to my husband's phone and it won't let me choose a cheap plan. People comments are "Tracfone website won't allow me to purchase this plan". There are always error messages. Terrible company.

Melissa Greer

[protected]@yahoo.com