TracFone Wireless
reviews and complaints

Today is Feb 9. I have been on hold and disconnected from Tracfone customer service off and on for the past 5 hours. This happened also yesterday from noon to 6:30 pm. Each representative begins with "Oh, yes, I can do that for you." and then they say they have to "transfer me to appropriate department". Then I have to repeat the issue all over from the beginning (no info is shared among the reps from my previous calls) or the call is disconnected. When asking to speak to "your supervisor", it appears that those words are Tracfone code for "disconnect this caller". I never get to actually speak to a supervisor (and I doubt there are actually any supervisors at all). Every time I call I get transferred to "approrpriate department" at which time I'm either on hold for as long as 45 minutes or more or the call gets disconnected. Also, I wonder if the words "I want to port out my tel # to my new service with Jethro Mobile" is also code among Tracfone reps for "Put this caller into hold limbo".

Tracfone sent me free, a 5G replacement phone for my 3G flip phone. Service was stopped on flip phone 30th and I received replacement on 31st. I still had time on flip phone. After some difficulty I spoke with Ivio in Phillipines, 6:00 to 8:00pm on February 3, 2022. It took 2 hours to transfer AT&T service to Verizon. I had no service on the 5G phone at that time. He said someone would call me at 10:00PM (in two hours). At 10:00 Jeiel from Phillipines called. After 1 1/2 hours of being on hold while he did something, he said the flip phone number he had was different from what was listed. I said that's not possible and asked if this was a SCAM? He HUNG UP on me. I have spoken with Verizon, AT&T, and the BEST BUY store tech people. They all say I must call Tracfone. I am being put through HELL. I don't want to loose the phone number and I need my phone.

I am 81 yrs old. Just want a phone for emergencies.

I just purchased a tracfone on January 30, 2022 and purchase a 90 day 500 minute plan. I know longer can make or receive calls as it says I no longer have any minutes but my longest call was 12 minutes and I figured I have used about 30 minutes so far. When I talked to them they said a tech rep would call in 15 minutes but never received a call from their support team. Now I have a new phone and can't use it and I can't afford to keep buying minutes if they are not going to add any. What a rip off!

I went on your web site three times to try to activate a phone and each time after a extremley long wait and going back and forth with the rep I would end up getting disconnected, I tried to explain to the fourth rude women on the so called help line what the problem was and she started fighting with me about the activation date in which she was wrong but kept interrupting me and refused to listen they acted like I was trying to steal the $ 20.00 phone and a $20.00 phone card, I was so pissed at the way I have been treated I threw the phone out;

I live with the $40.00 lost. I explained four times that I put the card in before I activated the phone, I was treated like I was lying. Unbelievable.

Their customer service has always been the WORST out there (right up there with DTV). We needed to upgrade our phone but of course, TracFone was out of the ones we could get for free and had no delivery date for us. So, we purchased one from Amazon. It came in yesterday and I called them to transfer the phone number and time and activate the phone yesterday evening. I called them at 8:00. The guy that I got recorded the serial number and sim number, checked the account/records for the phone and said it should be good. Except when I tried to make a call, I was told it wasn't connected and I didn't have a carrier. He then said he had to transfer it to another department to finish and he'd transfer me to them. Instead, their system hung up on me. This was at 9:00. I tried the phone again this morning at 6:00 and still nothing. I called them again at 9:00 this morning and had to lie to them about the phone number so their DA system wouldn't hang up on me again (did twice when I gave them the correct phone number). The woman looked it up, said there's a support ticket in for it and supposedly put an expedite alert on the ticket after I told her it had been in for 12 hours. She too said she'd transfer me to the department that should be handling the final steps. And guess what, their system hung up on me. Here it is almost 15 hours now and I'm on hold again and have been for 19 minutes. It's now 4:00, I've had 5 calls with them today, spent 10 hours on the phone with them only to have another CSR put me on hold and now they've hung up on me. DO NOT BUY A TRACFONE AS THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE WILL DRIVE YOU NUTS! Their live chat isn't working and isn't even an option on their website. I've had problems before with their customer service not accepting gift cards that TracFone has sent me for a birthday or milestone and being really rude. I really need to look around at phone plans more.

I have been unable to receive calls or text since 1/26/2022. No one seems to be able to help me and I have tried everything. It keeps telling me I have straight talk and wants all my information. Which I will not give because I understand you have been hacked. I am set up with TracFone not straight talk. If you do not fix this problem I will have no other choice then find another phone service

I work and need my phone. Please help!

My information is

Sue Ella Allen

[protected]

I've been a Tracfone customer for many years. Last October I purchased a new phone. All was well until about a month ago when I started getting messages from Tracfone that I needed a new phone. I've tried repeatedly to contact Tracfone to resolve this. Nothing working. I tried calling them and texting them. Their phone hangs up on me. There is nobody texting me back. Now I'm out of minutes and it won't let me buy any time and I have no service at all.

I ordered a year 'Service days only' card from a seller on Ebay for my Tracfone. The card took a long time to show up on my phone, and when the service days showed up, my 1000+ minutes of talk and text time disappeared. The seller was *alwaysgreatdeals* on Ebay, I was sold 365 service days only, which appeared at the same time as my minutes (already on my phone) disappeared, and the order # was: [protected]. When I contacted the seller, they said this was a problem with Tracfone, not a problem with them. I contacted Tracfone, and they said they'd restore the minutes, but that has not happened. That is why I am filing a complaint.

ttachments for this complaint."

Complaint filed by:(More)Complaint filed against:Straight Talk

01/13/2022 (This is only visible to you)
More info received from the consumer
 ***Document Attached***
This lady at TF doesn't seem to understand at the time this happened I was under contract it's not about my status now but at the time I was under contract and they didn't send me an equivalent phone, they sent me a phone for FREE to honor my then lease, I have since paid off that lease but what happened while under lease is what this formal complaint was made, in Ovtober. I've attached my lease agreement and the email with scan code to return my broken phone and a few days later I received a phone but it's not acceptable. I'm a little surprised at the lack of knowledge of how their associated companies, and lease companies operate. If you're considering any of the TF companies then go elsewhere because this is the customer service you receive. They want to bank on your position now not back when the actual issue happened while under a lease with replacement phones 2 of them in fact. My husband and I are both done with these companies. I hope a reputable company takes over TF. 01/13/2022 (This is only visible to you)
More info received from the consumer
 ***Document Attached***
I was contacted my the tracfone head office. They dont take in broken phones and clearly my contract said it will replace my phone up to 2 times
I asked for my phone back from straightalk, that was impossible lady at home office said yes she could send me my old phone. First they sent me another phone but not equivalent, and second the head people of TF, said that all samsung phones have expandable memory? Could find my old phone and they dont ever replace broken phones and yes I was under contract. I'm no longer dealing with any company that uses TF devices. Horrific customer service and I've bout 5 phones and been with them for almost 10 years
The lady argued with me, talked over top of me, and basically didn't make any sense and refused to even attempt to rectify the situation. She claims that straight talk does not take broken phones and replace them. I was under a lease at the time of that situation and I got on chat with staight talk which I know they keep records of and I explained that my phones screen was cracked and was I eligible for a replacement since I was under lease with smart pay, yes mam, I even asked if they would like it sent back in its original box. Yes mam, if possible. Now when I went back and read my lease it said it would replace my phone up to two times. The lady at tracfone just told me they dont do that, well. Funny thing, I got a shipping scan in my email to go to ups and they'd print the label and ship it out, a few days later expecting the equivalent of my phone I received this not memory expandable smaller phone from straightalk not smart pay, they said I could do everythingright there on chat. This lady at ext 6193 at tracfone claims that they dont replace broken phones and I'm not eligible for one now. I'm like you're correct because I paid my lease off trying to get out from underneath all these lies, and mess.
I told her it doesn't matter what my status is currently it's the transaction that happened while under lease with my note 9.
I called the lease company they claim they dont deal with the phones themselves, the lady at 6193 said yes they handle that, yet she said we dont take broken phones back but here I sit with a note 10 straight from straightalk at no additional charges, but I paid for the phone I had for its exact specifications. In my opinion, because I've dealt with lots of companies including ombudsman that no one knows what they're talking about, no one wants to take responsibility for this and they want to use my status now while not under contract to lease a phone to make what they did back in October seem acceptable. Repeatedly she told me they dont replace broken phones. They have all the chat records and voice calls recorded, plus my conversations with smart pay. I have the email with the scans in them for shipping as well. But they dont replace phones, chat record from.my number back in October proves otherwise and they were suppose to send me that same model or spec equivalent.
This company is irresponsible, and refuse to make things right. I've been a customer with them for almost a decade, and I'm ashamed of how they treat long time always pay on time customers evening they charge 3 times more for a phone then online almost anywhere.
They should have consequences to not only lying but failure to rectify their mistakes.

Your account is not eligible for a warranty exchange replacement concerning phone number [protected].
All the above information has been provided to you so we will consider this matter closed.
Thank you for choosing Straight talk wireless to service your cellular needs.

Sincerely,

Jany Cernadas
Straight Wireless, Inc.
[protected]@tracfone.com
[protected] Ext. 6139
 01/10/2022 Forward Business response to Consumer  01/10/2022 Receive Business Response Dear Juanita Szaro,

We have attempted to contact to you via phone however no contact phone number has been provided.
Thank you for bringing your matter to our attention.
Based on the information provided to better assist you we will need to speak.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience to [protected] ext. 6139.
My hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm EST.
Thank you for choosing Straight talk wireless to service your cellular needs.

Sincerely,

Jany Cernadas
Straight Wireless, Inc.
[protected]@tracfone.com
[protected] Ext. 6139
 01/07/2022 Member- No Response- Final Request  01/07/2022 No Response received from Business on 2nd Notice  12/21/2021 Reminder of Dispute to Business - Member 

I'm allowed 2 replacement phones through my lease company through straightalk, cant get a second phone because my first phone wasn't replaced with the same or equivalent phone. Lease company is smart pay, and they have tried to work with me on this. Original cost, over $500...I financed a phone through straight talk and was guaranteed an equivalent replacement, if damaged. I still...     (More)BBB Designated Category:Refund or Exchange Issues Case opened date:12/05/2021 Case closed date: Desired Resolution:Other (requires explanation): Required to replace my phone with an equivalent phone, did not! I purchased an expandable memory 

My phone became inactive due to my number of 21 years being ported without my authorization to Metro on Dec. 16 2021. I called like they asked me too every 72 hours to hear if there were any updates from the escalation team about getting my number back. Here we are today, January 7, 2022 and I am still calling every 72 hours only to hear the repeated script from them "we have no new information from the escalation team."
However, my autopay payment is still being taken out of my account! When I ask to speak to someone with the escalation team I am told they are offline. When I ask to speak to someone at corporate or a supervisor they place me on hold then I am disconnected.
Everything I have is connected with that phone number. I can't reset my email without it, I can't call, text, my medical, bank account, my identity is with that number that I have had for over 20 years. Our home phone was with them for over 15 years. My husbands cell phone has been with the company for over 20 years as well.
Someone at that company had to be the responsible party allowing my number to get ported in the first place!

for 4 continious days I have tried to transfer phone # [protected] from old tracfone to new tracfone. They can't seem to get this done, I am unable to send or receive text or phone calls.Supervisors are unable to help and tell me they are working on it. They state to me that they will call back and NEVER do. What are you running this is a load of crap...fix my phone.

I have been trying to get my husbands number and minutes transferred to a new phone for 3 days. My husband wanted a new flip phone for Christmas. He has had his for over 10 years. He wanted to stay with tracfone. I bought one the beginning of December and gave it to him for Christmas. Unfortunately his phone broke in half the day after Christmas before we could switch the service over. So I started calling on Tuesday I explained the situation that his phone broke and that there was no way to read anything on the screen since it wasn't attached. They said they would transfer it. Well they kept saying they were trouble shooting it. I had to keep calling back. They would transfer me to someone else and put me on hold sometimes for an hour or just disconnect me. I thought maybe the phone was faulty so I bought another phone. They said they would transfer the number and minutes to that phone. Then wanted a 4 digit number. We never had one. So they said they couldn't transfer it. They have been no help. They phone had all my husbands contacts and doctors numbers in it and it is lost. There is no SIM card in the old phone. So if he was able to keep his number they could atleast contact him. All we would like is for tracfone to activate one of these new phone with his number and minutes.

On November 11th I entered the hospital with an infection and my cell phone was working but while there for five days I could not call out since Verizon said it was not recognized. When I got out I contacted Tracfone and was told that I had no phone with them. I sent them over Chat proof that I had service under till 11/22 and that someone released my phone while I was in the hospital. My account only showed my wife's number, and I asked them to look at my mins, text, and data as of 11/11/21 and there was no reason to cancel my account since it was paid till 2022. I have been working with support now for over two weeks to activate my number with, so far, no success. I even purchased a new phone from Tracfone to make sure it wasn't the phone. It wasn't my old phone the issue since they cannot activate the number. I have had the number for over 40 years and cannot afford to have it changed since many people, accounts, and the government have it to reach me.
I have tried your Callback several times and find it wanting since the first time I never got the Callback and when I get it, it just places me back in the queue. It is far easier to just call or chat instead of waiting for the Callback. Also, Chat sometimes just shows the Chat login and not the Chat button to send the panel. My wife uses a lot of data and I find it a little difficult to purchase it. This may have caused the issue since I purchased 2GB online, the bank rejected it because they couldn't contact me since I was in the hospital, but, I had service paid till 2022 and my number should have never been canceled in the first place.

I just spoke with the most horrible customer service agent in the world.What prison do you get these scumbags from?
This POS needs to be fired!
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Tried to unlock phone, which was eligible on 11-22-2021.The awful person said that the Tracfone website was wrong and he was right and would not help.
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The guy was very, very rude and angry.He refused to help and said Tracfone's website was incorrect and he didn't care what it said.He kept saying that I did not pay!Then how do I have phone service if I didn't pay?WTF?.
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Fire this [censored] and hire better people!

I recently had to upgrade my 3g LG Tracfone to a new phone that I bought at Walmart. I bought an Alcatel Tracfone flip phone. I am very unsatisfied with this new phone! I did not want a computer just a simple phone like I have had for years. This phone does not tell how many minutes I have left on it or a date to renew by. I really hate this phone sold to me as a Tracfone. You have to be a lawyer to figure the thing out. Please bring back the 3 g phones. Fred Winsor [protected]@yahoo.com

I had this Samsung Galaxy a 11 didn't have for two weeks blew up.in My hands put big whole in my rug said they send me a new one sent back burnt up old phone bad customer service this unacceptable I will not use this phone it used we don't know if it works or not all I am asking for is refund for a new phone scammers lyers money grubbers please resolve this issue or point me in the right connects not my fault it blew up ty tracphone out of 100

Due to the dropping of 3g by all networks early in 2022. Tracfone has notified me that my phone will be useless and I must upgrade my phone. I currently have a Tracfone with a triple minutes feature, and have thousands of minutes which would normally carry over. However, in my recent conservation with Customer Support I learned that there would be no phones available for this upgrade that would replace the triple minutes feature and there cwill be no consideration for unused minutes.

While there is a $75 credit available on a purchase of an upgrade phone, the lack of further consideration for the many years of customer loyalty is, in my opinion, yet another sign of corporate greed and disregard for all who ca no longer use their phones.

Carl S

I've had my Tracfone and cell phone number since 2012 and suddenly I am receiving a bunch of unsolicited spam messages via text service.. I am blocking these numbers that send these text messages and recently reported them to the FTC.. After all of these years with Tracfone I am getting disgusted now with their service and lack of customer service too..

I called to have my husbands phone activated and have Minutes transferred.11/20/21. I was on the Phone for 45 Minutes with no resolve. I was given a reference number to use the next day. I called back. 11/21/21, There was no record of my phone call. So AGAIN i had to wait for the tech person to try to fix it. I was told to turn off the phone and someone would call me back in a Half Hour. Well Guess What i have yet to get that call. So now i am out $137.00 for minutes i added on 11/11/21. Also out the money for the Phone purchased on 11/21/21. I can not take the phone once it has been open. WORST PHONE COMPANY EVER

We had a tracfrone which we used when in the United States. We would buy minutes for the pay as you go service as needed. The Tracfone web site says that you can dial internationally by just dialing [protected] and following the instructions.

We bought two cards at Walmart. When we added the minutes from the first card, we had no issues dialing [protected] and following instructions to call Canada. When we added the second identical card, we were no longer able to call Canada. The [protected] number doesn't do anything any longer. We called tracfone to question this and were told that we needed another service. When I explained that this worked until yesterday, the customer service representatives kept reading from their prepared script saying that no, it doesn't work. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told that the call was being transferred. Instead, I was cut off.

I'm extremely disappointed that the service advertised on their website no longer works and at the unprofessional customer service representatives who did not even look into the problem for us. Instead, they recited the same garbage and then hung up.

It's time people knew. Although the service appears affordable, if you get nothing for your money it is very expensive!