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I sympathize with newyorkcustomer2, I had a horrific time with their customer service team. My A16 phone was malfunctioning and overheating so I called to get a replacement. They kept promising and postponing the new phone and even sent me a $30 no brand phone for Carelink that I don’t even have. They promised delivery for 3weeks but never received a replacement phone I paid $150 for a Samsung phone and now I have a phone that’s useable. Please be advised that tracfone has terrible customer service and does not care about their customers.
Posted in Forum: ElectronicsDo not deal with tracfone if you don’t have to. I took this package and when my data became unaccessible, I spent about 6 hours dealing with it. Most of that on hold waiting for representatives who were not able to fix the problem and said they were transferring the call and cut me off. My only recourse was to shame them on social and that got the attention of some department that sent me a link for a “secured channel”. Of course, one should be able to get help in person (impossible) or by phone without all of what I went through. I urge you to think twice.
Posted in Forum: ElectronicsHello,
Are you aware of the constant issues trying to activate the Tracfone Phone bundles that you offer? I have been purchasing your bundles for a few years including 4 bundles between myself and my parents. Each and every time that we activate a phone, they either do it wrong, or it has no data for a while. They always ask for a Service Pin Card, of which is NOT included in your bundles.
Who can I talk to about this as the last phone my parents purchased was activated on 4/20/25, assured by Tracfone that it was good to go, and we had proof that it was good until 5/26. However, only 18 days after the phone was activated (1 year unlimited plan with 12GB of data) her phone stopped working completely with an error of the phone being deactivated.
She called the company, as their chat was totally useless, and was instructed to purchase the $15 Unlimited Talk and Text plan with 1GB of data. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I hear Unlimited, I think it is not tied to the data plan. Why they didn’t instruct her to just purchase more data (if in fact she was out of data) instead of buying ANOTHER Unlimited talk and text plan. Does that make it Unlimited+ or Unlimited no takesee backsee?
This is not the first time that Tracfone has tried to pull this on us. I had to fight tooth and nail to get my last bundle activated that had 24GB of data and Unlimited talk/text. It took 2 times of being depleted (ONLY by time, not even by data standards) and multiple phone calls and chat sessions to get it rectified.
What I NEED you to do, is communicate with Tracfone on how the bundles are sold. We don’t get a Service Plan card. We are told that the phone comes with it. That must not be correct, as they ALWAYS ask for that number and say we didn’t get any plan with the phone.
Either Home Shopping Network is part of this scam, or they just don’t care that the bundle they are selling is the biggest hassle ever. Can someone please look into this? Why is this always a hassle, and I know that more people have had the same issues. Why does this continue to happen?
Thank you.
898-880
Tracfone HMD Barbie Flip Phone with 1,200 Talk & Text 365-Day PlanFree Shipping
They do offer plans with unlimited talk/text and 24GB data for the year, but getting that honored is another thing. I’ve found numerous complaints across various forums whereas the phone was activated but with a limited number of minutes or with no plan whatsoever.
I have owned many Tracfones purchased through HSN and never seen any of them say they offer unlimited data. Unlimited data for a year + a new cellphone for that low of a price would be one heck of a deal! The 1-year service (365 days) just means that you get that long to use your 1500 Min/Text/Data that comes on the phone. For some that’s plenty of minutes for an entire year. But once the 1500 minutes run out more data has to be added to the phone.
I encountered the same issue. The Samsung A15 was offered with unlimited talk/text and 24GB data for a year. I successfully activated the phone. After a few days, I lost the ability to make or receive calls. It took probably an hour to “resolve” with Tracfone support. Less than 3 weeks later, I went through the same exact thing. And again a couple of months after that. I think the support agents had been applying temporary fixes to get me off their plate. This most recent agent seems to have been able to finally get me on the correct plan. We shall see.
I believe in my case, it may have been HSN that sent out the wrong item. Though I received the correct phone and accessories, the item number on the shipping inventory doesn’t match anything on the Tracfone box. It seems to just be the phone with no plan included.
Regardless, I cannot wait until I’m free to move to another carrier.
Moderator- 01.05.25 7:56 PM
Yes, @lucy822, each order should contain a red activation card. The instructions are as follows:
To Activate follow the steps below:
Open your phone package.
Find the Red Activation Card that says START HERE, you will need your phone’s Serial Number which is written inside the white box as it is required for activation.
You do not need to provide a Service Plan PIN during Activation. Your initial Service Plan PIN comes bundled with your phone and will be automatically added during the activation process.
Go to Activate.Tracfone.com or call this exclusive number, 1-800-816-0663.
If you are a current Tracfone customer upgrading to a new phone, you will be able to transfer your service and airtime balance to your new phone. (Safelink customers cannot upgrade or transfer service to this phone)
My phone is activated. Just can’t get the 365 days of free service that was supposed to come with it. Tracfone says no.
What is the deal?
Posted in Forum: ElectronicsAfter seeing an opportunity on air this morning to purchase a 2-pack of Tracfones, I checked into reviews of these phones. The majority of the negative reviews focused on very inadequate customer service and difficulty updating phone plans. As a result, I won’t be purchasing them.
Posted in Forum: ElectronicsI got my husband a new cell phone because his old one was not in good shape.He went to a place that works on cell phones with all his information and they set up everything with Tracfone.They transfered his contacts ,pictures etc..You pay by the hour and it is stress free.It took about 1 1/2 hours.The next day ,he went back because Tracfone took away his data.They helped to solve that problem also.What was also good, was they showed him how to use the different things on the phone. The place he went to, is I believe a chain called Techy by Dr.PHone fix.
Hello peachy79,
I have been using Tracfone for years. I have never had a problem with rolling over my existing minutes and having them combined with the new mins, data, etc. Although you aren’t rolling over, the way to handle this is to call them (Tracfone) again and they will ask for your sim card number. Well, whatever info is in the little book with the red cover. That information identifies your program purchase through HSN. They will activate your phone and you will turn it off and then turn it on again. You should see your minutes by texting Balance to 611 611. Sometimes it happens immediately and sometimes it takes a little longer. If you can call from another phone and do the activation with the technician in real time, you shouldn’t have a problem.
Posted in Forum: ElectronicsDoes anyone know how I will get my free year of texts,SMS and 24 G of data when I transfer my same number to my new phone. Tracfone was useless in answering and HSN wasn’t far behind. A little nervous about making the swithch until I get the correct info. I can not be the only one that has purchsed this phone so someone please advise.
Thank you.
Posted in Forum: ElectronicsHow long do we have to activate this phone? Normally, with Tracfones purchased on HSN/QVC, we have 365 days. However, when this question was asked on the Q site, it responded 350 days for activation. This is to be a gift, so the timing is important to me.
- Moderator
- 08.18.24 9:27 PM
I am genuinely sorry that you’ve had this kind of experience, @beth57. I do see that this phone was offered with “Unlimited Talk, Text, 24GB Data”. I do see it noted on the order that Tracfone did not honor the plan or provide adequate support. We did issue you a full refund on 7/31/2024, and they (3 amounts; one for each Flexpay) are marked as “Settled” on our side.
Typically, it takes up to 72 business hours to reflect on your payment method, and it should normally be showing by now. If you are not seeing three amounts refunded from HSN on your statement yet, please reach out to your financial institution to see how long it typically takes them to credit that back to your account. Again, my apologies.