• TracFone

TracFone

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Overview

TracFone has a rating of 1.1 stars from 358 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about TracFone most frequently mention customer service, new phone, and sim card problems. TracFone ranks 161st among Mobile Carriers sites.

  • Service
    206
  • Value
    184
  • Shipping
    114
  • Returns
    110
  • Quality
    167
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 0%
Positive
0
Neutral
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Negative
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How would you rate TracFone?
Top Positive Review

“Auto refill troubles...”

Kayla M.
7/5/22

I enrolled in auto refill because of a discount offer of $5.00 per month. After signing up, I did not receive the discount. I added my credit card information and the offer "magically" disappeared. I called customer service and no less than 3 people hung up on me when I tried to get the issue resolved. Now, I am trying to get a refund for my entire service and disconnect my service. Please be careful with this company. They are extremely unprofessional. UPDATE: The problem has been solved. I was given what was previously promised and 2 months free service for the inconveniences. All is well. Thank you!

Top Critical Review

“Bullshiot”

Hanna N.
10/4/24

I do not appreciate your bad cell service. Multiple times I have had to reset my kids phone just so it gets service. This last time was the last straw. Thank you for terrible service. I will be giving a bad reference every time someone asks. Hanna Nash - 1

Reviews (358)

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Reviews that mention popular keywords

customer service (167) phone number (45) replacement phone (14)
Thumbnail of user stepheng1851
Arizona
1 review
1 helpful vote
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January 22nd, 2023

I recently tried to resolve a service issue with tracfone. My phone had stopped making and receiving calls on their service. Over a period of several days I dealt with several service reps who assured me they would fix my issue. Went back and forth numerous times with no results. I was promised callbacks that never happened. On the fourth day of this unproductive activity I was told that the reason my calls weren't going through was that I had no minutes. When I started this process I had over 13,000 minutes and over 15,000 texts on my account. Overnight my account dropped to zero. When I tried to resolve this I was basically called a liar. I was told that I had used my time and I simply had none left. I make very few phone calls and I certainly didn't use 13,000 minutes overnight on a nonworking phone.(All of my contacts were on my wife's phone). The last word was that I had used my minutes and there was nothing they could do about it. Basically they deleted my time to explain my inability to make calls. It appears to me that they lied to me and stole my minutes. Beware of of this service.

Products used:
Phone service

Thumbnail of user aliouniang5
New York
2 reviews
9 helpful votes
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May 6th, 2023

Worst company ever! Don't even try them. They are just for your pocket and don't provide what your plan is. Very disappointed.

Service
Value
Thumbnail of user randyb909
Michigan
1 review
2 helpful votes
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November 19th, 2022

I called their *******183 customer service line and talked to FIVE different people and explained to them: #1 I don't have the 4-digit pin they kept asking for verification.
#2 I buy my minutes cards with CASH in a store so I can't use the last 4 digits from a credit card used to purchase tracfone service.
And #3 I told them at least a dozen times, I can't read the verification code they kept texting to my OLD tracfone with the broken screen which I told them over & over, Can't be Read! But those F-ing idiots kept sending it to that phone!
And last, #4 The first thing tomorrow morning I'll be returning my new tracfone to the store for a full Refund, I'll be buying a new cell phone from one of Tracfones competitors. Hopefully a competitor that has Customer Service that can Speak and Understand English and has at least half a Brain!
And I will never spend another cent on Tracfone or their new parent company, Verizon.

First thing Monday morning I'll also be placing a complaint with Tracfones' corporate headquarters, either by email, phone or both-about their abysmal customer service department.

Service
Returns
Thumbnail of user nathans638
Pennsylvania
1 review
0 helpful votes
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February 24th, 2022

I have been a long time customer (>19 years) of TracFone. No more. After trying to utilize the EBB benefit that TracFone itself was promoting during Covid-19 they managed to make a reliable phone service unusable once a month. No one seems to understand how to diagnose their back-end configuration problems other than a handful of people that are nearly impossible to find. There phone system will often disconnect you when you are forwarded to another queue. There call-back system will also disconnect leaving you to start all over. I've spent an average of 3 hours per month on the phone since last fall trying to get the phone to work again. After 9 hours between two days (2/23-2/24 2022) trying to get data working again we are done. I would not recommend TracFone any longer and hope others look to other MVNO's like MintMobile. They also continue to tell me that my unlocked Samsung A71 5G is not supported even though the model is included on AT&T's whitelist. You get what you pay for but lately I'm not even getting that. Other MVNO's deserve my money more than TracFone.

Tip for consumers:
Avoid TracFone if possible.

Products used:
Switching to MintMobile

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user jacka754
Nevada
1 review
4 helpful votes
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February 5th, 2023

After more than 15 years with tracfone, my phone quit working. I called TracFone and they told me that the number of my phone is not a TracFone number and that I have never had business with them. After multiple calls and multiple hours they finally said they found my information on the number I had had with them for around 10 years and that I did have approximately 3,000 minutes 3,000 texts and 2 GB of data but I would have to get a new phone number because they had changed from AT& T to Verizon. They issued me a new phone number with all the minutes and data and text that I had left on the old number but told me I would need to buy a SIM card kit for a Verizon and call them back. I did that and they say they cannot verify the account because the email address I give them and the credit card number do not match the account for the new phone number. This is strange because I still get emails from TracFone on the email address I have been using, and I can log in to my account at TracFone but it tells me my phone is not active. It looks like I'm out over $300 that I had paid for minutes and had paid the phone ahead to 2025. I feel like they think I am lying to them every time I call them

Tip for consumers:
My experience was good for several years but over the past year I would inform people to stay away from this company

Products used:
Cell phone from TracFone

Service
Value
Quality
Thumbnail of user zowiea
Oregon
1 review
10 helpful votes
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June 19th, 2022
Verified purchase

Just... Don't do it. It's cheap for a reason. I've never experienced worse customer service in my life. It is nearly impossible to get anything resolved. Been using Tracfone for a few years now. It was fine when no issues came up. But when I need a problem solved or something refunded, forget about it. Not worth the hours and hours on the phone, stressing over getting your phone working, and endless repetitive customer service agents transferring you to a "higher department" to help you. I ran out of data a few months ago, and purchased 1gb of data just to tide me over until my plan refilled in a couple weeks. After purchasing, my phone still didn't have data. So I foolishly bought another 1gb, nope, that didn't go through either. When I went into my account, I saw my "current plan" with no data, but then I clicked a tab to "show more", and I see another plan pop up. What the hell, why do I have two plans? This one was labelled "other plan", and specified the benefits from the other plan would rollover once the service ended for my current plan. Well, it's been a few months, and that hasn't happened. Fast forward to now, I had to reload my data, and thought, "maybe that was just a one time issue", so I bought 1gb of data. Nope. Here I am, yet again, with no data, and it's all just slowly collecting in this other plan which now has 3gbs, that I have absolutely no access to. I've talked with customer service I don't know how long, but I swear to god none of them know what colour the sky is. It is like playing a game of red rover with a brick wall. You just cannot get through to them. At least I haven't. I have such a simple request. I need data, I have the data, just move it or refund me. It should not be this difficult. The amount of energy I've given to this sesame street company is depressing. I'm changing my service. I hope for everyone's sake that this company gets run into the ground. If you are a current customer and haven't had any issues like this yet, you will.

Tip for consumers:
Steer clear if you value problem resolution and integrity in a company's service.

Products used:
Just the service plans.

Thumbnail of user christopherb2238
Wisconsin
1 review
1 helpful vote
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November 11th, 2022

Where do I even begin? First, simply trying to use one of their phones for another network is impossible - I had an old Motorola G phone that I thought I could use to get on with a new carrier. After a day of not seeing the SIM card work on the phone (originally picked up said phone as a backup in case of emergencies), I called them and found that you would need to use the phone for at least 60 more days before it's unlocked. They simply don't advertise this at all and it turns out they have the policy buried on their corporate website online but it is poorly explained.

Second, if you're trying to port over a number, good luck. Again, there they don't explain that if you're doing that at any point after they assign you a number, it voids out any service you paid for and you are stuck waiting for days for it to load up, and only if you pay for another plan. If you're trying to transfer out your number, the pin generator on their site doesn't send out any texts with the pin as requested, and when you try texting their customer service with "NTP", it locks you out for 24 hours - and they literally will either tell you they can generate a new pin and then promptly drop the call or say they can't generate a pin on their end.

Third, the service coverage is terrible. The signal drops a lot and their data is spotty at best. Their plans are very inconsistent, too, and can get pricey as well, especially if you're a person whose work involves constant access to data. They simply are not competitive at all and every plan is designed to bilk you.

Lastly, and this is directed more towards their management team, but their customer support people have significant language barriers that make it difficult to relay customer concerns to them, and a lot of them come across as rude and unprofessional. This seems to stem directly from Tracfone's own corporate culture, which if Indeed and Glassdoor are any indicator is horrible.

Bottom line is Tracfone is about maximizing their bottom line at the expense of customers. Avoid this company if you can at all. It's a horrible experience.

Tip for consumers:
Go with a better carrier.

Products used:
Motorola Pure G

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user jeffr863
California
1 review
4 helpful votes
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August 11th, 2021

Horrible customer service. Outsourced from the USA to call centers overseas - nobody knows what the F they are doing. Can't understand most of their poor English. You have to repeat everything over and over and over. Avoid

They totally screwed up my transfer of minutes to another phone. Idiots ended up changing my phone number without my approval, also screwed me out of thousands of minutes and data, and my End service date by (1) year. I called at least (5) times, used chat (4) times and spoke to numerous people.

None of these A**H**** could resolve the issue. I wasted (2) days and probably 10+ hours of my time.

I then called their corporate number located in Florida and got some rude lady that answered the phone and basically ignored my request to speak with someone in management. She instead connects me back to the same stupid overseas CS. I called the corporate again later in the day and the rude B**** ignored my request again and transferred me to someone's voicemail that I have no clue does what.

Hopefully Tracfone gets bought out by Verizon and then they fire all of their upper management and the incompetent call center idiots.

Absolutely the worst phone service ever. The CEO (Eduardo Diaz Corona) should be ashamed of their poor customer service and the rudeness of their USA employees that answer the corporate number 305-640-****.

Filing complaints to the usual government agencies probably won't do any good as this company has had the same issues for years now. Multiple complaints with everyone. If you have Tracfone, don't ever call for any help or use their on-line chat to get any service.

You will regret it if there has to be any changes made to your phone minutes or number.

I ended up getting screwed out of my minutes, phone number, and service expiration date. The end service date by one years service time Avoid these incompetent people.

Tip for consumers:
Just Don't Do it!

Products used:
Cell Phone Service - Air Time Minutes

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user carlenem34
Michigan
1 review
5 helpful votes
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August 3rd, 2021

I have been calling for 3 weeks and chatting on line to get my data to work. 0 help… every time I call

Thumbnail of user jl250
Arizona
1 review
1 helpful vote
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August 1st, 2017

August 1,2017

IF I HAVE COMPLAINTS BEFORE EVEN OPENING THE BOX, BELIEVE I WILL HAVE COMPLAINS AFTER OPENING THE BOX, TRACFONE. THIS IS A BAD SIGN.

So, I got a Tracfone and a plan the other day for $13.86, cool right? I agreed to $13 DOLLARS AND 86 CENTS! So when I check my account WHY IN THE WORLD does it show that I agreed to $14.23 from Tracfone? This is a bad sign. I have the receipt and all. I DID NOT AGREE TO $14.23 BUT $13.86! THAT'S FRAUD! I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO THESE COMPLAINTS ON CONSUMERAFFAIRS. COM BUT SOMETHING IN ME WANTED TO GIVE TRACFONE A CHANCE... LAST TIME I FOLLOW MY HEAD AND NOT MY GUT! Needless to say, the day/second I saw they charged me 30-something cents over was the day I shut down my debit card and got reimbursed from my bank. IF THEY ARE SHADY/DISHONEST ABOUT A CHARGE NOW (EVEN FOR 30-SOMETHING CENTS) WHO KNOWS THEY WON'T DEBIT MY ACCOUNT LATER FOR SOME OTHER STUFF I DIDN'T AGREE TO? Not to mention, the people on here say that their customer service sucks/is non-existent so how would I know I could get in touch with them if they did charge me later?

I SAY ALL OF THIS TO SAY. DO NOT GET TRACFONE! (PEOPLE NEED TO BE AWARE OF THIS) IF THEY ARE DISHONEST BEFORE I OPEN THE BOX, IMAGINE WHAT KIND OF JUNK IS IN THE BOX? WHO KNOWS, I MAY NOT EVEN HAVE MINUTES. WHO KNOWS, IT MAY BE AN APPLE IN THE BOX. WHO KNOWS?

DISHONEST, SHADY, MONEY-HUNGRY COMPANY. DO NOT BUY FROM TRACFONE.
YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. AND HAVE A NICE DAY!

Thumbnail of user roberta3163
Mississippi
1 review
0 helpful votes
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July 26th, 2022

I have had the same phone# since 1998. TracFone has allowed my phone# to be ported to a different provider 6 times over the last 15 months

Products used:
Samsung Smart Phone entry model

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user kevinb79
Indiana
2 reviews
18 helpful votes
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April 3rd, 2022

I've been lied to, hung up on, wasted time with customer service. TracFone has customer service and all of it is bad.

Service
Quality
Thumbnail of user carolv754
Indiana
1 review
2 helpful votes
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May 8th, 2022

I have had Tracfones for over 10 yrs. Used as backup phones and had one for each child in school. Paid for 90 days in mid-March. The minutes were added, but I immediately got a text that could not use because I had to upgrade. 4/1/22: While replacement was activating, phone shut off and would not turn on. Customer service had me try everything before admitting the phone was defective. Asked if I wanted the return label mailed or emailed. I chose email. Lady offered to transfer minutes to another Tracfone. I declined. The email delivered had NO BARCODE for UPS to scan. UPS said the email was corrupt. Tracfone re-sent same useless email 3x even to different email address. Told me that UPS could just use the numbers and create a barcode in the store. Tracfone now refused to mail me a return label. They also refused to transfer the minutes because suddenly it could not be determined that I owned the phone because I had no credit card associated with account (I buy the cards at the store) and could not provide the two phone numbers they thought were my most called numbers. I paid $13 and shipped the phone back to them for replacement #2. UPS confirmed delivery on Wed. After a week, I asked Tracfone again to just transfer the minutes. Now they said that the phone I would transfer it to had to lose all its minutes before the transfer. They said they would transfer minutes to a new replacement phone and activate it before sending. Instead they cancelled my number, ALL 2696 minutes I had accumulated over the years and sent me a phone with no service even though I had paid thru 6/13. Customer service then made a statement about it being a government phone because I had no credit card associated with account and was not enrolled in their reward program (with its constant annoying texts). They refused to "approve my benefits to ADD minutes that I "claimed" to have". How about TRANSFERRING my minutes and service that I paid for. Thank God they do not have my credit card number.
5/7/22 end: 4 hrs and 45 minutes with customer service. $20 plan could never use a minute of. $13 to UPS to get a phone with nothing on it.

Products used:
None

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user davidf3496
Pennsylvania
2 reviews
1 helpful vote
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June 30th, 2022

I have been a customer of Tracfone for about four (4) years. When I first joined they seemed great; however, they have gone down steadliy ever since. So, going on my merry way, I get a text message from Tracfone telling me I need to get a new SIM card because they were bought by Verizon. I asked friends that were long time Tracfone customers if they recieved that notice. No one did. So, I ignored figuring it was some SNAFU. Then I get a text saying they were going to begin degrading my cell phone by removing certain functions/services if I didn't get a new SIM card. Again, friends received nothing. So, I get a new SIM card. I hadn't installed it for a couple days and get another threat from Tracfone that says if I didn't install the SIM they would take away a free month offer and "install it by force!" Where are we living now (USSR, China), what gives? Okay, so I call them again and again after getting the run around by poor English speaking operators. Agent says; "Just install new SIM and away you go!" Are you sure? "Yes!" So, I install and poof, away I DIDN'T go! After on the home phone with Tracfone for two (2) hours, getting hung up on several times, never getting anyone that could speak clear English, never received any emails they stated they sent me (to home computer), the cell phone begins to work. Have no idea how that happened. I will begin to look for another carrier immediatley. If this is the way Verizon does business, it definitely won't be them! If I could vote 0 stars here I would.

Service
Thumbnail of user dr490
Michigan
1 review
2 helpful votes
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May 4th, 2023

I can never make calls. And if I'm not using WI FI to make calls, they never go through. Nobody can contact me and these are important calls like from the court system! This is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!

Products used:
This one

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user cleavesdave
Louisiana
1 review
4 helpful votes
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May 6th, 2023

Suck, tried again 3 days later did the same thing billed 2 and no 15% off. Told me to refuse shipments.

Tip for consumers:
They admitted the website was probably bad still bad 3 days later my all be a scam stay clear

Products used:
Will refuse shipments to hopefully get a refund

Service
Thumbnail of user georget1039
Florida
1 review
5 helpful votes
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June 1st, 2022

You can no longer pay your prepaid bill all options blocked ether take expensive plan of they shut off service

Thumbnail of user jackw558
Tennessee
1 review
5 helpful votes
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September 25th, 2020

Tech support is a joke. If they can't help you they just disconnect. The heavy accent is very hard to understand.

Thumbnail of user veragraff228
Illinois
1 review
1 helpful vote
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July 20th, 2023

I started my attempt to transfer my service from one TracFone to a new TracFone while keeping my same phone number this was to become a nine and one half hour trip to hell after listening to the usual press this press that I reached someone whose English was horrible and yet they managed so they claimed to transfer the number this first attempt took nearly 35 minutes 40 minutes I would say having what I thought was completed I used the cell phone I was able to make a phone call now I wanted to make sure that I can receive a phone call and that's where the trouble began 11 separate calls to their customer service line resulting in the same idiotic and unsuccessful attempts to fix a problem that they created namely they issued me a new phone number which I never asked for finally after 11 separate phone calls and always being told we have fixed the problem not only did they not fix it but now my phone was completely unusable and finally at 5 minutes to 10:00 at night after having started at 11:00 in the morning finally a young man figured out that there was a problem with the SIM card and he had to reprogram do I don't know what and finally after 10 hours I had my phone working the way it should have been from the beginning I will never ever buy another TracFone yes they added one year to my contract they added a thousand minutes but that didn't make up for having wasted in frustration and entire work day and then some customer service horrible stay away!

Thumbnail of user tgs.carrie
Georgia
1 review
2 helpful votes
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May 29th, 2023

I told them they need to quit smoking the pipe or drinking that liquor. They piss me off every time I call with a problem, acting stupid. I have broke 3 phones trying to fix a problem with them. One time I bought service for refill and never got my data, so I called them ( I had my neighbor hook me to her wifi so I could call them) asked to speak with a supervisor and she just kept putting me on hold never giving me my data I had just bought. I asked her how stupid is she, all she has to do was give me my data. This new phone of theirs had problems right out of the box, so I took it to Verizon that's the tower data comes through, the guy did a check on the phone and he said many weird things are wrong with this phone it wouldn't give him certain info other phones will give and he said it's a defective phone. And I bought data plan to get the phone going and I bought a hole month of data they only gave me 3 hour's of data and cut it off. I told them they are stealing my data, I'm crazy but not stupid. WARING STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY MADE MY BLOOD PRESSURE GO UP EVERY TIME I CALL AND THEY NEVER FIX A PROBLEM. TracFone u suck

Thumbnail of user ah1306
Idaho
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 5th, 2017

Yes, it is relatively cheap phone service and extremely cheap customer service! They just want to make a quick buck!

Thumbnail of user nancydevshire
Michigan
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
October 10th, 2023

Bought a data card and apparently Verizon is real slick. Took new data and put separate for 30 days. They're slick. Beware!

Thumbnail of user twentiethcenturyw
Hawaii
30 reviews
38 helpful votes
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March 11th, 2022

I was notified in mid-March 2022 that their network would no longer support a reliable good-working phone I had from them, as of February 22,2022. Thanks for the heads up. The phone was actually still working fine in mid-March.

I was told I was eligible for a free phone because of the changes. One customer svc. Rep was sure I could only have a flip phone. Two other reps. Told me I was eligible for a new smart phone and could transfer minutes. Typical bad Tracfone training. Anything the reps tell you has a 50% chance of being wrong. The brand I wanted sold out during one of those calls.

I opted for a different smart phone. That rep quickly took down my address. I asked her to repeat it. She was sure she had got it, which made no sense. She also said she could not repeat the address I had just given her, for "security reasons."

I have just learned that she put in the wrong apartment number. The person there is a concern. The package is supposedly on the way.

My data sometimes disappears at a much faster rate than it should. I understand that some of their phones/connections eat phone calls or cannot make calls at times due to network unavailability. Their phones can be defective, sometimes outrageously so. Some of this was better in the past.

Tracfone smart phones have no good data plans for a serious data user. Their plans top out at 8 GB for $40.00. Very non-competitive. Simple Mobile and Straight Talk, which they also own, had better plans at least on paper.

SUPERVISOR SCAM ALERT. When you ask to talk to a supervisor, you just end up getting put back into the queue for regular customer SVC which will not even be answered. This has happened to me three or four times now. It seems possible the reps don't even know about this.

EXECUTIVE ESCALATIONS SCAM ALERT?
In my experience, this office in Miami does not respond to communications. The voicemail for the head person is odd and sounds like it might not really take messages.

Thumbnail of user marissag96
Washington
1 review
1 helpful vote
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March 20th, 2022

Had Tracfone since 2009 and always Happy. But. For now; finish. Paid for 3 Months with Pinzoo and I can not make Phone calls... Done with Tracfone!

Thumbnail of user brandons1308
Texas
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
September 12th, 2023
Verified purchase

I was trying to activate my wife's SIM card that's through Straight Talk Wireless. I bought my SIM card activation kit at Walmart for $37.68 all together. It came with two SIM cards and an activation PIN number that's worth $35 dollars.
I called in the first time at 5:18pm CST and got hung up on while on hold. Then I called in at 5:27pm CST and the lady on the phone yelled at me for using SIM card B that is apparently for AT&T and I was suppose to use Sim Card A. We got into it and then she hung up on me. Then after that I spoke to 9 other representatives on the phone and they all hung up midway through when trying to activate my wife's phone.
I was told conflicting information the entire time. A list of some of the things I was told.

- I can't use the SIM cards provided to me, I need to buy new ones again.

- My wife's IPhone 13 is not able to use a SIM card and they would need to use a ESIM.

- The SIM card has been activated and it should work in 30 minutes.

- We will give you a call back (Which Never Happened).

- Sim Card B is for AT&T and Sim Card A is Verizon.

Products used:
They hang up on me before activation on a SIM card. So nothing.

Service
Value
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Quality

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TracFone Wireless is America's #1 prepaid wireless provider. Shop prepaid cell phones, Pay As You Go Airtime options, No Contract Monthly Plans and More!

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