I stumbled upon a new set of boxes in the pay-as-you-go aisle of Target this evening. The new provider on the block is Net10. From the way I’m reading the brocure, it looks like they’re a subsidiary of TracFone rather than an MVNO on top of TracFone’s network. Their schtick is simple: nationwide calling costs 10 cents. They also reward the purchase of larger refill cards by making the minutes last longer. For example, a $30, 300 minute card lasts 30 days, while a $180, 1800 minute card lasts 6 months. They also charge 5 cents a pop for text messages, which is less than what most carriers charge their montly invoiced customers.
The phone selection isn’t spectacular, but they get the job done. Available phones include the Nokia 1100 (which honestly I think is pretty cute), Nokia 2600, the funky Motorola C155, and the Motorola V171. The phones are relatively cheap without the frills that you might get on GoPhone or Boost Mobile, but the service is obviously aimed at cost-concious consumers who value a bargain over bling.
TracFone has done a smart thing by targeting a niche that has gone largely untapped. They need to keep on their toes though, bargain hunters don’t have much brand loyalty and the space could get very crowded very quickly.
Comments
644 responses to “Net10: Tracfone\’s New Pseudo-MVNO”
My husband and I both just bought a NET10 phobe. We’re very satisfied with them as well. The reception is awsome and crystal clear and the price, you just can’t beat it! $30 for 300 minutes, now that’s a deal compared to a lot of the other prepaid cell phone cards if your a frequent user. As long as they stay a reliable service and have cheap rates, we’ll stay with NET10. We just dropped “Simple Freedom” because of unreliable service, why have something you can’t use. My sister has used Tracfone for a long time now and hasn’t had any problems with it so knowing that NET10 was owned by Tracfone made my decission a bit easier to make. I’d highly recommend NET10 to anyone.
~Tracy~
i got a net10 phone last week, and i’ve yet to get the thing activated- and trust me, it’s not from lack of trying. the call center folks are, i’m sure, doing the best they can out there in India, but i’ve been told twice that it would be activated within 24 hours- to no avail. i’ve also been assigned a new SIM serial number to try to fix the problem- still, nada. this may be an isolated incident as far as their service is concerned, but i’m pretty disappointed and plan on returning this thing…
I got my Net10 this past week and activated it myself by landline, it took me about 15 minutes. I did call and get instruction on adding my 600 minute card though and they were helpful and had it on there in about 10 minutes. I was using the phone 30 minutes after activation.
I am disappointed in the Nokia1100 though as the only building it’s worked in has been my home. I sure hope they get some decent phones that’ll pickup in a eating joint or dept. store because this one sure won’t.
I’m overall satisfied and it has worked great everytime I’ve used it. I recommend highly.
I found a reconditioned Nokia 1100 from Net10 it advertised at Star69.com for $29.99. Has anyone had any experience with reconditioned phones?
I’m looking for prepaid cell phone service because I had a Tracfone and used it for a year with no problems, then when I tried to reactivate my service after it lapsed, I had a terrible time. Tracfone was never able to reactivate my phone after numerous calls. I had bought a 150 minute, good for a year, prepaid card already. I finally gave up and returned my phone and am hoping to be reimbursed for my unused minutes and the phone. I found MANY dissatisfied customers on a consumer reports-type website and recorded my complaints there. If Net10 has anything to do with Tracfone I want nothing to do with it and suggest all of you check out the website where numberous people have expressed dissatisfaction with Tracfone.
Just trying to decide what to do about Net10. It sounds too good to be true, but have been burned by Sprint…and really need a cell phone that I can trust, mostly just to have in emergency and quick calls (yeah right). Has anyone got any updated info regarding your satisfaction or lack thereof…?
Jen
Well, there is a small catch. Net10 service for the 300 minute, $30 card is for 30 days. That means that you have to pay at least $30 a month, so it’s pretty much like a monthly bill if you want to look at it that way. But if you don’t talk on your cell phone alot, it’s not that bad. You can eventually get tons of minutes because the unused ones stay on your phone as long as you keep it active. Plus, it’s a way better price than TracFone in the long-run.
I recently switched to Net10 after being a faithful TracFone user for over a year. I get great reception, and I don’t have to worry about roaming fees. (I’m constantly back and forth between North Carolina and Georgia so that 2 minutes per 1 minute talked was killin’ me!)
Oh, and if you want a phone that will let you talk anywhere besides your house, LP, get the V171 model. That’s the one I have, and it’ll place a call when my dad’s Verizon Wireless won’t. It’s only about $20 more though, and for me, it’s been a good phone.
Hi,
If you go to the Nokia website and compare phones it shows that the Nokia 1100 has LOW power as far as being able to pick up networks. My problem is the Motorola website is not as helpful – often it is not the cellular network that makes the phones useless – it is the power of the phone.
Thanks,
Tom
Before you buy one of these, I urge you to Google “Tracfone complaints”. After reading the HUNDREDS of problems, if you still want to buy one, then God bless you. Good luck.
My Tracfone (with 500 units left on it) is noting more than a paperweight. I gave up after they sent me my second broken phone. Customer service is located in India, and is a joke.
You wan 10 cents a minute with no roaming? Buy a T-Mobile prepaid. As long as you buy the $100/1,000 minute cards, it’s 10 cents a minute. Plus, you can use the Prepaid with ANY phone they sell (not just the four they pre-package). Imagine having 10-cents a minute on a Motorola RAZR…
In my experience, TracFone will remedy any legitimate problem if you contact its Executive Resolutions Dept. (info available at http://www.tracfone.com). Their first-level customer service is generally a waste of time, as is e-mailing “general inquiry” via their website.
Purchased phone at Target along with 600 minute card. Never got phone working properly, after a number of calls on Sept 7 Net10 advised me to send phone back to them (at my expense by mailer with a tracking number) and I would receive replacement in 5-10 days. Since was shipped the same day (sept 7) within state of Florida, presumed it would be closer to 5 days. On 18th called re status of phone, message on their voicemail service number said for faster service check website. Website gave very informative message that case was still pending. Called back, service rep. said they had received phone but had not done anything; and indicated he would ‘expedite’ case so that they would actually send replacement phone next business day.
They claim they will add 270 minutes to phone when returns, and will eventually give credit for the 600 minutes previously purchased. I expect many more calls to customer service before this happens. Target refused to accept return after phone was activated.
I recommend trying another company.
Must be nice to just have $100 for a card whenever you want.
i bought a 1 year tracfone card with 150 free min and after my 150 min my phone dont work
DO NOT PURCHASE ANY SERVICE FROM TRACFONE. IMO, They are an absolute scam and you will only lose your money. I have done tons of research on this company but unfortunately only after they ripped me off. They may have been a reputable prepaid wireless provider in years past (although I found nothing but horror stories), but IMO they are absolutely fraudulent now! Do a little research as I wish I had done. I am reporting them to the BBB, Florida AG, and FCC. And I won’t be the first one.
I had the same extremely annoying problem with Tracfone as “Karen Miles (July 28th, 2005 at 6:13 pm)” did. Apparently Tracfone makes their money on forcing customers to repeatedly buy new cellphones–but why couldn’t they just be honest about it up front? I am an “emergency only” cellphone user, and $159 (approx.) a year would certainly be an acceptable annual cost for me (figuring around $30 for their cheapest cellphone and $129.99 for year-long “subscription” card with 300 minutes).
love this phone
one thing i do not like about it you have to pay for it every mouth and like i do not have a job to get a feakin card thing and they are like $30 the is stupid get it RIGHT!
I am incredibly unhappy with my Tracfone service and have written a letter to the President of the company to tell him this. First, my telephone did not activate. i could have lived with this as well as the fairly unpleasant representative. After a month of not receiving any cell fone calls (I was traveling and don’t use the telephone a great deal.), I was amazed to find out that the woman had given me the wrong telephone number–the one I had shared with all my family and friends! In addition, I discovered that the telephone will not ring unless it is on the original screen.
This began a series of telephone and email communications with Tracfone, in which I have been told repeatedly that this is my mistake, even though the number I wrote down was not even remotely like my real number, and that I must have damaged the telephone. Tracfone does not have a policy of refunding money, but they would repair it. Why would I want to continue to do business with them??? In addtiion, the representatives are not native Englsih speakers and I could not understant them nor could they understand me. One gentleman, Risden, continually referred to me as ma’am even after I corrected him twice.
MY ADVICE–IF YOU WANT A PREPAID FONE SERVICE DON’T USE TRACFONE!!!!!
Hi, I´ve read all the horror stories published in this website. Let me tell you that I work for Tracfone, it´s been more than 1 year since I started working for them, let me tell you that yes you are right we the representatives are not native speakers and what´s the big deal with that, we´re there to help not to be discriminated like many people do when they call. It seems to me that sometimes it´s more important to them to find out where we are, that if we are in India or if we are negroes as I was called one time than resolving the problem they might have. Yes I said that they might have cause most of the times they call without real problems, they just don´t seem to figure out how to use a cell phone and we are the stupids, actually I don´t blame them cause nobody was born knowing how to use a cell phone but they don´t even take 5 minutes to read the user guide that comes with the phone package they just call and yell at us cause it´s simply our fault. Another thing about unsatiesfied customers that purchased a phone cause everyone just has it, there is one thing called Terms and Conditions of Service, something you should read before you purchase a product if you do not agree with that just don´t buy it!!! Regarding the technical problems, I really understand them cause some phones just don´t work in some areas, it has to do with the towers, it has to do with the signal reception, it has to do with a lot of things but sometimes they are just a pain, I really understand how frustrated some customers feel aboutthis. Ok, that´s all I wanted to say, thank you for reading.
I just want to say that I agree 100% with Carrie. I’ve been working for tracfone for a year now, and I think exactly the same as her. why don’t you people just learn to read, first off all, and second, why is it that yankees ALWAYS think it’s someone else’s fault? mexicans are even harder than you (believe it or not), but at least they are really kind people and they appreciate your work, and at least they understand that sometimes it’s their fault.
one last thing. every day that pass is harder for me to understand how people so ignorant and obtuse (i never thought that yankees were so dumb) could be the ones that rule the world. by the way; if you (as many of you say) earn 35 bucks an hour, why are you so miserable??? how can you stand 40′ on the phone just for 2 dollars worth of minutes?!?!?!
this message goes to “a k; July 2nd, 2005 at 7:26 pm ” & Brian Fox Says:
September 4th, 2005 at 1:59 pm
first of all, do you have the slightest idea of where India is at least?
joseph Says:
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:54 pm …of course that the phone will not work once you have used up all the minutes..that’s how it works. if you’d just read how tracfone works before complaining about what’s “supposedly” not workinmg properly…
I have been a Virgin Prepaid customer for a couple of years and would recommend their service. Virgin only requires you to purchase $15 worth of time every 3 months to maintain service if you use their autopay system. Their airtime is a little more expensive (.25/min first 10 per day then .10/min) but for somebody who doesn’t use the phone much this is the best deal around because of the low purchase requirement. I have been happy with the coverage area and the (annoyingly cute) customer service. Unlike most others, Virgin allows a grace period before they confiscate any leftover balance in your account if you forget to renew.
Update to prior msg, on Sept 18 Net10 said they would ship new phone out next day. Called back Sept 26, still not shipped. Called back Oct 3, phone finally shipped Sept 29, 270 minutes on phone, said they cannot add the 60 day/600 minute card until about 30 days after new phone is activated. New phone finally delivered Oct 5, activated Oct 6 after calling customer service again as website activation failed. Call Nov 21 to add the 60 day card, said they added the 600 minutes but would not add any days because the 60 day card was originally activated (on phone that was defective and returned) more than 60 days ago.
WARNING: If you buy a time card, you have to wait until your original time almost expires, as they add the # days on the new card from the date you activate the card. So, if you have 90 days service and add a 60 day card, the end date of service does not change. These folks are a scam, avoid them at all costs.
I’ve had a tracfone (nokia 1100) for a couple of days. 130 minutes were gone in no time, and the sound (people on the other end) was terrible.
Don’t buy a tracfone. These products are NOT what they seem.
I have had Net10 service with the Motorola v171 for five months now. Previously I had Verizon prepaid. What a difference!
$30/300min now lasts 60 days for Net10. They just started this. The origonal reason I went with the Verizon prepaid in 2004 was the minimum payment per month was $15. The $15 for Verizon lasted less than one hour of talk time with their $.25 connect and $.15 per min. Now I always have time left over (usually 150 minutes at least) so I’m really getting my money’s worth.
Signal is as good for me as Verizon was. The phone is nice. Also, while Net10 has a little bit of a wait to get through to a live person, I have always been able to get one AND they always fixed whatever problem I had. They were also very nice to deal with.
Net10 website doesn’t give me all the account info I used to get with Verizon, but I don’t have to listen to Verizon’s super annoying “you have xx minutes remaining…” every time I dail. The remaining time and date for adding minutes are on the screen and nice and quiet.
I’m buying Net10 phones for my entire family this holiday.
This is the first I have heard of anyone having problems with Tracfone. I just bought two myself (you really cant beat the deal, price-wise!). A lot of people in my area have them and rave about them – good service, signal, etc.
My son has a prepaid cellular flip phone through T-Mobile and gets a great deal – 10 cents a minute, free to receive text messages. The signal is not all that great in our area… but its “okay”. The Tracfone actually has better signal and a much wider range in our particular area than T-Mobile.
love my net10 v171 no problems yet good clear service would recommend it to all.
I just received a TracFone Dec 13 from my sister as an early Christmas present. I activated it (with some problems) as soon as I received it. She had bought it for me as part of their refer-a-friend promo where she and I would both receive 100 minutes free airtime. On Dec 15 I received an email from TracFone to redeem my free minutes, but when I tried, it said my phone did not qualify because I should have waited until Dec 15 to activate it. Several calls and emails to customer service produced confusing suggestions but no real help. I will try the Executive Resolutions Dept, but if that doesn’t work I will deactivate the phone and return it. Then I may try Net10, but since they are owned by TracFone I might go with anyone else. I am peeved at TracFone and have spent far more in time than their promo is worth, and they have probably lost at least one customer, as well as anyone else I talk to.
I work for Tracfone/Net 10 We are NOT located in INDIA most of the customers are Racist, they never read the terms and conditions of service and whenever they have any small problem they want to be “Compensated” ,what they really want is receive free minutes,they are miserable!!! even if they understand what we say they say they don’t and they ask to speak with an “American”. There are customers that don’t know how the phone works and they dont press the “End” key when they finish a call and then they say that the units disappeared (yeah right) phones are program to deduct 1 unit per minute most of the complaints about lost minutes/units are unreal
Paul E. Schoen did not read the information about how refer a friend works (What a surprisse) somebody was supposed to refer you (this did not happen) but any way your “Friend” was supposed to refer you by sendind you an e-mail, once you receive this e-mail you are supposed to keep the e-mail and buy a phone “THEN” you have to activate the phone and reopen the original e-mail, when you reopen the e-mail you will see that there are some steps that you need to follow after you compleate all the steps you wait up to 48 hours and you and your frien receive an e-mai with the minutes, all this info is available at Tracfone.com this is an online promotion if you have questions you can call 18008677183 but you are like all the other customers you dont read or ask you just want to receive free units
You know what the problem is with unhappy customers, they want everything free, OH My GOD !!! tracfone customers cant even turn a phone ON, and if we tell them to insert a SIM card on a phone, that is like asking a 4 year kid to do it. I dont mean to be rude but sometimes when they call us Jerks, Stupids, I wonder is that really me or people who cannot even turn a phone ON? Why customers think that by having $20 phone they can call and scream at us like they were the king of the world, you know what in my country those phones models (Nokia 1100) you can find them with the people who picks up the trash in my house, remember my country is a third world country, again I dont mean to be rude but we are only honest people that we are not on India and that we speak to languages.
Glad I found this interesting discussion between Tracfone lovers, Tracfone haters, and Tracfone customer service dissing Tracfone customers.
Tracfone (and their Net10 product) provides a great deal for the money, so people have to be more tolerant with problems, as opposed to somebody in an expensive 2-year plan. On the other hand, it certainly is quite interesting that Tracfone customer service representatives actually go on the internet, find blogs about their product and then complain about their customers, as opposed to posting something actually helpful. So anybody buying their phones has to anticipate a rough ride. Could go well, could go bad. Continue reading on how to try it out for minimum money.
Also, Tracfone will certainly admit that they directly market to older people and those with little cell phone experience. Even in this country there are people that can’t afford an expensive cell phone, so this will be their first experience with this technology.
I bought a Net10 phone last week and have since been trying to activate it. Customer service has been very helpful, but they really can’t do anything else than say “wait 4 more hours” and hoping the technicians get it working in the meantime. There is some false advertising involved, since they claim a phone will work in at most 24 hours. In reality there seems to be quite a complicated process going on behind the scene with Tracfone trying to line up a lease with a 3rd party carrier. After I waited a week they agreed to send me a new SIM card, which means now they will try again with a different carrier. My original thinking was that since I live in Chicago there should not be a problem with coverage and finding a carrier. But apparently there is.
Net10 is a great deal, certainly the cheapest prepaid service. And it is backed by the largest South american cell phone carrier so they certainly have the technical resources. But they only have so much control over leasing the line from a 3rd party carrier.
Here is my advice for anybody interested in Net10: Buy one of the cheap phones, but DO NOT buy minutes right away. Then activate the phone over the WEBSITE! That way they will give you 10 minutes free. Those 10 min are enough to see if your service works right or not. The first couple of days all you are waiting for is signal bars on the phone anyway. Then, once it seems to work right, go ahead and buy minutes. I bought minutes right away but at least I didn’t activate them yet, so I may be able to get my money back. Even if you buy the phone and it doesn’t work out, at least you still got a phone out of it and you are out maybe $40 or $50. I feel that’s an acceptable risk for the return of a potentially great prepaid plan.
Finally, someone with some common sense. first of all, I must say that Tracfone is not OUR product. as you all may know, TF (as well as almost every northamerican company) provides customer service through a third party. we are not actually TF employees. About the ‘rough ride’, I have to say that it’s not quite so. Anyone who has worked in customer service could tell you that sometimes it’s umbearable trying to deal with someone who doesn’t even reason. That doesn’t have nothing to do with the fact that we work for tracfone in particular. Of course, I have some things to critysize of TF. As JOHANNES says, Tf is a good deal for older people who doesn’t use the phone very often. the problem is that (as every TF customer knows) for every transaction, such as adding units or whatever problem you may have, you always have to enter looong codes on the keypad, and for some people that’s simply imposible. that’s one of the bad things. (they tryed to solve it with the new Over The Air technology , but sometimes it doesn’t work). if you talk to a rep, you will always end up entering some codes on the phone.
Other thing is the lack of organization (at least at the call center). for instance, when you get a Case #, it’s almost sure that the thing will not be solved. and sometimes, like with any other company, things just doesn’t work and no one knows why. in such cases (which is not very often), TF exchanges the phones at no cost, even thou you
may have gotten the phone for free or the phone’s not working because of your fault.
about the cust service, in my particular case I have to say that I’m not always as kind as I would like to be. that depends on the customer. ‘Junk in, Junk out’. If some cust calls and the first thing they say is ‘I don’t understand you, fuckin’ indian’, or ‘I want to speak with an american because you have accent’, no one would feel happy. or sometimes they just say that they don’t understand you because you say something they don’t agree with, even thou they understood you all the way until that point. one other thing, IT’S NOT ALWAYS OUR FAULT, as you all seem to think. if I say ‘press 1,2,3’ and you press 5,*,8, it’s not because the Fucking Indian doesn’t know how to do his job. on the other hand, if I have to bear with a customer for 50 minutes because he’s a very old person who can barely follow my instructions, I gladly do so, because it’s my job and it’s the right thing to do. i have no problem at all with that.
About johannes advise of not adding the airtime before having the phone working, I thing that’s the wisest thing to do. in the event that the phone is not working, you can transfer the units from one phone to another, there’s no problem about that; but the problem is when a cust takes the phone back to the store to have it exchanged before calling us. in that case, I’m sorry, but you should have called us; you lost the units becasuse they are stored in the phone, so, if you don’t have it, there’s no way to probe tha you had them.
basically, we’re here to help, but anything we do is useless if the other party doesn’t cooperate or wants to do things their way.
merry christmas
Joey_ramone: You say having a case number is no guarantee for getting the problem solved. Could you share some inside information on what the best way is to get a problem solved? Thanks!!!!!!
Also, let me make clear that I am always very friendly on the phone. I never had a problem understanding the Net10 people. Whenever I call, I just say “my phone is still not working, what do we do?” So they give me some codes and read me some text. Fine by me, but not much progress yet. They say my phone may be incompatible with my area. But a GSM phone in Chicago? Aren’t there hundreds of thousands of people doing the same thing?
I just spoke with Net10 again. Whenever you call them they ask you type in 2 or 3 codes and then they say “please wait 72 business hours”. I mean Come On, 72 business hours, that is a LONG time. I don’t want to buy something in the store and then have to wait 10 days for it to maybe start working. And if it doesn’t work then they give you a new SIM card and tell you to wait another 72 business hours (=10 days!) At that pace it will take a month or so until the phone works.
Right now I’m thinking about getting a T-mobile go phone instead. If I ever get the Net10 working I can still use it for 300min or so, which would still be okay.
How does Net10 make any money? I would think they make their money when people buy minutes, right? And they loose some money up front by selling phones at a discount price. But what if nobody gets the phone working and never gets to the point of being able to use minutes? Doesn’t Net10 loose lots of money by giving phones to people that are never able to buy minutes? Don’t get me wrong, its a great product and I would love to use it and pay for it, but I can’t until my phone starts working.
The problem in my case was that my sister did not tell me the terms of the offer except in very vague way because she wanted to surprise me. She did tell me to send her an email when I received the package, which was sent from TracFone in Indiana, so that we could both receive some sort of benefit. There was no information in the packaging about the promotional offer, so I figured that I should activate the phone. There were references to promo codes but I didn’t have any to enter. My sister probably should have been more specific, and there was really no surprise, except when I found that the phone did not qualify for the offer. I have spent hours of wasted time trying to correct this misunderstanding, but the final offer I received was for 50 minutes for each of us, which is worth about $10. Now TracFone has lost my business and any possible recommendations to others. I am spending more time venting my frustrations here and elsewhere, but it makes me feel better. This is not about a few free minutes, but about corporate stupidity.
Since Tracfone and Net 10 are essentially the same, will a Tracfone work on the Net 10 Network?…I can’t see buying a new phone if it will…Their setup seems to be exactly the same
If you have any questions you can call 18008677183 for tracfone or 18778332368 for net 10 Paul E. Schoen claims that there was no info on the packaging but we have many promotions, instructions etc. ther is no way that all the info can be printed on the packaging that is why we have a users guide,website and the call centers. I would recomend you that if you have any questions you call us instead of asking the retailer’s employees because most of the times they give wrong or incomplete information like Joey_ramone Said if you take a phone back to the store you may loose your minutes because all they say is “Call the 1800 number and give them the esn” but in order for us to transfer units/minutes we must have both phones at the same time to enter codes into the phone that is “defective” and if for any reason you are not able to turn the phone on it is better if you exchange the phone with us so that when we create a warehouse case we also create a units/mnutes verification case because if the phone is returned to the store it is automatically deactivated from our system and then we cannot verify the units.
I’ve had a Nokia 1100 TracFone for over a year now. And between August and just a few days ago (I was “between” broadband VoIP providers … waiting for the FCC e911 mandate to take effect), the TracFone was my only telephone. The only time I ever had to call customer service was when I first bought it … and only to get specific instructions on disabling the ringer and voicemail (since I wanted it for outgoing calls only). It’s still set up that way and is now used only as an emergency backup phone in case my VoIP service dies, either through power failure or broadband service outage. In all this time, I’ve never had any other reason to call customer service because my TracFone has performed splendidly. One note.
One note. Nokia makes 2 model 1100s – the GSM-P4 and GSM-P5. The P4 model will work in some areas where the P5 will not … and vice versa. I suspect this is why some people say it’s a great phone and why others say it’s lousy … because they simply bought an incompatible model. Solution? Call TracFone first to see which model is compatible in YOUR area.
I was wondering the same thing about the networks. Can I buy a tracfone and use it with Net10? They have the same phone models.
Matt: you cannot buy a tracfone and use it with net10 even if you call us , when you buy a phone people from the store scan it and it is automaically activated in our system if for example you buy a tracfone and call net 10 to activate it the Imei number of the tracfone will not be registered on the sytem then the agent will ask you to call tracfone, tracfone and net 10 have the same models however the tracfone’s Imei’s are not registered on net10 and viceversa
Any question leave a message I work for tracfone/net10 and I can answer any questions that I may not be able to answer on the phone
I would like to report the successful resolution to my problem with the TracFone Refer-a-Friend promotion. A TracFone Customer Rep named George called me and gave me a code which gave me the 100 minutes originally promised. When he called, I already had the phone packed up and was ready to take it to UPS. I will try the service for 2 months and decide if I want to continue with it. My opinion on TracFone is now about neutral. I would feel a lot better if I had not had to go through such a hassle.
I transferred my minutes from an old tracfone to my new one and they shorted my 100 minutes. I called and when I finally got a real person on the phone he kept putting me on hold two minutes at a time for an hour, speaking with supervisors, etc. Finally he told me to call back in a month..I told him I wouldn’t go through this all again, that all I wanted was my minutes which I had paid for…So I guess I’ll find a new service when my minutes run out. I’ve called before and usually all I get is a run-around.
D Turner: This is what happens if we cannot verify the amount of minutes by entering codes into the old phone we send the info to another dept for verification, if the codes are not matching with the info that we have registered we also send the infor to this dept to validate the correct amount of minutes, it takes one month because this dept verifies the calls that you have made and receive, we are NOT telling you that you will not receive your units we HAVE to follow this procedure and we will give you the correct amount of minutes however you will HAVE to wait if you want your minutes and you have to call us with your CASE number thats all you have to do, so !Just wait!!!
So I finally sent my Net10 phone back for a refund, exactly 14 days after I activated it. It never worked. I spent many hours with customer service, punched in dozens of codes and waited and waited. 1 week ago they told me they would send me a new sim card. Yesterday I called them again and they told me “it should ship any day nowâ€. I’m a pretty geeky guy and never have problems with tech stuff. But what do you do if you sit there and wait for your phone to start working?
So I got a T-Mobile Go Phone. It’s actually a much better deal for about the same money. The $100 card is 10cent/min and lasts 1 year, with Net10 you spend at least $180 per year. T-Mobile also gives you an email address and free access to CNN.com. You don’t see the minutes you have on the front screen, but you can enter #999# and you get the result within 2sec.
Chuck…finally got my issue with tracfone resolved….couple of days after talking to them they sent me the code for the other 100 minutes via e-mail….worked great. Am now a happy camper.
Is there a wait time to post on this blog ?
because I just posted and it looked like it was deleated ?
Ok let me try it again.
I have had many problems with tracfone, me and my wife both have one each. I have the year plan and the double min plan.
I’m not going to go into all the problems I have had with tf but one big one was they gave my number away and this happend after I was on the year service plan. and they wouldn’t give me my number back. but the new problem is this
I waited to get the new pricing for 2006 you can get 250 mins for the old price of 200 so on the first I go to radio shack I tell the guy about the new pricing he had no clue about it so being I’m on the double min plan I expect 500 mins for 50 bucks what I get is 450 not 500 I tell the guy at radio shack something is wrong he says call tracfone.
it’s been 3 days and I can’t get thru to tracfone and now they say high volume and it just hangs up. oh one other think I also had a promo code and radio shack said there was no way they could ad the code… So if any of the so called people that work for tracfone want to help , how about picking up the phone when I call ? that would be a start.
Good thing I’m using a land line to call them 20 times a day only to be hung up on. wonder how may mins I would have wasted by now. Tracfone just doesn’t get what a sucko job the customer service people are doing…….
The thing that gets me nuts is I can call net10 and get an answer and I know there in the same call center but they won’t transfer me to tracfone support. also if there the same company why isn’t tracfone offering 10 cents a min
and same as for roaming ? I wonder if tracfone shifted all there customer service over to net10 ? wish someone would reply to anyone of my posts.
to DelflyZero : first of all, the 50 extra units for the 2006 pricing are Bonus Units. this means that they wll not be doubled, as well as the units for the promotion codes. about the ‘picking up the phone’, you may know that we don’t have an actual phone. it all works over ip and the phone system we use doesn’t have an Answer button; therefore, if there’s an available rep and a call comes in, it’s not our choice to pick it up, it automatically comes in. Other thing is that we cannot dropp calls; If a rep is caught hunging up on a customer, he’s instantly fired, there’s no second chance (no joke). and calls are monitored from time to time, so we cannot just hung up on a customer we don’t like (some may do it, but the risk is too high as to fool around with it)
we all take calls from both Net10 and Trac, and since there are less customers of net 10 than from tracfone, the waiting time is shorter.
finally, Tracfone and Net10 aim to different markets. Net10 was created to fill a void in tracfone offer. TF is mostly for customers who doesn’t use the phone very often, so you can have the phone for emergencies and pay only 7.49 per month (1 year card costs 89.99); but on the other hand, rates go from 10cents to 50 cents a minute. It’s not cheap to use it very often. If you use the phone a lot, Net 10 offers you ALWAYS 10 cents per minute, but the least you have to pay is 30 dolars a month (actually, now the 300 minutes card gives you 45 days instead of 30)
as you can see, they have diferent targets.
If you think about it, it’s much simpler to use a different name than confusing people with so different plans and rates.
about the long waits, you wouldn’t believe how many calls we have nowadays . we used to have 1 minute to relax after every call and even more; during the hollyday season we don’t have not even a second. and if you want to talk to a supervisor, you would have to wait at least 30 minutes in this time of the year.