"Tracfone.com is sinking to a new low. They have made it impossible for me ( and I am thinking many others )to use any credit card to buy time online. They offer promotional codes and discount time but only available when purchasing over the internet, your purchase is declined over and over again and it keeps telling you to call customer service. When you call, of course, they can sell you time but not at the discounted rates available to internet purchasers and many times will not honor your promotional codes. How nice of Tracfone.com to promote such offers and then make it impossible to purchase them online as required to get the discount. Everytime I speak to customer service they tell me their website problems are being corrected. Bullsh*t, this has been going on for months and it not just with me. Tracfone.com if you want to keep your loyal customers, you better get your act together. Sure you can provide cell phone service to millions of customers but can't get your website fixed, just pure baloney, give me a break!

Update: I had purchased a phone from them via their website about an hour before my hassle with them started, strange how that went thru, I cancelled it immediately after I had trouble with them. 2 weeks later I receive the order I cancelled, nothing on the box showing it was from tracfone so I signed for it, I order a lot of things online. Their customer service says I can not return the cancelled order without paying a restocking fee and paying for the minutes that were included and they admit I cancelled my order.
This company is nothing but LIARS and CHEATS and will do anything they can to STEAL your money. Never Ever Do Business With Them!!"

"Stay away from Tracfone! I ordered a phone and a 40 minute prepaid card a month ago. The phone came quickly but it didn't work. It was always in roam mode, even though I was within my home calling area by a long shot. Spent two hours on the phone with customer service who barely spoke english, and they decided to send me a new phone. They said that the new phone would be overnighted...It arrived a week later after calling again and being told that the warehouse had made a mistake. New phone did the same thing. Roaming all the time. I called customer service again and spent an hour putting codes into the phone. Still didn't work, and they said call back in 24 hours if it was still roaming. 24 hours later I called back because it was of course still roaming. They couldn't find a record of my call 24 hours prior, so went through the whole code thing again. The CS rep told me to wait another 24 hours. 24 hours later, still roaming I called back. They told me they would overnight another phone...again. That was 6 days ago, and still no phone. Tommorow will be a month, and I still haven't had a Tracfone that works!"

"I purchase a phone and 40 minute card for a fathers day gift. He decided on a different phone. I took the phone back with no problems but they would not take back the 40 minute time card. Thank God I didn't purchase a more expensive one.
Here is the response I got from Tracfone.
"Tracfone Wireless does not issue refunds on phones or airtime cards. If you
would like a refund on your Tracfone or airtime card, you will need to go to
the retail store in which the item(s) was purchased. It is the hole
discretion of the retail store as to the decision that is made on the refund
request."

Sorry but that is totally unaceptable. I should have opened the phone before returning it that way they could eat some of the expense as well. At least I only lost $21.20 for giving them a shot. I know now that I will never use this company. My 40 minute card looks like it is going into the trash.

Update:
After some work getting their attention I was promised a refund for the card. It took about a month but recieved a refund check yesterday.

"

"As the previous poster stated, be VERY cautious about buying from this company. I bought a Tracfone package. One year of service was included (and I paid a higher price for that service). When I activated, the service wasn't included. Tracfone refused to assist. I called and they claimed there was no package that included one year of service. I insisted on speaking to a manager. They refused. So I scanned the package (which included all the details) and emailed it. They ignored it. Tried again. Ignored again. So I leaned on the store where I bought it. Fortunately the store intervened. There is no way that I would have received what I paid for if the store had not intervened. DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY WITHOUT BEING PREPARED FOR A HUGE HASSLE. They'll cheat you if they can. And they will ignore your requests for assistance.

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Update: It is now 1/8/2008 - three years later.

After the hassles described above I went on to use the phone and service for 3 years without a single problem. And contrary to what another reviewer said, you do NOT need to buy cards every 60 days. You can buy one year of service for around $99 - this is what I do. I use very few minutes - just for emergencies.

Recently Tracfone changed something technical in my area... soon my phone would no longer work. They notified me prior to the change by leaving a message on my home phone. I registered with their web site - so they have my home phone number. I emailed them. They replied promptly and sent me a new phone - free of charge. I got it loaded with my old minutes without a hitch by calling tech support. I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with them. I'd say it's in India by the accent. But I had no problems.

I don't know whether they have improved, or if I was just lucky, but I've had three years of service without any problems whatsoever, and now I have a new phone free of charge, so I'm pretty satisfied."

"Phone purchased was advertised with 200 free minutes which was not applied upon activation. When tracfone was contacted about this, they said it was too late to get the free minutes. They also charged me sales tax even though I live in a state without sales tax. Not pleased with their service. "