Electronics

[RinaRina]

I am not a fan of cellphones, but got one the Christmas of 2015 because  ... well .. it's the 21st century.

Anyway, I bought the fone on HSN.  The $99 included extra minutes, text, data, etc.

I used the fone a few times, but otherwise it just collected dust.  I had NO intentions of renewing the plan because I was retired and really didn't need a cellphone.

When December 2016 came, Tracfone sent me emails asking me to renew my contract, but of course, I did NOT.

Now, I have a PT job where I need a cellphone.

I just took the Tracfone out of the drawer to see if I could renew the contract, but the phone works fine.  (I was expecting to see a message, i.e., "your contract has expired.")

I don't understand.  It is now February 2017.  I thought these Tracfones only worked for a year and then the contracts expired. (Or does it expire when you've used up all the minutes?)

Why does this phone still work?

[Zhills]

I would call TracFone and explain the situation.  They probably would be glad to sell you extra minutes.  Never know.

When I first got mine, everything worked on it but the phone because VZ would not release my number. ???

Some have said it is cheaper to buy a new phone than to buy minutes.  I'd call and see.  They really do not want to lose a customer.

[Anita Hug]

On some of the HSN Tracfone packages, you wind up with more than a year of service. Sometimes the instructions have you first activate the phone, which gives you a month or two of service with a few minutes to get it started. And then you add the promotional time and minutes from the HSN deal, which is added to the initial activation time.

That used to be how it worked for me every year until my most recent purchase last month where they had completely different activation instructions for the HSN package. Maybe they wised up with those deals actually giving more than a year of service, so they changed how they do it now?

In any case, I'm guessing that when you activated the phone, you woumd up with more than a year of service time. You should be able to check how much time it remaining on the Tracfone website, or through the tracfone app on the phone (if it is a smartphone).   If this is the case, you can just add minutes or service time to your current plan.  

Or you could just order a new package from HSN or the Q. It's almost always cheaper to do it that way even if your old phone still works.

[Nightowlz]

Download the Tracfone My Account app so you can check your service days left & how much data & text you have left. You can download it here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tracfone.tracfone.myaccount&hl=en   

Sometimes the app does not work so I have this number in my contacts that I can call to see the same info. Add Tracfone to your contacts & list this number *777*1# as the Tracfone phone number. You can use it to check you balance also. 

You always have to have service days in order to make a call, get online or text. Once those service days end you would lose any mins, data & text you have left. Even if you have mins left the phone will not work if you don't have any service days left. Tracfone will give you so many days to add to it so you don't lose everything but not sure how many days that is.

You can add your airtime from their site. You can also see the different plans & prices at Tracfone online.

[RinaRina]

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@Nightowlz wrote:

Download the Tracfone My Account app so you can check your service days left & how much data & text you have left.

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Okay!  I can't make or receive phone calls.  Funny, tho', I can still watch the Q and listen to music.

So, I will either have to add phone time or get another phone.

Any suggestions?

(I'm not sure what to do at this point, because I've not been watching the cellphone shows, so I don't know what's a good deal right now.)

Thanks!

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[Nightowlz]

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@RinaRina wrote:

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@Nightowlz wrote:

Download the Tracfone My Account app so you can check your service days left & how much data & text you have left.

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Okay!  I can't make or receive phone calls.  Funny, tho', I can still watch the Q and listen to music.

So, I will either have to add phone time or get another phone.

Any suggestions?

(I'm not sure what to do at this point, because I've not been watching the cellphone shows, so I don't know what's a good deal right now.)

Thanks!

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@RinaRina DH still listens to music on one of his old phones. It will still work for that. You are suppose to still be able to call 911 with it. If you are watching Q online it must be using your home wifi.

HSN just had a TS cell phone. Don't know which model it was. They show several prepaid cell phones on their site. You would have to enter your zip code on those to see which one will work in your area.

[MKR14]

You may need to call Tracfone and ask for a new SIM card to reactivate the phone. You will be getting a new number also. I just did that with two of our Tracfone when we bought new ones. One of the old Tracfones I activated yesterday. As soon as I received the SIM card (which is free from Tracfone) 

I put the new SIM card in the back of the phone. Just remove the battery and put the new card in after sliding the old one out. Make sure you have a new Tracfone prepaid card to add minutes. Most Tracfones now either double or triple the minutes. You will need the serial number of your phone that you have on the red card that usually comes with the phone or you can turn on the phone and get it under Prepaid in the menu by scrolling down to Serial number. This is how they know what SIM card to send you.

You also can find a Promo code at retailmenot.com

Just make sure it is 2017 Promo code and if it is a smartphone or an older phone. I got an extra 60 minutes for free with a 120 minute card.

It only took ten minutes to do this. Works like a charm.

[hckynut]

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@Zhills wrote:

I would call TracFone and explain the situation.  They probably would be glad to sell you extra minutes.  Never know.

When I first got mine, everything worked on it but the phone because VZ would not release my number. ???

Some have said it is cheaper to buy a new phone than to buy minutes.  I'd call and see.  They really do not want to lose a customer.

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@Zhills

I have had Tracfone since their first presentation, well over 10 years ago. I personally buy a new phone before my expiration date because I like upgrades and buying a phone is cheaper than buying 1 year of service.

Now if a person is happy with their phone/doesn't want to add a years worth of minutes/data/e-mail? You can buy cheaper 3 month plans, and have many other options. It can be buying more e-mails or minutes, not sure about data.

Last time I looked to renew for a year it was over $100. I got my new upgraded phone for under $80, delivered. Came with 1350 of everything for smart phone/car and AC/USB chargers.  

Know nothing about the phone service working in February if it expired in December. I do know that there have been times Tracfone added an extra 3 months onto my expiration date. Why? Beats me, as long as it is more, not less.

hckynut(john)

[Kachina624]

@RinaRina  Somewhere in the innards of your phone you have the minutes remaining and the service expiration date. Did you actually use the phone or did you just turn it on?   Even when the service expires you can turn it on and actually dial 911 but you can't make other calls. 

[x Hedge]

@hckynut hi John. I buy a year of airtime service for $50 bucks.

Hate talking on the phone so Im still working on phone minutes I got with the phone in 2014. Just add texts as needed. Total cost is under $100 for the year.

A year of airtime for $49.99 is exclusive to the TracFone website and only appears onscreen after you make another purchase. So I spend five bucks on 1000 texts and they offer me a year of airtime for $49.99 on my way through the checkout process.
* * * *
Likely the OPs phone is using Wi-Fi to access limited service, but cannot call or text because phone number and minutes are long gone and her account is inactive.

LAST thing I would do is call their customer service.
I'd try to re-activate my phone at the website.

Poster should locate serial number and IMEI (?) in phone, will need that info to reactivate.

Will have to buy minutes/airtime to activate. Have credit card ready.Suggest CHEAPEST which is 30 days, just to make sure phone is working well before investing more money in it.
A new phone number will be assigned.
@RinaRina