topic Re: Tracfone in Electronics

Tracfone

17thfloor — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 19:24:24 GMT

I just received an email from TracFone telling me my phone currently utilizes a network which will no longer be functioning at the end of this year. It says new networks are already available that will offer even better service. They are offering me a "great discount" on a phone that will allow me to start using these new networks now.

I was not planning on buying a new phone this year, just renewing the service for another year.

Has anyone received this notification or know anything about this?

Thank you for any help in understanding this. I do not want to lose my accumulation of minutes and data or worse yet, all the information, photos, etc. I have in my current phone.

I have an LG Premier Pro 5.3" HD with an Android 7.1 Nougat operating system which I purchased Sept. 2018.

Re: Tracfone

D Kay — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 19:52:43 GMT

Don't know if it's the same thing, but when I tried to purchase additional minutes at the end of the year's service, I got a message saying I would have to upgrade to a 4G phone.

I think everything's going 5G in the near future.

Re: Tracfone

x Hedge — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 20:16:10 GMT

@17thfloor , is that a 2G network?

They've been eliminating all 2G phones for quite some time. It's obsolete technology.

If yes, ignore their sale. Buy yourself a new 4G TracFone with all the air time and minutes from QVC or HSN. I'd never buy a phone directly from TracFone.

I have 2 TracFones, one 3G and one 4G.

I'm don't think 3G is being eliminated yet.

Re: Tracfone

gardenman — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 22:49:07 GMT

The LG Premier Pro is a 4G phone. That's an odd message to get. The LG Premier Pro (at least according to LG's website) uses CDMA, GSM, WCDMA, UMTS, and LTE technology. It's kind of hard to imagine a network that it's not compatible with other than 5G and 5G isn't deployed yet. I have the same phone and it's a great little gadget. I haven't gotten that message.

Re: Tracfone

nontrditnl — Sat, 20 Apr 2019 18:26:06 GMT

I spoke to TracFone yesterday and the woman said the network is not yet available to them. We have until December 31st to switch over if you want to keep you minutes. My question is if the network is not yet available, is it smart to buy a new phone yet? If the answer is no, when will it be, and how will we know? I plan to get my new phone from QVC. I know very little about cell phones and use it only in emergencies, or to text our grandkids.

Re: Tracfone

Mothertrucker — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 12:16:47 GMT

@nontrditnl wrote:
I spoke to TracFone yesterday and the woman said the network is not yet available to them. We have until December 31st to switch over if you want to keep you minutes. My question is if the network is not yet available, is it smart to buy a new phone yet? If the answer is no, when will it be, and how will we know? I plan to get my new phone from QVC. I know very little about cell phones and use it only in emergencies, or to text our grandkids.

I find it odd that you would need to upgrade a 4G, 7.1OS phone!? By any chance did you own a previous TracFone and they might be confusing the two? I sometimes "forget" to take my old ones off my TracFone app when I switch over...

Re: Tracfone

17thfloor — Sun, 26 May 2019 21:37:59 GMT

I continue receiving emails from Tracfone, which I referred to in first part of this topic, that my LG Premier Pro will no longer be functioning by the end of the year. I was hoping someone could advise me about the Samsung galaxy currently being offered as a special value on the southern channel. I wonder if this would be a suitable replacement and let me transfer everything from my LG. I would hate to loose my photos and downloaded movies. Thank you for any help or advise.

My LG is 4GLTE.

Re: Tracfone

Mothertrucker — Sun, 26 May 2019 21:53:52 GMT

Unless you really want a new phone, I would first try calling Tracfone and discussing this "alert" wth them...

Re: Tracfone

cowboy sam — Mon, 27 May 2019 19:14:32 GMT

@17thfloor

I am using a LG premier tracfone 4g lite phone that i bought in 2017...i haven't had any up grade notices.

@Mothertrucker

posted about a new phone she just bought a E232911 from QVC

Moto G6 5.7" tracfone for $159.96 +free S&H....has 1500 min. on evthing plus i year time...i ordered it and should have it June03d.

I mentioned ito her before that.... i might order from hsn...but she" pointed" out" they" were $10.00 higher in price plius theirs only gave i : 1yrs- time plus 1200 min,text,phone!

thanks again @Mothertrucker

Re: Tracfone

pigletsmom — Mon, 27 May 2019 20:33:32 GMT

@17thfloor I wouldn't worry too much about the email since they are still selling the phone on the website. It is pretty cheap so it's probably discontinued but there's no reason for it to stop working. If you have concerns you can do a live chat on the tracphone website.

On the off chance it is going to stop working you wont lose your pictures. No service means you can't make calls but you can access your pictures and you can still use apps if you have it connected to wifi. I have an old phone I use for music when I'm forced to use the treadmill and I use it to download podcasts. My pictures are still on there but I do have them synced to the cloud and they are actually on the SD card. Your phone is probably saving them to the micro SD card if you put one in which would make it easy to move them to a computer.

Re: Tracfone

ceekay — Tue, 28 May 2019 12:13:02 GMT

@17thfloor - I did not get an email but when I checked the balance on my account on my phone yesterday a message popped up and said basically the same thing as your email. I have the LG Premier Pro (same as you and @gardenman ). I see the same information about my phone being affected by system changes at the end of the year when I log in to my Tracfone account. Guess they are doing something. I was so sad when my little 2G phone was no longer supported - it was such a great size for my purposes.

I notice several of the Tracfones on HSN have really great prices. Maybe they are also being phased out and if I buy one of those as a replacement it would have the same potential issues as this one. I figured this LG Premier Pro was going to be good for several years. Hmmmmm.

eta - I went to the link Tracfone provided to see what the upgraded phones are. They have the Samsung I was thinking about. They also have an LG Premier Pro but it is a different model number than the one I have (mine is an LGL62VL).

Re: Tracfone

gardenman — Tue, 28 May 2019 14:43:28 GMT

Interesting. My phone is an LML413DL. Maybe that's why I'm not getting that message.

Re: Tracfone

ceekay — Tue, 28 May 2019 14:52:59 GMT

@gardenman - that is the same model number as the Premier Pro they are offering as a replacement (39.99 with no plan included - L413DL). So, your phone must have new insides than mine - I have had mine for about 2.5 years. I do like this phone but am also looking at the Samsung Galaxy J3 Orbit (S367GL - 29.99 no plan included) as possible replacements. I have my phone as a convenience and am not a full time phone (as in married to my phone) person. :-)

Re: Tracfone

PickyPicky3 — Tue, 28 May 2019 15:29:46 GMT

Why not call Tracfone and ask them for a replacement phone of the same quality? I think Tracfone is a reasonable company.

A few years ago my T Mobile hotspot suddenly stopped working. They had eliminated that network in my area with no warning to customers. I went to a store and kept repeating that they had sold me that hotspot only 6 months before and certainly knew it was a soon-to-be paperweight. Eventually they gave in and replaced it at no cost to me.

You've gotten a notice, but Tracfone must have thousands of refurbished phones on hand. It's worth a try. Let us know what happens.

Re: Tracfone

Moonlady — Tue, 28 May 2019 15:48:25 GMT

It's the 2G and 3G phones which are being shut down at the end of the year:

tracfonereviewer.blogspot.com/2019/05/tracfone-closing-3g-cdma-network-phones.html?m=1

Re: Tracfone

Moonlady — Tue, 28 May 2019 15:53:30 GMT

Try this:

https://tracfonereviewer.blogspot.com/2019/05/tracfone-closing-3g-cdma-network-phones.html?m=1

Re: Tracfone

ceekay — Tue, 28 May 2019 18:47:19 GMT

Good info @Moonlady - thanks!

Re: Tracfone

gardenman — Tue, 28 May 2019 18:57:02 GMT

@ceekay wrote:
@gardenman - that is the same model number as the Premier Pro they are offering as a replacement (39.99 with no plan included - L413DL). So, your phone must have new insides than mine - I have had mine for about 2.5 years. I do like this phone but am also looking at the Samsung Galaxy J3 Orbit (S367GL - 29.99 no plan included) as possible replacements. I have my phone as a convenience and am not a full time phone (as in married to my phone) person. :-)

@ceekay

I got mine last September (2018). It replaced my older LG Premier. I'm not sure if I'll upgrade again this September or wait until the 5G phones roll out. (If Tracfone offers 5G and I suspect they will.) I could upgrade one more time first and then upgrade next year for a 5G service. I'll have to decide as September rolls around.

Re: Tracfone

cowboy sam — Tue, 28 May 2019 19:52:14 GMT

@17thfloor

duh..i just checked mytracfone account for min,.etc...i had same message...to receive a discount from tracfone as it needed to be upgraded by the end of this year for my lg premium ..

so good thing i didn't add more min..for next year yet..and ordered my newer moto tracfone from qvc

Re: Tracfone

cowboy sam — Tue, 28 May 2019 20:05:26 GMT

@Moonlady

thanks..i opened your link...

and thank goodness my...

new motoG6 tracfone from the Q

that will be delivered in a few days will work ok!!