DUMPING TRACFONE...who, ME?? - Page 2

Venezia · ‎03-09-2010

@Halidon wrote:
My brother has Cellular One too. I have Straight Talk. I would be too afraid of buying airtime on your phone with TracFone if it's already difficult. Maybe time to switch. BTW when I bought that phone, it certainly did not triple my airtime, data and text as promised.

It's "triple minutes for the life of the phone" . The airtime has never tripled, not has the data or text. However, the data and texts now are so cheap to add, it's ridiculous. 1000 texts for $5? Bargain!

(ETA: I'm talking about the "Smartphone Only" plans here. If you have a basic phone, that's different.)

From their website:

Double and Triple Minutes for Life of Phone: Some TRACFONE phones and Airtime Cards include a Double or Triple Minutes for Life feature. The double or triple minutes feature applies to the life of a single TRACFONE phone. The double or triple minutes feature is not transferable to another TRACFONE even if Your phone is damaged, lost or stolen. Any minutes included in a Double or Triple Minute phone, will not double or triple. Promotional, bonus and other non-purchased airtime minutes will not double or triple. You may not add a Double or Triple Minute card to a TRACFONE that already has a Double or Triple minute feature or card. Doing so will not result in any additional doubling or tripling of purchased airtime.

Venezia · ‎03-09-2010

I decided with the posts about trouble with the Tracfone website that I'd go online to see what had changed.

I didn't have any trouble at all. Yes, I entered my phone number, but that tells them whether you have a smartphone or not; so that you can be shown the plans that apply to your phone. No point looking at things that don't.

I also have an online account set up, so I logged in and added an additional amount of texts to my phone. As far as I can see, it works exactly the same as it always has, so I don't understand the issues some are having.

No way I'm trading in my Tracfone!

x Hedge · ‎08-18-2016

@KingstonsMom wrote:
Love Tracfone!

Our whole family uses them and I have never had a problem at all with their website.

Never needed their CS, so can't speak to that.

ETA: Hmmm....after seeing @hoosieroriginal's post, I haven't been to Tracfone's site lately, it sounds like they may have changed it and not for the better!

@KingstonsMom That's why I included the words,

". . .TracFone's newly redesigned website" in the first sentence of my post.

@Halidon There are (or were) multiple advantages to buying directly from the website rather than picking up a card out in a retail store.

@hoosieroriginal I want to browse w/o having to give them my phone number first. I was just thinking, maybe I'll start typing in the phone numbers from spam callers I've blocked. Let TracFone collect their info for market research.

What if I was shopping around comparing BYOP providers. Without an active number I couldn't get into that section.

Their fomer website was so simple to use from selection thru checkout.

*sigh*

Venezia · ‎03-09-2010

@x Hedge - I don't understand the problem you're having. I'm looking at the Tracfone website right now and you don't have to enter a phone number to look at the plans.

When you click on the "Shop" icon, the next screen gives you a choice of entering your phone number (if you're an existing customer) or simply browsing the plans for "Basic Phone" or "SmartPhone".

If you click on the one for "SmartPhone" it pulls up all the same information as always.

x Hedge · ‎08-18-2016

@Qgirl26, @Venezia, Yes, I'm shopping for smartphone and non-smartphone. I'm shopping for triple bucket and single bucket. I'm shopping for phone that doubles minutes and uses promo codes, and another that triples minutes/text/data under some circumstances, but not others.

And I used to be able to see everything on one page.

It was very easy until they made it 'simple'.

x Hedge · ‎08-18-2016

@Venezia, A (basic) non-smartphone can only use the regular airtime cards, but a smartphone has always been able to use ALL cards.

Lets say I think I want a 60 minute airtime card and 1000 extra texts for a smartphone.

Under 'SHOP' if I select Smartphone, the website only shows the 'Smartphone Only' cards.

I don't want any of those, even though I'm shopping for a smartphone.

To get to see the regular airtime cards I have to select Basic phone. It shows the 60 minute card I DO want, but now they have pre-calculated it to double to 120, indicating a single bucket (basic) phone.

But it should triple in talk, texts, and data when applied to a smartphone.

Is that option gone?

Are all these smartphone customers unable to use a regular airtime card now?

Thank you. I found the 30 minute card. Good to see that is still available. But is it now only available to basic phones?

I'm hoping the 'website special' year of airtime only is still a choice during checkout. I buy that, and lots and lots of texts.

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

Website designs come and go, so I tend not to fret too much over changes. Drop an email to the site and let them know your issues and they may come up with a resolution for you. I'll stick with Tracfone simply for the money it saves me. If they want me to jump through a few hoops on their site, then fine. It's worth it for the money I save.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!

Venezia · ‎03-09-2010

@x Hedge - I've only ever used one phone at a time, so I've never had the problem of needing to see all the options on the same page.

In looking at their website, I didn't see anything that offered just a year of service on its own. I do remember them doing that in the past though.

Just out of interest I googled it and came up with one "solution". It said to select the cheapest card (say $9.99 for 30 minutes), add that to your cart and at checkout it will give you the option to add a year's airtime for an additional $49.99.

I haven't tried it because I don't need to, but it might work for you. Sorry you're having all this trouble with it. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do!

x Hedge · ‎08-18-2016

@Venezia, that 'special' has only ever been offered during the checkout process. I count on it being there. I'm eager to find out if it's still there
Duh! ! Just realized I haven't checked Tracfone Revewer for their thoughts on the new website. Maybe they can tell me how to buy a regular airtime card for a smartphone thru the new site.
Thanks for sitting with me 'till I calmed down.