Electronics

[kitcat51]

Last month I transferred my 3g flip phone with Tracfone minutes to a 4g Tracfone with 1500 loaded minutes, it worked great until 3 days ago when I couldn't make or receive calls...today I received an email from Tracfone stating my phone was locked & I can unlock it tomorrow by calling a number & following instructions so I called them today them to find out what happened but no answers to my questions...Will it cost to unlock it, will my minutes still be there & why did this happen?  I'm baffled so please share your experience if this happened to your Tracfone too....I'm already annoyed so please don't reply with You don't like Tracfone, that won't help.

[Etoile308]

Personally I would not respond to any incoming unsolicited email. Go to their website and see if there is a FAQ section or a contact chat or email directly from the site.

[cindyNC]

Did you run out of time? I had tons of minutes, etc but the time on my phone expired. 

You would be better off doing chat with a tracfone rep. 

Are the settings on the phone ok? Do you have it set to make calls over wifi? I did that with my new phone and it wasn't working properly. 

[kitcat51]

@Etoile308 I called Tracfone with the number listed on their website...the email is legit but no one with CS could answer my questions, their reply was to call the number tomorrow & follow directions to unlock. Yeah, I already know that, what I don't know is..do I have to pay a fee, what happens to the loaded minutes & WHY was it locked. Ugh. Thanks for taking the time to help.

[kitcat51]

@cindyNC I talked to Tracfone CS, they looked at my acct & had no answers why it was locked, told me to just call the number & follow instructions so I'll do it & see what happens. Thanks for taking the time to help too.

[Flatbush]

We had notice that our 3g phone would be no good after the 31 day of March. They advertised a free phone and that we could keep our phone # and the saved minutes. However, all the "free phones" were gone. So, we ordered a new one for that was $ 45.

OBTW, I found out that Trac phone has been sold to Verizon.

DH called and spent HOURS trying to find out when the phone would be delivered and and told to call back in 2-3 days for more info. He did that to no avail and was put on hold for a great many times only to have to tell the same story to various others. They used our Visa card on the 9th of this month and as of today March 25, no phone has arrived. 

Finally after my very patient DH told them to cancel the phone, they said that it would take  about 3 days to do that. Then someone else told him to just refuse the package when it arrived.

However, no one could tell him when the phone might arrive or if it was indeed yet sent. So the chance of us being home or available to refuse the package would be highly unlikely.

BTW, we have only 30 days to refute the charge @ Visa, so if you are also thinking of using Visa in this or any other instance pay attention to the time limit.

This is only part of the hassle and aggravation that we experienced.

The personnel is also difficult to understand because the voices sounded garbled and accented. They are not in the United States.

It has been the worst experience!

[Flatbush]

P.S.

This is my uninvited advice:

Go to Target or get another phone elsewhere.

I think they are at the very least, unethical.

[eadu4]

1. mn@kitcat51 Many phones sold by carriers come "locked" to that carrier. A "locked" phone can only be used with that carrier; it cannot be used with another carrier's service. (Not counting roaming.) This lock can usually be removed by entering a special code or numeric password.  It's possible the new phone is with another carrier based on the SIM card. 
   But in general, you can go to Settings > Connections > Mobile Networks > Network Operators and tap Search Now to see if the names of other carriers come up. If multiple carrier names show up, your phone might be unlocked
   

1. Call 1-800 867 7183 and request an unlock code.
2. Turn off the phone.
3. Remove the SIM card.
4. Insert a new SIM.
5. Switch your phone on.
6. Enter the unlock code.
7. Tap OK 
8. The cost to unlock a phone locked to AT&T tends to be lower than the other three of the big four carriers.
   ...
   How Much to Unlock a Phone With a Third-Party Service (iPhone and Android)?
   Carrier iPhone Android

   AT&T	$90	$2
   T-Mobile	$139	$15
   Verizon	$30	$20
   Sprint	$139	$15

[kitcat51]

Update: I called, the message said my phone was now unlocked with no fee & to press the reset button...so now it's working & I have no idea why it was locked. I miss my 12 yr old 3g flip, never had any problems with it & now 1 month into using this 4g phone it's a headache & a pain in the behind. Thanks to all, I appreciate your time & help ❤ 

[Venezia]

@kitcat51 - You didn't say which Tracfone you got (LG?  Motorola?  Samsung?), but I've never had any issue like that and we've been with Tracfone for about 20 years.

I do suspect that the recent takeover by Verizon may be causing some issues.

I'm glad you got it sorted out, but I'm sure it was worrisome for you.  We've just bought new Motorolas, which arrived yesterday.  Fingers crossed we don't run into any trouble switching over!