Rating: 
Summary: Excellent deal, very easy to use and activate
Review: I love these phone cards and I love Tracfone. They have great bonus offers when you buy these larger denomination cards, sometimes for double minutes, sometimes for extra bonus minutes. It averages about 23 cents per minute.The older Amazon reviews from 2002 and 2001 are outdated here. You only use 1 unit per minute if you are calling inside your home calling area (which are normally pretty big). If you are outside your area, you use two units per call. Long distance is free anywhere because you use units based on what area you are in, not who you call. They never had a promotion for 50 free minutes when one bought phones. They only had a free 30 minutes promotion, so the user who had the hassle with Tracfone over 50 minutes didn't read their box or info correctly. They created their own customer service hassle. I've never had a problem with Tracfone or their CS dept, because I read my materials. It's a great deal. If you go to Tracfone's website, they usually have better deals that retailers.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Phone
Review: I purchase Tracfone in Sept. 2002, and I think that it is a good phone. I got my 30 min free: 10 min free for purchasing a 1 yr plan, 10 min free for activating the phone in the web, and 10 min for providing my email address, and I got all 30 min without a problem. I was never told about another 20 min, but the 30 min free was and is good enough. My voicemail works just fine, i did have a problem with it at first, and so i emailed Tracfone, they asked for my ESN number and they fixed and I can access my voicemail just by programming my cell number and the code number into the phone and then pressing '1' and 'call' and i get my messages quickly and conviently. The one thing that I do hate about Tracfone is that it is so expensive. Virgin Mobile is cheaper... 500 min for $50 instead of 300 min for $75 or $80 that u get from Tracfone. If I knew about Virgin Mobile then I would of gotten Virgin Mobile instead.....
Rating: 
Summary: Great phone...Terrible Costumer Service
Review: I purchased a Tracfone (Nokia 5100 series) two weeks ago. In the User Guide I found a card promising 30 free airtime minutes for activating the phone on the web. I would also get 10 free minutes for activation in general and 10 minutes for providing my e-mail address. That would add up to 50 free minutes, which seemed like a good deal to me.
However, after I did all of the above I only received 20 minutes. I called the costumer service and the rep told me that that particular card (30 free minutes) was no longer valid, and that I would only get 10 minutes for activating on the web. (There was no expiration date on the 30-minutes free card) Well, that was enough to set off my husband who said I should call back and DEMAND those 30 minutes. I got another rep on the line and told him the story about the 30 free minutes. He told me that I should have gotten an e-mail from Tracfone (which I didn't) confirming my e-mail address and that I could call Tracfone at that time to receive an extra 10 minutes. Of course that still didn't add up to 50 minutes. Then my husband decided to get in on the game. He called and got yet another person on the line who didn't want to deal with a 'demanding' customer and hung up on him! (My husand was polite and calm throughout the call. I heard the conversation.) He called back a second time and got yet another rep on the phone, who didn't understand the problem. So he kept asking for the supervisor, then the super-supervisor, etc. Finally he got somebody whose first language was english, and who understood what he was talking about. After a lot of back and forth he finally received the 30 minutes we should have gotten in the first place. They were probably so sick of him by then that they gave in just to be rid of him. One more problem I came across; the voice mail system is not accessible the way it is described in the Nokia user manual. I kept getting a busy signal every time I tried to access it. When I called Costumer Service the rep told me that I have to call my own Tracfone number and interrupt the greeting with the star key and then key in my pass code. That does work but of course it costs you precious airtime minutes. (When you call your voice mail from a landline, I doesn't cost you time)
The phone works great. Good coverage and a long battery life. In short, I really like the phone, but the initial activation and set-up is a lot more hassle than it should be. Getting what they owe you is like pulling teeth. Keep calling and keep demanding that they live up to their promises. Asking for somebody higher up in the hierarchy almost always seems to work. (By the way, my husband went through a similar hassle when he bought and activated his Tracfone last June. But he's very happy with it now.) So five stars for the phone, 1 star for Tracfone's so-called 'costumer service'. Hope this is of help.
Rating:
Summary: Best value
Review: I use Tracfone as a second line at my house, since I cannot keep the kids off the phone. It works well, as 'call foward" takes the calls right to my Tracfone. I keep the calls short, saving the long calls for landline. This saves me a lot of money, as the T-fone costs a lot less per month than a second land-line and it is very handy when outside working in the yard or shopping. The 300 min. card is the best value. Since the minutes don't expire, I think this is the way to go.
Rating:
Summary: TRACFONE IS THE WORST
Review: I would like to retract my 1 star rating of tracfone and give them 4 stars. They actually replaced my plus 3 card with a new 150 1 year card. I think the customer service has got better but not great. My original message is below -
Tracfone all of a suddden decided to discontinue the plus 3 airtime cards that were good for 1 year. That means all the people who have purchased these cards are out of luck. Tracfone will not accept these cards anymore so people are out a lot of money. I purchased a few plus 3 cards last year. when i went to use the card this year they said invalid and you are stuck. the customer service at tracfone is terrible. i use to recommend tracfone to people. I will never ever recommend them again. !!!!!!! STAY AWAY FROM TRACFONE !!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Good for emergencies
Review: I'd had prepaid cell thru AT&T strictly for emergencies and urgencies; but I had to keep renewing every 90 days, and the Ericsson phone wouldn't hold a charge. A cell phone that won't hold a charge is useless. I went to Walmart, looked at the 4 prepaid cellplans they had, realized that most of them required you to renew every 45 to 60 days, and that not all of them provided full coverage in Florida. Tracfone offeres full coverage, tho if you are out of your local calling area you will use 'double minutes'. Nonetheless, if you need it, it's worth using the double minutes. Tracfone offers 150 minutes good for one year, for $94, and right now they are offering a bonus 100 minutes. So far I am very pleased, very clear signal, it hasn't dropped a signal, and it holds the charge. If you need to stay connected 24/7 it is probably quite pricey, but for someone like me who uses it maybe once a month, and keeps it primarily in the glove compartment in case of emergencies, its' fine. The point is, for less than $150 I got an operating cellphone, with one year warranty, that holds a charge, has (so far as I can tell) 100% coverage, and 270 minutes good for one year and two months (initial activation gives you 20 minutes if you do it on the web, and is good for 60 days; the one year card extends it for another year past the initial date). I don't use the C-P a lot, but when you need it, it's a godsend. $47 including tax for the new Nokia Digital cellphone, $101 including tax for the 250 minutes good for a year. What do you want for $150?? Even the cheapest cellplans are going to run me over $20 month. If you have to stay connected 24/7, it is going to get real expensive real fast, but if you use it lightly, I don't know of a cheaper, easier, more reliable provider.
Rating:
Summary: Good for emergencies
Review: I'd had prepaid cell thru AT&T strictly for emergencies and urgencies; but I had to keep renewing every 90 days, and the Ericsson phone wouldn't hold a charge. A cell phone that won't hold a charge is useless. I went to Walmart, looked at the 4 prepaid cellplans they had, realized that most of them required you to renew every 45 to 60 days, and that not all of them provided full coverage in Florida. Tracfone offeres full coverage, tho if you are out of your local calling area you will use 'double minutes'. Nonetheless, if you need it, it's worth using the double minutes. Tracfone offers 150 minutes good for one year, for $94, and right now they are offering a bonus 100 minutes. So far I am very pleased, very clear signal, it hasn't dropped a signal, and it holds the charge. If you need to stay connected 24/7 it is probably quite pricey, but for someone like me who uses it maybe once a month, and keeps it primarily in the glove compartment in case of emergencies, its' fine. The point is, for less than $150 I got an operating cellphone, with one year warranty, that holds a charge, has (so far as I can tell) 100% coverage, and 270 minutes good for one year and two months (initial activation gives you 20 minutes if you do it on the web, and is good for 60 days; the one year card extends it for another year past the initial date). I don't use the C-P a lot, but when you need it, it's a godsend. $47 including tax for the new Nokia Digital cellphone, $101 including tax for the 250 minutes good for a year. What do you want for $150?? Even the cheapest cellplans are going to run me over $20 month. If you have to stay connected 24/7, it is going to get real expensive real fast, but if you use it lightly, I don't know of a cheaper, easier, more reliable provider.
Rating:
Summary: Tracfone service
Review: I've had my tracfone for a few months. I was refered by a friend and was suppose to get the one year service, 10 additional minutes for on-line sign up, and 60 minutes for the refer a friend program.
I like the phone but getting the 10 minutes and then the 60 minutes has been a nightmare.
I believe that tracfone makes it difficult so people give up on getting what is promised. In the end I received everything but was on the verge of writing my Attorney General's Office to do it.
Phone itself is excellent, clear reception, and good coverage.
Rating: 
Summary: Works OK, customer service aweful
Review: If you never have a problem then life is good. Problem is that cell phones in general always have problems crop up- roaming being the biggest issue. Another problem is that the advertising for minute plans are often misleading to inaccurate. I imagine this helps them turn a profit because people get sick of trying to call them to get problems rectified. Do a Google search and you will see sites collecting customer complaints. I still recommend it, I still use it. But there are great big caveats.
Rating:
Summary: Works OK, customer service aweful
Review: If you never have a problem then life is good. Problem is that cell phones in general always have problems crop up- roaming being the biggest issue. Another problem is that the advertising for minute plans are often misleading to inaccurate. I imagine this helps them turn a profit because people get sick of trying to call them to get problems rectified. Do a Google search and you will see sites collecting customer complaints. I still recommend it, I still use it. But there are great big caveats.
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