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I have not dealt with their customer service, but if anything goes wrong I can always buy another one for $10 and reactivate the number. The phone itself is a good quality piece of hardware for the money and it has a bright and colorful screen and backlighting. I read the start-up instructions (very clear step by step with pictures) and did accordingly. Buy airtime cards at any major retailer, pharmacy, 711s and supermarkets, it is easier than doing it online and less aggravating.
The phone was activated in literally minutes and it has been working beautifully ever since. After reading the bad reviews, I reluctantly bought one of these phones, however for only $10 I decided to give it a shot anyway. Tips to keep cost to a minimum: buy the double minute card before any other cards. All other info they request (name, home number, birth date) is not required and you can even skip it or lie about it. Signal strength has been excellent (4-5 bars) just about everywhere I have been so far.
Do not setup your voicemail option, you will know the number of the person that has called without losing minutes. The only complaint goes to the ringtones, they are very 80ish style, very cheesy. I activated the phone using the tracfone website and I have to say that it was easy and fairly quick. Do not give out the number to everyone, it can run into real money if used too much, this phone is meant for sporadic and emergency use only. The phone sounds loud and clear and it has more features than I expected.
The airtime cards have been working smoothly and the minutes+expiration date rollover everytime you redeem minutes. Also, when you register online all you need is the long string of numbers that comes on a card within the package, your email address, your zip code and the zip code of the area where you will be using it most. Overall: VERY GOOD.
Like most of us, I'm too busy to do more. By the way, I'm moving to T-Mobile's pre-paid plan, which I've found offers slightly lower rates for my particular needs and, most important for me, significantly better customer service.
Recently, though, after my first problem that required customer service, I decided to cancel my service. As I've learned again and again in my life, a company's true merits emerge when a problem arises and a consumer seeks reasonably fair resolution.
I used a Tracfone for a few years with decent results--the phone was fine in most basic ways. I should have trusted the army of web reviewers who've issued similar warnings, and now I find myself adding to that list.
In my case, I just lost $100 of minutes due to Tracfone's error, and despite my calls to 3 service reps and 2 supervisors, I received nothing more than an apology. Unethical companies like this don't deserve my business--or yours.
NOTE: If you check out my other Amazon reviews, you'll notice that I usually only take time to review products and services that I especially enjoy. In this case, though, with clearly unethical behavior and lost money involved, I simply feel the need to warn others like you.
If you have a child who you want to carry a cell phone, but don't want to pay lots of money for all of the extras (or if you yourself just want a "basic" phone), this is a good value for the money. Battery life is a little short and the phone cannot be used while it is charging (that's a pretty big negative, IMO). Large screen displays numbers very clearly. Sound quality is good. But overall, this is a good starter phone and serves the purpose. If you just want a dependable phone to carry with you in case of emergencies, this phone fits the bill nicely.
I am mainly writing this because Tracfone is an HONEST company and will NOT steal your identity as previously noted by another reviewer who I think is rather disgruntled with Tracfone. It's solid, durable and the battery time is awesome. I buy a 60 minute card every 90 days for around $20.00 and I get 120 minutes. I should point out that my current phone came with double minutes for life of the phone. Great signal reception. They never ask for your social security number.NEVER.
I actually miss this phone which I used for about a year.yes, it's basic, no bells and whistles phone, but the reception is great. It is a tad slow to start up, but I keep my phone on all the time so that wasn't too much of a bother. This was a great little phone (more detailed review in the next paragraph), I say was because I am a bit of a Tracfone new model junkie and tend to purchase their latest and greatest (in the last year I have been through the W376g, the V170, the V176. Even the best rollover plan out there for pay by the month cell plans only lets you roll over for 12 months.I will take the time to write my reviews on the LG225 and others, but the more I write, the more I think I will reactivate this little phone (and add that double minutes for life card). So that makes me want to dig out my c139 and reactivate it.It also never dropped a call and back then I was on the cell a bit more than I am now. My heading does say I pay around $7.00 a month for my phone. because even though the bells and whistles are nice and fun for a while, what I really want is a reliable, solid phone.
Employees used to ask what kind of phone it was because their own fancy schmancy phones wouldn't work. Because I have been a customer for at least 8 if not more years and have dealt with their customer service more times than I can count. Most of the time I can find a promotional code where it will give you bonus minutes. It is nearly impossible to get reception in our local WalMart, however, this little phone never had a problem. My current Tracfone (an LG225) does not get reception their either. Another great thing with the tracfone is that you NEVER lose your minutes as long as you purchase airtime by the due date. And that is what this phone is.
If you're tired of the high charges and contract hassles, give this a try. I bought this phone because I was sick of Sprint's contracts. I spent $100 on 1200 minutes and a year's worth of service. It has been great for the following reasons:- cheap ($13)- superb coverage: I travel coast to coast and even get service in the backwoods of rural Alabama (Costa Rica too)- battery lasts and lasts (and lasts)- easy to use All I wanted was a phone that worked. After previously owning the $700 mini-computer type phone I was ready to kick 'em all to the curb but this has been great. The only caveat to this service is that you get dinged for an entire minute even if you only used 2 seconds of it. But with all the other good stuff that it does have, that little detail doesn't bother me a bit.
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