Anyone use Tracfone?

[Snoozan]

I'd like to get a 2nd cell phone for my DS to keep in his car. He doesn't need anything with lots of minutes as it's meant for only "emergency" calls. Anyone have any experience with Tracfone? I'm thinking of signing up for the 1 year plan for $95 that comes with 250 minutes. How good does it work?

 

[Blondie]

Our Tracfone is our only cell-phone, and it's kept in my SUV and used only for emergencies, or the occasional 'checking in with home' call. We also used it during our WDW trip in August to get in touch with my BIL who was there at the same time as us.

It's worked out well for us, because we didn't need to sign any contracts, aren't bothered by pesky sales reps and it's basic and easy to use.

The Tracfone also encourages you to keep an eye on just how much you are talking. You'd be surprised how much and how often people pick up the phone for really no good reason at all except to pass the time while going from point A to point B.

You buy the phone (which we got on sale) and then you buy your time. You key in your 'activation code' that's on the time cards you buy, and that's it. You do have to be careful though, if you are calling long distance, it eats up the minutes very fast!

Tracfones aren't for everyone, especially those who like to talk a lot on them...but for us, it's just fine for now.

Oh, and one more thing, the minutes get used up even if someone is calling YOUR Tracfone!

And you have to remember to re-activate when your phone tells you...when you turn it on, it'll give you a date for when you have to buy more minutes. I don't know what happenes if you don't buy more mins. by that date? Maybe the phone self destructs!

 

[cindala]

These were the first cell phones we got for our DD's. They were okay, but they often had reception problems, and kept getting cut off. You also have to remember that the time cards you buy have an expiration date on them. So if you buy a card with 120 minutes on it, it has to be used within 2 months. If you add up the cost for all these cards, you are better off getting a cheaper cell phone plan for $19.99 a month, and much better reception.

When my older DD started driving, we got her a regular cell phone plan. I didn't want to worry that the phone wouldn't work when she really needed it.

 

[Blondie]

Cindala, you've had reception problems?

That's one thing that we were very surprised about was how good the reception is, even at WDW! Although, I will say that every now and then, when we'd duck into a gift shop to avoid the rain, our phone would display a "no service" message on the screen. When a passerby heard me mentioning that to my DH, she mentioned to me that her cell phone would often say the same thing, and she didn't have a Tracfone.

Maybe it just depends on your location?

 

[Mskanga]

If you have a regular cell phone, you may want to inquire about a family plan with shared minutes and add it for @ $20 a month. My friend has a tracfone and no matter where she calls from , all I can hear is more static than anything else. I have Verizon American choice family plan , I have free long distance on both phones and free mobile to mobile, I love it!

 

[chell]

One thing you have to remember about TracFone is that it uses local carriers, that might be why some of you have had bad connections. If the carrier they are using has poor service, you will too. Mine has better reception than my sisters cell. She can't even get a signal at my house and she uses one of the major carriers.

I've had one for several years now. The only problem I had was when my husband tried to recharge the phone using a cord he shouldn't have. He fried my phone! We were able to replace the phone and have all of our minutes transfered over to the new one.

The minutes never expire as long as you keep the phone active. But if you do forget to renew and let the phone die when you reactivate (within a year I believe) you will still have your minutes.

When you buy the phone look for a box that includes the coupons. They can give you some really great deals.

 

[ToriLammy]

Count another yes vote for Tracfone. We actually have two, one for DH and one for me. I rarely use mine and frequently end up with a new number because I forget to renew before the time runs out but I've never lost my minutes. DH uses his almost every day. We got the 1-year program for him and it came with a coupon book so everytime we put minutes on his phone the coupons practically double the time we purchase. We also used our phones at WDW and had no problems. The only time we encounted "no service" was driving through Mississippi but otherwise it worked fine.

Tori

 

[Gretel]

We bought one for our 15 yeasr old when she entered high school last year. She just uses it to call if she is staying after school or when she was cheering at an away football game she would call when the bus was pulling back into town so we could be there to pick her up.
It works great for us and having no monthly bill is great we just purchase minutes when we need too. I wil be etting our younger daughter one when she enters high school so I guess you get a yes vote from us too!

 

[Pugsley]

I just got one. Since I only use my cell phone for emergencies or when I’m traveling, I’m doing it as cheaply as possible, which means buying a 30 minute card every two months. The card was around $20, so that means I’m spending $10/month, including my calls, as long as I don’t go over 30 minutes. It’s perfect for me.

 

[wdisneelvr]

I've had one for over a year now and really like it. I use it for emergencies or for my son to use when he's out with friends. I like buying my minutes online, it's very easy at the tracfone website. I have purchased some minutes at gas stations when I need a few minutes in a pinch and that was easy too. I just keep adding minutes and the length of time before expiration increases as well. I've never run out of either, since I need the cell phone for emergencies while driving etc. I did purchase my tracfone at Walmart they were having a good deal then. Inside of the box was coupons for free minutes and if you registered at their site, there was free minutes for that as well.

Good luck!

 

[nancy679]

I love mine. I got the one year plan with the 250 "units"and it worked out fine. I rarely use it so its perfect, plus when I renewed for another year, I didnt lose my unused minutes, so now I have over 300 minutes. No problems with reception at all. They do have a very helpful customer service dept. if you do need help. I needed to call them to activate my phone because I had problems getting started but they helped out great.

 

[Grog]

Where do they carry the phones? I've seen the cards at Best Buy, but they didn't seem to have the phones there. I used to have a phone with a bajillion minutes, but hardly ever used it and let the account die of natural causes. Tracfone sounds like it would be good for me.

 

[Aprille]

I've had my Tracfone for about 3 years. Never had any reception problems. It's the cheapest way to go if you rarely use a cell phone.

My extremely frugal in-laws (that's the nicest way I can describe the relationship they have with their money ) pay over $60 a month for cell phone service that they rarely use. I tried to tell them about Tracfone but they didn't listen. I get more than 7 months service for what they pay a month!

Originally posted by Grog
Where do they carry the phones?

Well, I got mine at KMart but since that's no longer an option in these parts I've also seen them at Wal-Mart.

You also have to remember that the time cards you buy have an expiration date on them. So if you buy a card with 120 minutes on it, it has to be used within 2 months.

As others have pointed out, this simply isn't so. The minutes never expire. Mine have continued to accumulate the whole time I've had the phone. They probably expire if you allow your service to lapse for an extended period of time but I accidentally let my phone de-activate once and reactivated a couple of weeks later. I was assigned a new phone number but didn't lose any of my minutes.

 

[Grog]

Well, I got mine at KMart but since that's no longer an option in these parts I've also seen them at Wal-Mart.

Thanks

 

[Diane]

I’ve had mine for several years now, and I love it! I bought it at Kmart. It was on sale, plus had a rebate, so it only cost me about $40. I’ve never had a reception problem, even on 9-11-01.

At first, I bought the cards (or register receipt, from Radio Shack). There were a couple of times when I didn’t redeem the minutes before my expiration date, but I didn’t lose minutes. They just gave me a new phone number. (Doesn’t matter to me, I have it mostly for making calls, not receiving them.) For the past year and a half, I’ve chosen the $100/400 unit (or something like that) option; and that seems to be a good way for me. You can also purchase and redeem units online.

 

[chell]

Originally posted by Diane
You can also purchase and redeem units online.

Thanks for that part. I forgot to mention it. I was trying to remember everything I liked so much about it. That is one of my favorite features! It is so easy to do it that way. Too bad they decided to start adding sales tax to it though!

 

[Mad4Mickey]

We bought 4 of these for friends of my kids for Christmas . Then I found them on sale again ( 7-11 has them for $89.00 around Christmas) and bought 3 more for family members. Everyone still has them and uses them . They seem to love them .

We took our teenagers off our Cingular plan because they were getting out of control. We bought them the small flip phones from Virgin . They are pre paid like the trac phone and have great features and them ,min. are cheap! I can buy refill cards at Target , The mall, Super market ect....


Good Luck