Questions About Tracfones

[wee-haggis]

We've seen some great deals in Walmart for Tracfones and have a few questions for folks that have them.

1)Are they immediately activated upon purchasing,or do you have to phone in from another phone (or online) ?
2)I've heard they have a low volumed ringer.Is this true ?
3)Will they work easily within the Orlando,Kissimmee,Lake Buena Vista areas ?
4)If you use them for a couple of weeks,then go home and come back the following year.Is there any issues with reactivation or continuation of available minutes?
5)Best value you've seen (Walmart,Target ??)

Thanks

 

[dhluvsDisney]

We purchased ours at Walmart (we have 2). They work in most of the U.S. (we use ours in North Dakota when we go shopping, we text). They offer a number of bonus minutes when you add on. We keep ours active, as we go 2 or 3 times a year to Florida. We have a gazillion minutes now, as your minutes never expire. Sometimes the card goes on sale at Target. We figure each one costs us around $90 U.S. a year, which is a lot cheaper than U.S. long distance or text charges on our Rogers phones.

 

[wee-haggis]

We purchased ours at Walmart (we have 2). They work in most of the U.S. (we use ours in North Dakota when we go shopping, we text). They offer a number of bonus minutes when you add on. We keep ours active, as we go 2 or 3 times a year to Florida. We have a gazillion minutes now, as your minutes never expire. Sometimes the card goes on sale at Target. We figure each one costs us around $90 U.S. a year, which is a lot cheaper than U.S. long distance or text charges on our Rogers phones.

Thanks dhluvsdisney.
You said that you "keep yours active".
I'm not sure what that means. If we only use it for an annual trip to Florida,can it be used for 2 weeks...not used for the remainder of the year...then used again 1 year later?
Thanks

 

[dancin Disney style]

'keeping it active' just means that they continue to purchase minutes so that the phone would be ready to use all the time. If you let the minutes expire you can't use the phone. The cards that you purchase have so many minutes and once you add it to your phone they are only good for so many days. It's the same as a Canadian pre-paid.

I have a trac that I bought to have in case on emergency on our road trip to the world last year. I decided to keep it active because we cross-border shop a fair bit and we knew we would be taking another road trip this year. It costs me $20 + tax every 3 months.

Your questions:
1) The phone is not active when you buy it. I activated mine online but I think you can do it from the phone...you just need to charge it first.
2)You can adjust the ringer volume...If you are asking 'is it so quiet I won't hear it ring?'....NO
3)Yes....if that's the only place you will use it then activate it with an Orlando/Kiss zipcode. Then the calls will be local.
4)Your minutes will be expired..for sure. I don't know for sure about re-activating it after a year. I would think that there would be a fee.
5)We got ours at Walmart...Motorola for $15. They did have a phone for $10. They are all basically the same price between the different stores.

 

[wee-haggis]

'keeping it active' just means that they continue to purchase minutes so that the phone would be ready to use all the time. If you let the minutes expire you can't use the phone. The cards that you purchase have so many minutes and once you add it to your phone they are only good for so many days. It's the same as a Canadian pre-paid.

I have a trac that I bought to have in case on emergency on our road trip to the world last year. I decided to keep it active because we cross-border shop a fair bit and we knew we would be taking another road trip this year. It costs me $20 + tax every 3 months.

Your questions:
1) The phone is not active when you buy it. I activated mine online but I think you can do it from the phone...you just need to charge it first.
2)You can adjust the ringer volume...If you are asking 'is it so quiet I won't hear it ring?'....NO
3)Yes....if that's the only place you will use it then activate it with an Orlando/Kiss zipcode. Then the calls will be local.
4)Your minutes will be expired..for sure. I don't know for sure about re-activating it after a year. I would think that there would be a fee.
5)We got ours at Walmart...Motorola for $15. They did have a phone for $10. They are all basically the same price between the different stores.

Thanks for the info.
The "pay as you go" phone we use here has a 1 month expiry before the minutes disappear.
Are you saying that you pay $20 every 3 month just to keep it active?
or
Do you actually use the $20 amount during that period?
(I'm assuming the unused minutes roll over)

 

[dancin Disney style]

Thanks for the info.
The "pay as you go" phone we use here has a 1 month expiry before the minutes disappear.
Are you saying that you pay $20 every 3 month just to keep it active?
or
Do you actually use the $20 amount during that period?
(I'm assuming the unused minutes roll over)

I don't use the $20 worth of minutes, it is just to keep it active. I know it's probably a waste of money. The minutes do roll over as long as you add more before the expiry date. I have a boat load of minutes on my phone because I have never used it. My kids are taking it to the states for march break so it will get used to call home and for me to call them.

Oh...when you add minutes the expiry date is added on to the end date that you currently have.

For example: current expiry date March 10....if I add a new card with 90 days expiry....add the card on March 1 ...new expiry date is June 10.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[MinnieMommy]

I was looking for a little more info regarding these phones also. Their website does have an area to "activate/re-activate your tracphone". So I assume you can re-activate, but I don't see any clear info regarding possible re-activation charges. It might be worth a phone call to their customer care center:
"Friendly, informed Customer Care Center representatives are ready to help you. Call 1-800- 867-7183 or Contact Us by e-mail. "

 

[wee-haggis]

Some of my (and others ) questions have been answered on this website I found. Here are a couple of FAQ's.

Q: What will I be charged to use my TracFone?
A: The TracFone deducts units at a rate of 1 unit per minute of local or long distance calls and 2 units per minute for roaming calls. The only charges for the use of TracFone are the TracFone Prepaid Wireless Airtime cards you must purchase and redeem every 30, 60 or 365 days to keep your service active. If your service is deactivated, you will need to purchase additional airtime. There is NO fee for reactivation! REMEMBER, with TracFone there are no monthly fees, no telecommunication taxes and fees, relocation or reactivation fees.

Q: Why would my phone number be canceled if I do not redeem an airtime card on time?
A: TracFone pays all charges to the carriers every month when we issue you a wireless phone number for your use. If you stop purchasing and redeeming airtime cards, TracFone will stop paying the charges on that line for your use and will reassign that telephone number to a new TracFone customer. All it takes to get your phone activated again is to purchase and redeem a TracFone Prepaid Wireless Airtime card. Purchase a TracFone Prepaid Wireless Card online or at your nearest retailer then redeem the card online or call TracFone at 1-800-867-7183. We will then assign you a new phone number and reactivate your TracFone.

 

[dhluvsDisney]

Just as an addition, if you want to keep your same phone number and account active you need to have a pre-paid card ready ahead of time to add minutes. You can't purchase on line as they do not process Canadian Credit Cards on line or on the phone. We always purchase them ahead of time and just activate the minutes on line to keep our same number and our account current. We chose not to let the minutes expire and add every 45 days.

 

[wee-haggis]

Thanks for the info all.
Another question.
I read in other threads that it was taking a day or two before the phones were activated (after signing up)?