tell me about your tracphone

[HALEYSMOMMOM]

Seriously thinking of getting a tracphone. Does anyone have one of the "nicer" phones, ie touchscreen, etc?

We are very light cell phone users, seriously I probably don't even use 10 minutes, and have never had texting. It is time for dd to get one now, and I think she will not use it alot, but she and I would like to text each other when we need to ( notice I said need ,lol) She may use it occasionally for friends too, but not many have cells yet, so not much. I think it may be nice to have the web capabilities, mainly for dh at work, again a very light user.

So which phone is nice? Or do you hate tracphone?

Looking at possibly motorola 124G, LG800G, Samsung T404G

Thanks for any info!!

 

[cstwwt]

I've had a trac phone for years....it works for me! I switched to a 'flip' type phone just over a year ago....always got the 'double' minutes phone too. It is easy to text...but one that has the slide feature or was a touch would be easier. I don't use mine daily, but have it if I need it. It costs my less than $10.00 a month!!!

 

[Pigeon]

I've had tracfone for many years. I don't have a fancy phone. I made my pre-teen use a tracfone for a bit before I bought her a prepaid VM plan. Texting uses up a lot of minutes very fast to convey very little information. Each text, sent and received is counted.

So, while tracfone is the cheapest if you mostly just talk occasionally as I do, if your child does much texting, it might not be the best way to go. And once they start texting, they will be doing much more of it than you think they will.

For dh and I tracfone is fine as long as it's fine. We use our cell phones rarely, maybe 20-30 minutes per month, so the total cost for us is about $100/year each, which is the cheapest way to have a cell that I've found. But dd was blowing through the minutes pretty quickly texting.

If you have a problem, tracfone's customer service is beyond dreadful. It will take you many hours of your life on hold with people in India reading from scripts, hours you will never get back. After waiting on hold, you will get cut off. You'll spend hours with them making you punch series of codes into the phone which won't work. They will transfer you to supervisors who will do the same and it won't work. They'll make you wait 24 hours and repeat the process all over with different customer disservice reps to no avail. You'll get cut off again. Your blood pressure will rise 40 points. It truly stinks.

 

[HALEYSMOMMOM]

Hmmm Well, I hope and pray we don't need to call cs much then-that does sound horrible

I think this may be the way to go for now with dd11. She just isn't a phone person- I know that could change, but for now she isn't. It would be a good way to see if she's responsible, and not have surprise phone bills too.

My dh and I together probably don't go thru 15 minutes a month talking, dd never talks on the phone here at home hardly. We'll have to see what texing brings, but I think this may be a good start. Im one of those who refuse to pay for unlimited texting plans at $50 a month. If she ever gets to that point she will just have to find a way to pay for it, because we won't.
Thanks for the responses!

 

[iamgrumpy]

HSN has one advertised for 89.99 and it comes with 1200 minutes & triple minutes for life...can't be that....it also has texting, talk to texting, camera & web capabilites....Seems like a great deal

 

[HALEYSMOMMOM]

HSN has one advertised for 89.99 and it comes with 1200 minutes & triple minutes for life...can't be that....it also has texting, talk to texting, camera & web capabilites....Seems like a great deal

Ill go check that out Thanks

 

[Skye23]

Just remember, every single webpage etc uses credits to load. So if it takes you 10 web pages to get to the result you want you're paying for each one. I've got the flip LG they have with camera, web, text etc but not touch screen. It works fine, I can use the web (limitedly) and scan QR codes to get coupons etc.

I on the other hand have had numerous dealings with their customer service over the years and cannot think of a single interaction with them that wasn't pleasant and successful. Yes, they have accents, if you politely apologize for not understanding their accent they will repeat themselves politely. I've always been able to get everything handled from having phone numbers restored when we forgot to add minutes until the day after expiration, having replacement sim cards sent, upgrading phones, adding phones. Right now I manage 5 tracfones for the various members of my family and I'd suggest them to anybody who wanted a small-use cell phone.

 

[runwad]

My kids have tracfones and ipod touches to text their friends. Its a free app. Works great and the tracfone is for calls to mom and dad to come pick them up. The generation 4 touches even have the capability of making phone calls,40 min for $1. Of course for the touch you have to have wi-fi. Works for us

 

[Pigeon]

. We'll have to see what texing brings, but I think this may be a good start. Im one of those who refuse to pay for unlimited texting plans at $50 a month. If she ever gets to that point she will just have to find a way to pay for it, because we won't.
Thanks for the responses!

Virgin Mobile's plan is 300 minutes of talk and unlimited texting and data for $35/month.

Kajeet has a variety of plans, including one for $15/month with 60 minutes/month talk and unlimited texting. Kajeet has more extensive parental controls than the others.

 

[LexiC123]

I :heart: Tracfone...have used it for 7+ years, without any problems in service or call quality.

The LG800g, on the other hand, is a lemon with a touch screen. I've had nothing but problems with it since I 'upgraded' from my reliable, antique Motorola flip phone 2 months ago. (You can read all the sordid details here.)

They now offer a second touchscreen phone...the Motorola EX124G, but it's somewhat pricier than the LG one.

 

[Robinrs]

I got the $99 Lg800 with 1000 mins and a year of service back in April. I still have 700 minutes left! Needless to say I don't do a lot of talking on the phone!

I love my LG. It does what I need it to do and doesn't embarrass my teenager. That's all I need it for!

 

[mrodgers]

Texting uses up a lot of minutes very fast to convey very little information. Each text, sent and received is counted.

There is one phone that has had a glitch in it's firmware since the previous model in that it does not charge for incoming texts. The LG 420G (flip-phone,) which is what I have, if you have an incoming text, it displays the name on the small front screen. If you press the little keys (I think they are volume keys) on the side, you can read a partial part of the text and the phone accepts it without charging. Then you just open the phone and go to the inbox to read the whole text.

If you have a problem, tracfone's customer service is beyond dreadful. It will take you many hours of your life on hold with people in India reading from scripts, hours you will never get back.....

I've never personally dealt with Tracfone's customer service, but I have always heard the normal customer service is indeed as dreadful as you state. But, if you read up on Tracfones on the net, there is a Miami number you can call and I've heard the customer service is fantastic by calling Miami. Just google for "Tracfone Miami number" and you can probably find it.

Just remember, every single webpage etc uses credits to load. So if it takes you 10 web pages to get to the result you want you're paying for each one.

Don't have my phone on me, turned on, nor would I get a signal in the basement now where I am to check, but I am pretty sure it charges you 0.5 "units" for initially getting on the web, then 0.5 "units" for every minute you are connected. It isn't every single page, but a per minute charge.


Our cost is we have 3 phones. Tracfone has a monthly plan if you sign up on the website with a CC/Debit card. The monthly plan gives you 50 minutes per month for the first phone $9.99. Each additional phone is $5.99 I think and they get 40 minutes each month. Pretty much every phone now is double minutes except for the 3 that are triple minutes. So, my 3 phones get 100/80/80 minutes every month. There is a small tax fee when monthly, so my 3 phones cost $23.66 per month. We've had them for several months now. For the "just texting within the family when needed", it works out great for us. I barely use any minutes because I only text my wife (both of us do not get charged for incoming.) My wife uses all of her 80 minutes by the very end of the month because she texts her mother quite a bit. I should swap hers and mine around so she gets the 100 minutes. My daughter has hundreds because she never uses hers. My wife and I text each other many times a day as I work daylight hours and she works evenings, and we have yet to run out of minutes with the 100/80/80 monthly plan.

I am planning to replace our flip-phones with either the LG800 or the Motorola touch screens, but I want to see one in person first before I decide which one to get.

 

[bjscheel]

I have the Samsung T404G. It has triple minutes and is $60 on their website. I bought the 1500 minute annual card so 4500 minutes total which is a lot for me. DD13 has another phone that slides up and has double minutes. She really wants one like mine with the full keyboard. Can't help it that hers was the coolest one available last Feb and now they have all kinds of better phones! Texting only takes .3 units (except now that I have a full keyboard I get more wordy and sometimes it counts it as two texts).

Tracfone works for me and has for years. I don't use it much at all, so the price at about $200/year is good. I haven't had to call CS in years- the issues we have had with setup of new phones this year were resolved quickly via website/email with them.

I don't do web on it, I haven't had the need and I am scared I will use too many minutes on it.

 

[stephaniee36]

republic wireless has a deal on a smart phone for $20 a month unlimited everything. Thinking about getting it for my daughter for Christmas. You do have to pay for the phone. They use wireless instead of cellular when possible to keep the cost down. Worse case scenario, if it doesnt work out, there is no contract.

 

[Skye23]

And I'm pretty sure its .5 credits (minutes) per PAGE to use the web. We use it mostly to look up prices when we're at auctions and I navigate my way pretty fast through amazon.com and consumerreports.org to check price/reviews. Without using the thing to check I'm almost 100% sure I get charged per page loaded, not how long I'm on the page. Sort of how like you get charged .3 credits per text.

 

[mrodgers]

And I'm pretty sure its .5 credits (minutes) per PAGE to use the web. We use it mostly to look up prices when we're at auctions and I navigate my way pretty fast through amazon.com and consumerreports.org to check price/reviews. Without using the thing to check I'm almost 100% sure I get charged per page loaded, not how long I'm on the page. Sort of how like you get charged .3 credits per text.

Maybe it is different with the touch screens? I did think it was 0.5 units per text for the touch screens and only 0.3 per text for the "lesser" phones. Looking up weather right now on my LG420G (40% chance of rain ), loaded CNN and FOX news, and loaded ESPN. Charged me 0.5 for opening the browser, and charged 0.5 units for the total time I was on which was only about a minute opening 3 weather pages, CNN, FOX, and ESPN, so 6 pages.

0.5 units per page would be expensive. Per minute isn't so bad, I don't use it often, but do check the weather now and then since I have an abundance of credits left each month.

 

[shamrock30]

I have the Samsung T404G. It has triple minutes and is $60 on their website. I bought the 1500 minute annual card so 4500 minutes total which is a lot for me. DD13 has another phone that slides up and has double minutes. She really wants one like mine with the full keyboard. Can't help it that hers was the coolest one available last Feb and now they have all kinds of better phones! Texting only takes .3 units (except now that I have a full keyboard I get more wordy and sometimes it counts it as two texts).

I also have the Samsung T404g with triple minutes and quite like it. Texting is so much easier than on my previous model.

I haven't had any major issues with Tracfone custoomer service, although I know it can be awful if you have a major problem they need to fix. My issues have all been minor, and I've used a Tracfone for many years.

 

[robinb]

My DD has one from Page Plus Cellular. They run off the Verizon network. You can buy a phone from them for about $40 or you can pick up any regular Verizon phone from Craigslist or eBay. You can check the Howard Forums for a list of phones that work with Page Plus:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthr...D-BEFORE-ASKING-Phones-That-Work-On-Page-Plus . I bought my DD a LG Env3 VX9200 with a full querty keyboard.

I looked at all the prepaid plans (including Net10 and TracFone) and the reason why I chose Page Plus was their "Top up" requirement for keeping the account active is longer than their competitors. It is 120 days instead of the traditional 90 days. I didn't expect my DD to use her phone often (and I was right) so I looked at the minimum a phone would cost me to keep activated. I can buy 100 Page Plus minutes for $10 and they last 120 days. So, my yearly cost for the phone is $30. TracFone sells 60 minute cards for $20 but they only last 90 days. So, I would have buy and extra card to cover the year and I would end up spending $80 for about the same number of minutes (assuming they are doubled as many TracFone minutes are).

 

[Skye23]

Entirely possible its different credits per page/minute/text between the new touch screen Tracfones and the other phones. Just like how some phones come with base minutes, some with double minutes for life and some apparently now come with triple minutes per life. The best way to know for sure is to go to tracfone.com and look up the specific phone you're interested in and see the details for it.

 

[bridget]

It isn't a touch phone but it "looks" cool, so I got the LG500G w/double minutes for life.

I got it on ebay for $19.99. It is an emergency phone for my daughter.

I'm debating if I should get the 1 year 400 minutes for $99 (which would really be 800 minutes)

or 60 minutes for 90 day for $19.99 (which would be 120 minutes)- $79.96 a year for 480 minutes.

I'm thinking about just doing the $19.99 plan to start off and see if we like it.