I am so mad at Tracfone!!

[JKATHERINE]

I bought a new Tracfone at WM recently because it was a bundle pack (car, car charger, home charger, ear buds and DMFL card) for $19.99. My current Tracfone is old and doesn't hold a charge like it should so it's time for a new one.

Anyhow, Tracfone was supposed to port my OLD Tracfone number to my NEW Tracfone. Pretty simple, huh? I guess the heck not! Instead, they ported my HOME PHONE NUMBER to my Tracfone. Now I have NO working phone! When you call my home phone number it says that it's been disconnected. I can't call anywhere from the new phone (which supposedly has my home phone number now) because Tracfone won't let me buy any minutes! It keeps saying that there is a "transaction in process" and to "wait 5 minutes before proceeding." WTF??? I'm so frustrated right now I'm not sure if I'm going to scream or cry!

[ttistin]

go to a different phone and call them, they should be able to fix it for you.

[Mini]

Wow that would surely make me mad Im sorry they done this to ya I hope you can get it fixed soon so you have a phone!

[atprm]

yup, that would surely just piss me off.

[JKATHERINE]

Unfortunately, I don't have another phone to use right now unless I want to travel to my mother's house, which I don't at this point. Let's just hope they get my email and fix it asap.

[whatever]

I would be sooo mad!! can you call from your job? I swear anymore if there are mistakes to be made on something like this it seems it happens more often than not. I hope you get it all sorted out and fast!

[ttistin]

We used to have tracphone and when we had a problem we would have to go to a pay phone and call them, it is a 800 number so it didn't cost me anything.

[Kimberly61]

wow thats really messed up...I am surprised your home phone provider allowed that, do they allow that now a days? lol either way thats a bunch of crap and you have every right to be mad.......it still amazes me that with the technology(sp?) we have today that there is soooo many errors.

[JKATHERINE]

I was able to use Adam's tracfone (and almost 30 minutes of his airtime) to call Tracfone. It was so frustrating that my cheeks are actually red and HOT. I couldn't go out somewhere and use a payphone. It's 3 miles to town and we're having a snowstorm. It just didn't seem so important that I should drive in this weather.

I FINALLY got the chick on the other end to understand what I wanted and she's transferring my old number to my new phone. Unfortunately, since my new phone is already "active" with my landline phone number, they have to send me a new sim card which can take up to 7 business days. They were unable to help me with my landline issue and told me to call my landline phone provider. I did that, but they're closed and not open until 8am.

At least I got one thing done...

[JKATHERINE]

OH, and the girl on the other end of the line (AFTER I explained all that was going on AND that I was calling from my husband's Tracfone) actually ASKED me if I was AWARE that by calling customer service from a Tracfone I was using up my units?!!! I said, "Of course I'm aware! But since Tracfone disconnected my home phone service, I have no other choice!" UGGGGGHHH!!

[meltodd69]

Oh my bloodpressure would be through the roof. They would be giving the other phone a credit for that call. And me, a nice one for all the stress. And my landline phone company would hear about it too. Idiots!
Just keep reminding yourself to count to ten.

[Shann]

that's ridiculous once it's all fixed I'd be emailing or calling from the home phone requesting they credit me the minutes that were used during your call to CS as it was their mistake not yours. What a mess, I hope it gets fixed tomorrow :(

[Army-Mom]

I bought a tracphone one time and I waited and called for weeks and weeks, I finally got so mad I threw the whole mess in the garbage and at the time my husband also had a tracphone, we used his min and threw it in trash too.

[SLance68]

You can't be mad at the landline phone company. The problems are because of Tracphone ONLY. They are the ones that requested the porting of the number. What you will now have to do is call the landline company and have them cancel the porting. It can be done in a matter of minutes (speaking from experience with porting a landline #). They will tell you it takes weeks - keep complaining until you get the person that can actually undo the porting. What that person has to do is send a cancellation to a third party company that routes all the porting requests. HTH

[cathych]

I hate tracfone. I got a virgin mobile phone and love it. tracfone has terrible customer service. One time when they were still doing the referral system, I finally got hold of somebody that spoke decent english, and she said she was sorry, that most of thier representatives are out of india, and do not know what is going on with that company.

[sdb_ngc]

The landline company can only put in an order to port your number back from Tracfone but Tracfone can have this exepited if they call your landline Company .. I know this as I worked for a telcom provider ... it can take weeks but they can have it back today if Tracfone releases it.

[DrGrin]

I hope you are able to get it all straightened out. When you do, you should write a long email to the corporate headquarters and request some compensation for the lost time on your husband's phone as well as some additional time for your own phone for all the problems created by their mistake. Threatening to go to another prepaid provider might encourage them to give you a little more for remaining with tracfone.

[JKATHERINE]

You can't be mad at the landline phone company. The problems are because of Tracphone ONLY. They are the ones that requested the porting of the number. What you will now have to do is call the landline company and have them cancel the porting. It can be done in a matter of minutes (speaking from experience with porting a landline #). They will tell you it takes weeks - keep complaining until you get the person that can actually undo the porting. What that person has to do is send a cancellation to a third party company that routes all the porting requests. HTH

Oh, I'm not mad at my landline provider. They are a great company and it was not their fault by any means. I'm going to try and call them now (from Adam's Tracfone--AGAIN) and see if I can get this resolved.

[Quaker_Parrots]

I hope they dont charge you a reconnect fee on your home phone...

[sdb_ngc]

I hope they dont charge you a reconnect fee on your home phone...


typically they do... BUT I'd send it right to Tracfone to pay

[SLance68]

typically they do... BUT I'd send it right to Tracfone to pay

I know when we tried to switch our office phones to a different carrier & then canceled it before they even finished - we did get a charge but I called & explained what happened and they removed the charges. Sometimes you just have to call and ask and they will remove them - especially since it was not her fault and she didn't place the order for the porting.

[JKATHERINE]

OMG. The nightmare just gets worse. I've used up all of Adam's minutes on his phone trying to fix this.

I called my phone provider (USA Telephone). They said that Fairpoint would have to get the number back from Tracfone and then my provider could contact Fairpoint and reestablish my number in my name.

I called Fairpoint and the first woman I talked to (Jeannie) was a B****! Her whole attitude was rude before I even told her what was going on.

Me: My phone provider, USA Telephone, told me I need to contact you so that you can contact Tracfone.
Jeannie: Um, no. USA Telephone needs to contact them, not us. (VERY RUDE).
Me: Um, would you please let me tell you what's going on before you interrupt me? (<------very sarcastic)

So she lets me talk and puts me through to Cory, a CSR who's very energetic and postive and empathetic (thank God!). Cory is stumped and says he'll go research the problem. I'm on hold for what feels like forever. He comes back, I tell him that I'm on another Tracfone and eating up minutes. He says he'll call me back when he has a resolution. He calls back a few minutes later and says that "it'll be a process" but we can do it but that I'm going to need more than the 17 minutes I have left on Adam's phone. I tell him I'll buy some more minutes and call him back.

I go to the TF website to buy minutes and keep getting freaking errors!! I search for places to buy Tracfone minutes on the web and find pinzoo.com. It says you get the minutes "instantly." I order them, and then am informed that for your first order, they need to confirm via phone! So I have to wait. Finally they call Adam's cell phone and verify my CC# with me and post the minutes to my online account. I add them to the phone.

THEN, the phone battery starts to die! I search the house for Adam's charger and when I can't find it, I call him at work. He LEFT THE CHARGER IN HIS LOCKER AT WORK.

Bear in mind that cell phones typically have bad reception here (we live in a little valley) so the entire time I've been on the phone today, I've been outside in the freezing cold and snow.

Now I'm screwed for the day because Adam doesn't get out til at least 5, I have no charger and Cory at Customer Service @ Fairpoint leaves at 5pm est.

It has been such a sucky day!

[DrGrin]

Keep documentation of everything so that you can give them the type of publicity they deserve on every consumer website you can find after you get this settled. There is no excuse for that kind of mistake- or the way you're being treated.

[cathych]

well, I hope that you are going to ditch that tracfone after this! Looks like you are going to have to borrow a phone to get this mess straighted up . Whenever I have called tracfone, I have always gotten the run around, and I can't even imagine it costing me minutes!

[tbeckys]

If you are having trouble with your Tracfone don't just call that one person there.If you can call back and tell them you want to speak with a supervisor (they have to let you)the ones most of the time can't do the things and approve them like the supers do.I have had one bad problem with them in 8 years ...it was similiar to yours.Anyway they took care of it and have had no further problems.
Also when you call in they make a note of what you have been through up to that point...and I can almost promise you that if you can get in touch with the right people you will get your used minutes plus additional minutes.

[JKATHERINE]

Well, I just got off the phone with Fairpoint. It's going to take a minimum of 8 business days to get my phone number back from Tracfone. Despite the fact that I have three small children here, one who is ASTHMATIC and has a history of seizures and the fact that I only have a Tracfone to use which only has service/reception intermittantly, they said they cannot expedite the process because of how busy they are because of all of the phone service that was wiped out here in the East due to the storms. :( So, I won't have home phone until sometime after January 6th. I pray we have no emergencies!

[evrita]

I could be wrong but I know people who dont have phone service can still dial 911 from the phone they just can dial anything else?

[cathych]

you can't dial 911 from a tracfone if you don't have any service on it, it is dead.

[SLance68]

you can't dial 911 from a tracfone if you don't have any service on it, it is dead.

She should be able to dial 911 on her home landline phone. I think they have to leave the 911 connection for at least 30 days after a phone is disconnected. I wouldn't suggest it but JKat you might want to try dialing 911 from your home phone - even if the line is dead the call should go through. Explain to the 911 operator that someone told you that you should still have 911 service even though your phone was cut off due to tracfone being idiots. DO NOT call 911 and just hang up - they will send a officer out especially if they cannot call back. I would bet that the tracfone would also make the 911 call if it is dead. HTH

[DrGrin]

I could be wrong but I know people who dont have phone service can still dial 911 from the phone they just can dial anything else?



Basic 911 rules require wireless service providers to:

transmit all 911 calls to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), regardless of whether the caller subscribes to the provider’s service or not.

Filing a Complaint with the FCC

If you have a problem completing a 911 call from your wireless phone, first try to resolve the problem with your service provider. If you can’t resolve it directly, or if you think your wireless service provider is not complying with FCC wireless 911 requirements, you can file a complaint with the FCC. There is no charge for filing a complaint. You can file your complaint using an on-line complaint form found at esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm. You can also file your complaint with the FCC’s Consumer Center by e-mailing fccinfo@fcc.gov; calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY; faxing 1-866-418-0232; or writing to:

Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20554.



http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/wireless911srvc.html

[JKATHERINE]

Right, but that only applies to if the phone has RECEPTION, though. Unfortunately, we live in this little valley so we only have reception sometimes. So if the phone can't communicate with the tower to transmit my call to emergency services, I'm screwed. Just everyone pray that Aiden doens't have an asthma attack or seizure during this time, k?

[ssgjeg]

I'll pray for you and Aiden. There's no excuse for this kind of screw up and if, God forbid, something does happen, you should take them for everything. Just the mental stress from worrying that something could happen should be enough.

[Denise1972]

you can't dial 911 from a tracfone if you don't have any service on it, it is dead.

You can dial 911 from any cell phone, even if it doesnt have service. I have done this before with a tracfone, and I didnt have service at the time. I had to call an ambulance for my dd who was 9 months old at the time.

[Denise1972]

I hope they get this all straightend out JKat. I have and At&T go phone. It costs nothing to call their customer service. I am very happy with the service.

[SLance68]

Right, but that only applies to if the phone has RECEPTION, though. Unfortunately, we live in this little valley so we only have reception sometimes. So if the phone can't communicate with the tower to transmit my call to emergency services, I'm screwed. Just everyone pray that Aiden doens't have an asthma attack or seizure during this time, k?

Please try your landline phone - I know it is dead but pick it up and dial 911 it will go through to the local 911 center just like before even if there is NO dial tone. This is a Federal requirement for all landline phones.

For those that keep suggesting she try the tracphone - if she has NO reception in that area she can dial til she is blue in the face and it won't go anywhere. As she stated many times the reception for tracphone is spotty at best.

[evrita]

I was talking landline I am sorry I wasnt clear on that. I am almost 100 &#37; sure that even if you cant dial out to anyone you can still call 911 from a lineline.