Does anyone here know anything about Tracfone?

[csziggy]

16. If all you want if a basic phone to use for emergencies or occasional calls, Tracfone

Is fine. I've had a Tracfone for over ten years. My original one cost $20 and came with a year's service and 100 hours. Eventually they forced me to take a free replacement phone because the cell tower technology was changing and my old phone would no longer work. Both phones are/were basic, small brick Nokias with no fancy features.

Every couple of years I have to renew my service plan. I don't do a monthly charge. The last couple of times, I paid for 365 days of service and 450 minutes for $100. Then they throw in a special offer for an additional 365 days of service. Since I keep accumulating minutes, this works out great - and it's hard to beat 2 years of service for $150!

If I ever need to I can purchase extra minutes directly on the phone (but I've never tried - it might need a smart phone but they keep telling me I can - or buy cards with minutes almost anywhere. I find it easier to purchase my minutes and plan over the internet and just leave my phone turned on until the added time & minutes show up.

If you develop a habit of using the cellphone a lot, Tracfone is not the cheapest per minute. But if you use it only a limited amount of time, it is great.

The customer service is not wonderful, but when I have had to use it it was not a complete nightmare and got my problems resolved without too much trouble.

(It was NEVER as bad as my experiences with Verizon, trying to sort out my parents' phone & internet (minimum 45 minutes hold every time you call and every time they transfer you). And an absolute dream compared to my horrific experience with T-Mobile when they were dunning me for payment on an account I never had - T-Mobile had no system to tell them they were calling the wrong number. The only way to talk to T-Mobile is to have an account. I had to get the state consumer service bureau involved to get T-Mobile to stop harassing me when I had never done business with them.)

My husband also uses Tracfone and uses his phone more than I do mine. He has a fancier phone - it cost all of $25 at Radio Shack and they activated it and transferred his time and minutes from his old phone for him for no extra charge.