| Author |
Message |
Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Saturday, September 04, 2021 - 5:43 pm 
I think I've read that some of you also use Tracfone as your cell phones. I got a message from them this morning that they are discontinuing my phone and I will have to buy another one. Now they did this several years ago (not sure exactly how long), and they sent me the phone I have now. They did not charge me anything at that time. I have been using it for years. So I don't appreciate all of a sudden they want me to buy another phone. Besides I still have my late husband's phone, which is free. It gets time added to it automatically e ach month. Have not been able to get ahold of Tracfone yet to explain all of this. What should I do? Buy another phone. Wait and see if my current phone keeps working? Start using my husband's phone? I'm in a pickle.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Saturday, September 04, 2021 - 9:29 pm
I am a Tracfone user. I love Tracfone. Oddly enough for a low cost phone provider, I have found them to be very customer friendly. When my old iPhone SE 2016 (which I bought for very cheap from Tracfone and is a basic iPhone, but does everything other iPhones do) started not holding a charge, I shopped iPhones at Tracfone and found out there is a Tracfone SE 2020, and I bought one of those. It required a service plan to get the phone at that price, and I already had a service plan with hundreds of minutes and texts on it, and some data, and I was worried that if I purchased a NEW service plan, just to get this NEW iPhone for $200, they would screw me and wipe out my old plan and all of my previous minutes and texts and Gb of data.
So I called Tracfone and obviously got a tech in Mexico, but he spoke very good English. I grilled that poor young man within an inch of his life, and he steadfastly reassured me I would keep my old plan and ALL of my accumulated services, and I could just buy a minimal 30-day plan for around $15-$20, and it would expire in 30 days, and I would retain all of my previously accumulated services, PLUS any of the new plan I didn't use. I did it! It worked!
So, what I would recommend is #1 - IF you can afford $200, call Tracfone, tell them your story, cancel one of the accounts and buy that $200 iPhone SE 2020. I LOVE mine, and it is supposed to have a camera that is just as good as others that cost hundreds more. I LOVE my iPhone camera, and find an iPhone SO much easier to use than an Android. You will be able to transfer accumulated time, minutes and data to your new phone with no hassle.
#2 - and at any rate, do this anyway, call and cancel one of the accounts - either yours or your husband's. Throw yourself on their mercy to help you figure it out, and you might be able to cancel one of the accounts AND transfer the accumulated credits to the phone number you want to keep.
#3 - before you call Tracfone, peruse the phones they have for sale, because they are very well priced, and see if you can afford one of them. I would highly recommend that 64 GB iPhone SE they are selling for $200.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Saturday, September 04, 2021 - 9:55 pm
https://shop.tracfone.com/shop/en/tracfonestore/phones
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Sunday, September 05, 2021 - 9:24 am
Thanks for the info. My late husband's phone is actually free from Safelink wireless. Don't have to do anything to keep it. Just have to give everyone the new/old phone number.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Sunday, September 05, 2021 - 8:19 pm
Oh! Okay, then call Safelink and see if they will let you transfer your old phone's number to your husband's account, at the same time you put the Safelink account into your name. I think they should accommodate you to do that, although you will probably need to have Tracfone release the number first.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Tuesday, September 28, 2021 - 10:18 am
Now I've been hearing they are going to do away with 3G phones. Probably why I got the text. But they let me buy more time for the phone. Been trying to find out if my phones are 4G or higher. And how would I know what a new phone would be? I've also heard it may affect computers or tablets. I'd hate to wake up one day and nothing is working.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Sunday, November 07, 2021 - 5:54 am
Still using the old phone. My brother told me I have till the end of 2022 before I will have to have another one. Still need to call Safelink and see what they say.
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Sunday, November 07, 2021 - 12:03 pm
I just ordered this new Samsung Galaxy this morning to upgrade from my old Samsung S6.
This model came out last summer, so it's new enough for me.
https://www.tracfone.com/phone/samsung-galaxy-a21-prepaid
I think one of the most unpleasant experiences is transferring your tracfone account to another phone. I am not looking forward to it.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Sunday, November 07, 2021 - 7:59 pm
Naja, my Tracfone transfer was so simple it left me gobsmacked. Of course I was transferring from one iPhone I purchased from Tracfone to a newer model also purchased from Tracfone. I had called Tracfone before I tried to do it, anticipating a marathon call and ensuing headache. Instead, the English speaking young man just sort of said something like give me the IMEI of the new phone, and then put the two phones near each each other, and they started doing stuff. And I said, "WHAT??!?! It's that simple?" And he said, yeah you are good to go. And everything transferred in about 30 seconds.
Also, if you are a Tracfone customer and you buy your phone from Tracfone, they seem to have very good deals on phones, and you are assured the phone you buy is compatible with Tracfone.
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Sunday, November 07, 2021 - 8:07 pm
My last transfer was from the Tracfone I bought from them to another phone I bought somewhere else. At that time Tracfone really didn't have a selection I liked. Maybe that's why is was such a pain. Because I was transferring to a phone I got from somewhere else.
This time it's going to be opposite of that. Maybe that means it will be easier.
eta: transferring the files and apps was always easy. It was the account transfer that was the pain.
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Thursday, November 11, 2021 - 2:04 pm
Got my new phone today. Samsung Galaxy A21. It's huge. It's about an inch longer than the old one.
And just as I suspected....I tried to transfer my account to the new phone while online like you're supposed to be able to do, and got the message "We're sorry, but you need to call customer service at 1-800-whatever to activate your phone". It never goes easy for me transferring my tracfone account. I'll call tomorrow. I have a headache now.
The data is transferring now.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Thursday, November 11, 2021 - 7:39 pm
Bigdog wore his phone in his pocket into the swimming pool today. Luckily it was an iPhone SE 1 (2016) that I was trying to get him to replace anyway. Tonight I bought him a new 64 Gb iPhone SE 2 (2020) from Tracfone for $199 (if you purchased a phone plan with it; otherwise, it was $289). So I purchased a $25 30 day plan with 2 GB data, unlimited calls and unlimited texts. After 30 days it reverts to the plan I already had for the phone.
I happened to check my Tracfone minutes earlier this week and was surprised to find I have unlimited calls and texts. I had upgraded my iPhone SE 1 to SE 2 sometime earlier in 2021 and purchased the same 30 day plan that I bought for Bigdog tonight. I guess we'll see what happens with his plan after 30 days.
This economical cellphone talk makes me miss Twinkie. She was the queen of outwitting the cellphone racket. RIP, Twinks.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, November 11, 2021 - 8:07 pm
No iPhone but I paid I think $129 for a full year and have ample calls, texts and downloads. I think I still get triple from when I bought my first Tracfone.
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Thursday, November 11, 2021 - 8:20 pm
I fixed my phone service. All I had to do was text "can't make calls" to the 611611 help line, they texted back "Good news, we've checked your service and solved an issue. To complete your programming restart your device and try again."
And it was fixed. I put a 1TB micro SD card in it as well.
I'll always be on Team Android.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Wednesday, December 01, 2021 - 3:58 pm
So I went to a store and looked at available cell phones. Not one of them said if they were 5G or anything else. How do you know?
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Thursday, December 09, 2021 - 4:40 pm
So I went to Tracfone's website and a chat with one of their agents. She said they would send me a free phone that will work with 5G. So I ordered another LG with a service plan (it was required). So I received the phone yesterday. Been having a hard time figuring it out. Had to manually put in my contacts. So hopefully it will work out. I called and they said they did transfer my minutes and days from the old phone. It did not seem like it. My end of service day is next month. The new phone plan was for 30 days. Everything else is unlimited, I think. It was $20. I think it renews automatically. I don't really like that part.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Thursday, December 09, 2021 - 7:11 pm
Heckagirl, go to Tracfone.com, and if you don't already have an account, start one there. That is where you can go to check on your minutes. I went through this whole scenario with Tracfone, and they truly are not out to trick you. I had this poor young man laughing but also earnestly trying to help me believe that Tracfone was not out to screw me by requiring me to buy a $20 plan with my new phone. I made him promise that it was true that once my new plan expired, my service would revert to my old plan, and it did.
We just replaced Bigdog's old phone (which he wore into the swimming pool), and had to buy a $20 plan in order to buy the iPhone from Tracfone at a great price. I just now checked Bigdog's minutes at tracfone.com, and it shows his 30 day unlimited minutes plan expires 12-17-21. But then, underneath that it shows Other Plan that it will revert to when current plan expires.
Somebody here (maybe Naja?) put me onto a really great Tracfone service plan code that was like a year of service for maybe $80 a year, which is like $7 a month, and it was enough for an occasional user to get by with. You cannot use it to be on hold with some bad company for an hour, though.
Read back in the thread to around July/August, and that code may still be good.
Which reminds me, this new iPhone SE 2 I got is capable of making calls on Wi-fi, so that might make that cheap yearly deal even more feasible, if you can make most of your calls on wi-fi. I have never set it up on my phone or Bigdog's, but probably should.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Thursday, December 09, 2021 - 7:16 pm
I just checked the beginning of this thread, and it is dated AFTER I got that great code, so there must me a previous cellphone thread that contains that Tracfone code.
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Naja
Member
06-28-2003
| Thursday, December 09, 2021 - 7:56 pm
I gave you the code back in June. Some say it's still good, some not.
https://tvclubhouse.com/forum/read.php?file=/9200/22921655.html&lm=
But this page has tons of tracfone coupon codes. Start by trying the $50 codes. One is bound to work. Nothing bad happens for trying all the coupon codes in your checkout. I do it all the time when I shop.
https://tracfonereviewer.blogspot.com/p/tracfone-promo-codes.html
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Friday, December 10, 2021 - 6:33 pm
Thanks, Naja, I was pretty sure it was you. Agreed about trying all the codes. If one doesn't work, it just tells you the code is not longer good, and you go on to enter the next one until one works.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Wednesday, December 29, 2021 - 4:43 pm
How do I add time to my new smartphone. There is no prepaid button like on the old phone. I now have an LG Premier Pro Plus. It does not say how to add time. I even looked up the owner's manual.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Wednesday, December 29, 2021 - 5:50 pm
Hecka, when I had an LG phone, I had to go to my contacts, and it was in there, under "C" for call, I believe.
Does your library have a tech person for the public? My aunt goes almost every week to get help with her IPhone. He is very patient. 
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Wednesday, December 29, 2021 - 7:12 pm
If your new phone service carrier is Tracfone, one way to add minutes is to establish an account with Tracfone.com, if you don't already have one and then add minutes from their website. You can usually get bonus minutes by poking around on the websites Naja has listed above to find bonus codes that work. Or, if you want to do it from your phone, you may need to go to the Google Store and download the Tracfone app if you haven't already done so. But with Tracfone it is almost always beneficial to put in the time to find a bonus code. It is free minutes or a much better rate, but you can usually find something.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Monday, January 10, 2022 - 6:54 pm
So now I'm wondering if my phone is faulty. Or what? I did download the tracfone app, so I should be able to add minutes through it. If I still want to. I took some pictures with the phone when we had all that snow last week. So I wanted to upload them to Facebook. It said no direct upload or something like that. So I have to upload to my computer from the phone. My niece's boyfriend came and was able at that time to do this. Since then, I have tried to see if I could do it, just to see if I could. So far it's a no go. Was talking to him tonight, and he said when I plug the USB cord into my phone, a popup should appear that asks me what I want to use my USB connection for. lst option is charging. Several other options including file transfer, which is how he uploaded those pictures. I have not been able to get the popup option to come back up. I have tried to google it. Can't find an answer. I asked him how he did it, and he's not sure. He said it should just pop up. Nothing is popping up on the computer either, which is supposed to happen. So now I'm wondering if the phone is just faulty. I don't know how to fix it. Why me? Seems like something is always messed up.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Tuesday, January 11, 2022 - 12:24 pm
I called Tracfone and asked about my problem. They didn't know what I was talking about.
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