Problem Solver: TracFone Admits Mistake

By Dianne Derby
Anchor
Published: July 2, 2008

With all the cell phone companies out there many of you turn to prepaid wireless plan to have better control. But what if you paid for minutes but the company took them away? One Upstate woman called on 7 On Your Side when her calls to the company couldn’t get her the refund she wanted. Dianne Derby got her money back in a 7 On Your Side Problem Solver.

Ruth Burrows loved the control she had over her minutes used with her prepaid cell phone from TracFone.

“It costs more but it’s convenient and prepaid so I can regulate my minutes,” said Burrows.

But she lost that control when the wireless company suddenly deactivated her phone with 225 minutes left.

“I tried to call my brother in Alabama and it said sorry my phone’s been deactivated,” said Burrows. “I got so angry I bashed it around a post over there.”

We wanted to know exactly what Ms. Burrows was responsible for so we took a look inside her user guide. It said she did have to purchase an additional airtime card before the due date displayed on her phone but she said that due date was in 2010.

“(The phone display said) airtime due April 21, 2010 and it was deactivated the last part of May 2008,” said Burrows. “That’s two years shy of what my phone said.”

We couldn’t look at her phone since she destroyed it in anger so we called TracFone from her house to find out their side of the story. The company admitted the problem was on their end.

“Apparantly her line was disconnected for some reason by error,” said TracFone’s Richard Salzman.

Salzman said TracFone tried to contact her but couldn’t get through. It’s argument Ms. Burrows doesn’t understand since she couldn’t make or receive calls once her phone was deactivated. Plus, she says she gave the company her other phone number so she could be reached. The good news is TracFone promised us they’d refund the cost of the phone and the minutes she already purchased.

“I knew channel 7 could help me,” said Burrows.

Prepaid cell phones are a great option is you don’t want to commit to a contract but the Better Business Bureau wants you to keep this in mind:
--Know the costs of a call. Some long distance calls can cost two times as much.
--Not all services like call waiting or caller id are included.
--Pay attention to the expiration date. Most plans require you buy more minutes within a specific timeframe.
--For more information click here.
--To check out TracFone’s rating with the Better Business Bureau click here.