I am SO ANGRY - long vent

[Gato]

I feel badly posting this when there are posters tonight with real problems.  BUT.  I tried to transfer my number tonight from my old phone to my new phone.  My carrier lost my number of 15 years.  It just randomly assigned me a new number.  This is my primary phone number and every single contact I have is (was!) through this number.

So I called the company and got transferred around four times.  Finally reached a woman who said she couldn't get my number back, the carrier had already re-assigned it (is this possible? within 30 minutes on a Sunday evening?).  I asked her for 3000 minutes as compensation; she came back with 150.  I countered with 2000 and she came back with 250 and held firm.  Am I crazy in thinking that is way too low for all the hours I'm going to have to put in updating everything and everyone?  I feel like I have taken crazy pills. 

It got worse.  I asked to speak to her supervisor and he offered me 15 minutes.  FIFTEEN.  I mean, that's just insulting me, right?  I had been trying to keep calm but after that I YELLED VERY LOUDLY at him.  He wouldn't give me a higher-up to speak to, he just said he could give me an email address. 

DO NOT USE TRACFONE!  My mistake #1 was going with a cheap carrier.

Is there anything I can do?  I did email them, and I also went to their Facebook page to complain.

My H witnessed the whole thing and is keeping me sane(ish) but it has been a long day with a two year old puking.   I will probably be going to bed soon but I just had to get this out of my system.  If you finished this, thanks for reading and any advice or poor poodles.

[lime]

Have you called the old number? Is it really reassigned or are they just being lazy? If it hasn't really been reassigned to someone new, I'd try to get another supervisor to help me out.

This would be a huge PIA for my business if I had my number yanked, so I understand your frustration.

[Gato]

Mar 1, 2015 23:38:16 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Is Tracfone a pre-paid company??

Yes it is.  I have saved a lot of money over the years using them, now I guess I'm paying for my cheapness.

[Gato]

Mar 1, 2015 23:37:20 GMT -5 lime said:

Have you called the old number? Is it really reassigned or are they just being lazy? If it hasn't really been reassigned to someone new, I'd try to get another supervisor to help me out.

This would be a huge PIA for my business if I had my number yanked, so I understand your frustration.

Why didn't I think of this?  No, it's not a working number yet. 

I did ask for another supervisor but he said he was it and wouldn't transfer me anywhere else.  This was after I had talked to 3 other people.  You know, only one person apologized (the one who offered me 250 minutes), and that was "for the inconvenience." Seriously? 

But this gives me hope that I can get my old number back.  I will call them back again.

[isabel]

Damn. I would be doing everything possible to reach someone higher up. That really sucks.

[lime]

That's great that no one has your old number yet. I'll ditto mofongo and say you should try a different carrier tomorrow and see if you have more success.

[Gato]

Mar 1, 2015 23:42:43 GMT -5 nicbreeful said:

Even with a prepay company, I believe they have to keep the number inactive for a set amount of time.

Regular (contract) phones are 6 months. The least that a prepay would have to give is 30 days.

See, I know so little about any of this.  I don't use data.  I just keep re-upping my minutes and had been happy with super-cheap rates. /old

[Gato]

Ooh, they're asking me to chat on Facebook!

Fingers crossed that I get my number back. You guys have calmed me down. Thanks!

[lime]

Good luck!

[Gato]

Thanks, nicbreeful. I just could not get anywhere with these people, and I think I am a fairly calm, reasonable person. THEY MADE GATO ANGRY. That's bad, when your customer is that incompetent.

I will definitely try another carrier tomorrow. Who do you recommend? This is for basic talk and text, although I may get a smart phone soon.

[Gato]

I will look that up. I doubt I've unpacked that file - we're living in what we hope is a temporary rental. But they say on the live chat that they're trying to retrieve my number.

LOL, they have me on hold on Live Chat.

[sofamonkey]

So, they did this when I transferred carriers. I had to basically go back to my previous carrier & have them port my number BACK to them, saying that I had regrets & that I had made a HUGE mistake. I mean, I didn't - the new company just fucked up. Then, I had the NEW company port it back as my regular, longstanding number. It took less than a week total. It was a HUGE pain in the ass. But, when they ported me over, they not only assigned me a new number, but they made an entirely new account. Holy fuck ups.

[tulip]

Try to see if you can keep the number through Google voice.

[Gato]

You guys are so great. I am feeling much better (i.e., not wanting to murder someone) now.

[sofamonkey]

Mar 2, 2015 0:06:33 GMT -5 Gato said:

You guys are so great. I am feeling much better (i.e., not wanting to murder someone) now.

Still pull their leg hair.  They have it coming. 

[Gato]

I did rage. My convo with the last guy was in ALL CAPS, ALL THE TIME. I think he hated me. I know I hated him.

YAY!!! Chat lady says I'm getting my old number back!

[Una]

Oh, that's frustrating. I hope they're able to sort this all out.

If you are interested in switching carriers and still want something inexpensive and contract-free, I've had Cricket for the past four years and I've never had any issues. I believe you can bring your number over from a different carrier when you switch, and even your old phone depending on what you have. I have my own plan but you can get discounted rates if you have multiple lines.

I've also heard some good things about Straight Talk, but I don't know much about that.

[Gato]

Una, thanks!

And OMFG, the chat lady left before completing the transaction, and a whole new lady entered the chat.

[Gato]

She has to start all over again! WHY DOES TRACFONE HATE ME!?!?!

[awick14]

When I worked for a cell phone company we were unable to reassign a number to someone else for 60 days. That way the person with the number wasn't getting a ton of calls looking for people with the number originally.

I hope you get your number back.

[steph96]

Mar 1, 2015 23:56:54 GMT -5 Gato said:

Thanks, nicbreeful. I just could not get anywhere with these people, and I think I am a fairly calm, reasonable person. THEY MADE GATO ANGRY. That's bad, when your customer is that incompetent.

I will definitely try another carrier tomorrow. Who do you recommend? This is for basic talk and text, although I may get a smart phone soon.

I have read great things about Republic Wireless over on MM.  @shoegal and a few others are huge fans.

[Gato]

The new person was clueless, she wrote "We will need to contact the other departmentfor further assistance. However, they are closed."

YES, I WOULD LIKE TO BE IN BED TOO. HOWEVER, YOU SAID YOU WERE HANDLING IT. NOW YOU HAVE NO CLUE. IT IS 12:44 IN THE MORNING AND I HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH YOU FOR 3 HOURS.

Whew. Caps lock is liberating.

Thanks all. I am going to bed.

[Deleted]

This why people don't use Tracfone. They spend the least amount possible on everything to keep your prices low. I would be so much more sympathetic if VzW or AT&T did this, but you are getting the service you paid for, so I think it's unreasonable to complain.

That said, separate and apart from the customer service issues, read your contract. What does it say your remedy is if they lose your phone number? Did you disclaim any remedy? If not, then you probably have a reasonable claim in connection with loss of your phone number, and perhaps you can take them to small claims court for the losses it caused. But I can't be too indignant that a company that basically promises no customer service in exchange for low, low prices is giving you crappy customer service.

[Gato]

Girl, I am trying to save for a house, and cuts have to be made somewhere. But you are absolutely right, I did get what I paid for.

And I finally got my number back! I'm going to take it and the advice of you fine ladies to a new carrier tomorrow morning. Thank you, everyone.

[Una]

Well, for what it's worth, I've had much better customer service with Cricket than I ever had with Verizon. Cost isn't always everything. Like Tiffany, for example.

I'm glad you got your number back! What a headache.

[just]

Yeah, I'm with Virgin -$30 for unlimited text,data +300 minutes - and their customer service is just fine.

[RoxMonster]

I don't think more money always equals better customer service. I just ranted on here less than a month ago about what shitty customer service Verizon gave us. They straight up lost our payment and were going to shut our phones off within 24 hours--first we heard of it--even though our bank could prove the payment went through to Verizon. They put the wrong name on our account when we opened our new account. Even though my MIL brought in FIL's death certificate last APRIL, they still badger her every single time she tries to switch anything up with her account that they MUST speak to her husband, even after she says he has died.

And the list goes on. So it isn't just cheap companies that have crappy customer service at times.

OP, glad you could get your number back!

[compassrose]

Glad you got your number back! What a headache. Way to be persistent though.

[macmars45]

Mar 2, 2015 7:01:16 GMT -5 RoxMonster said:

I don't think more money always equals better customer service. I just ranted on here less than a month ago about what shitty customer service Verizon gave us. They straight up lost our payment and were going to shut our phones off within 24 hours--first we heard of it--even though our bank could prove the payment went through to Verizon. They put the wrong name on our account when we opened our new account. Even though my MIL brought in FIL's death certificate last APRIL, they still badger her every single time she tries to switch anything up with her account that they MUST speak to her husband, even after she says he has died.

And the list goes on. So it isn't just cheap companies that have crappy customer service at times.

OP, glad you could get your number back!

What a slap in the face for your poor MIL.  

[Serenity9]

Mar 2, 2015 1:10:41 GMT -5 elle said:

This why people don't use Tracfone. They spend the least amount possible on everything to keep your prices low. I would be so much more sympathetic if VzW or AT&T did this, but you are getting the service you paid for, so I think it's unreasonable to complain.

That said, separate and apart from the customer service issues, read your contract. What does it say your remedy is if they lose your phone number? Did you disclaim any remedy? If not, then you probably have a reasonable claim in connection with loss of your phone number, and perhaps you can take them to small claims court for the losses it caused. But I can't be too indignant that a company that basically promises no customer service in exchange for low, low prices is giving you crappy customer service.

Unreasonable to complain? I can see saying it's not surprising that Tracfone has bad customer service, but not that it's unreasonable to complain. They screwed up. She should definitely complain about it, even if it's not surprising that they screwed up.