How to Activate a TracFone
TracFone is the 6th largest mobile network operator in the United States. It allows its customers to purchase airtime usage when they purchase phones that companies like Nokia, LG, and Motorola make.
A TracFone customer has to activate the cell phone before using it. It can be activated via the TracFone website or TracFone customer care. It is also possible to download the programming codes from the website directly to the cell phone. Customers can also utilize the OTA (Over The Air) feature to activate a TracFone. The TracFone’s OTA feature allows the customer to activate his/her phone through the radio waves that the customer’s local tower provides.
TracFone assigns a code number based on the zip code that the customer provides. The activation process may take a few hours or a day. It is also possible to transfer an existing TracFone Number to a new phone. Transferring an existing number to a new phone may take 3 to 10 business days. Transferring a phone number from another company to a TracFone may take 2 weeks.
Prior to activating Tracfone, insert the battery into the handset and charge it for one or two hours. Choose the phone’s main menu and select the “prepaid option.” Now click “My ESN” (it can be My IMEI or Serial Number depending on the phone). Note the number displayed when this option is clicked and also record the SIM serial number.
Open the TracFone website http://www.tracfone.com to activate the phone. Click “Activate/Reactivate” on the website. First time users should enter the personal information that the website requires. Click on the brand of the phone on the available phone list. Now choose the phone model from the list of pictures provided. Enter the serial number previously noted in the designated space. Customers also have to provide their billing information and airtime. Follow the directions on the site to activate and verify the phone number. Once the activation process is over, the customer will receive an SMS confirming the TracFone’s activation.
The TracFone activation process is different for different models. Whatever the phone’s brand, it is important to note the IMEI and SIM card serial numbers that come with the phone. When compared to other phones, activating a Verizon Wireless prepaid phone is simple. It only requires the user to dial *22888 and hit the send button. The customer should then enter his/her zip code in the space provided. The customer will then be asked to choose the code for the language he/she prefers. The customer will then receive a message regarding his/her talk time as an indication of TracFone activation.
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Very poor service after buying from HSN, phone returned. Unable to activate phone, no “person”, to talk to. Machine responses do not ask questions pertaining to the problem. Tried to contact both Tracfone and HSN, multiple times, but unable to speak with customer relations of either company. Would not recommend.
My name is Katherine Davis I receive a phone on 12/1/2011. When I talk to someone about my phone I was used my uncle phone when I call and report that my phone was stolen. So they sent me a replacement phone . They ask me for a number so they could get in touch with me and I gave the my uncle number .My phone that they sent is my uncle number. So what do I do about the phone number.
Best of luck to Datherine Davis.
You have to activate the phone…. DUH! It doesnt just come activated… take it to a local retailer or go on the website and do it. If you can read… than you can activate it… ::shake my head::
If my memory serves me correctly, when disposable phones came about, they were designed for on-the-go, and with the possibility of one-time-use. (which is why they’re usually cheap to buy)You were able to grab a phone and prepaid minutes card, dial a number (given in instruction booklet) on the phone you just brought to activate it, and get the job done within in minutes. You didn’t have to call customer service using a different phone and go through a series of prompts, or go online and sign up, givng a bunch of personal information just to activate the phone. That’s added stress, time consuming, inconvenience, etc…which is counteractive to what the disposable phones were supposed to be about.
I believe that the reason many cellphone companies now require the user to go online or use a land phone to active the new phone is to extact personal info from the user; When you use a land phone, your number comes up on their caller ID, and of course, the number is attached to someone’s name and address. And when you go online, you must register on their site and submit personal info in order to activate your phone.
We have come a long way from what prepaid, pay-as-you-go phones is supposed to be about; a non intrusive, no contract way of using a portable phone on-the-go. That means, that the users name, address, phone number or any other personal info is not to be attached to the phone.
but with so much commercialism nowadays, all the competition betweens the cellphone companies, online social networking, and so on, everybody’s trying to extract as much info about the user of their products for promotional and financial gain.
I remember about four years ago, one company, whose name I won’t mention, that has pay-as-you-go told me that I needed to pay $50. activation fee, and a minimal of $50 each month to use their pay-as-you-go service? What? And on top of the $100. it was going to cost me to get started, they were charging taxes and somekind of service fee. I have no idea what that is. And, they required me to fill out an application! Name, address, phone number, and so. I asked the rep at the phone center why the company required such a high minimal monthly fee to use their prepaid service? shouldn’t I decided whether or not I want to buy more minutes every month, as this is what pay-as-you-go was all about. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, that’s the way their program works. To this, day, their requirements has not changed, but the setup fees and monthly prepaid fees are higher.
I found tracfone to be more reasonable with their prepaid minutes cards prices, which was why I brought their phone. I’ve been using tracfone for three years now, and I don’t recall having to use a land phone back then to activate my phone.
I still own a trafone and like their prices, but the one problem I have with them is that they have poor tech and customer service support.
I tried for two consecutive weeks by email to get tech support for my phone, it had stopped ringing, couldn’t hear the other party and so on. I decided to transfer the number from that phone to a differnt tracfone I had, but hadnn’t used in over a year. emailed tech several times for help with the transfer and even called on the phone. And I got responses that had nothing to do with my problem and when I called on the phone, I had to deal with a foreigner whose english was not good. he could barely understand me, and I could barely understand him. it took an entire hour just for him to figure this thing out, then tell me that he couldn’t find a problem with my phone and that I probably need to replace it, which is what I already told him.
All I wanted to do was transfer my number to a new phone, which he couldn’t do. what? Said my new phone had a problem with the sim card because it read “unregistered sim”. huh? doesn’t this mean I just need to activate the newer phone? Nope, he said he would send me a new sim card. Well, I got the new sim card in the mail, and you guess right, it too read “unregistered sim”. this is crazy.
There was nothing wrong with the other new phone, just something wrong with the rep I was dealing with.
I just purchased a new phone, activated it and moved on.
one of my TC phone time ran out and i bought a 60min card from K-MART but when i install the code,my phone will noy activate.
You need to do something about how long it takes to activate a phone!!!. 24 hours?!!! One phone dont work and the other one dont work till its activated.
need help!!! love my tracfone, I am having a problem, it will not ring when I get an incoming call, have tried everything , not ringing???? Help
have you tryed to press send when you get a call? if you haven`t you should try it but if you have it may be on vibrate or you nedd to turn up the volume. you should also read the tracfone book that came with you tracfone.
Hi James,
that’s the first sign I had too, when my tracfone of 3 years of use started to go bonkers.
It stopped ringing. Then the incoming message text signal stopped working too. My daughter would text me and i wouldn’t know becaue my phone wouldn’t signal the incoming text. And tech support say, ha, just turn up the volume. Problem solved. or Is it set to “ring”. Ah, yeah. I set the tone to ring when I get a text, it’s supposed to ring when I get a call. My phone even stopped vibrating.
then one day, it rang, next day, it didn’t. One day, it vibrated, next day, it didn’t vibrate. One day, the backlight was lit, next day, the keypad was lit, display, not let.
I just brought a new phone.
So, if your phone starts acting crazy like mines recently did, and its got a few years wear on it, you just might have to buy a new phone. But if it’s fairly new, tracfone might replace it free of charge.
Good luck with dealing with their tech and customer support.
how do i active my security code on the tracfoneLG?
I am having a problem with the Tracfone. My Tracfone does not ring when there is an incoming call. I managed to get the Tracfone to vibrate, so it vibrates everytime there is an incoming call.
I turned the volume up to 7, but the Tracfone still does not ring when there is an incoming call. I called Tech Support and they told me to save after I selected a function.
I did that, and the Tracfone still does not ring when there is an incoming call.
I received my new SIM card till now I do not active it
i want to activate my trac fon. you arenot clear on it at all!!!!
I just bought a Tracfone and there isn’t any instructions on the basics as to how to add contacts or delete them. How can I get an instruction brochure?
Requesting activation of new phone.
Activation of new phone.
I have tried to setup the voice mail without success. I can make outgoing calls but am not able to receive calls,the recoeding says that my voice mail has not been activated.
I want to activate my phone for International calls
I purchased my first tracfone 3 or so years ago. I activated my phone by dialing a number on the phone I brought. I didn’t need to call a number from a Land phone, nor go online to activte the phone, which is tracfone’s requirement today.
After three good years, by phone went bonkers, all kinds of weird stuff started happening, and tech support was no help, so I brought a new phone yesterday(March 17, 2012).
As for international calls; I don’t recall reading in the instuction book 3 years ago any specific activation rules before making international calls. But here is the Customer Care Center number that’s given in Tracfone’s latest guide book for setting up International calls. 1-800-867-7183.
They say to call this number. Setup is free.
Good Luck!
I recently purchased a one year addition of minutes to my tracfone, but it has not been added on the phone’s opening screen. How do I get tracfone to update the additional minutes.
Also my phone has received some 31 messages that were to a wrong number. How can I avoid this? Do I need to change the number of my phone?
Thank you for your assistance.
The phone’s number is 541 517-5429