Exhibit C Homeland Stupidity

Case 1:06-mj-30401-CEB Document 3 Filed 08/16/2006 Page 1 of 9

Exhibit C-1


Exhibit C-2


Exhibit C-3


Exhibit C-4


Exhibit C-5


Exhibit C-6


Exhibit C-7


Exhibit C-8


Exhibit C-9

Terrorism charges swapped for fraud charges in Michigan prepaid phone case By Jeffrey Silva Story posted: September 11, 2006 - 5:59 am EDT

WASHINGTON—U.S. law enforcement officials are expected to continue scrutinizing large purchases of prepaid cell phones and possible links to terrorist activity on American soil, despite failing to make such a connection to a wireless buying behavior that may be far more widespread than initially thought. Indeed, U.S. officials in Michigan said a probe of irregular prepaid cell phone purchases will not end as a result of a federal magistrate's decision to throw out conspiracy and money laundering charges against three Texas men.

The three men originally faced terrorism charges, which were subsequently dropped because of insufficient evidence. James Baldinger, a Florida lawyer who has represented Miami-based TracFone Wireless Inc.—the largest independent prepaid mobile phone company in the United States—in prepaid hacking litigation, cautioned against reading too much into last week's court ruling and predicted more law enforcement action. "I think this is nothing more than a bump in the road…No one should interpret this decision by the Michigan court to mean it's OK to engage in this type of activity," said Baldinger. Baldinger said his discussions with U.S. attorneys around the country has led him to believe the practice of accumulating large numbers of pre-paid cell phones and reconfiguring them to work on other wireless carriers' networks is pervasive and may be the work of a handful of ringleaders. TracFone stands to take a significant financial hit, he said, if the unlocking and resale of TracFone handsets continues unabated. Whether it is secondary black market at work or a stealth mechanism for terrorists to collect communications tools, or both, remain unclear. But law enforcement and homeland security authorities are not apt to let such peculiar buying behavior escape scrutiny. After a preliminary examination on the government's case against the three men in Bay City, Mich., last Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles E. Binder dismissed conspiracy and money laundering charges against brothers Louai Othman, 23, and Adham Othman, 21, and cousin Maruan Muhareb, 18, for lack of probable cause.

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Exhibit C-10

The three men—all of Middle Eastern descent—were first arrested in mid-August after attempting to buy about 80 handsets early in the morning at a 24-hour Wal-Mart store. Police found approximately 1,000 handsets in the men's van and pictures of the five-mile long Mackinac Bridge that spans the states upper and lower peninsulas. That worried law enforcement. "The cell phones can be used as detonators. Batteries can be disassembled and used to make methamphetamine. Obviously there's something wrong here," Caro Police Chief Ben Page told the Associated Press at the time. The three men were subsequently held on bonds of $750,000 each. The men's families claimed they were simply in Michigan to buy phones they planned to resell to a wholesaler in Texas, at a profit of about $5 per device. A similar scenario recently played out in Ohio where law enforcement investigated the purchase of a large quantity of prepaid phones, but were unable to find a terrorism link. After terrorism charges were dropped against the three men in Michigan, the government decided to accuse them of defrauding customers and money laundering related to handsets manufactured by Nokia Corp. and marketed by TracFone. TracFone has been aggressively litigating against individuals and small firms accused of disabling TracFone's proprietary software—enabling customers to access TracFone's prepaid wireless service—and then reselling the phones as new for operation on other wireless carriers' networks. Indeed, TracFone filed a new prepaid phone hacking lawsuit in late August against several individuals in a Florida federal court.

Exhibit C-11

TracFone wants unlocking phones to be a crime By Michael Hampton Posted: December 6, 2006 11:56 pm

TracFone, a wireless phone carrier in the U.S. which offers low-cost prepaid wireless service, does not want people to be able to purchase phones it puts up for sale and use them with other wireless carriers. That’s fine, as far as it goes. But now TracFone is trying to use force against people who want to do this.

Until today, I had an affiliate relationship with TracFone and offered its products for sale. A few minutes ago, I ended that relationship and sent the program manager the following letter:

While I am by no means a large affiliate, I thought it important that I let you know why I have chosen to end my affiliate relationship with TracFone.

On Tuesday, TracFone , Inc., filed a federal lawsuit against the Librarian of Congress and the Register of Copyrights arguing that people who purchase TracFone handsets should not be allowed to unlock them and use them with another wireless carrier. The lawsuit stems from a November ruling by the Library of Congress that unlocking a legally purchased wireless handset is exempt from certain provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. TracFone claims its views were not taken into account in the rulemaking process.

Since it became technically feasible in the late 1990s, wireless carriers have used handset locking to ensure that subscribers who purchase a handset, typically at far below cost, cannot then use the handset with another carrier. To the extent that it is technically feasible to lock a to a carrier, I have no problem with it.

But many people have learned that these locks can also be unlocked, and a niche market exists for the service of unlocking wireless handsets, as well as unlocked handsets themselves. Unlocked handsets allow a wireless phone customer in some circumstances to keep his wireless handset when he changes from one wireless carrier to another, so long as the underlying wireless radio technology used by each carrier is the same (e.g. GSM or CDMA).

My problem with TracFone’s approach is that it wants to use the force of law to prevent people from reprogramming their legally purchased phones. TracFone alleges in its lawsuit that this practice is “illicit,” a claim which is ridiculous on its face. It further alleges that trade in “supports terrorism,” a claim which is dubious at best, and which does not inspire confidence in TracFone as a company.

I cannot support this morally reprehensible misuse of the force of law against TracFone’s own customers, former customers and future customers.

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1. BLOGical Thoughts » Thursday, 7 December, 2006 December 7, 2006 7:42 am

77 Comments

1. Ron | December 7, 2006 12:15 am

I agree with you that TracFone is making a big deal over nothing. They’re still making money when anyone buys there phone for any reason and I’m sure they’d be upset to find out that there are people who unlock phones to use on there network as well. I think unlocking phones is a good thing because if someone see’s a phone from another compatible compant they may not switch to that provider but instead buy there phone out right and unlock if for there provider. I personally think that it raises sales for everyone involved and TracFone should just offer more phones for there service if they don’t want people doing that. I hardly ever see them come out with a new phone or even an old style one with features.

2. Oliver Crangle | December 7, 2006 5:39 am

TracFone service is hardly ‘low-cost”…

3. Ron | December 7, 2006 12:41 pm

I know that the minutes are expensive, I was refering to the phones them selves being farely priced and not too expensive.

4. Q | December 7, 2006 7:55 pm

Wireless

phone

unlocked phones

Page 1 of 14TracFone wants unlocking phones to be a crime - Homeland Stupidity

5/9/2008http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2006/12/06/tracfone-wants-unlocking-phones-to-be-a-cri...Exhibit C-12

who the f*** wantsa freaking tracphone anyway, screw them.

suggesting something that stupid should be a crime

5. Timothy Logsdon | December 9, 2006 4:08 am

I use a Tracfone because I usually only use about 500 minutes/year and can buy a year’s worth of service for about what I’d pay for 2 or 3 months of a contract phone with more minutes than I need. I also can purchase and use my phone anonymously. Fortunately Tracfone is not the only player in the prepaid game. Since they are taking this action, I will switch to another prepaid provider when my minutes run out, unless they drop their case.

6. Ron | December 9, 2006 9:42 am

Tim, I’m wondering are they making a big deal because there phones are being used unlocked or because unlocked phones are being used on there network? Either way why are they even making a big deal about it because they make money either way.

7. elmo | December 25, 2006 1:15 pm

Tim

they are making a big deal because they didnt get to sell a device, where otherwise they would…

the company wants all the profits… not just some

8. Carol | January 4, 2007 8:56 am

Then why is Tracfone giving away free reconditioned phones if you buy a card. Seems rather ridiculous to me, give them away and then complain about what people do with them. Customer service reps state that if you don’t need the phones, give them away, they don’t care. So why are they complaining when “they don’t care” what you do with them. ???? Sounds like the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. DUH.

9. Ron | January 4, 2007 4:00 pm

They make a big deal for the same reasons all other carriers do. They don’t want there phones promoting someone else’s service.

10. TF Rep | January 18, 2007 8:31 am

Hi there. 1st. It’s impossible to use another’s company phones as tracfones or net10s… and that’s because the cheap programming this phones have for to display the airtime balance (ever wondered why you need to enter all those f***ing codes on the phone? that’s why!) 2nd. If you unlock a TF then you need the original phone software and hardware to make this work… then you need a carrier/operator that will let you use an unlocked phone, which I doubt you can find. 3rd. Customer Service is HEAVILY, and I mean REALLY offshore outsourced, so basically, we don’t care if you use the phone, you give it away, you unlock it or stick it into you a**, as long as we manage our call with a 100% score on the quality assurance evaluation, which in turn, doesn’t focus on the call contents as much as in the way we treat customers… and that’s why the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing… cheers.

11. Austin | January 18, 2007 7:20 pm

They just plan suck! Customer service a joke…I would rather use my old Nokia 9350 than use their pieces of shit…local number forget that….scam…scam..scam… I may pay alot for my nextel and verizon services but will not use there crap anymore

12. Anonymous | March 2, 2007 12:29 pm

hi my name is Daniel im from south america. im a customer care center rep. for TRACFONE. i just wanna say that this is the worst company all over tha world . first of all this company pays its employees 1.87 $ per hour and it’s makin millions of $$$ out of you. this company has all its call centers all over south america going against tha law in our countries. and we gotta work even on holidays as slaves.



i just want that AMERICANS know about this big problem that we gotta deal everyday. i would like that the american GOVERnment or any organization do something about this company that is a fraud . trickin people with refurbished phones as brand new ones. with stupid services and showin an image that is not what really is. i’ll be back with ya’ll . soon. more info about this email me at

13. Anonymous | March 6, 2007 10:11 am

Hey, NameÂ´s Dave, from central america, i was reading all this crap about tracfone wanting to make the unlocking of the phones illegal, im a service rep for tracfone here in central america too, and like my other co’workers says, in order for someone to unlock the phone, they will need the original software and hardware so that they can unlock it, which will be next to impossible because they keep that stuff at the warehouse. Now, another thing is, that tracfone does make not millions but bilions a year, and they will make much of their needs and wants possible, but in the meanwhile, it is not illicit, so if u want to unlock a phone go ahead, we really dont care, we ship out millions of phones everyday, even if they know they are defective like it happened with the Motorola V261 and the Motorola V176, they knew all along that they were defective and they still sent them to Â´Â´mommyÂ´Â´ wal-mart to have them for sale. So why they hell are u worried, believe me, the last phone to unlock shd be a tracfone, they come defective from the factory, so they wont work with tracfone or any other carrier.

14. Anonymous | March 8, 2007 9:59 pm

Hi I unlocked my tracfone and inserted a sim card from another carier it worked great until my air tank ran out now i can;t make a call can anyone help me with this

15. nz tracfone | March 12, 2007 7:54 pm

How did you unlock your tracfone? We bought our phone in the states and now want to put a new sim card in it in NZ but can’t seem to unlock it. Any help would be appreciated!

16. Joe | March 15, 2007 10:49 am

Tracfone has made people look at me like I am a criminal! I buy tracfones at retail prices from stores every where in the US. If I do my homework I get em on sale for 15 bucks and sell em for 37!! That’s not a bad profit….$22 per phone! I can spend a couple hours shopping, an hour packaging/shipping, and make a couple hundred dollars. I call that free enterprise! I get some odd looks at the stores when I buy the limit that they allow. But what laws am I breaking? NONE! I do this for spare change/fun money. Recently I have been buying directly from the tracfone website! Get two 60 minute aircards and a FREE phone. I keep the airtime cards for my own use and sell the phone at a $10 profit! Not a $22 profit because they are refurbished phones. They “say” they have a limit of 3 per customer per order and that they MAY choose to cancel any additional orders if you have not activated the other phones you have ordered from them. Hasn’t happened yet! I now have over 6000 minutes and two tracfone LG 3280 flip phones. And have made a few hundred dollars on top of that! Take advantage of the deal if your a tracfone user. Why not? You go to the retailers and pay $20 for a 60 min airtime card. Tracfone is selling you two 60 min cards AND giving you a free phone to boot. That’s already 1/2 price of retail on the airtime. Sell the phone to break even and then the airtime cards are free. Or do as I do and sell the phone at a profit! Doesn’t it seem like tracfone is encouraging this practice by offering the $20/2 cards/free phone deal on their website? Who in their right mind would even consider going down to the store and paying $20 for a 60 min card when you can get TWO at that price directly from tracfone? That’s a very sweet deal for tracfone users even if you throw the FREE phone away! All this hogwash about it being illegal….is just that! HOGWASH! How many people do you see selling coupons and rebates? Same thing! How many times have you bought something and turned around and sold it for a profit? LOL! Have you ever run across a super deal on toilet paper and bought a shopping cart load? Same thing! I can see tracfone having a right to put a limit on sales per customer, it happens all the time in retailing, BUT why try to make consumers be looked at like criminals when they go back the next day for the same super deal??????? What do you think? I think somebody is in “big brothers” pocket on this deal people!

17. Joe | March 15, 2007 11:16 am

Just a quick addition to my earlier post:

If we all hop on this hogwash initiative of “reselling tracfones being illegal”…..lol….then all we are doing is allowing a very large billion dollar company to continue to make huge profits while at the same time stopping us blue collar individuals of practicing free enterprise! It’s quite a sham they are running! Get the general public all worked up about tracfones being used by terrorists just to SAVE their business model. I almost feel that tracfone is using the horrible 9/11 tragedies as a way to increase profits! Which is just way messed up! Before you ask “why then are you using a tracfone?”, I’ll save you the time. I use a tracfone because I am able to use it for free! I get some small sense of satisfaction of feeling that I am “stickin’ it to em”. Have you ever gone to that large office retailer and turned in your used ink cartridges to get their $3 vouchers? Have you



turned in so many that you just possibly cannot use all the vouchers? Go to the large online auction site and check that out! You will see tons of vouchers for sale and tons of empty cartridges. Some in huge lots. The empty cartridges are there to buy so YOU can get the $3 voucher from the store and you will also see the huge lots advertised as such. To me this is very enterprising. Is this practice frowned upon? I don’t think that I have ever seen any news headlines about that creating a public outcry! I don’t see that large office supply retailer screaming “foul”! Why? They have a different biz model that they are able to protect themselves. Yes I see where this can be considered to affect a very tiny part of their sales, BUT the practice is the same. Someone is profiting from something they are virtually giving away,the $3 voucher. I could go on and on……..but I won’t right now.

18. dez | March 16, 2007 2:34 pm

A person I know recently has been offered a job to drive around and buy up tracfones. He called the FBI to check if the job was legal. They told him they were in the process of building a case against everyone that are buying them. Recently some stores have been asking for IDs and writing down “suspicious” buyers’ information. My guess is that they are collecting information for the FBI.

Now, I seriously doubt any laws are broken here. As others pointed out, its called free enterprise. Furthermore, the person who has been buying phones like a full-time job has already been stopped by police almost on a daily basis, and his employer has been checked with the FBI. What kind of case could they be building? Secondly, how many people do they think they arrest or charge for this activity–seeing that this is a common practice?

In addition to all this, I’ve heard stories where managers followed them for 50 miles to write down their license plates and find out where they are going. One manager followed him into the next store and yelled out “they’re terrorists, don’t sell to them”. Can you believe that?

19. Joe | March 16, 2007 4:10 pm

You know……..gawd…….it’s just way too crazy! This whole “selling to terrorist” thing is just nuts! It has been proven in a couple of cases here in the USA, that most, if not all of these phones are being sold for communications by regular people in other countries or are simply being disassembled for selling the components. Why do we scrutinize the sale of this particular electronic device so heavily? Why don’t we limit the sale on fertilizer? That stuff was used for bomb making. And I’m pretty sure that there is a host of other electronic products being sold in the US that should be considered just as threatening to us as a simple cell phone is. Why the concern then? Because “Mr. tracfone”, whoever he may be, is in the pockets of “big brother”!! Mr. tracfone has convinced big bro to protect their business model. Hell, I can go down and buy boxes of 22 caliber bullets by the case. 1000 in a box. I could go day after day and buy these at the same places. If anybody bats an eye, well, I could tell em that I shoot em up with my son’s, target shooting…..lol……and that’s that! No limits when I buy bullets?????? Which do you feel more threatened by? Me buying 5000 rounds of ammunition a day or a couple dozen cell phones????????? And now that I think of it…….lol…..this is good>>>>why not do a background check on me? Just like is done when we buy firearms…then when it’s found that I am clear of any connection to terrorists give me a little card that I can present to any cashier that gets uneasy about me buying their limit on tracfones. Hell, I’ll pay the fee’s for the background check. It’s a system that is accepted for buying firearms……why not put the same system in place for us mass tracfone buyers? The answer is that the system, of a background check, would do nothing to save tracfones biz model! Some stores come right out and explain it to you in their advertising. They state “NO Dealers”…….lol…..what’s that tell you? To me that means they acknowledge that these phones are being sold in another market for a profit! It’s all tracfone propaganda folks! And the last time I checked, buying product and selling it for a profit wasn’t illegal!!!!!!!!!

20. Quick | March 29, 2007 8:57 am

If tracfone is so bad get the hell out. It is individual greed that make up most of your comments. TKhat being said, why is corprate greed bad ? As far as the people is S.A. working as slaves, get out.

21. single mom | April 8, 2007 11:35 pm

I’m a single mom working my way through school. I buy tracfones on sale and sale them for a profit. Why does this make me greedy? I go to school part time and take care of my two kids by myself. Since I started selling Tracfones a month ago I haven’t had to wory about paying my bills. Is this wrong? I don’t need some company or some “A” hole (Quick-I bet you are!) telling me I’m something I’m not! I’ve been kicked out of one Dollar General store for trying to come back more than once in a day, my son was told he couldn’t get phones at the same store because he was there the day before. If there is such a “problem” with these phones and they are worried that they are being sold to terriorist why doesn’t Tracphone quit selling them? I don’t know where the phones I sell go and I don’t care. If someone wants to use the phones for a crime then they will get the damn phones. I’ve even had one cashier tell me they make Meth out of the batteries!! Please get the facts!

22. Single Mom 2 | April 11, 2007 2:39 pm

For over a year I was buying 2 tracfones a month. I would use the refer a friend program and activate a new phone then trasfer the minutes to my old phone. I am sure many other people besides me caught on to this and were using this also.



the refer a friend program ended in october. This was a cheaper way for me to buy units. Some tracfones have 60 minutes free with activation. this could also be cheaper than buying a card. I was using it to defer my own phone costs.

23. Anonymous | April 22, 2007 10:05 pm

I have been selling tracfones and making$$$ Buying the sale ones. Buy about 300 a month and no crap from them?

24. toni | April 22, 2007 10:05 pm

just want to let you know i had negative results from custmer care of tracphone, is this company run by oriental or korean , i have nothing agaist foreign people at all but i just wanted to know. i was promised air time for extra minutes as a bonus and later refused but i had to convinced custumer care for the superviser. please let me know who owns trac phone is it a company from the united states or not my e mail is

25. dawg | May 3, 2007 9:57 pm

I just would like to know where you can sell the phones that you buy on sale? I need to make some extra money to support my family as well. My wife lost her job due to health and im disabled, we can use all the help we can get.

26. karma | May 12, 2007 4:55 pm

I don’t get it. I have had an old Nokia from Tracfone for about 3 years. It’s old and clunky now, and I decided to check out the tracfone website to see if they have any fresher models. Yea, some newer nokias and some motorolas, and a couple LGs. I was so excited to see that I could get a nice new phone. Well, when I went to purchase one, and put in my zip code, it only showed me 8 (all stinky Motorolas). No nokias, no LG. First, how did Joe (message #15) even get to buy two of them (let alone one!). I am justa a nice 50-something gal who wants a new cell phone. I don’t want to have a service contract and I am not a huge talker. Something is wrong here. I called their CS and could barely understand the person. They said I can’t get an LG due to the service in my area. Hogwash! The phones work all over the country! Now I can’t even replace my old Nokia with a new one.!! I am forced to buy a Motorola which I’ve been told does not have as good reception/hearing quality. What is going on here???? Thanks, I will check back to see if anyone has shed any light on this. Man I’m angry.

27. IP Law | May 25, 2007 6:41 pm

Hello,

First, it is not illegal under the DMCA to alter your purchased phone when it is doen solely for the individual’s use. However, if you purchase the phones in bulk and then resell them as unlocked phones, which is the major concern of TracFone Wireless and other large market suppliers of prepaid cell phones, it IS a violation of federal law. Moreover, supplying the means to allow others to circumvent their phones when done with a profit motive also is illegal. I just thought I would put those of you on notice that buying large numbers of prepaid phones with the intent to resell is illegal if you modify the phone. You are also going to lose any lawsuit based on other legal claims beyond the DMCA. Finally, there have been recent major intercpetions by federal authorities of bulk shipments of unlocked prepaid phones en route to Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Iraq, etc. These devices are also favored among drug cartels and criminals due to their untraceable characteristics. These are just things to keep in mind.

28. Anonymous | May 25, 2007 7:32 pm

#27, IP Law,

Do you have any references about the interception of shipments? I can’t find any news sources about such a thing?

Would you know anything about shipping bulk quantities of prepaid phones that are not modified? ie. locked? What about unpacking them from their original package?

I can understand the gov’t confiscating ANY type of goods used for illegal activities.

29. Dez | May 25, 2007 7:33 pm

#27, IP Law,

Do you have any references about the interception of shipments? I can’t find any news sources about such a thing?

Would you know anything about shipping bulk quantities of prepaid phones that are not modified? ie. locked? What about unpacking them from their original package?



I can understand the gov’t confiscating ANY type of goods used for illegal activities.

30. N9HEH | May 28, 2007 10:54 pm

can a Trac Phone SIM be used in an unlocked Motorola phone?

31. pissed | June 6, 2007 8:54 pm

I recently reactivated my track phone. Well I tried anyway. The activation failed so I called tech support and a polite automated voice hung up on me several times saying there is a very high call volume. I wonder why. This was the first time a computer has ever hung up on me before. I never realized how much it could anger me to have a computer hang up on me. Well I only bought a 30 min card and I have spent 2 hours trying to get a hold of tech support so I can get my 30 min. when I finally spoke with tech support I was greeted by a woman from South America with a very heavy accent. Needless to say I couldn’t understand much of what she said. I have found the overall experience of the track phone a very trying and displeasing purchase. I am so glad I had the old phone I would have hated to wasted cash on a new phone if this is the kind of customer service I can expect to receive. I also fully intend to help redirect good hard working people away from making the same bad purchase I did.

32. mark | June 7, 2007 1:53 pm

I have had Tracfones for the past seven years and was able to use them only by paying for the ‘one year of service with x amount of minutes included’ and used and relied upon the phone as an emergency line and for only immediate contact of someone or myself and would go to a ‘land line’ or pay phone for any extended conversation. They worked ok. Three months ago I bought two Tracfones so that my Grandmother and I could have an easy way to locate one another because she is quite ill and I learned that I would have to buy separate minutes for each phone even though I bought their highest priced block of minutes for a year and explained to a supervisor at Tracfone that this was an emergency situation and that I had been a long time customer, they would not give in at all. So I kept the phones but had to put one of them into cool, dry storage as I could not activate the second phone with enough minutes to justify the effort. In the meantime, we, my Grandmother and I, receive an automated phone call on our home telephone which was offering the current Tracfone ’specials ’ or ‘bargains’ and there was a prompt which said, ‘press two to be removed from our list’…well, my Grandmother, not realizing that it might be beneficial to remain on the list, pressed two. About two hours later at noon, Houston time, we learned that the only phone that we had with Tracfone, the only phone that we had access to, and we were on a deserted road with a flat tire, in over 80 degree heat and with no water and low on gas, we were in trouble. She, Dorothy is eighty-seven years old and it never occirred to me that when we pressed two at home that for some mysterious reason our phone, with a full battery would cease to function at all. When we fynally arrived home due to a kind passer-by, we learned that the other Tracfone that had been carefully stored and recharged the battery gave us an identical no-go response…no service whatsoever. I have been on the phone over the past three days attempting to have one or both phones reactivated and have gotten nowhere. I sincerely hope that my comments here may be of benefit to someone.

33. English teacher | June 19, 2007 4:32 pm

There, their, they ’re…when you’re talking about their phone or their company use the possessive form “their”. If you’re pointing to a spot over there use “there”. They’re is just a contraction of “they are”. “They’re dissatisfied with their service which they got over there.”

(This is for Ron)

34. Mark | June 21, 2007 6:12 am

I bought a TracFone, because I don’t talk on a cell that much. Also in my job, I am a traveling health care providor, so I might be in Co for 3 months, Nevada for 6 months, well you get the point. My phone has always worked. You want to get a better fone? Use the zip code of a large city and you get more choices. Customer Service with crap Fone is a joke, no one speaks decent english, nor do they understand it well either. I just go online, get my double minutes and then for get about them. When my contract is up, I won’t continue to use CrapFone, I’ll go with another prepaid carrier. Why? I don’t like 60-70 buck bills every month for the Grand total of 1000 MINUTES A MONTH!!! Break that down, it’s 30 minutes a day you can talk. So their minutes may be high, I don’t use many. Hasta La Vista Crapfone, come December!!!

35. fred savage | July 5, 2007 11:52 am

We sell Tracfones at our retail store and it’s a little scary when someone appearing to be of foreign descent comes in asks no questions and wants to buy 3 or more cheap Tracfones. They ask no questions about service, never buy minutes and rarely say over 5 words to you. To each his own if you are just trying to make a profit by reselling them to someone you probably don’t know either. For us we limit customers because we make very little on the phones and nothing on the minutes because the people that come to buy those phones never buy minutes. And just what if the phones are being used for illegal or terrorist acts, that you could be responsible for people dying. It’s kinda like when a person is on trial. The jury is pretty sure the person is guilty but it can’t be proven because of reasonable doubt. Just something to think about.



36. Time Child | July 5, 2007 4:27 pm

Fred,

These people of “foreign descent” aren’t terrorists, or conspiring to commit acts of terrorism. I know Russians, Arabs, people of all cultures and ethnicities involved in this business. Would a criminal be willing walk into a store, provide their license plate numbers and photo IDs to buy cell phones for illegal acts when they can simply buy them online? Keep in mind their job is already drawing a lot of attention, driving from town to town buying phones up–and certainly being pulled over by police several times on the job.

From a business prospective, I can understand limiting cellphone sales; however, whenever I hear the words “Homeland Security”, “terrorists”, “IEDs in Iraq”, etc I cringe.

Each person on this job would probably bring anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand phones a month. If even a tenth of the people in this business are selling to illegal elements then the illegal-market for these phones would be over-saturated a few hundred times over IMHO.

37. Al C, | July 5, 2007 7:30 pm

1. Several years ago I purchased two Nokia phones (along with two years’ worth of TracFone total “service units) for $99 each. 2. Only used the prepaid TracFone for emergency purposes. Every thing is O.K. until . . 3. Receive “IMPORTANT” ea-mail from TracFone that an “upgrade” replacement phone was available on a first-come-first basis. 4. Called toll-free number to TracFone. Was informed that, after providing my zip code, was informed that I had to send in my current phone within 30 days of receiving my “upgrade” TracFone. 5. Had to drive to FedEx to pick up my “upgrade” phone (required a signature for delivery). Opened the box to find box labeled “reconditioned” phone with a one year Warrany. Called TracFone to have service units transferred from my $99 Nokia phone to an much inferior Motorola “reconditioned” phone that contains some data from a previous owner. 6. Received box back from the U.S.P.S with a notation that “Business Repy Mail, ” as contained from TracFone in the box that with my “reconditioned” - “upgrade” TracFone to send my $99 Nokia phone. 7. Sent e-mail to TracFone. Fully expect that the 600+ “service units” will disappear of my now sister’s TracFone - gave to her since I will not do business with a company as unfair and inept as TracFone.

38. Fred Savage | July 9, 2007 5:26 pm

Time Child, You make a good point and by no means did I mean to classify all persons of foreign decent as “terrorists”. Why don’t more people buy them online then. With the price of gas these days it must cost them a fortune to drive around and buy phones. That makes me a little suspicious too. How can one really make a profit on these phones anyway.

39. m2m | August 7, 2007 12:10 pm

They can make a profit by selling them to their ignorant friends… most people can use a phone, but very few can activate a tracphone.. So even if immigrant ‘A’ can see a tracphone for sale at $20, he has to buy the one off his immigrant friend for $50 because he does not know how to activate the $20 phone! Immigrant B has to get the phones from somewhere, he can’t go into wallmart and buy 50 at a time.. they won’t sell him 50..

40. Phone user | August 13, 2007 8:24 am

I sat here and read alot of what is being said. The biggest thing I have noticed is bad grammer and poor spelling from most of thwe “reps” from tracfone, supossed educated people, and a bunch of you. I have used a few different services, and my wife, who is now dead, god rest her soul, used a tracfone. Her phone was expensive to use, the minutes would go alot faster than mine, and from what we both saw, a 60 minute card, was actually about 40. If TF is going to wine about people selling, unlocking, butchering the phone, let them. It’s a free country, and you don’t need to ask permission to use them. But cost wise, you will do better with a real company. It’s also not such a headache. Pay you r bill, you have minutes… use a few more, pay a bit more. Not having to drive to a store or fire up the idiot box to purchase minutes… priceless. But, do what you want… Just remember this, tracfone users… most people who sell crack, coke and heroin, Tracfone is there choice! Remember that the next time you go buy a new phone…

41. Anonymous | August 14, 2007 4:00 pm

I think the tracfone is a good provider for people who dont have cell phones because u dont have to pay a certain amount of money every month. but one thing i dont like about them is that when they get locked you have to call customer care and wait until u get a new sim but i have one and think it is a good provider thanks for reading my comment about the tracfone.

42. craziness | August 16, 2007 10:41 am



Where is everyone buying their phones from? I get hell if I go into a Dollar General in Texas or Kansas, just because I’m from Oklahoma. It’s so funny to watch the hags, and they’re ALL toothless hags, freak out because I want to buy a few cell phones! They go into “well the FBI told me…” Okay the FBI hasn’t said squat. The crack addicts think they’re Sherlock Holmes and get off on with-holding. It’s rediculous. If you work for Family Dollar or Dollar General and you are one of these hags then I feel sorry for you. If you are one of the nice ones then thank you for being a decent, normal person and I’m glad to see tracphone hasn’t brainwashed you yet. This is just crazy.

43. kc9geu | August 16, 2007 8:58 pm

tracfone and other companies are disabling the old analog phones in force.I had a model 918 nokia since 1999 and it worked great. Last week when I tried to use it-it rang twice and wanted a credit card#.I called up tracfone and tried to talk to a Raghead and he said we can reprogram it. After pressing several buttons after a while the display had Disabled. They said it was defective at that point. They purposely disabled it because it does not have GPS to track it. They said they will send me a replacement one but I have to return the old one(now why do they want the old one if it is defective?) I can deal with the new one buy they can not verify I had 441 units on it! Amazing is it not? I reminded them that I will make a case that is wrapped with aluminum foil so their fuckin fone won’t be GPS tracked unless I chose it to. I heard them laugh. So beware folks-the police state it constantly tracking your movement with your cellular phone with computers. Not me!

44. Mike | August 22, 2007 4:24 pm

kc9geu, the problem you have is that your phone is a TDMA phone and Cingular/AT&T is the one discontinuing the use of this technology. Tracfone does not have its own towers or network, they are just along for the ride. The fact that you have had it for 8 years is pretty amazing, but it’s time for you to upgrade. You can keep your number and minutes if you would learn how to ask for such things. Furthermore, the “ragheads” of which you speak are in South America and are probably Catholic.

I too have bought and sold Tracfone and have been 86ed from the local Big Box for buying too many. I have also bought online and sold them on ebay at a fairly nice profit. I do have some positive things to say about the service, but I do think it’s time for me to move on. I am now selling another prepaid service and am currently getting a website of my own up and running. There’s too much money to be made in this market for it to be dominated by one company so much.

Shop around and find out for yourself how easy it is to have low cost cell phone service.

45. kc9ixv | August 22, 2007 6:29 pm

mike kc9geu said that they cant confirm his remaining balance so there was no reason to reply by saying learn to ask what a joke! watch out the communist american government wants to know where you are at all times. yes i said communist cause american’s live in a communist country and i can prove this. google 10 planks of the communist manifesto and we live in atleast 9 of the 10 planks of communism. most americans are so brain washed they will deny this fact! our puppet president is a dictator. remember 9-11 was an inside job.

46. Anonymous | August 30, 2007 4:36 pm

whatever

47. kc9ixv | August 31, 2007 1:40 am

whatever this is all you can say? man thats sad but thats where this country is going people’s iq is on average 85 plus or minus 15 points thats just above mental retardation. what are you gonna do when the government turns off everyone’s phone’s im gonna laugh cause while your phon’e dont work i will be a ok on my 2 way radio ’s talking to fellow amateur’s lol think of a better comment q tip

48. Joe | September 1, 2007 12:00 pm

To those who are wondering how you can resell Tracfones and make money>>>Search for tracfone 2126 on ebay. You will then get the picture. If your looking to start making $$$ selling, then just list ten 2126’s once on ebay. You will get all the offers, to buy, that you will need. The dollar stores sell these things for $9.99 around here. I resell them for $32-37. If my math is correct I am more than tripling my money! I do not unlock or in any way modify the phones. I simple purchase them on sale for $9.99 and resell for 3 times more! To those of you still caught up on all this “tracfones are being used by terrorist ’s” crap? Well, do you concern yourself with what any person, buying anything from you, is going to be using it for? This ends up being the same argument as gun control. Illegal to sell guns? NO! Am I responsible if I sell a gun and the buyer goes out and starts shooting people? NO! If I sell you my car and you modify it so it is now illegal to be on the road, am I responsible? NO!

Tracfone service?? Well, I use a tracfone. I have been doing so for almost a year now. Why do I use it? Because I only use maybe 100 minutes a month and a tracfone makes perfect sense. I agree that the customer service people are difficult to understand at times. But, there is hardly ever a reason to call them. You enter the minutes/units directly thru your tracfone or on the net. If you have problems with the tracfone, you can go to their website to correct it. I would consider



myself a fool to lock into a 2 year contract for $50 a month! After buying the phone package deals on tracfones website and selling the phone my minutes/units end up FREE! In the last 8-10 months I have amassed over 90 60 minute airtime cards. I paid tracfone the $50 for “double minutes for the life of my phone”. Signed up on their website for the “insider’s club”, which gained me an extra 30 minutes every time I add a 60 minute card. Do the math; one 60 minute card gives me 150 minutes. That’s not even considering the promo codes that are available to add even more extra minutes. I just added a card this morning with a promo code and got 210 minutes. My cost for the card? ZERO! Total minutes I have amassed in the last 8-10 months? At least 13,500! So if we compare that to a 2 year contract? I have 562 minutes a month. Only difference is mine ARE FREE! And I only use an average of 100 minutes a month. I figure I’m covered for the next 135 months! Or the next 11 years! (That time is strictly for argument sake. I realize that before my 11 years are up that my phone will be way outdated and tracfone may no longer be here) Smart? Stupid? Cheap? Sensible? Thrifty? That’s all subject to opinion! The same people on here that are calling other people stupid or silly for using a tracfone have the same mentality as the people that argue that one make of car is better than another and then call you stupid for not sharing their opinion!

49. shopko | September 8, 2007 3:20 am

I have been buying and reselling tracfones for over a year now… I have always followed their rules first it was a limit of 5 then 2 …. i only went to each store once a day… Today the local Shopko just told me im not allowed to buy from any of their stores any more tracfones… Does anyone have any ideas on how i can still get them… Can they ban me from shoppin at their store/s…. What happens if i try to buy from them again…. right now im thinking of putting a add in my paper saying ill buy the phones from anyone…

50. jonus | September 8, 2007 12:01 pm

THIS is RIDICULOUS! Everytime I come back to the states I have to deal with the crappy options offered here regarding cell phones and carrier service. I bought a shitty tracphone just to get the sim card inside. but then i couldnt get it activated in my “real” phone. BTW the phones the carriers are offering here in the USA are fucking 3-4 year old models! In the real world the hardware (phone) and the software (sim) are NOT tied together in any way. Only in America! what bullshit…

51. shopper | September 22, 2007 1:17 pm

Thanks for notifying us. This type of exploitive behavior on the part of businesses like tracfone is one of the reasons why we are losing our constitutional rights and our economic standing. It has nothing to do with “terrorism”. It has everything to do with profit. Get a grip! Are we going to accept the idea that being able to talk to someone without the government being able to listen to us, track us, or monitor our calls, exposes us to terrorism? Are we that cowardly? We have got to start standing up. I’m looking for a prepaid phone. It won’t be a tracfone.

52. SatelliteSeve | October 2, 2007 1:49 pm

As an old control room engineer for NBC affiliates under an FCC licence, I first question all the negative remarks over whom may do what. I think under Tracfone’s written agreement, we all either accept it’s terms or not. That is a no brainer. If anyone wishes to play with thier phones, I don’t give a flying you know what. But if it is in violation of the initial agreement, go fish people. How cheaper do you think you can go? If you don’t like your plan try locking into a carrier locally and see if you can beat the pay as you go plan at Tracfone. Best wishes and good luck, *Steve

53. SatelliteSteve | October 2, 2007 4:46 pm

To Jonus’s post: I’m sorry I agree with you. Europe has a whole different setup than the US does. And yes it sucks shit bigtime. But let the buyer beware and choose what program works, and what doesn’t. I was locked into many bagphone contracts when cellular was just firing up. And I hated it too. I’ll just say Jonus, what can we and the other not satisfied customers do beyond the pay as you go? *Steve a P.S. Europe charges the sendee for mobile calls. Some may think it’s a free ride in Europe. It’s not.

54. ex-tracfone rep | October 3, 2007 8:55 pm

all i got to say is that tracfone sucks.


To all the people using Tracfone: While I go along with the written agreements and conditions, I will say I think trading down to the cheapest Nokia on the block sucks, I can’t find a GSM carrier cheaper. Keyword here folks is price. I ’m sure there are a handfull of phones YOU could use but I don’t know that. I think we all collectively have to think what is the objective here. Simply unlocking a phone only leads to another contract, whether here in the US or any European dealer. As far as Sim cards and modifying code…..I’d get a HAM ticket and talk on free radio. No matter what you all do, you either pay the easiest way or pay mucho pesos to fly and cry.(I



know Jonus, you get GSM in Europe) Welcome to the US world of “I can’t have everything” world. Satellite*

56. Anonymous | October 7, 2007 6:14 pm

IM A TRACFONE REPRESENTATIVE, AND I CAN TELL YOU THE TRUTH… OUR PHONES ARE NOT A PIECE OF SH .. BUT THEY ARE NOT THE BEST IN THE MARKET, AND WHY?? BECAUSE YOU ONLYPAY 10 DOLLARS FOR IT!!! SO DONT EXPECT TO HAVE A PHONE THAT GIVES YOU A HUG FOR THAT MONEY COME ON!!! NOW…REFERING TO THE SERVICE…MY FIRST LANGUAGE IS NOT ENGLISH THOUGH I HAVE A FLUENT ENGLISH AND I FEEL I CAN HAVE A CLEAR CONVERSATION WITH ONE OF YOU PEOPLE EXCEPT YO SAY “FIEEE” INSTEAD OF “FIVE” OR “NINER” INSTEAD OF “NINE” THERE ARE MANY THINGS YOU PEOPLE DONT CONSIDER, I WORK IN MY CALL CENTER 8 HRS A DAY, I HAVE TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE THAT THEY DONT EVEN KNOW HOW TO TURN A DAMN CELL PHONE ON”" AND THEY CALL IN (ALREADY UPSET) CLAIMING THEIR PHONES ARE DEFECTIVE, BUT THEN HERE I AM TELLING THEM TO PRESS THE RED KEY AND HOLD IT DOWN AND THE MUSIC COMES UP!! HELLO CUSTOMERS!!! READ THE FUCKING MANUAL USER GUIDA THATS IN ENGLISH BEFORE YOU CALL IN TO THE 1 800 FOR ANY PIECE F SH…. BESIDES, IF YOUR TRACFONE DOESNT WORK THEN DONT CALL FROM IT!!! DAMN HOW STUPIT CAN YOU BE??? I THOUGH USA WAS AN…INTELECUTAL COUNTRY AAHAHHAHA DAMN I WAS WRONG, I BET THE POOREST COUNTRY IN LATIN AMERICA HAS SMARTER PEOPLE THAN YOU!!!! AND ALSO, I DONT CARE IF YOU TRY TO LOSE MINUTES TO TRACFONE BUT DONT TAKE US FOR GRANTED….YOU THINK CAUSE WE DONT HAVE A “GOOD” ENGLISH WE DONT KNOW HOW TO FIND FRAUD!!??? AND BY THE WAY.. BE NICE WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES CAUSE IF WE WANT WE CAN DEACTIVATE ANY PHONE, AND MAKE IT DEFECTIVE FOREVER!!! SO….WATCH OUT!!! BYEEEEEEEEEE

57. [email protected] | October 7, 2007 6:59 pm

its not a crime to program or unlock a fone,trac company wants coustomers to use them only for there net work, tuff we buy it we can do what ever? i am sorry they get only 1.87 per hour thats up to them to protest…. I need a site where I can unlock this c139s please post thanks and as far as being threat to USA not true,margin of buyers just sell for a profit….its all good r there people in this world that seek to do evil…well just read the bible,there most asure is evil in this world, trac will continue to make money rather u take phone and use as paper weight or device? all companies find ways to genrate profit….look at mcdonalds now with all the salads and yogurt….and like hollywood trying to promote family values….when u loose customer base in one area u later replace or regroup/collect.such as using rb phones…grat for recycling and perks i am sure from government/usa to reuse product. in any case…… dude

58. [email protected] | October 7, 2007 7:01 pm

c261 r those really defects, cause I put sim from other c139 and said rejected


Hey Dude: I can’t help you out on the site you’re looking for.However I too can’t control customer service like “Anonymous”, but every one of them I called, I had a nice chat with. Wherever they were, a courteous conversation took place. I don’t wish to discredit anyone here. This is an open discussion and we all have an opinion. I just think Tracfone is like AT&T and T-Mobile and the rest. Greed comes first. Got a top of the line Motorola or Nokia triband? I wish I had an answer other than greed that would answer why the hell the US refuses to allow this setup to continue. Sim’s in a Tracfone? What the hell for if they don’t work out of country? Oh yeah. Like it’s securing the country…right! I’ll check back later anonymous and dude.


I’d like to thank Michael Hampton, the many Tracfone affiliates and customer service girls and guys, and users like singlemom, Joe, Jonus, Anonymous, and Mark and the rest of the gang here for giving me a topic I never thought I ’d hear. WHY? I listen to all of you. I used to be a sys-op on a board that catered to all countries. And yes I heard how cheap people worked by the hour. We all have only so much patience. Whether it be work or service. I understand that. The big question to all is WHY can’t most of you just move to a larger carrier that supports global connectivity and quit fucking with Tracfone’s customer service? I don’t work for them. Wouldn’t work for Virgin/Verizon/Sprint/T-Mobile/Radio Shack or any other carrier in the US because I’m not paying $29/39/49/59/69/79 dollars a month. Don’t forget I too was locked into 2 year deals that sucked also. In closing: If you all can cut some people slack in their country over bad English, remember we can’t speak their language perfectly either. If we did, we would not have a problem. Make sense? Now go to a store and buy a big fat expensive Tri-band phone, fly to Europe, and have a nice time there. CYA SatelliteSteve



61. kenai | October 16, 2007 2:17 pm

first off i do not use tracfone, i’m just helping my mom out with hers, cause she’s not tech savvy at all, she’s lucky she can put the minutes on the phone :) I hate tracfone. i just got off a 87 minute call with TF’s customer service. after which i am being sent a different phone, because the one i bought isn’t compatible with my zip code. the phone i purchased was $30, and they’re sending me some crappy kyocera that costs $15. when i requested they send me a motorola that costs the same and is available for my zipcode (according to their website), the CSR said she could not do that. WHY???, makes no effing sense to me. also when i asked if i could be compensated for the $15 loss i was taking she said i would receive some minutes when i received the new phone, but she could not tell me how many. once again i was on the phone with customer service for 87 MINUTES, and only got pissed off.

62. Ky resident | October 21, 2007 1:55 pm

I have just been on the land line phone with tracfone and only ended up mad as hell. they sent me a reconditioned tracfone to replace an older outdated one and the damn thing don’t work. I was told there was nothing they can do. I ask them about my 120 minutes that I bought and same thing. Nothing they can do. Since they do not speak good english it was really hard to understand a damn thing they were saying. This is the third phone I have loast and over $300.00 of my money is gone. Fuck travfone. I am filing a BB complaint immediately.

63. Roy | October 23, 2007 9:49 pm

I purchased a TRACFONE MOTO V170-6 plus a TRACFONE card that was for 800 minutes to activate. After signing onto their website with the MSIE # and the SIM # along with Card Number. It told that I had to go to a payphone or a home phone to activate. If I had a home phone I would need a TRACFONE. I was told to call the phone from a payphone to activate. After $5.00 and still no way to activate the phone. I placed the call to the phone and it immediately went to voicemail. I saw the voicemail icon turn on and I tried call the voicemail and it said there were minutes to do so. I returne the TRACFONE to Walmart and they returned my money for the TRACFONE, but not for the TRACFONE minutes. Because someone from TRACFONE told the Person at Walmarts refund center the minutes were already added to the TRACFONE. If this were true, I wouldn’t be writing this letter. They owe me $138.43 plus the taxes. This fraud and I want my money or else. I need someone to help me and I guess I ’ll be getting a hold of a Senator or Congressman.

64. Anonymous | October 28, 2007 8:43 pm

I have been using tracfone for years,Anytime i need to call tracfone i get all the help i need. Thank you tracfone for your good servive.

65. Anonymous | October 30, 2007 1:08 am

Tracfone is net10 and they will pay dearly.

Ryan

66. Dee | November 11, 2007 10:45 pm

For those that have had problems with tracfone, I found this on another site that might be helpful to some.

I too was scammed by Tracfone. They refused to help me anymore than the people are talking about on this site. I will tell you what I had to do, and it did result in a refund in full. I filed a complaint with the FCC. I filed a complaint with the Florida Attorney Generals Office. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I called Action 8 On Your Side news in Tampa. I contacted the Secretary Of State’s Office in Florida and got the address and phone number of the Vice President of the company. All of this can be accomplished on line. After my call to the Vice President, and all of the above offices contacted Tracfone, they were falling all over themselves to call me and help me resolve this in any way they could. I received a full refund in less than a week. DON”T GIVE UP. I hope this information will help all of you get your money back too. Good Luck. (A.C.L., Fl.)

Here are the people I called, please print them to help other readers:

F.J. Pollak-President 8390 NW 25th St. Miami, FL 33122 305-640-2000



BBB lists phone numbers: 305-715-6501 800-867-7183 Fax: 305-640-2070

Vice-President’s name is Stephan Ritter

Tacfone’s Corporate Offices: 1020 NW 163rd Dr. Miami, FL 33169

Head of the refund department: Monica 800-339-9345 ext 3214 or ext 6673

I did have confirmation that the following entities did intervene on my behalf. BBB, Atty General’s Office, FCC, News Channel 8 in Tampa. I know this because as they helped me, Tracfone could not call me enough, and could not have wanted more to get this settled. I did receive my refund in full. It took a lot of time, but it was the principal of it more than the money. Be persistent, even rude. Good Luck to everyone, and I hope this does help you too.

Final Reader submission on tracfone posted, March 7, 2004.

67. 3- yr tracfone user | November 17, 2007 7:50 pm

The posts here are informative. I will say that I have been a tracfone user for the time indicated by the alias. I initially had a Nokia, I cannot remember its model but since switched to a Motorola V170 that I have been using for almost a year now. I can report no real problems other than when I had to activate the latest phone, my experience with customer service was mild, and extremely helpful.

Truthfully, I cannot understand how some people, perhaps more so in the states than anywhere else, would rely solely on a cell phone service- particularly capricious pre-paid, as their ONLY phone service and not have a land-line phone. I enjoy the money I save by not spending every month for minutes I do not use, some “pre-paid” plans like verizon’s required a minimum of $15 dollars each month for 30 units that quickly expired, I do not know how much they require now.

For my current phone I spent about 100 bucks and received 400 minutes good for a year. That plan worked well for me, I have two months to go and I have not used up all of those minutes. I enjoy the fact that I am given greater room and leeway to purchase minutes and not feel pressured to pay like those perpetual monthly consumers locked into contracts who waste time in some boisterous phone conversation about some shiny car, pencil or other trinket they just purchased to some friend or how their significant/insignificant other refuses to do more household chores. I really do wish there were laws about phone-etiquette in public!

(Non-emergency phone conversations that could be heard by more than three unrelated adult persons equals 30 days of mandatory community service)

I suppose that prepaid plans like “Tracfone” and its equivalent Net10 are for those who would use a pre-paid phone as an accessory and not an arm extension.

In that sense, it is working well for me.

68. dejal | November 20, 2007 2:33 pm

I’ve been with tracfone a couple of years. Was buying time 2 months at a time. A couple of times the entered #s wouldn’t take. Called customer service, was up and running within 10 minutes each time. I ’ve been buying 1 year plans for 2 years the last 2 years.

A month ago, got an e-mail saying I needed to upgrade to a new GSM phone because the local network was changing to GSM. Followed the directions and within a week DHL dropped the new (well refurb, no big deal) phone on my doorstep. Followed the instructions and called them up. Had the sim #, serial #, phone # Waited maybe 2 minutes to talk to a rep. Rep spoke english very well. After entering about 200 #s into the phone the phone worked fine. Got an E-mail about a week later saying I was going to get 20 units for my trouble. Got my units.

Don’t use the phone much, big deal on the price per minute. If you use the phone a lot, it’s expensive. If you use it when you really need it, it’s very inexpensive.



If I lost the phone or it breaks, so what, I’m only out a $100 or so. Big deal.

69. Melissa | December 5, 2007 2:24 pm

Hummmm. Maybe I am wrong, but if Tracfone puts it label on a MOTOROLA phone or other brand phone, isn’t that sorta the same? What if TRACFONE had to manufacture and produce their “own” brand of phone. Okay so maybe it’s a stupid question, but that was the first thing that popped in my thoughts as I read the article.

70. Chuck | December 12, 2007 10:44 am

TracFone is a bunch of scam artists trying to force people to use their CRAPPY service with phones they buy. The customer service is horrible and the people refuse you to talk to their supervisors. I don’t blame people for unlocking their phones. Plus, do you see Apple trying to make it illegal because that kid unlocked the iPhone?

71. Anonymous | December 16, 2007 6:38 pm

Go to jail. Do not collect $200 for passing go. Bulk buyers beware.

72. Michael Hampton | December 16, 2007 6:42 pm

Thanks for your opinion, “anonymous” TracFone employee.

73. bob | December 20, 2007 2:15 pm

hey this is a weird website?????>.

74. carol | December 21, 2007 11:01 pm

this, i’m going to do!

Dee | November 11, 2007 10:45 pm For those that have had problems with tracfone, I found this on another site that might be helpful to some.

I too was scammed by Tracfone. They refused to help me anymore than the people are talking about on this site. I will tell you what I had to do, and it did result in a refund in full. I filed a complaint with the FCC. I filed a complaint with the Florida Attorney Generals Office. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I called Action 8 On Your Side news in Tampa. I contacted the Secretary Of State’s Office in Florida and got the address and phone number of the Vice President of the company. All of this can be accomplished on line. After my call to the Vice President, and all of the above offices contacted Tracfone, they were falling all over themselves to call me and help me resolve this in any way they could. I received a full refund in less than a week. DON”T GIVE UP. I hope this information will help all of you get your money back too. Good Luck. (A.C.L., Fl.)

Here are the people I called, please print them to help other readers:

F.J. Pollak-President 8390 NW 25th St. Miami, FL 33122 305-640-2000 BBB lists phone numbers: 305-715-6501 800-867-7183 Fax: 305-640-2070

Vice-President’s name is Stephan Ritter

Tacfone’s Corporate Offices: 1020 NW 163rd Dr. Miami, FL 33169

Head of the refund department:



Monica 800-339-9345 ext 3214 or ext 6673

I did have confirmation that the following entities did intervene on my behalf. BBB, Atty General’s Office, FCC, News Channel 8 in Tampa. I know this because as they helped me, Tracfone could not call me enough, and could not have wanted more to get this settled. I did receive my refund in full. It took a lot of time, but it was the principal of it more than the money. Be persistent, even rude. Good Luck to everyone, and I hope this does help you too.

75. get real people | January 2, 2008 5:31 pm

To think that these phone are being used for a terrorist threat is completely UNEDUCATED, and using FEAR MONGERING to stop certain behaviors.

There are NO terrorists in the United STates, except that few that are in our government.

Get real people. Terrorism is used to scare you into doing whatever they want you to do. Believe it.

76. joe | January 8, 2008 2:18 pm

Buy the deals right from tracfones website when available. 2-60 minute cards and a free fone. Buy as many as you can! Hopefully you sell the fone alone for the same price you paid for the whole bundle (think ebay). Then the 60 min cards are free. Buy the double min for life with a free fone. Use the dmfl card on the tracfone of your choice with the promo code that gets you 100 bonus mins.(total 120 mins so far)———Use 4-60 minute cards on the fone with dmfl using the 4 available 60 min bonus code.(total 840 mins so far)———Sign up for the 50 minute a month value plan on tracfones website using the $5-off promo code, then cancel the plan the next day. The 50 mins will actually be 100 mins because of the dmfl. (total 940 mins so far)———- Total cost, assuming you can sell the fones that come with the 2-60 min card bundles, should be less than 20 bucks! That’s 940 mins, 1 year of service for less than 20 bux! How is that a ripoff?

77. Michael | February 7, 2008 3:55 pm

Post #56 is the greatest by far! Someone chiming in with ALL CAPS talking about how they are going to deactivate phones. For the person who wrote that:

1. Don’t get offended when someone in the states states, “I don’t want to talk to someone who speaks english but has a thick South American Accent”. I am sure you don’t want a Mexican doing your customer service even if you speak Spanish? There are different dialects and accents. For example, please repeat the words “They have those thirty things that are thirsty”? You can’t, it takes years of fluency for a Spanish speaker to say those words fluently. Similar to the rolling of the tongue for English speakers with words like, “Borracheros comen burritos muy bien”. So… with that said, stop being so offended everytime someone makes a comment about accents. Me personally, I can’t stand the Indian Accents and I am entitled to my opinion.

2. Don’t threaten people online. That was very “stupid” as you referred to the Americans as in your post. Your IP Address can be tracked, the website owner probably sent it to TracFone corporate and you probably don’t have a job now. Not the smartest move in the world and hopefully you learned your lesson and it won’t happen again.

I found this thread very informative because I think these phones would do well in Latin America with long lines to wait in for Government ran cellular subsidiaries. Very convenient and no contracts to sign, that is why people buy these… after-all who needs rollover minutes when you don’t use them? Why not reimburse the money for not using all your minutes? And that is where tracfone came in.

Homeland Stupidity ... Protecting the homeland from government stupidity | IPv6 Ready Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License



Date post:	15-Jun-2015
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Exhibit C Homeland Stupidity

Technology