Consumer Cellular

Buyer BEWARE. Especially if you are a senior. I NEVER get warranties on phones. I also get paper billing. The warranty they put on my phone without my permission was not realized until several billing cycles. I went on the website to see what was up and there was an un-authorized warranty. I called and was told " we record all phone calls and I will check the recording and get back to You". No one did so I called again, No reference to the recording and they took off the charge but, would not refund the months they charged me. I was told " you paid for it so that was the authorization" Keep in mind this charge was not on my paper bill. ONLY on line. After 2 months of back and forth I decide to go elsewhere closing the account on the 10th of the month. the last day of the billing cycle. I received a bill for 22.27 and was told that was for the cycle of the 20th to the 10th. WHAT?? The bill reflects cycle ending on the 10th but, they say it's from the 20th to the 20th. Not reflected on any bill I have. I was on the chat on their website and from the way the conversations were going I believe I was talking to a AI. No real resolution and they kept offering to send me last month's bill, which I had in my hand. Any conversation that proved my point was responded to with the same circle of "we can listen to the recordings and get back to you" or "would you like a copy of your bill". You are going to HATE dealing with chat. Talking on the phone is a little better at least you are talking to a human. but, you'll not get anywhere. the promises to investigate go unheeded. better off banging your head against a wall..

On August 10, 2021, I purchased a SIM card at Target for Consumer Cellular. I had called and as interested in what was called, “Unlimited Talk and Data Plan”. I had explained to the customer service person my situation: I am a senior and wanted to find the best plan as the cost was important to me; I did not have WIFI and used a hotspot for using the computer and also for streaming a show or two in the evening. I was told that the 35gg plan would probably work for me. It was my understanding that the plan included unlimited talk and also 35gg of high speed. If, for some reason that was not enough for me I had a few options. First, my speed would drop to a lower speed, but that I should still be able to stream and use the computer-use at a lower speed once it hit 35gg. At that point, if I decided to want higher speeds, I could change to the next plan up and pay more. I signed up for service and got a message saying I was getting close to the 35gg. I noticed that while watching shows on tv, ie Netflix or Paramount+, that all of the sudden I got a circle spinning and after several minutes I would eventually get about 30 seconds of the program. Also, using the internet was futile…the blue line showing it working would be about an inch and just stay there. I called and talked to a representative who said, “Oh, I’ve taken care of that”. I said what do you mean…she said she bumped me to the next level. I said what do you mean…is that going to cost me anything and she said yes. I immediately said I had not given her permission to do so and asked to have that extra canceled and asked for a supervisor. I got a supervisor and told her the she bumped me up to the next level without even asking me and felt that was almost illegal and getting into dangerous territory with the FCC. She said she would talk to the customer service person and then she said that they had no way to adjust the cost and that it would have to escalated and assured me someone would be calling me from the escalation team within the next couple days…NO ONE DID. I also told her I wanted to cancel and expect that because I was within the 30 day trial period I expected to get a FULL refund back as I had only used the service for 16 days and had already gotten close to going over the 35ggs WHICH was what my program was. They then said that I had gone over my data and that I would have to pay even though I was in within the 30 days timeframe. I thought that finally the supervisor said she would because of the issue with the girl bumping my service up and miscommunication they would zero out my bill. I have copies of all communications from Consumer Cellular which I will attach. Today, September 3, I received a bill from Consumer Cellular for $33.86. I called and spoke to a customer service person first, who then referred me to supervisor who started to explain to me that although I was on the 35gg plan, that part of an agreement was that if I used 500mg WHICH BY THE WAY IS APPARENTLY 1/2 OF A GG, WHICH WOULD BE USED WITHIN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, EVEN IF YOU HAD A 35gg Plan…if that was the case, YOU WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO CANCEL AND GET A FULL REFUND. YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO CANCEL…BUT YOU WOULD STILL HAVE TO PAY FOR SERVICES. NO ONE, TO MY KNOWLEDGE, EVER DISCUSSED THE 500 MG WITH ME. I HAVE ALL emails from CC and they only refer to the 35gg Plan and how if I go over I would get slower speeds and I could remain there or be bumped to a higher speed for more money. SEVERAL things upset me as I got the information over the phone from a customer service person after I took the time to explain my circumstances. AT NO TIME did the 500 mg come up. Also, it was my understanding that this was Unlimited Talk and Data Plan which I was told was $40…WHEN I spoke to the second supervisor, Ryan I was told that it was $20/mo for the talk and $40mo for the data. NO ONE ever told me the two were separate and would be priced separately. I would never have paid $60 for this as it did not offer me what I needed and there were other plans out there that did include talk text and data for only $40. ALSO…AFTER THE CONVERSATION on 8/27 WITH THE SUPERVISOR ADVISING THAT I BELIEVE THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BUMPED MY ACCOUNT UP WITHOUT ADVISING ME, ESPECIALLY WHEN I WAS ON THE PHONE ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT IT…I RECEIVED AN EMAIL MUCH LATER IN THE DAY SAYING HOW IT WAS CC PRACTICE TO AUTOMATICALLY UPGRADE YOUR PLAN TO GIVE YOU THE BEST RATE FOR WHAT YOU ACTUALLY USE. I felt this was sent to cover them for doing it without my knowledge while I was still exploring my options with the customer service rep as it was hours after my conversation with the rep and the supervisor. I ALSO GOT AN EMAIL DATED 8/27 SAYING I REQUESTED CHANGING TO THE NEXT LEVEL PLAN…WHICH I NEVER DID. I feel that Consumer Cellular is practicing unfair and deceptive business practices. ALSO, the customer service girl should not have bumped my service to the next level without my permission and letting me know that she was going to. It was my understanding that I could stay at the lower speed unless I wanted to change plans. The supervisor I spoke to at the time agreed that should not have happened and even said she would talk to that individual about that…and also said she would escalate it and have someone from escalation call me…NO ONE DID … NO FOLLOW UP. It was also my understanding that I could cancel and get not pay if done within the 30 days. Their recording while waiting for customer service clearly states, IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED, REGARDLESS OF REASON, PAY ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. I BELIEVE THIS IS FALSE ADVERTISING. They say they want to create lifetime customers and never get locked into a contract. ON AUGUST 26 I received an email stating "Thank you for your recent trial of Consumer Cellular’s service. With our risk-free guarantee, you were able to try our service with no obligation. When I spoke both to supervisors they kept going back to the fact that I had used 500mg and according to CC agreement ONCE I used those I could cancel BUT NOT GET THE SERVICE FOR ABSOLUTELY FREE. They kept asking didn't I see it in the papers I got from CC. I RECEIVED NO PAPERS AS THIS WAS DONE OVER THE PHONE. I WAS NOT TOLD TO LOOK AT AN AGREEMENT ONLINE AND WAS NOT EMAILED AN AGREEMENT. I in good faith canceled so I would not go over and could cancel my account with them for a full refund. After much back and forth, a supervisor agreed to take off $5.58 for some kind of overage but refused to zero out the account. I feel that Consumer Cellular is taking advantage of their customers and exhibiting unfair business practices. I would like to have the phone conversations pulled if possible as I believe that they will show my intent and understanding of my agreement with CC. AGAIN, I FEEL THAT CONSUMER CELLULAR ARE PRACTICING UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE BUSINESS PRACTICES.

This is the worst company I’ve ever dealt with and that is saying a lot. First of all, they’re almost impossible to get a hold of their hours are only until 5 PM And they don’t work on weekends. I signed up for the service and went out of town for a business call I need to find out that I’ve had no Internet on my phone and since they weren’t open I was unable to contact anyone which meant I lost contact as well as a whole days worth of work. Once I Was able to contact them they realized it was an error on their part. Then my hotspot would never work and come to find out someone had made a mistake and they corrected that supposedly only it never was corrected and I had to contact them three times. And each time expect at least an hour to have to deal with them. They found that they sent me Wouldn’t charge and I immediately contacted them to complain and asked that I have the service disconnected. The girl told me to wait because I had 45 days according to AARP. I canceled on the 43rd day and asked how to send the phone back. They couldn’t tell me this and said I had to contact a different department a few days later per their instructions. I was then told that I was outside of my trial. Which I explained I was not and reluctantly they said that the phone would be excepted and they sent me the instructions on sending it back. I sent it back and then they charged me $585.85 even though they didn’t have permission To debit my account and the phone was returned. The worst company they stay away if you can!

Horrible, tried to transfer from Verizon, they promised all would work great with my Samsung Galaxy S10. Had the service for two weeks, never could get texting to work, customer service told me I would need to move to a different provider. So I switched, now I find out they are still billing me. Breaking out the find print Heather stated the confirmed the start and stop dates that spanned two weeks. They promised talk text and data, I did not receive this. Heather transferred me to a supervisor they hung up the call. Run from this company, they cant and wont deliver, and they charge you for services that cant or wont provide. They take advantage of Seniors, I ended up with back with Verizon, on a prepay, $50.00 a month, and most important, it works, yes Talk, Text, and Data. Again RUN away from Consumer Cellular as it Does Not Work, and they steal your money charging you for services they cant and wont provide. RUN!! I will never trust a AARP recommended company again.

Bad news don't trust consumer cellular. I have had touble using our hot spot. After many phone calls no help in fact it got worse. And still doesn't work. I sent back the recent phone and switched to another carier (visible). So far very pleased. Unlimited streaming that doesn't slow down, but you can only use 1 device at a time and the speed is preset. Works great netflix and church with no digitizing. I got the warranty phone back they claimed it has deep scratches to the display whitch is odd I and others don't see anything wrong with the phone. Anyway after 9 years it has ended our relationship with this company. Shame on them don't fall victim to there so called 30 day warranty if you don't like the phone and or service don't get an expensive phone from them their warranty for us does.t hold water.

They will NOT honor the MA tax free weekend if you buy a phone from them online or call them via the customer service line. They claim there is no way in their system to remove the tax and their Billing Department will NOT give you a refund on the tax claiming that their phones bought on line (or via phone) does not fall under one of the eligible items in MA that qualifies for the tax free weekend (the phone I was looking at getting was less than $100). After 1.5+ days in dealing with them, they have refunded the sales tax but I was TOLD this was a courtesy to me as the Sales Tax has nothing to do with them but between me and MA!

We have been with this company many months. We experienced problems early on with customer service. Believe me, quality control in not one of their bright spots. In fact it will attribute to their eventual demise in my opinion. From the beginning we had many dropped calls, no reception that meant lost time, lost money. After months of limited service we were still left in the lurch. Their whiz kids had no answers except for us to send the phone back for a replacement. As I write this complaint we are on our second phone, both were returned & sent back to us on account of scratches on the phone which I was unable to see with my eyes, & a magnifying glass. Our only option was to call Portland, Oregon ( main office ) where my complaint fell on deaf ears. When management got involved, they found out that the tower that T Mobile operates, does NOT put out a signal strong enough to satisfy our problem. They sent another simm card that does not help. Now we sit with 2 phones using one hoping that whoever calls can get through to us. Paying Consumer Cellular monthly for their service is nothing short of a crime. There are a awful lot on negative reviews on their site. You would think that a responsible company would respond. Then again if you do not have the right tools you will never get the job right. Terrible Company !

Bought phone from target got lied to told me there was great service were i live . Lol had phone 3 months 80 % of time i tried to use it would say no net work service . I had $20 . 00 month plan got told it was unlimited talk an text . Lol i never tried to text because of no service but found out today i never had texting . That would of been $30.00 a month . Called them about problem 2 hours on phone oh you need a sims card. Wait a week get card no change Lol call them another hour on phone oh sorry you have no cell tower reception were you live. Lol then i tell the cancel service they tell me i owe them $35. 00 dollars to canceling a $20 .00 a moth plan i say give me a supervisor he taks $10.00 off then threatens me with collection if i dont give the the $25.00 who does that ?? Thats customer services that how a supervisor talks Lol i am on auto pay no servies for my consumer cellular phone and even worse customer services from there customer service representative i would not recommend them to my worst enemy. What a joke lol

You get what you pay for. If you are a cellular junkie who needs no help when things go wrong, probably no problem. But if you need ANY help, be prepared for long waits on the phone, inaccurate advice on how to solve your problem, or just plain wrong answers. I actually solved a problem I had for several days at 9 am, tested to be sure it was corrected, and was unable to access the “corrected” problem 3 hours later. Based on my 7 days with their idea of service, I would not return to them if the price was free. A former very short user of a very poor service. The AT&T sales person who moved me to his service could not believe my complaints until he had to deal with an hour of trying to move my service (including one hang up by CC).

Consumer Cellular is without a doubt the worst cellphone company ever. There customer absolutely sucks, I needed a password reset. I gave them a call, after a 20 minute wait I was told, sorry can’t do That if you wait 24 hours you might be able to login into you’re account. Huh I replied, okay please could you tell me my account number. Sorry can’t do that, oh, so I confirmed my identity which the agreed, well can you email my account number to me, sorry can’t do that. Why don’t you wait 24 hours and login was the reply. WOW I’m wondering how much the paid to get such a good rating. At your own risk

CC is the worse. They try to scam seniors. We purchased a Grandpad for my parents. They used it for about 9 months and started having problems with it glitching. There was nothing physically wrong with it. My Mom called and the representative told her that they would send her a replacement and to return hers. She received the new one and returned the one that was glitching. She then got a bill for $250 with no explanation. We called and they told us that the Grandpad that she returned was physically damaged and she was being charged for the new one that she received. They returned the old one and someone had peeled the speaker cover from it. They had to do it there because there was nothing physically wrong when we sent it back. We called and were on the phone with several reps and supervisors for much over an hour and came to a resolution that we would just return the new one and they would issue a $250 credit. My Parents are seniors and don’t drive so we weren’t able to return it right away. About a month later we were able to return it. Keep in mind she wasn’t able to use it because they had turned off her service due to the $250 even though during the dispute while the service was on we continued to pay the $42 monthly service bill. Anyway, when we were able to return it we called to have them provide us a return label or at least a return address. They told us that we should return it but they are not issuing a credit because it’s been over 30 days. Meanwhile they never mentioned a timeline for which we had to return it and it wasn’t being used bc the service was terminated for about that long. Last conversation we told them that we are not paying the $250 nor are we returning the device if they are not going to issue the credit. So we sit with 2 Grandpads that are not being used because we have moved on to an iPad that my parents are much happier with. Their customer service is shameful and I can only imagine how many seniors they get over on. I will be writing to the BBB and the owner of CC.

This provider starts out well and good but the longer you stay, they more issues start. From prices changing to data getting slowed down at a lower GB usage than stated to not being able to make outgoing calls time and time again... I have been trying to switch providers and CC has been an absolute NIGHTMARE. First the deactivated my account when I only called to ask about the process of switching providers and eventually deactivating. It then took hours and multiple phone calls to get it back. Then once I began the switch over process, they lied about releasing my number then kept having "Errors" with it. Afterwards, they stated my phone could not be transferred over because I hadn't had it activated with them long enough. When I proved with statements that I HAD they mysteriously had ANOTHER error occur. They then told me "a manager will call about it in 1-3 business day." When I asked to speak to their supervisor for clarity on the issue I was denied and hung up on. Now I'm cell phoneless until they (hopefully) call with I'm sure will be yet another issue. RUN DON'T WALK

Consumer cellular is fine if you are a chubby old lady with piggy jowls. I greatly suspect avoiding contact with them is in your best interest because their phone reps seem to suffer verge dementia. Information is different between reps. One of their huckleberries instructed me to reset my phone and I lost all my photos - it would have been better to provide this info beforehand. I'm not content with reception although my area is loaded with communication towers. I think they'd be better as Toileteers. Consumers is marginal and useful only for the occasional user.

Following Clark Howard's advice, I tried to switch over the Consumer Cellular. I went to their Dunwoody Target location on April 8, 2021, which was the "flagship" store. One guy there who knew less about their phones than I did. I moved two phones, and told him that I'd bring the new phone back the next day, when my wife was available to come in. We arrived at 10 AM, their opening time at that store. Problem was NO ONE WAS THERE. A Target worker did not seem to be surprised. I then tried (unsuccessfully) to get someone from Consumer Cellular on a phone line. No luck. I then called the Target store at Prado. No help there. 48 minites of both of our time was wasted. But, I did get the Target worked to refund my money on that new phone. Then, went back to Verizon to get my old service switched back Total lost time was about 4.5 hours of my time. The frustration and absolute disgust with Consumer Cellular is something I needed to share. SAVE YOUR TIME and give up on saving money. Third world phone service from a company that can't even staff its flagship location lets you know to stay the hell away. William Head

The service was ok basically but I couldn’t use the data away from my home internet service. I decided to switch to another service and cancelled with CC on 3/18/21 but I paid the full month of service. The following month, they billed me for a full month. I called and complained and had to wait two days for management review even though you could look at my Val log and tell there was no activity after the 18th. I got the FINAL bill and was charged another $15!!!!!!! NEVER will I recommend this cell service to anyone. I only had it for 3-4 mos. and was not satisfied. I do not recommend!

I HAVE BEEN WITH CONSUMER CELL FOR 11 YEARS; GOT A NEW DORO 7050 PHONE LAST MONTH, CHARGE LITE DID NOT WORK, MESG. LITE DID NOT WORK , WOULD ONLY RING 3 TIMES AND WOULD FREEZE UP, THEY SENT ME ANOTHER 7050 ALL THE SAME PROBLEMS AND WOULD FREEZE UP, THEY SENT ME ANOTHER ONE IT WOULD FREEZE UP ALEST 2 TIMES A DAY. CALLED AND TOLD CONSUMER TO SEND ME A PHONE THAT WORKED CAUSE I WAS DONE WITH ALL THE JUNK!! THE SUPERVISOR SAID WE CANT DO THAT YOU WILL JUST HAVE TO TAKE THE BATTERY OUT AND LET IT START AGAIN! NOW IS THAT THE WAY YOU TREAT A 11 YEAR CUSTOMER THAT NEVER WAS LATE ON HIS BILL??????????!!!!!!!!!!

Consumer Cellular (CC) plays dishonest bait and switch games and their customer service does nothing to remedy the problem. CC will enroll customers in their basic plan. However, this is when the games start. CC will wait until near the end of a customer's billing cycle and then suddenly post a whole bunch of phone calls that were 'delayed' in being posted. This forces the plan's limits to be exceeded at the last minute and results in automatic enrollment in a higher cost plan. CC also claims to notify a customer when 75 percent of their plan's limit has been reached but this does not always happen. It is impossible for any customer to track their phone usage and stay within their plans limits when such games are played. When CC Customer Service is contacted, the agents do nothing to remedy the problem. CC needs to know that customers are not stupid and do not like being scammed like this!

Worst cellular company on the planet. They are, cheap which is reflected in the quality of their customer care. I tried to move from my carrier to them and the first error was they opened two accounts for me and sent me 6 sim cards for 3 lines! That took 3 calls totaling 57 minutes to resolve. Then I needed to activate my new sim card. I mad 2 calls and gave them the information that they required but neither agent was able to activate my phone. I just finished the third call during which the agent insulted my age (I am 76) and told me that if it was her she would have all the necessary info before calling. I told her that I did and gave it to them twice but did not expect to have to call a third time? I asked for time to get the information from Verizon again and she said, "I will give you 2 minutes, that's it". At this point I told her that their sim cards were going into the garbage immediately and she, hung up on me. Unbelievable, buyer beware this is a ruthless company!!

I purchased aZTE box for $50 to keep my former wire line number but this device from Consumer Cellular allows the number now to come through a cell tower. But the device is defective as the back can not be removed to replace the batteries or sim card. I was treated by a supervisor who "guaranteed" the back can be removed. It can not and she ( a Kayla) said it can and insinuated I was a liar. I asked for a manager and was told no such person and she would not transfer me further up the chain. The customer service is terrible now, having been a customer since 2008. they just do not care. Not worth the savings.

BAIT & SWITCH Based on their website, I had subscribed for a $22.50 / Month 3 GB Plan. I was surprised to be charged $30 instead. Upon inquiry, the customer service rep told me that $22.50 per phone line is only for 2 phone lines. The website does not anywhere show that the charge would be $30 for a single line. CHARGE BEFORE SERVICE CC have charged me the cost of the phone before dispatching the device. LOUSY CUSTOMER SERVICE One has to hold for long times before you get a customer service rep only to be transferred to a different department starting the long wait all over. For a tech company, it is incomprehensible as to why there is no call back option. SOUR TASTE As a new customer, I am left with a sour taste in mouth.

Consumer cellular is very bad in service customers, We lost the phone , Tried to call them , no answer the phone , we tried to chat no ' answer , But they continue to send us a bill asking for payment, They seem do not care what happen to customer , when we lost phone we worry someone will use the phone to do some thing wrong They seem do not care just want to collect money. My case having someone one used ,our phone but I can not find the destination for the call .We call back and forth several times customer service said , any way you should pay by the end of the date you call , Actually we did not use the phone until the date they charged us . It is very bad service , Nerve used Consumer Cellar. Terrible !!!

As a wisconsin resident they failed to tell you that one of there main carriers is ATand T. ATT does not work well in the state of Wisconsin. My reception was terrible!!! I had 50 minute commute to work and never had any decent service. Only in a major metropolitan city could you get decent reception or service. And there customer service, IT SUCKS!

Poor customer service and poor reception. I prefer to check and compare because when it comes to phone companies, none are really that special or unique. They offer us two things, price and connectivity. Price seems ok but not good or great. Secondly, they rely on the ATT network. So my son has service with ATT and when we are doing stuff, we frequently compare coverage or talking at the same place at the same time. We also both have iPhone 6s Plus. I almost always have between zero and one bar. While he has four bars. And when we call someone, mine is cutting in and out constantly and his sounds great. Obviously, there is a difference between how Consumer Cellular customers are treated compared to actual ATT customers. They also try to nickel and dime you constantly. Not great price, poor service, very poor customer service.

Consumer Cellular sucks bought a brand new phone from them 2 weeks ago they never could get my phone activated transferring it from Verizon all they did is point fingers at Verizon and never got my phone turned on so I ended up having to send a brand new phone back to them two weeks later because they couldn't get it turned on they lied to me and told me that when I sent it back it was brand-new that I would instantly get my money back because it was never really used now that they got the phone back as of yesterday today they tell me it's going to take five to seven more business days to inspect the phone because now I won't get my money back until they do an inspection on it and that could take anywhere from five to seven business days which means it could be a couple of more weeks before I get my money back they do nothing but lie lie lie they teach their people their customer service representatives to lie to you I do not appreciate it it's definitely not good customer service and their service sucks I've heard nothing but complaints they even admitted to me that they get back a hundred refund situations per day what does that tell you I certainly don't doubt that that's the only truth they did tell me is they have to process hundreds every day of refund must be a reason y'all don't waste your time

Everything was a hassle, including: *they input the wrong number for porting which made everything take forever *hold times to speak with someone are extreme (hours long), and there is no other way to contact them, and they require calls for everything. *I bought a phone from them that doesn't work right. Because they messed up my number repeatedly, I didn't realize this within the 30 day period and they wouldn't take it back/ make it right *poor coverage (though that's not really their fault - they're just AT&T) *using my social security number for password, ID. That may be more convenient than remembering another password, but it sure seems risky for identity theft reasons. *they didn't mention the taxes and extra fees, so these many hours are wasted because I'm just switching back to my original carrier - there was zero savings and this isn't worth it. So now I'm on hold waiting for someone at Consumer Cellular to answer the phone to cancel my contract with them. Basically, this is a rinky-dink company that is crap. The only good thing I can say is that all the representatives were pleasant people.

NOT WORTH THE HASSELL!! My 80 year mother living in a senior living facility bought basic flip phone in July from Target. She's had nothing but issues with the phone freezing up, getting really hot and not working for days. She's called customer service multiple times they finally told her to take it back to Target to have it looked at. We went to target and they reset the phone by removing the battery and restarting, it still continued to freeze weekly. She called customer multiple more times. On October 2 2020 I called customer service with her and was walked through taking battery out to reset it again. We were told if it happens again she could get a replacement phone we just had to call back. I called today October 17th as her phone froze again yesterday and she could not use it or an entire day. I was told that we had to repeat the battery removal rest, wait 24 hours before we could call to see about replacing the phone because the prior resent was longer than 10 days prior. We were NEVER informed we had a 10 day limit and I asked what do we do when its happens again! I was told just call as they made a note in her account that she's had issues from the start! Since she lives in a senior complex, I don't have easy access to her right now with covid, and can't see her daily and can't keep dealing with her new phone not working and this has been going on since July! So I contacted my phone carrier AT&T this morning. In 5 minutes, They added her to my account for the same price as Consumer Cellular $20 a month and are overnighting me a new flip phone for her for only $10! Now that's real customer service!!! So long Consumer Cellular wish I could say it was pleasant dealing with you!

My husband and I have experienced so many difficulties, lack of integrity, honesty, fraud, and blatant unprofessional problems with Consumer Cellular, we have moved to another cell phone company that values their customers. We reached out to the executive staffed multiple times with no response and no resolution to our problems. Their entire team should be retrained in ethics, leadership and integrity working with clients, and retrained on their system to research and properly help a customer before upsetting customers and speaking untruths on a recorded line. Very terrible company and there are thousands of consumers reviews that have experienced the same issues as we have. Their awards are joke.

My Doro 7090 But now add to your list of problems with this phone and service: The replacement telephone sent to me (my new phone had to be returned within 10 days of arrival because guess what....Yup! The phone FREEZES up all the time.) So when the replacement phone arrived, I was surprised to see some sort of weird black and white modern art picture showing on the monitor on the outside of the phone. I just ignored it for a week since it did not interrupt making phone calls. But when I recently sent that phone back to CC to cancel service entirely, they shipped it right back to me saying that the display window on the cover WAS CRACKED!! So that means when I saw a black and white weird modern art photo, that was actually the defective crack in the monitor making the pixels create an ugly photo. Consumer Cellular sent me a DEFECTIVE PHONE to begin with!!!! And now they expect me to EAT the loss of $50.00!!!

I've been with Consumer Cellular for years and have rarely called. I've ordered new phones from them, and had questions on invoices and everything has been handled well enough. Now, their Customer Service has declined to where they must be putting reps o the phones with zero training. I ordered a new phone from CC on August 17. The order has been totally screwed up and the reps I've spoken with each give a conflicting story on what the policy is and have offered zero help to resolve the problem . When the new phone I ordered from CC was shipped from the CC warehouse in Portland, OR I began tracking the shipment for its arrival. On the promised delivery date, I could see the phone had been delivered to a wrong address. I called CC immediately to see if they could intercept the shipment and have it redirected (CC ships with USPS.) I said I needed my phone - the CC rep could see that the phone had gone to the wrong city - could they redirect that phone or recall that phone and send me a new phone. "No" I was told: "You have to wait for PO to attempt delivery several times, and then the PO would return the phone to the Portland warehouse." I said this could take weeks - or even months. The CC rep said there is nothing else they can do except wait for the undeliverable phone to come back. The CC rep said I could buy another phone and they would try to ship it to me again - this time they would try to get the shipping address right. And then when the mis-shipped phone finally came back to them, they would credit my account. This was over $800 I would be out - waiting for a phone and waiting for CC to try to get my address right. This was not a reasonable solution. The next day, I went to Target to buy a CC phone . This way I'd have a working phone right away, wouldn't have to wait weeks for the first phone to be returned to Portland and then reshipped to me, and wouldn't have to pay for a second phone that CC might ship to the wrong address again. The Target tech guy was great and got the same phone I had ordered. He went to activate the new phone The Target rep had a problem completing the activation and had to call CC. The CC rep said I cannot buy another phone or activate another phone - I have to wait for the phone that was shipped to the wrong address to be returned and then CC will ship it to me again. The Target rep could not believe what he was hearing and neither could I. We kept on putting the CC rep on hold so the Target guy could talk to me and ask "what is this guy talking about?????? I've never heard of anything like this." Both myself and the Target rep tried to speak with the CC rep because the CC policy of me not being able to buy or activate any phone until the misshipped phone turned up - it didn't make any sense. Finally, after about 40 minutes Target and I gave up, and I left the store without a new phone. The next day - Sunday - I received some emails from friends asking what's wrong - they have been trying to call me and my phone's not working. I tested my phone - "No cellular network". I called CC again. After trying to figure out what was wrong with my old phone (an ASUS) the CC rep said "did you try to buy a phone at Target yesterday?" I told her "Yes - but we could not activate it because the CC rep said I could not buy a new phone, I had to wait for that phone that went to the wrong address to go back to Portland and then be shipped out again" This CC rep said "That's crazy. I don't know why he told you that. You can get a new phone whenever you want and as often as you want. and we will activate if for you." This new rep said that the CC rep from yesterday had de-activated my old phone (my ASUS) - so now I had no phone at all. She said they were showing the Target phone as partially activated. I told her I did not buy that phone because the CC rep would not allow Target to complete the activation. I said I have to have a working phone and that I needed my old phone. She said re-activation would take up to 48 hours. So they can instantly deactivate a SIM card without telling the customer, but it takes 48 hours to reactivate a paying customer? She said there is nothing she could do. This must be the phrase that CC customer service reps practice again and again - because all 4 CC reps I spoke to kept telling me "there is nothing I can do." This all sounds unbelievable, I know. It's unbelievable to me that any company would ship goods to a wrong address, where they can see the "Ship To" address is not as on the original order, and then tell a customer of many years "there's nothing we can do". I can't switch my service today - I need phone service like most of us do. But I'm leaving Consumer Cellular after many years : I had to hold in excess of 30 minutes to speak with a rep each time, then when you get a rep - they don't know ANYTHING so they make stuff up, their "policies" are unbelievable - I can't buy a new phone??? I have to wait for the PO to send back a misshipped phone???? they deactivate my SIM card??? I must have spoken with the anti-customer service department.

Consumer Cellular has absolutely NO CUSTOMER SERVICE for its consumers. Nearly 4 months into the pandemic, they still tell you to expect a 15 minute wait for a customer service representative because of "high call volume. I've twice waited over an hour before giving up. I tried to get a temporary password sent by email in order to access my account, but the web page refused to accept my cell number when I entered it. I tried getting help from the chat service, but was placed #88 in a slow moving queue. I simply am unable to obtain help in real time in downgrading my plan from the automatic upgrade for exceeding 250 minutes of usage on a busy month. High call and high chat volume? Consumer Cellular has had 4 months to work this out! There's a HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE with people who NEED JOBS! Instead of HIRING people to staff your costumer service department to meet the demand, Consumer Cellular continues to spend aggressively on TV ads showing satisfied older customers. if every one of those old folks in the commercials answered a customer call as often as I see them on TV , I bet there would be no wait for service. I'm one of those older customers and I can't afford to spend a hapless hour waiting for help each time I get up the energy to try again! I will find another provider with a real customer service department.

My husband uses a flip phone and does talk only, no data or texting. Consumer Cellular was recommended by AARP and the price was right. Their highly recommended Link flip phone is a piece of crap with little or no adjustments. My husband can't hear the default ringtone and there are no options to change it. After 6 days on the plan, there was no service. He could not make or receive calls. Upon calling the 2 customer service numbers, and the corporate headquarter's number, we got a recorded message on all 3 numbers that said "the number you have called is no longer in service". Online chat showed there were 480+ people ahead of me and after a couple minutes it would time out. By all appearances the company simply shut down. I will be contacting my credit card company tomorrow to try to recoup the money wasted on the phone. I would NOT recommend this company to anyone. The price looks good but you don't get any service for it.

I realized how dishonest their customer service agents are early on and cancelled my service within 2 days and returned the phone in its original package. Rude responses from undereducated personnel that place your call on hold for long periods of time hoping you will give up and hang up. I received a notice 6 days ago that they received my returned phone and a credit was issued for $10 less than I was charged originally. When I called to ask why they told me it was the shipping charge and could not be refunded. They charged me extra for speedy shipping service that took longer to get to me than promised. I asked to speak to a supervisor and got a rude supervisor that also refused to give me my $10 back. I told them that I would file a formal dispute with the credit card company and did exactly that. Chase gave me the credit and charged back the merchant. BUT!!! It is 6 days after getting the email promise for the refund and I am still waiting for the credit I was promised in the first place. They are IMPOSSIBLE TO DO BUSINESS WITH!!! Don't buy anything they offer. You will regret it. I know have to submit another formal dispute to get the original credit I was promised on their email 6 days ago!

I am a 77 year old man that purchased my first smart phone from Consumer Cellular last October. About a two weeks ago I had to start wearing hearing aids. The hearing aids that I purchased have Bluetooth capability. After several days of use, I began to lose Bluetooth capability with the Samsung Galaxy S 10+ phone which I had purchased from Consumer Cellular. I know that I had a 30 day "no questions asked" return period, however, I have a warranty and the phone is not yet paid for. There is a compatibility issue between the phone and the hearing aids. Consumer Cellular has no way to help me and I don't believe that is right. When I bought the phone I was let to believe that an android was as good as an Iphone...which it apparently is not. There should be someway for Consumer Cellular to help me. Consumer Cellular has been outstanding in every other respect!

Their customer service is terrible. Their phones only work for 6 months and they do not honor their one year warranty. The Moto 7 phone that I purchase from them stated to act up after a few months People could not hear me clearly so I called customer service. After being on hold for 20 minutes and spending an hour and a half on the phone with them they said that the phone was under warranty and they would send me another phone. They did, then two weeks later they told me that there was a small scratch on the top right corner and because of this my warranty was voided. How a small scratch can damage the sound quality is behind me. Called them back and they did not have an answer of how a small scratch in the right hand corner would void the warranty. She did say that this happens a lot with people and that the phone must be in “Box new” condition and was going to charge me for another phone. I would send it back but how can you trust them again I did use the phone for two weeks. DO NOT USE THEM. Buyer beware of Consumer Cellular, it is a company that does not honor its phone warranty, Does a bait and switch. Not to mention that their coverage is not real good!

After 2 days I cancelled. Immediately after signing up and getting off the phone with them I noticed I had a $10 charge on my credit card. When I turned right around and try to call them back I was put on 30 minute holds. When I tried from another phone that was not known to Consumer Cellular I was put through immediately. My husband also tried this out with his work phone. It is clear that Consumer Cellular put current customers in the back of the queue and takes calls from new customers immediately. They denied doing this when I mentioned it to them but it is clear that they do it. Terrible customer service!

Purchased this product in Target. We told the Target representative what we were looking for, data plan that would cutoff after the specific amount of time purchased. As a BBBS (Big Brother Big Sister) I was trying to help out my little sister and purchasing a phone for monthly service that had a cap and would not let her go over. Representative said Consumer Cellular can do that. I did this because I did not want to have to monitor the service and she could pay for it out of her monthly stipend. Well that's not the case and when I found out and called Consumer Cellular they told me I had to write a letter to the Company as there was no one to talk to about this. Net, Net this company did not honor Target's representatives mistake and my little sister has to pay the consequences. I have Verizon and now I definitely would never recommend anything else but Verzion. They have always worked with me on any and all issues that have come up.......and have always been very happy with the outcome. CONSUMER CELLULAR is not customer oriented and is only out for them selves. Disappointed Customer

Buyer beware!!! I had service with this company for over 6 months. On 02/24/2020 I phoned their customer service for a simple question. After 20 minutes waiting to speak with a person, I left my name and number for a call back that I have never received. I also tried to do an online Chat, and that is not working either. On 02/28/2020 I ended my service with them and went with Verizon. They are still taking money out of my banking account even after the emailed me on 03/04/2020 to tell me they did this. I am contacting the Attorney General and AARP because they are taking money from me for services never received.

Terrible customer service. Everything is great unless you have a problem with your phone. My Dad’s phone, which apparently is known for having issues, repeatedly stopped working. We went through the troubleshooting steps multiple times being told several times that if this step didn’t work, they would activate the warranty. Had to make trips to one of the FEW customer service stores, make many frustrating, multi-step troubleshooting attempts over the phone and when there was finally nothing left to do they refused to replace the phone due to a small scratch on it saying that could have been the cause of the malfunction. This company markets toward seniors. They put my 77 year old Dad and me through exhaustive, complicated troubleshooting efforts then found a loophole to keep from replacing a phone that they admitted has problems.

My iPhone 11 did not show when I had voicemails. After numerous calls to Apple and Consumer Cellular, Apple told me to get a ticket number. When I called and asked for this, I was told that they would send a new phone and I was to return my phone. I returned the phone in the package that arrived with the new phone. A week later, I received the old phone back, saying there was a scratch on the screen and they would not take it back. There was no mention of the phone having to be in Like new condition when returning. When I called and spoke with a supervisor on 2/27, I was told they would review the recording and determine if I had been told the phone needed to be like new. They would call me back within 2 DAYS! No call back. After waiting on hold, being cut off, and finally talking to another supervisor, I was told even if I wasn't told about the old phone needing to be in like new condition, I may STILL BE RESONSIBLE FOR BOTH PHONES; but I would have to wait up to another 24 hours for a call back. They are unethical, misleading, and obviously don't care about resolving any issues. The new phone has issues as well. I can't hear when talking on the phone without using a speaker or blue tooth. T

Do not believe a word of what any of these people tell you. First, the service is not reliable at all. The customer service is terrible despite being in the USA, which by the way is the ONLY factual thing these people have said to me. Case in point.. I asked directly if they had an affiliation with ATT. The answer is no....but of course this is NOT true as they partnet with them on the towers. My service went out today and 5 hours later, after being told I would get a refund of some sort, turns out, you guessed it to be a LIE. Spent 1. 5 hours this morning trying to get it fixed, then another 4 in the Target store making the same attempt. Dont waste your time or money with these folks, you will regret it. If I could give less than 1 star I would.

Really terrible service! I purchased what proved to be a clearly defective, non functioning phone. That could happen to anyone. After two months of repeated calls to their "support team" , I was finally told they would not honor any warranty on the phone because it was a "service issue". The bottom line was I had no recourse besides throwing the phone away and buying a new one. When I finally spoke to a "supervisor" there was no solutions offered, with the attitude that it was my problem not theirs. At least he admitted that he couldn't explain the problem, and didn't have any technical knowledge about the problem, which was pretty obvious. Essentially, dealing with this company reminds me that you get what you pay for. I would never recommend this company or its products to anyone.

Consumer cellular is inexpensive. In the past I received good customer service. Not anymore; it's always a long wait. Today I asked for a 'call-back-in-line' and it's clear that I'm not going to get a return call today. The other day I waited 35 minutes and gave up. Nobody is around if something goes wrong during the week-end. I'm not going to switch, but wish they would improve wait times for help.

Purchased a used flip phone from them and it arrived with problems. They would not take it back and offer a refund promptly. Wanted me to try this troubleshoot thing and then another for almost a month of having a non usable phone while paying for service! Waited on hold to troubleshoot with them and beg to return it for 20-50 min. each time. Manager offered to call me at an agreed upon time to check if the latest hoop they wanted me to jump through with this defective phone did any good, she never called me and again I was waiting on hold for anyone to answer for almost an hour. This company doesn’t care about your time or inconvenience. They will not reimburse service charges while you cannot use the defective phone. Horrible customer service! Horrible products! Horrible hold times! Not at all worth the frustration of dealing with this business.

I only gave it one star because there is a no star rating! Their customer service is a bag of rocks. They signed up my phone wrong, so I had to go back to Target to get another sim. Consumer Cellular said they would have to take time but I'd be up in 4 hours. NO Not up at in 4 hours, called and the woman that answered said she didn't know what was wrong. Then she said she needed the sim taken out and read to her. I knew this was on my account from when I was in Target. Both the electronics guy and CC Customer service said they had the new sim. The woman on the phone not only didn't know, she could not get her boss/supervisor to the phone, said I'd get a call back in two days. TWO DAYS???? WTF?? Needless to say I'm back at ATT. I might have to pay twice the money and for the SIM card but I know I have 24/7 customer service with no run around!! AND A WORKING PHONE!

I purchased an android phone for my wife and specifically told the rep we needed and ATT sim card. After three calls, we found a rep capable of assisting who diagnosed that we in fact had a Tmobile card. Purchased a new card a special mailed to Abilene (cost, another $10 for mailing). Earlier this week, I purchased a flip phone for my mother-in-law. It arrived today in Abilene, but also did not work. Wife spent from 1:30 until 4:30 working with CC and then Target to get the phone functional. By 7:30 pm, I called to see if we could exchange at Target. Told, "no". I asked if I could return it and purchase an working phone at Target. "Yes, but you will need to get the approved mailing packet and that will take three days". Word of warning - don't ever buy a phone directly from CC. Get one at Target and make sure you can make and receive calls before leaving.

signed up online and they sent me a sim card to use in my phone. I was extremely busy so I didn't insert the sim card and in about 1 month I received a bill for multiple calls to no number I ever called. The worse part was that when I called Consumer Cellular they only were concerned with how I was going to pay my bill even after I repeatedly told them I never installed the sim. After several months and more bills for calls I never made, I got through to corporate and they appologized after an investigation, and refunded my upfront payment. This is a scam and it's perpetuated on the elderly. Better check every month's bill for unauthorized calls.

Horrible. Beware, you get what you pay for. I am tech savvy, but thought what the heck, "Let's save $60 from my monthly cell bill". I read some professional reviews and thought it would be ok. I wish I had seen this site with real user reviews. Oh well. Anyways, a huge mistake switching to CC. You are not getting real AT&T or TMobile Sim cards. Tried both with them (I wanted the AT&T sim, but they first sent me TMobile ones.) I know these a cut rate sim cards, because we had AT&T for a zillion years and my phone said "5Ge" (yeah, I know that's not real 5g) , but with CC AT&T sim card it only said 4Lte. We had 3 lines - 2 in Chicago area, 1 in Cincy area. In Chicago area we had dropped calls and sounded like we were under water. In Cincy area the phone barely functioned. This experiment only lasted 30 days. We are back to AT&T on my old account. One last thing, I don't think CC is good for senior citizens either. If phone doesn't work for us, it's not going to work for them.

I've owned this phone for a little over a month. I bought it in a Target store where the Techs set up ready for use. I found that they know very little about the phone. In fact one tech told her supervisor that she didn't know to fix the problem I was having. Neither did the supervisor. I've returned to the store countless times to have them fix problems only to leave with the same issue. My phone never rings but the calls go to my voice mail. I phoned the headquarters in Oregon to set things straight - they set up a date and time but I had to wait even though I was on time. This phone is a piece of junk and I will be changing it for something better.

Buyer beware because the phone number they give you may not have cleared. I can't make a call to a landline phone number that has caller ID because it shows the previous persons name. I have called Consumer Cellular 4 times about the problem and the answer is always the same we can fix that. ( Call #1) We will fix it within the hour. (Call #2) We will have it corrected in 24 hours. (Call #3) It will be corrected within 30 days. (Call #4) It will take another 90 days) They did offer to give us a new phone number, but they would not guarantee that it would be a good (clear number) number either. I'm really tired of hearing that I understand your frustration. All I want is this corrected and all I get the run around. This is their mistake and they don't seem to care.

My mother cancelled her service with this scam company in Sept of 2019 and paid the remaining balance. They have since sent her more bills threatening her to pay them or they will report her to the credit companies for failure to pay. She didn't know better and paid it AGAIN and now she's out $90 because they threatened a little 80 year old woman. I'll be on the phone with them AGAIN to cancel this scam again. My lawyer said if they bother her again to save all the bills and will take them to court for the suffering they have put her through. Threaten an 80 year old woman? This company needs to be fined and investigated.