Consumer Cellular

I ordered two phones with plans this afternoon. I provided my credit card info and even the last fiur digits of my social security number, which seems odd. The rep told me the order had gone through and I received an e-mail confirmation. Fifteen minutes later, another e-mail told me I must call the billing department to "verify your order". ?? I phoned, was kept waiting 15 minutes, transferred twice, and finally the billing rep told me that to "activate" my order, the company would need photocopies of: my drivers license, a utility bill, and my credit card. Note, they already had all the credit card info plus the last four digits of my social security number. In other words, ****THESE PEOPLE ARE NOTHING BUT SCAMMERS, PERIOD. **** It's one of the slickest scams I've come across, but a scam nevertheless.

Consumer Cellular cut off my service for non-payment after my house burned down in the Camp Fire in Paradise. I did not get a bill, and I also did not get a notice telling me they were going to cut off service. Is it just too much to send a text to the phone I purchased from them? And for the record, I have been a customer of Consumer Cellular for many years and have never missed a payment. In the middle of calling the insurance companies, the utility companies, FEMA, Red Cross, and a whole host of other people on a long list of things to do when your house burns to the ground, I neglected to send Consumer Cellular a check for $28. A payment for a service that didn’t get service in most areas; on a phone that would not hold a charge for longer than two hours. But this phone was a lifeline to me, even though I had to drive to a Wal-Mart parking lot to use it and then drive back to my temporary housing situation to charge it. When they cut me off, the only call I could make was to their customer service number. I was in the parking lot of a grocery store, and unless I stood in one specific spot, I would lose service, and subsequently my place in a very long line of callers. I was on hold in that spot for such a long time; I was worried about my phone going dead. Wouldn’t you think that a company who sells phones and phone services would have a way to call people back instead of making them wait? Even the DMV has that service. The DMV!!! So I finally get through, and the girl tells me my service was cut off for non-payment. As if $28 meant anything to me. So I said okay, let’s just get it paid right now, because I really need the claims adjuster to be able to reach me. Then I told her I wanted to pay the next month so I don’t get cut off again. I wasn’t sure where my mail went, but I was certain it wouldn’t be going to the mailbox in front of my burned out house. I have since dropped this company as a non-service provider, but just received another bill from them for $23. When I called their customer support line, I was told that the second payment made, on the same day in the grocery store parking lot, was to reinstate service. Now, I’m getting angry. I called again and talked to a supervisor, who said that the second payment was for services because my next statement was only two days away. So the bill is for those days that were not covered by the second payment? The one that I thought would go to the next month? Now I’m confused, and I don’t care about the $23, but it speaks volumes about their touted customer service awards, which you have to listen to ad nauseam when you are on their endless hold. Comcast and Verizon both provided free services to subscribers and non-subscribers during this devastating time. Good job Consumer Cellular, be sure and include my $23 in your next profit statement.

SENIORS BEWARE!!! I got this phone for my terminally ill husband as he doesn't use phones much. His phone won't work as phone is dead and didn't charge no matter how many times I tried. They are aware that phone doesn't work and still being billed. Called AGAIN just to be told oh well. I cancelled the service but had to pay 29 when I just paid my full bill on November 28th how can I already owe another month plus pro-rated amount of $5.73. They are ripping off seniors. All parties need to notify the Federal Trade Commission and report this company. There are laws that protect all ESPECIALLY seniors. I'm not done with them yet. Also will be filing a claim with the Better Business Bureau for the money they took for services not rendered. Customer service is liars, flakes, uncaring, incompetent a huge waste of time as your issue was not resolved. Even when "SUPERVISOR" gets involved. The supervisor said she's was writing everything in the notes. The idiot this morning said there were no notes in there from any calls except the 12/13th call that I made AGAIN from my Verizon phone which is awesome service and great working phone's. Also if you can't use your phone they will give you credit. CC cheerfully charges whether you can use it or not. You must be proud of yourself for ripping off SENIORS . SHAME ON YOU!!!!!

What I like about them is their low monthly cost compared to my previous carrier and I get unlimited calls and texts Plus the use the same towers as my previous carrier so I get the same service..

Good luck cancelling. My mother was diagnosed with dementia and called to cancel her contract. It has been 3 months since she has used the phone and haggled on the final payment. They did not budge an inch and finally paid the amount even though I tried to cancel it months before. After the cancellation, I recieve a $5 late fee charge. Again, I have to call and wait 15 minutes to speak to a rep. She waived the fee but I wanted confirmation that the account was closed and NO MORE BILLING OR THREATS OF A COLLECTION AGENCY! I made the the agent stay on the line until I recieved e-mail confirmation that the account was closed and there would be not additional charges. After 20 minutes of waiting...I still do not have conformation. SENIORS BEWARE!!!

Switching to Consumer Cellular has been a nightmare for me!! It started by them lying to me about being able to use my own phone. When I went to Target they said I could not use my phone after 2 hours and spending $200 on a new phone. I left feeling deceived by Consumer Cellular. I called them but they proceeded to tell me that they were sorry but could not do anything for me I needed to go back to Target and return the phone--taking no responsibility for what they had told me or their agent Target. I have had the program for 2 weeks and try to make a call but I get a message that my account is empty and I need to refill it. I am a salesperson for building materials and my phone is critical for my clients to get in contact with me and for me to sell. At the same time I start to receive angry emails from my clients say that my phone will not accept calls. I make my way to a land line and call Consumer Cellular--they tell me there is nothing they can do?? They use AT&T and T-Mobile towers and the AT&T towers are down and will probably back up in a couple of hours or so. I lost hundreds in sales and had a lot of upset customers. Consumer Cellular offers me nothing--or I could go back to Target and buy a sim card that will change my service to T-Mobile. I had no idea that I was signing up with AT&T or T-Mobile--very deceptive. So Consumer Cellular is not a cell phone company--they are a call center that can not help you with anything--I have no idea how they got a #1 rating for cell phone provider--They are not a cell phone provider--they are a call center which offers no support and takes no responsibility for anything that they supposedly provide and they are dishonest. Do not switch to them!!!!

If I could give 0 stars I would. The service seldom works. Calls drop. Calls don't go through. If you are in any kind of building with a decent roof (grocery store, mall, ect) no reception. Sure the cost is low but if the phone never works who cares. To make it even more special the last few days, absolutely no calls incoming or outgoings worked on any of the three lines I pay for. The website also didn't work. No customer service numbers worked and when I finally got a number that did work (went through at least three of the first ones to come up in a search and they are not working numbers) the customer service was not only 0 help but their attitude was horrible. I strongly recommend that no one gives this company a single cent.

Today I discovered my cell phone will not dial out, message is "my balance is too low." We have unlimited talk and text. Could not call customer service obviously. Looked online, showing nothing wrong with the account, bill is paid on time. In the afternoon, my husband says the phones have started working. Contacted customer service after work as the phone now magically started working and asked what the deal was. Listen carefully: They were informed when they started work today that there was an outage of the T-Mobile Towers. I don't remember in all my years of having cell phone service with another provide of the phone being "down" and not being able to call out for SEVEN HOURS PLUS. When I asked for credit for this terrible inconvenience (what if there was an emergency?) she retorted: It was only down for a couple of hours (a blatant lie) and the supervisors told us when we walked in this morning no credits will be given for this. The phones were probably not working for a lot longer than 7 hours since I woke up to this, possible all night and half of the next day. Not reliable service, oh, and if you read the contract, they are NOT RESPONSIBLE if you cannot connect to 9-11. I will repeat that, they are NOT RESPONSIBLE if you cannot connect to 9-11 if their 3rd party service does not work. Shame on you for targeting the elderly. We will be switching carriers from CC ASAP after being with them for 2 whole months. What a scam.

Even though they had complete records of numerous service problems for the 1st 7 weeks of joining their network that including them having me drive 50 minutes each way to a Target so see a technician who promptly told me he had no idea why they set an appointment as he was no in position to do anything, constant conflicting recommendations from customer staff and it just goes on and on. They refuse to offer any credit saying that I have intermittent service so not credit even though on multiple times customer service reps told they would credit as they was all customers to be 100% pleased. Total BS. Extremely disappointed Moving to another carrier. All talk but nothing to back up their talk. Beware

First the tower service wasn't all that great dropped calls receipents couldn't hear me . There's was a time for a whole month couldn't text couldn't even get a credit issued then cancelled then was charged then had too call get that fixed they said fixed no chared then I still get a bill for $5.93 after I was told I owed nothing wouldn't use them again n don't think anyone else should either n what they tell you at the beginning isn't what got so consumer beware if you don't want to be taken to the bank

CC ads say they have great customer service. I beg to differ. I wanted to go with CC because it's less expensive than other carriers. I wanted to keep my phone and number so I ordered the SIM card, I unlocked my phone so I could change service. After going through hassels with Target and my current carrier, I was finally connected then found I had lost my internet connection which I need. I don't have WIFI at home so the connection was important to me. So I called CC to see if I was supposed to have internet.. The girl that I talked to said the only way I can get internet through CC was to get a hot spot. I was extremely disappointed but decided to go back to my original carrier. After I paid over $100 to connect my service, I called to cancel CC. When I told the guy why, he said I should have been connected to the internet as part of my plan. Then he had the nerve to try to convince me to go back to CC. I'll only say that I was not real nice to this guy before I hung up. CC is out of my life.

I'm having a hard time believing this company is not a complete scam. My parents switched our family plan form AT&T to CC this week. First, they programmed the wrong phone number into one of the phones and we had to drive all the way across town to have that corrected—only to later find out that none of us could make or receive any phone calls, and texts were only intermittently being sent/received. Aside form being a complete hassle, it's unsafe to not be able to communicate to the outside world. The saddest part to me, is that this company targets senior citizens, who are less likely to be technologically advanced and/or may not be able to easily get around. There's no contact information on CC's website other than a sales phone number, hence this review. I want to warn as many people as possible to STAY away from this company. This company is the reason why the expression "it sounds too good to be true" was created.

My phone stopped working after a couple of months. They kept billing me. After numerous tries I finally reached their awful customer service and got insincere apologies and excuses but no help. Then they piled on late fees and refused to work with me. I am stuck for 2 months of NO SERVICE, late fees AFTER I spoke with them, no retraction of the fees when I attempted to pay, no assistance to get my payment done....just endless fogging and flimsy excuses! Most people expect to get something if they pay, besides pure aggravation and mind games. Worst company ever. AARP should be ashamed for supporting their ripoff techniques to low level ncome members. On one more phone call, I FINALLY got the late fee reversed...but the empty bills had to be paid. I paid them to go away. I still think no one should use them.

I switched from Verizon to CC about 2 weeks ago. I was thinking why pay $35 a month more for the same service, so I switched. Now I know why, service. CC was awful. They put you on T-mobile or AT&T's network, but you have lower priority than the real T-mobile or ATT customers. I was on T-mobile. Totally sub-par. Sometimes calls didn't go through, or they went straight to vmail, can't group txt, can't txt to an email address, txts sometimes took over an hour to reach their destination. I contacted customer disservice, they said it was T-mobile's fault. Then I went to WV (which isn't quite a third world country) and roaming started, on AT&T. Same garbage. Bottom line, 2 weeks was enough, this 69yo senior switched back to Verizon yesterday. Seniors, don't buy the hype.

No contracts. Advance warning if you are about to go over your data limit, with the ability to upgrade then switch back after billing. Wide array of plans.

When I started with CC, I chose to bring my own phone. First, I had to check to see if it was compatible. On their web page, after you select to bring your own phone, it asks for the brand, model etc. It said that my (AT&T) phone WAS compatible. So, I switched to CC. Only later did I discover several problems, such as not being able to attach a photo to a text, nor being unable to text or call Europe. After well over 12 calls, NOTHING has been resolved. They have recommended several times that I buy one of their phones. I don't like that, as it's akin to bait & switch, which is , of course, illegal. I will be looking elsewhere and do NOT recommend consumer cellular.

I got my SIM card yesterday, called to get the directions to plug it in, was told that after I turned the phone off and on I’d be all set. I Turned it off and on only to find a text telling me it would be 2 ½ hours before it would work. After three hours (it wouldn’t work till then), I called my brother only for the call to drop moments later. It has been over 12 hours and I still can’t make a call. If this can’t be fixed IMMEDIATELY, What do I have to do to return to Sprint? This is my ONLY phone!!!! Is this typical of what I should expect from Consumer Cingular?

My wife purchased an Alcatel Go Flip phone. After a little over two months the phone failed one night as it was charging. We returned the phone to Consumer Cellular and they denied the warranty claim saying that the phone had been damaged by water. We have no knowledge of, nor do we think the phone was ever damaged by water. Don't buy phones from Consumer Cellular because they don't honor the warranties. We're being charged for a new phone of the same make because they denied us the warranty return. Interesting thing is, my wife was told they would not honor the warranty the first time she spoke to them about the phone not working without having any idea of what could be wrong with the phone. Upon a return call insisting the phone had not been damaged they came back saying the phone was water damaged after we sent it in. How do we know they didn't damage it upon return?? It is all very fishy, and it stinks.

If possible, I would give a "0" star rating. Consumer's Cellular customer service is no better than any of the industry leaders and I believe is actually worse. I went through a week-long process to port two cellphones to CC after buying SIM Card packages in a retail store as advised by the CC web site. By the end of the week, I had been told a different story by every single CC customer service representative about when and how the data portion of the plan would be activated. In the end, CC was unable to activate the data service at all. A smart phone is no better than a flip-phone without a data plan. So I once again ported (in 1-1/2 hours) the cellphones to a leading cellular provider. I returned to the retail store and was told that I have to obtain the refund from CC. So, I called CC customer service and was told that all but the state sales tax would be refunded to my credit card in a few days after my request was submitted to accounting. 10 business days later, still no refund. So I called CC customer service again and was immediately told by THAT CC customer service rep that there is no refund on SIM Card package purchases, only credit against future service. That despite a prominent label and text on the packaging that says "100% risk free guarantee." I then asked to be transferred to a supervisor who smugly told me that the consumer agreement clearly states that there is no refund on the purchase of SIM card packages. This despite the fact that you first have to tear off the strip with the "100% risk-free guarantee" label in order to read the consumer agreement. This is clearly an immoral and illegal deceptive trade practice. I plan to find a class-action lawyer to sue CC on behalf of me and every other consumer who CC has smugly ripped-off. They are not the slightest bit embarrassed about such a deceptive trade practice.

Popularity has created ways that are too long and a myriad of service problems which may not effect seniors with flip phones but do smart phone callers. I have been attempting to gain resolution on why my Samsung s8 phones cannot call Europe while a simple flip phone on the same crier can. No one gives call backs and no one appears to have any answers. Although I was quite happy with cc years ago I c as n no longer recommend.

I have had this service for less than 3 months. The coverage is ok. The problem is they notify you when you reach 75% of your data use that they will upgrade you if you reach your data limit. They do not notify you again at 90% or at the time they are increasing your data. The data does not roll over. So, I was charged for 5 gigs, used .3 of a gig and the data did not roll over. I called them and the Rep's response was "over is over" you have to pay the $10.00. I asked to speak with his supervisor and was informed none was available and they would call me back on the next business day. I was not informed when I signed up for this service that I would not be notified when I reached my data limit or that I would automatically be charged. They do not allow for the consumer to just go with out data till the next billing cycle.

I have had Consumer Cellular for four years. Until I took a recent international trip, I was very satisfied - excellent customer service, easy to use web site and account management, good rates if you aren't a heavy data user. If you plan to travel internationally, do not even consider CC as your phone carrier. Because they don't support international texting/calling on the AT&T SIM card, which is better for where I live and travel typically, I had to swap out to the Tmobile SIM, which I did three weeks before leaving on my trip. It was a major hassle. I was told I could then swap back to the AT&T SIM upon return. When I was in Europe, the nightmare began. After using my phone on a few occasions to send/receive texts, all of a sudden I was unable to send texts or make calls. And I was unable to access the CC website, as if it was blocked. Using my partner's phone, I contacted CC and was told it was a "system failure". She said that somehow my international service had been terminated - on CC's end. The rep restored my texting while I was talking with her. It took several more hours to restore my calling. This was very disturbing since the following day I was traveling solo in Europe for another few days and couldn't trust that CC would reliably provide service. Returning to the U.S. it was a fiasco to swap out to my AT&T SIM again, and required a supervisor to resolve the problem. When I sent a letter requesting reimbursement of the significant roaming charges incurred on my partner's phone while communicating with CC to resolve the problem they caused with my phone, I was told that they do not guarantee international service because of international towers, etc., etc. None of the supervisors, nor the "resolution rep", could explain why my partner's cell phone carrier had no problem providing service on the same day and from the exact place where my CC service was inoperable. And why I could connect to his carrier's web site but not CC's web site. At no time did CC accept responsibility for the problem, despite the first rep who took my call from Europe stating specifically that somehow CC had terminated my international service and wasn't sure how/why it had happened. I will be terminating with Consumer Cellular since I will be doing more international travel in the near future. And, because they lost my trust and good faith by failing to acknowledge their responsibility for the problem I experienced.

Their marketing and website are misleading. Sure they don't have a "contract" BUT they fail to state UP FRONT that they will run your credit report and based on that information you will either HAVE to establish autopay OR ELSE...those were the words stated to me tonight by Nancy, a supervisor. The "or else" means no service...too bad, so sad. No where is this vital information stated up front. It's only after a lengthy ("friendly") conversation is the credit report asked to be run...and then the gavel strikes. Some seniors/disabled consumers feel obligated to agree to this...making it a CONTRACT. Whether Consumer Cellular agrees to that terminology or not, means nothing. Because the consumer wants the service and HAS TO AGREE to CC's DEMAND of payment type. This is NOT the why AARP touts this business, nor should it. AARP does NOT only represent the well off retiree's, they also, and should, represent the low income seniors who are living SS payment to SS payment. And sadly are easily persuaded to give their precious financial information to a stranger over the phone. Please AARP rethink this affiliation or persuade them to change this policy. Perhaps I will reconsider renewing my membership if you did and were successful. Thank you.

I have a cellular phone and have the misfortune of being a former customer and employee of this company. There IS a contract with the customer, in spite of what is told to you (see Terms and Conditions on their website). If you do NOT have AARP (their 3rd party affiliate) you are forced to arbitrate and cannot sue them, they do NOT give the REQUIRED FCRA disclosure and run a hard hit on your credit AND have permission to dive into your consumer habits and credit further, they do NOT honor the soldiers and sailors relief act for active duty military members, if they sign you up for AARP they charge $16 instead of $12 the actual AARP charges, they will increase your plan if you go over and charge you the greater rate for the whole month and you are responsible for calling to drop your plan back down again. The reps are disreputable ghetto punks and for every SIM card (or new line) they get credit for a sale (so they love switching out the SIM)and have a lowered talk time, they are held to an avg 5 minute talk time and will often hang up to meet their stats, the minute they end the call they chatter about how stupid seniors are "somebody get me some cyanide", the owner has many disgusting cartoons of seniors on his website, they fail to disclose that you CANNOT change your plan when you go over plan, the two towers they bounce off of give them lower priority than their own customers so clarity and speed are an issue (charging in full minute increments to other cos partial minutes), got to say it Verizon has the BEST reception and network out there. The whole industry is moving to embedded SIM cards that do not switch out so, with any luck, they will be gone soon. Pull up the terms and conditions on their website and call your state attorney general and the FCC and report them for consumer fraud in every state you have used their service in or bounced your signal off a tower. Troll them by calling and keeping their reps on the phone for hours. The reason they do NOT have check by phone is that, each time you do it, they have a contract and they are too cheap to pay for the software. If English is not your first language, notice they ALSO did not disclose that your complaints against them on the State website are automatically ignored since they claim it was a miscommunication (other cell companies spend money for a language line). You fought the war to end all wars, gave us tremendous changes in technology, medicine, education. For Christ sake Gates is a senior citizen. I would say to reconsider and go directly to ATT or Verizon on a plan. Also, if you call to cancel, reps used to take the hit of the cancel against their sales and WOULD FORGET TO PROCESS IT. So you might find you are still with the jerks when you thought you left long ago. So make that looonnngg call to have them explain everything that your service/phone can do and call your regulators FCC, State Attorney General, Senator, Congressman. Become proactive consumers. Dont bother with AARP, they get a cut and dont care. Dont bother with BBB who uprates companies if they respond to a complaint, not if they do anything.

Horrible!!! Tried to go from T-Mobile (very good) to Con Cellular - Horrible!!! (Reason for change, I wanted to pay less for a data plan). After inserting the Con Cell sim card into my iPhone the iPhone would not go past "Searching" mode. For 3 days, 4 hours a day, Con Cell couldn't get it to work. Con Cell manager says "Your iPhone is not compatible with our network". WHAT??? An iPhone not compatible??? She says, "You should purchase a phone from us"????? WHAT???? I said no way!!! And guess what....they locked my iPhone so I can't simply put my T-Mobile sim card in to go back to T-Mobile!!!! Holiday weekend is shot until I can try to have T-Mobile and Apple to get my iPhone back up and running. Thanks for nothing CON CELL!!! Horrible to due to a senior citizen!!! AARP should be ashamed for endorsing them.

CC has demonstrated a pattern of abusive billing practices aimed at senior citizens, myself included, who are usually less vigilant. I was overcharged by $61.60 for the month of September 2017 while I was overseas from August 22th to October 2nd and not using the service. I had requested a freeze of account on August 17. My monthly bills had never been more than $33.00 before, and the cost should remain constant since I used no data service with less than 1,000 minutes phone calls ($20.00), plus fees and taxes (less than $11.00), totaling less than $31.00. I tried to reason with CC for many times, the responses I got, however, were self-contradictory, false and absurd! On August 17, a representative stated that I could not freeze my account, and that I had to do it on the 6th of the following month when a new billing cycle was to start. On Nov 6th, I requested the termination of the service, but was told "I would like to let you know that as of November 10th your account has been cancelled. Because we will in arrears, you will receive one more invoice through today’s cancellation date". How could it be "we will in arrears"? Looked into the statements that I received, there was a charge of $23.43 for the period of Nov 7th - Dec 6th, 2016 before the service ever got started (I signed up on Dec 18th, 2016). I was then charged and paid through autopay every month thereafter. A representative in early October claimed that I was charged for $61.60 for the month of September because I changed my service level. The representative on Nov 10 claimed said that CC has been "hiring and training" and "would like to apologize for any confusion that occurred." Nevertheless, she completely ignored the issue as how to return the unwarranted charge of $23.43 for the period Nov 7 - Dec 6 2016, and the overcharge of $61.60 (September 2017). I offered to close the case if CC returns $10.00 for its overcharge. Instead, they sent me another bill at $60.24. There people are just gross!

Do not trust this company! They are a complete scam, I ordered a phone, with an unlimited plan. as soon as I got the phone I realized that their "unlimited" plan DOES NOT INCLUDE TEXT! As soon as I realized this, I called and cancelled my order, and said that I wanted to return the phone. They said that I could return it, so I packaged it right up and sent it back. The phone was in mint brand new condition. They then sent the phone back to me, and refused to accept it. They said the phone was damaged. The phone is perfectly fine. It looks like they just took a little razor blade and just made a tiny little scratch on the bottom of the phone, and now they refuse to return it! That scratch was not there when I sent it back. I never dropped it or anything! I never even used it! I just tried to send a text and then I put it back in the box to send it back. If there is a scratch on it it was either there when I got it or they put it there!

Almost impossible to close an account. They will say the account is closed and then 2-3 months later you get a bill for hundreds of dollars. This company has no ethics when it comes to keeping customers. Don't ever sign up for their service... you will regret it.

Porting had minor glitch which was quickly and efficiently resolved by great courteous well trained staff!

It took way too long to activate my phone. For example, the first rep. That I was talking to disconnect my phone . So then I called a second time and got a very pleasant and conpetent rep, Denise. But I was on the phone for over an hour,, just to activate a phone I'm not happy with the company.

Perhaps the ease of setting up the transfer of carriers and the savings that will be seen are truly incredible.

Easy online ordering. Fast delivery. Great phone, plan, and prices. A+ customer service as always!!!

The tool to take out the sim card snapped in half, and while we got two SIM cards, we only got one tool so we had to drive to a Target.