TracFone

February 2009. In large user surveys of prepaid cell-phone plans and service, J.D. Power and Associates polled about 3,000 users, and PC Magazine gathered opinions from nearly 20,000 of its readers. Top review sources include PrepaidReviews.com, whose editors compare and rank prepaid wireless plans; the site also posts user comments. Amazon.com also has user reviews of a few prepaid plans. While Consumer Reports polls about 52,000 magazine subscribers, it covers only national carriers.

In customer surveys, TracFone receives high scores for call quality, pricing, plans options and low-cost phones, placing second to Virgin Mobile in the PC Magazine Reader Survey. Subscribers in the J.D. Power survey give TracFone a top ranking for call quality, and it ties for second place for overall customer satisfaction alongside Cricket Wireless and Virgin Mobile. TracFone does not fair as well in cost of service. Its prepaid plans start at $10 for 50 minutes, while Virgin Mobile offers 200 minutes for $20 - half the price. Additional bundles of 50 minutes (*est. $10) and 100 minutes (*est. $20) can be purchased directly from your phone, but unused minutes roll over only if you add more minutes before you run out. TracFone also has reasonably priced phones starting at about $10, but reviews give it low ratings for its choice of handsets. Customers posting comments at PrepaidReviews.com aren't impressed: After more than 500 customer reviews, TracFone has an average 2.5 rating on a five-star scale, due in large part to complaints about customer service.