Consumer Cellular was founded in 1995 in Tigard, Oregon, by current CEO John Marick and Greg Pryor. The company operates a non-subscription/non-contract cellular phone service.
The company is best known for having no contracts. The main focus is on retirees and others with a fixed income. In 2008, the company began working with the AARP to enlarge their subscriber base. As of 2016, the company has more than 2 million regular subscribers. In 2012, the company began using SIM cards in order to add iPhones to their service. In 2015, the company exceeded $1 billion in revenue and announced in mid-2018, that they would reach 3 million customers by the end of the year. This new increase in business has caused the company to hire an additional 500 employees at their call center in Arizona.
Consumer Cellular has received numerous awards over the years, including the highest score in J.D. Power 2016 Wireless Customer Care Full Service Study, as well as the highest score in 2016 in PC Magazine’s 29th annual Readers’ Choice Awards survey. Company headquarters are located in Portland, Oregon.
Consumer Cellular was founded in 1995 in Tigard, Oregon, by current CEO John Marick and Greg Pryor. The company operates a non-subscription/non-contract cellular phone service.
The company is best known for having no contracts. The main focus is on retirees and others with a fixed income. In 2008, the company began working with the AARP to enlarge their subscriber base. As of 2016, the company has more than 2 million regular subscribers. In 2012, the company began using SIM cards in order to add iPhones to their service. In 2015, the company exceeded $1 billion in revenue and announced in mid-2018, that they would reach 3 million customers by the end of the year. This new increase in business has caused the company to hire an additional 500 employees at their call center in Arizona.
History
Consumer Cellular has received numerous awards over the years, including the highest score in J.D. Power 2016 Wireless Customer Care Full Service Study, as well as the highest score in 2016 in PC Magazine’s 29th annual Readers’ Choice Awards survey. Company headquarters are located in Portland, Oregon.
Mr. Marick,
I am having a difficult time getting your customer service organization to respond to my cell service issue. My number was taken from me, probably in error, might have been maliciously but taken just the same on March 21st, ported to Metro PCS and placed in service. I contacted my banks and credit card companies and froze my accounts immediately. Your organization told me it would take 24 to 72 hours to get the number back. It is now March 27th and I just got off the phone with one of your supervisors named Nathan who told me to be patient as this issue was being handled by someone very high up in your company. He couldn’t tell me who that was or wether not she was in today or her last name or number so that I might speak directly to her. Just be patient. So why am I emailing you? I don’t expect that you can fix this but there are a few things I would like you to hear directly from one of your customers.
1. Your people are very polite, considerate and sound empathetic when listening to me. However
there’s no ownership. No one has said, “Mr. Fahy, I hear you and I’m going to see this through
and keep you informed until it’s resolved”. What actually happens is, “Let me put you on a brief
hold while I investigate the issue and find the right person to handle it”. Sounds good, but then
I’m transferred to someone who answers saying, “this is xxxxxxx, how can I help?” So I have
to start over. Or, I get transferred back into the queue and told there is a 30 to 45 minute wait or
I can schedule a call back appointment.
2. Service commitments are important to keep, even if the news is not good. I was told this
manager who was at the top of the escalation process would call me by 6:00pm on the
25th with a status report. Well, that didn’t happen. I asked the Supervisor today if I could
speak to her and he said I don’t know if she’s in. I suggested he call her and find out.
He knew her name was Veronica but couldn’t call her. That’s quite a response for someone
working for a communications company.
3. Apparently, you have to many customers and/or to few representatives. The Pandemic
is finally in the rear view mirror so, 45 minute hold times or 56th in the queue will definitely
have customer base repercussions.
Hopefully, my experience will be a catalyst for an internal discussion with your methods and
procedures organization so that your follow up will match your politeness.
best regards,
Robert F. Fahy
Why do you cut service, without warning, when bankruptcy is filed and there is Nothing owed to you! Now I’m supposed to contact your office regarding my bill which has a zero balance. Bankruptcy was done several months ago, you reconnected and made my account automatic. No what’s the problem.
I have a ZTE home unit – it is not a consistent worker, do not know when it will decide not to work. I have made at least a call a day for the last week and after assurances each time that it is working it stops working.
Lets get some service here!!!!
Dear John Marick, CEO of Consumer Cellular:
I am demanding Consumer Cellular pay me $50,000 for endangering my life and the life of my boyfriend.
In April 2018, my top blood pressure number went up to 200. I tried to call my doctor 3 times but the first two calls dropped and the third call faded out. The fourth call went thru but my doctor’s office was already closed for the day. My doctor later informed me that with such a high blood pressure, I could have had a stroke or heart attack. Then, in June 2019, my boyfriend collapsed and fell to the floor in a loud thud. It seemed like he was no longer breathing and when I lifted his arm and let it go, it fell like a dead fish. I called 911 emergency and Consumer Cellular dropped the call. This is a matter of public record. He finally came to before an ambulance arrived and decided to visit his doctor the next day. His doctor diagnosed him with a very low pulse rate which can be very life threatening.
You also endangered my life a second time by severely crippling my ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, my county’s health department declared someone had died of COVID-19 in the county on February 6, 2020and since the disease generally takes 30 days to kill someone, the disease started circulating in my county, Santa Clara, in early January 2020. In late March 2020 and April 2020, I had some symptoms of I having a mild case of COVID-19 including swollen lymph nodes, sneezing, coughing and a runny nose. THAT MEANS I WAS RELIANT ON YOUR EXTREMELY POOR CELL PHONE SERVICE FOR A WHOLE MONTH FROM EARLY JANUARY 2020 UNTIL FEBRUARY 8, 2020, WHEN I FIRED YOUR SERVIC. WHILE A PANDEMIC RAGED THRU MY COUNTY!!!!! If I had suddenly developed COVID-19 symptoms, I could have died because my emergency call would have been dropped. HOW MANY SENIOR CITIZENS HAVE YOU KILLED IN THE LAST TEN YEARS BECAUSE YOUR EXTREMELY POOR CELL PHONE SERVICE DROPPED CALLS DURING MEDICAL EMERGENCIES? YOU OWE ME AT LEAST $50,000 FOR GROSS CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE AND ATTEMPTED NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE
From April 2014 until February 2020, Consumer Cellular dropped every other or every other call and/or the call faded out. You repeatedly defrauded me by saying “the problem will get fixed.” First you told me to do a procedure which would better connect me to AT &T’s cell phone towers. When this did not work, you told me to do the procedure again. When this still did not work, you told me you would switch me to T-mobile because “they had better service in my area.” When the T-Moblie service was also very poor, you again told me to do a procedure to connect better to the cell phone towers. I also said the service had been so poor you owed me three months of free service. You said you never granted any type of credits for any reason. When the service remained very poor, you told me to perform the procedure to connect to the cell phone towers better once again, falsely claiming new towers had been put into my area.
In February 8, 2020, after Consumer Cellular repeatedly falsely claiming they would fix my problems for close to six years, I switched to Mint Mobile. I immediately selected to have my cell phone largely run on Wi-Fi because that would reduce my data usage charges. In early May 2020, my electricity went out three times for up to six hours, shutting down my Wi-Fi down. I then had to make calls thru the cell phone towers until the electricity came back on and noted I could barely hear the people on the other end of the line when using the towers. During the second week of May 2020, I contacted Mint Mobile about the above problem. They honestly informed me that the T-mobile cell phone tower service was very weak in my neighborhood and I would have to very largely rely on my Wi-Fi when making calls from my house. I AM SURE CONSUMER CELLULAR ALSO KNEW THE T-MOBILE SERVICE IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD WAS VERY WEAK BUT DECEPTIVELY REFUSED TO TELL ME. THIS IS CIVIL FRAUD!!!!! ALSO, YOU DID NOT FULFILL YOUR LEGAL OBLIGATION TO ASSURE T-MOBILE COMPLIED WITH ITS CONTRACT WITH YOU TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE SERVICE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS.
In addition, I now have letters from over 12 people including two contractors, my doctor, my Vanguard investment advisor, friends and relatives stating you dropped every other call and/or it faded out. Vanguard is the largest manager of mutual funds and ETF’s in the United States.
The bottom line is the service you provided to me for almost six years totally sucked and you knew it sucked and could not be fixed. California has a strong Lemon Law which covers not only automobiles but all products and services sold to consumers. YOUR CONTRACT CLAUSES CAN NOT OVERRIDE COMPLIANCE WITH THIS LAW!!!! UNDER THIS LAW, YOU OWE ME A FULL REFUND FOR ALL YOUR SERVICES. YOU ALSO OWE ME AT LEAST $50,000 FOR GROSS CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE AND ATTEMPTED NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE BECAUSE YOUR CELL PHONE SERVICE IS SO POOR, IT LITERALLY ENDANGERED MY LIFE AND THE LIFE OF MY BOYFRIEND. YOU ALSO INTENTIONALLY INFLICTED SEVERE EMOTIONAL DISTRESS BECAUSE YOU KNEW YOUR SERVIE WAS EXTREMELY MALFUNCTIONING AND PUTTING ME, A PERSON OVER AGE 60 YEAR, AT RISK. FINALLY, YOU ARE HARASSING ME TO PAY FOR VERY POOR SERVICE WHICH I AM NOT OBLIGATED TO PAY UNDER THE LEMON LAW AND THIS HARASSMENT IS ALSO CAUSING ME SERVERE EMOTIONAL DISTRESS.
The above are just the extremely severe, life threatening problems Consumer Cellular caused me. The second day after I received my phone, I noted I could not send or receive images on my phone. I immediately called you stating the problem and was falsely told you would “Fix the phone by Resetting.” When this resetting did not work, I called back a few days later and demanded a replacement phone but was told “there is nothing wrong with your phone and we will not be providing a replacement.” I called back about the defective image function at least ten times more before finally writing to your headquarters office getting a reply which blatantly lied about the fact I had not immediately reported the problem and therefore a replacement was not covered by warranty. THIS STATEMENT WAS ALSO CIVIL FRAUD BECAUSE YOU BLATANLY LIED ABOUT MY NOT HAVING PREVIOUSLY CONTACTED YOU ABOUT THE PROBLEM. After receiving the letter, I called you and stated I had promptly reported the phone problem and your statement in the letter was a lie but was just told again no replacement phone would be provided!!! I subsequently called at least eight times more about the failure of the image problem and nothing was done except having me go thru the phony “reset” fix a second and third time.
As for saying I did not comply with the phone warranty, you provided no information on any manufacturer’s warranty and no return policy information was provided either. The manufacture’s name on the back of the phone is very difficult to read in tiny, faint letters and there was no model number on the phone exterior, interior or when I turned the phone on so there was absolutely no way to write or call the manufacturer or download warranty information from the manufacturer’s website. So without the above information, it was impossible for me to file a claim against the manufacturer’s warranty. NOT PROVIDING PRODUCT WARRANTY INFORMATION TO CONSUMERS IS A VIOLATION OF BOTH STATE AND FEDERAL LAW!!! I think the crappy phone you gave me also had very poor reception capabilities but you blamed the entire problem on T-mobile. I will write to T-mobiles CEO and let them know about your lies blaming them for all your cell phone service problems.
Then there are all the billing overcharges. First, I was billed $2 three times after you sent me the wrong prior year invoice three times. (Apparently, you staff cannot properly read month and year information.) This is all documented in my online, downloaded chats with you. You also billed me for a monthly base charge of $25 when my own line plan said my base billing rate was $23.75 and I have a screen shot of my monthly plan amount to prove the above statement. Under California, the above actions are also civil fraud and bait and switch. I contacted you five times about correcting the above overcharges but was told to go jump in the lake and I have also retained a copy of these conversations is downloaded chats.
The month of January 2020, I spent over 20 hours trying to get thru to customer service. The chat service put me in a line of 100 calls then dropped me over five times when I got close to the top of the line because I had been online “too long.” When I called customer service, it put me on hold for 45 minutes each time I called, some ten times. I finally elected to go with the option of getting a call back but the only return phone call time slots available were at 4:00 a.m. in my time zone, Pacific Standard Time, three days later. I believe the above is all done intentionally so you can strongly discourage customers from ever contacting customer service. When I told you I was going to file a billing dispute with my credit card company, you said if I did you would immediately suspend my account and if the credit card company overturned the charges, you would turn me over for collection. My Visa credit card happens to be thru Fidelity Investments, the second largest manager of mutual funds and ETF’s in the country and I will be writing to Fidelity’s CEO and ask them to put Consumer Cellular on its list of companies to be automatically flagged as a company engaging in overbilling and fraud. Then, Visa will question your billings and promptly side with consumers in any disputes with you. After threatened me collection if I filed a billing dispute with my credit card company, I fired you and went to Mint Mobile as fast as I could.
I know you think I am just another dumb old lady just complaining but I assure you, I will do everything in my power to stop you from further exploiting senior citizens!!!!
So glad to know I’m not the only one getting fauded
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY-EVER. PAY MORE MONEY AND GO ELSEWHERE.
There is not enough time in the day to post all of the horrible problems I have had with this nightmare of a company. I paid over $1,000. for a defective iphone. After a month+, they replaced it and to make a very long ugly story short, they now think I’m going to pay them TWICE-once for the defective phone, once for the replacement. They are truly delusional. And then the nonstop illegal harassment started. Call after call after call after call; emails galore, threats. I had to block them on my phone. They then SHUT OFF MY PHONE AND LOCKED IT. I have everything. All documented. Now they are trying to send me to COLLECTIONS to pay for their defective PHONE. Dealing with arbitration, then an attorney, then filing a BBB complaint, then making this public to thousands and thousands of people.BEWARE! cc:file/atty. keep records, you will need them for your case. 4/27/2020
I have only had Consumer Cellular service for a few months & everything was fine until I decided to switch to another carrier. Then I found out that CC put a lock on my phone; but denied it when I inquired. If I owned or even worked for this company, I’d be ashamed of myself.
Recently I rec’d my monthly email from CC. There was a yellow band at the top that said I was past due. Since I have automatic bill pay with my bank I was concerned. I checked my bank statement and found that the bill was paid and cashed on the 10th of the month. I immediately called CC and was told that I had missed 0.32 and was late. I returned to the email and found that there were threats of discontinuation of service. I looked more closely and found that I had OVERPAID by 32 cents. I called back and spoke to a man who said he would credit me with the 32 cents. He was rude and was not listening at all. He explained about taxes and other charges and still didn’t get that I had over paid. after giving this unnecessary explanation he directed me to my email bill and we looked up my actual bill. my usual bill is 34.29, which is what I paid. the bill now stated I owed 33.97. neither agent I spoke with saw this tho stated they reviewed the bill. As this man and I reviewed the bill it now showed I owed 32.82. I said I was confused and wondered what I actually owed. 32.82 he replied !!!
I told this man the reason I was actually calling was not the stupidity of the billing, 32 cents isn’t a big worry in my life, but first it was how knowledge-less the agents seemed to be but the notice of the past due bill and the threats of discontinuation of service over a 32 cent, supposedly underpayment which actually was an over payment.
I wanted to speak with someone in administration. I have a credit rating OVER 800. I am a responsible person who pays my bills. On occasion, like others I am sure, I have mistakenly missed a utility payment. The next bill comes with that amount added to this months bill. No threats to stop service. No mistaken agents who looked at the bill and courteously said not to worry just pay it next month.
May I suggest you follow that lead and clean up your accounting practices and give the sparkling customer service you so proudly profess. Don’t threaten your customers. Sure remind them if they mistakenly miss a payment or make a .32 cent mistake after several years of prompt payments. I sure would like a reply that thanks me for the suggestion.
Your company has dropped out of a market segment that is stable and profitable. The segment is flip phones aimed at seniors. You offer 2 phones now and both are unattractive. The 7050 and the Link. The Link is unremarkable and the 7050 is a loser. I have the Link and would switch in a minute. You had Doro’s before the 7050 that were great phones. Why you switched to the 7050 is a mystery. Sounds like Marketing fell asleep. The phone is unreliable, check your returns history. I am a long time customer and devoted to your company.
My fiancé and I share a family plan. Her I-Phone 6 took a bath when someone dumped a basin of water in her purse at the nail salon. Tried all the usual things to dry it out. It did not survive. We have Square Trade insurance coverage. Square Trade went back and forth refusing to cover it, changed their mind twice.
Beth is a law student and depends upon her phone. After a few days we gave our credit card to Consumer Cellular for a payment plan. Ten minutes later, Square Trade called and said they authorized payment and a new phone was on the way. Tried to cancel payment plan; was told it was too late. Received two phones at once from the same deliveryman. I put the phone with the big invoice in the return envelope and kept the Square Trade covered phone that only required a $25 deductible. In the return I included an explanation and paperwork copies.
In a few days Consumer Cellular told me all was well when I called.
Now, months later, the are billing my Visa for the payment plan. They received payment from Square Trade as well and are still billing me for Square Trade coverage. All shipments are handled by the Consumer Cellular warehouse on 29th in Portland. They say they have not received the return and cannot trace the two replacement shipments and now are telling me I need to return the waterlogged telephone and one of the replacement telephones, I purchased the waterlogged telephone out right. They are telling me it was on a payment plan and need to be returned, too. Consumer Cellular has given me poor
customer service.
I just discovered something that I think should be shared with all your employees, customers, and Consumer Cellular material that deals with Scam/Spam. I have received a short number that appears and I have had no clue who it was from. The number is 7726 with location FL! Yesterday I went online and searched out this 7726, can you guess what I found? If you are an AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint or Bell subscriber, you can report spam texts to your carrier by copying the original message and forwarding it to the number 7726 (SPAM), free of charge. Review your cell phone bill for unauthorized charges, and report them to your carrier. File a Complaint with the FTC. I tried this 7726 and the message back from AT&T, was to reply with phone number message was from, so they would know it was from me! So using 7726, I reported Spam and Blocked the number! You can find a lot of information on 7726. I think this would be a “Wow” moment for more people. So Consumer Cellular does support Reporting and Removing Spam messages with 7726 and AT&T!! Check it out, you have so much to gain with this!! Thank you, Linda L. Orr
I have no complaints about our plan it is all good, but when I referred a friend and her husband which are seniors, they have nothing but problems and get no reception and have had to pay for something that they have not been able to use, I am so disappointed that I refer a friend and that Consumer cellular hasn’t given them the customer service they deserve. Wow! will not refer anyone again if thats the way you treat seniors who just want their phones to work, and won’t work with them and make them pay for something that doesn’t work I want no part of any more praise to your company. No! more referrals
on my part.
Mrs. Welch
My complaint is this I canceled your service aug.16 my bill for July 24 to Aug 25 has been paid your company sends a bill wanting an extra 14.63 for usage for July to Aug I’m not paying your sh**ty company any more money in contacting the attorney general’s office in Oregon to report you I explained this to your customer service dept I’m getting harassing phone calls and bills demanding money I do not owe . She is mccoy
Mr. Marick,
I have to ask. What brand of phone do you use? I’m sure it isn’t the garbage phone doro which your company pedals to unsuspecting elderly customers.
My 88 year old father had this garbage phone that worked intermittently.
When I called your customer service employees, they stated a phone under warranty could not be replaced if the problem didn’t happen while they were on the phone with me.
Maybe explain what the definition of intermittently is: coming and going at intervals: not continuous.
I don’t know if your father is still with you but I hope he never has the pleasure of using this garbage phone or dealing with your awful customer service.
How would you feel sending out a elderly love one and something happens and they are unable to make a call????
I immediately took my father to Verizon today, got him a new phone and service.
I cancelled your service and took a hammer to the garbage phone.
NEVER USE THIS CELLULAR SERIVCE OR A DORO PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When thinking about a new cell phone carrier I did a lot of investigating and decided on Consumer Cellular. Big mistake. Told them I did a lot of traveling and was going to Canada, wanted to make certain I had service. Was told “yes” there wouldn’t be a problem. Got to Canada and no service. They neglected to tell me I needed a different SIM card. Needed to keep in tough with family especially when one member was in hospital. Had to use hotel phone and racked up a $137. bill. Consumer Cell would not reimburse and would not give a refund via monthly bill. I was lied to about a return phone call which I never received. Will begin investigating order carriers soon. I have nothing good to say about Consumer Cellular.
Again, these complaints must be publicized through tv consumer reporters and even local newspapers but eventually in front of a judge I too am a senior, disabled, and am gonna consider criminal charges for what this has done to my health.
Also, am incensed with AARP for not giving adequate evaluation of this awful company
This company has a policy of not resolving complaints while peddling themselves as consumer friendly. I recently filed a complaint with Massachusetts office of the Attorney General.
I fully intend to get them into court and am also considering contacting tv stations who publicize this company’s inability to resolve customer. Maybe we can file a class action suit as I will not pay their overage charges and their obstinate actions or non-action in regard to my complaints.
I have a huge complaint about Consumer Cellular. My wife and I have been to Target 4 times to get on Consumer Cellular. We have also called Consumer Cellular helpline and our previous carrier, US Cellular.
1. My wife went to Target to ask about Consumer Cellular (#1).
2. My wife and I went to sign up, waited 2 hours. I just had double knee surgery. My wife had to get a chair for me from the Outdoor Department. She stood for 2 hours. They said my wife’s phone did not work and mine did (#2).
3. The next day my wife was in much pain from standing so long, which lasted 4 days.
5. Went to Target again. Now, my phone was not working, but they said my wife’s phone would work. (#3).
6. Went home, neither phone worked.
7. Called Target and they said we could make an appointment. They said they would only concentrate on us. Only 1 person works in the Electronic Department to save money. We waited 1 hour. My husband was given a chair. I was told my phone doesn’t work, but my husband’s phone works. I was told my wife needed a new phone. We bought a new phone and the clerk did not put a SIM card in the phone. My husband’s phone did not work. His SIM card was the wrong company T-Mobile; should have been AT&T (#4).
8. Then, I called the Store Manager at Target. He said to call back, make an appointment, and everything would be taken care of.
9. We are going back (#5), handing everything in, and getting our money back (they have a 30-day money-back trial).
10. My wife called Consumer Cellular 3 times. No one could help. They had little knowledge about questions I asked, and always had to check in a book. One girl said she had a Moto Phone and knew all about those, because she had one. She said the other phone (LG) was in a different class of it’s own and too hard to use. She said my husband had to get a new phone.
11. My wife called our former provider (US Cellular). They said the phones were unlocked, but not really. I opened the phone and saw 2 SIM card slots. They are also on a different system (CDMI). When Target called US Cellular, they said the phones were unlocked.
12. Also, called U.S. Cellular another time to ask more about the phone. They were vague. I believe they don’t want to lose a customer.
Also, while at Target, each visit, we had a different employee help us. Each employee told us totally different answers. We did not know we had to bring our last bill from US Cellular and the pin code (1 employee told us).
I believe that Consumer Cellular does not train their employees correctly. I cannot believe that they have received the JD Power Awards.
We have been through so much agony over this. The ads say it is simple. My wife studied a lot on the internet about Consumer Cellular (2 days) about 4 hours each time, that she probably knows more than the employees.
After having been a satisfied Consumer Cellular customer for over 16 years, I made the mistake of purchasing a Motorola “smartphone”(NOT!) which I returned after only two weeks because it was the worst device I ever tried. I was credited OK but the new phone number assigned to it on my account was continued on my bill even after I requested in writing that it be terminated)I didn’t have the phone anymore, why would I need the phone number?) After paying the extra charge for two months in a row(or they threatened to disconnect my service) I finally sent the bill back with a letter requesting they either stop the erroneous billing and refund the two $10 wrong charges or terminate my service. SO THEY TERMINATED MY SERVICE WITH NO WARNING!! When I called Customer Service they said I had requested the service termination. NO, I had requested they stop billing me for a number I didn’t want, had never used and stop the erroneous charges OR they could cancel mu account. So, after 16 years and two wrongful $10 charges, they decided they didn’t want my business anymore. When I got nowhere with the CSR I requested to speak with a supervisor who said they NEVER refund already paid charges, even if they are wrong, but she would refer my complaint to the billing/accounting department and I would hear from them with 24 hours..That was five days ago and nothing yet. So, for a $20 wrongful charge on their part, they terminate mu service. THANK YOU VERY MUCH CONSUMER CELLULAR!!
To Mr. Marick:
May I ask you a simple question first? What phone carrier do you use I’m sure it isn’t Consumer Cellular. After spending almost 6 hours in my local Target Store having multiple 3 way phone calls with Verizon and Consumer Cellular I ended up having to port back my phone number back to Verizon. As Clint Eastwood would say it was a real “Cluster _ _ _ _”. You business practices are so despicable and deceiving it is amazing you are still in business. I find it hard to believe that your company has not figured out what phones other then yours are able to be ported over to C.C. network by now. Your customer service department told me most smart phones will work but we can’t guarantee that your phone will work on our network is a bunch of cow manure. I’m sure my Verizon Samsung Galaxy 7V was the first one your company has ever had come in. Here is the kicker. You know which phones can be changed and which ones can’t but you fail to disclose that information. I will be blunt I lost a days work, missed a job bid and a meeting yesterday do to your deceptive business practices. I have a 4 year B.S. degree in Business and Marketing from a major university if you have one the B.S behind yours stands for something else. One more thing do you know what Bait and Switch means? So I will be writing an extensive letter to my State Attorney General’s Office in Salem this weekend. That you can count on! Since you reside in Portland you should here from Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum soon.
Good Luck!
BK
consumer cellumar ,,,this is a mess ,I have been without a phone for 3 days going on 4 & I have to get in contact with consumar cellular co. with my computer only I found out they don,t give a damn if I ever get a phone back , I wish I had recorded all the excuses they gave me ,they even told me they might have changed the type of signal they are using & I might have to get all new phones they said it may take a couple of weeks to find out,,they made up so many lies its unbelievable what all they told me ,they just wanted me to go away ,,but this has happened before ,they told me then they don,t have repair people or trucks,but they are hiring a lot more people to work ,,,that is the type of mco. the GOVERNMENT should step in on ,,all the false adds on TV & lies they put out ,lots of STATES WON,T LET THIS GO ON this whole company is a FRAUD FROM THE WORD go
I bought the service for my 93 year mother and a phone. Verizon had to port the line over. It did not work, even when Verizon said it would port at 4pm. Consumer cellar said there was a problem with my pin code (it worked early when I called them). Didn’t port. Called the next day and talked to three consumer cellar folks and 3 Verizon. Still couldn’t fix it so Consumer cellar said they would escalate it and get it resolved; five days later, nothing. So when I call they tell me Teen Mobil would have the account and they will escalate it to them.
TEEN MOBILE; they suck. But if I wanted to change it to ATT I would have to go to Target buy a sims card and call them back, but only after the port problem is resolved. SMH! A 93 year old woman is depending on that phone and they want me to run a triathlon course for service. I am not joining a Iron Man challenge just trying to get a phone!!!!! Do not waste my time and folks do not waste yours. Get a trac phone at Wal-mart or Target they will set it up for you.
I am fed up with Consumer Cellular service and customer service “representatives”. Strange that a company which makes its income from telephone conversation won’t engage in that very thing when you can’t get a number of problems resolved after 3 days of CS reps ineptitude. Want to talk to someone who can understand my frustration and disgust as well as correct the problems. The only solution they give is to spend another whole day writing the story on paper and send it in. Seems they really don’t care about CS but, rather protecting themselves from and customer upset. Would nor recommend them.
Sirs.
I have an ALLY device I purchased November 2018, I have been paying the $25.00 monthly charge for it since November, However it seems the device has never worked, the man wearing it fell and tried to contact Numera last week and it was then we found that the device was never connected with the responding company.
I have been trying since Friday to get it activated but I have heard every excuse they can dream up, it still does not work.
I have talked to Numera at least three times, they tell me all they need Consumer Cellular to fax them the IME no. but CC seems to have every excuse in the world for not faxing it. I have called Consumer Cellular chatted with Consumer Cellular until I am blue in the facer buy the AYYL device still device still does not work,
CAN SOMEONE AT CONSUMER CELLULAR HELP ME?
Consumer cellular was fine to open basic service for my grandson, but when you try to cancel, they take advantage. for $1.94 in charges AFTER I closed my account because I transferred my number to another carrier! when you call to explain, they could care less, I just get harassment and more fees. When you try to resolve it they wont get management and they hide their corporate phone numbers and email! They only offer an address in Portland to write them a letter…this is 2019! , meanwhile more fees…so far its up 700% in several months. STAY Away and if your on a limited income, RUN away!!!
Wondering why Consumer Cellular has not pushed Apple to upgrade your network for use with the new Apple Watches with GPS + Cellular? Presently only the 4 Major carrier networks are allowed. Please look into getting your network/system upgraded.
Since you have changed to unlimited talk and text I have had such HORRIBLE service, first it always has been about the data. I have a lab top computer at home that I pay for and use daily, so I do not need that service on my phone. I only use my phone for talking and texting !!!!!! My children send me pictures of my Grandchildren at various times and I look at them and used to download them to my phone. I was told many times by Consumer Cellular that downloading the pictures was using up my data, so now I do not do any downloading but my data keeps going up. I turn off my data whenever I am not doing a family chat and turn it back on when I do. I cannot afford to be put into a $30.00 pay bracket, and it seems like that is what continues to happen and I am not sure why. I was very satisfied with consumer cellular at the being but I am not anymore, and I have used this company since November 12 2016. Of course I will look for another cell phone company, and I realize just one person will not make a dent but I will not recommend your company to anyone I know. Thank you
My husband and I have been customers of CC for several years. I recently needed to upgrade my phone and it has been nothing but headaches. The first phone I received had issues from the beginning. First, it did not have the right SIM card, so I had to move the SIM card from my old phone to the new one and then I had to be without service for 48 hours while the SIM card was activated. Then I had issues with receiving notifications on the phone. I was on the phone with CC everyday for six days straight until I finally got them to agree to send me a new phone. It took over a week to get the new phone and I also had issues with activating it. I then returned the first new phone in the original packaging and was charged by CC for the returned phone which they claim was damaged. When I shipped the phone back it was in excellent condition as I had only had it for two weeks. This is a very untrustworthy company. Even more disturbing is that their marketing is directed toward senior citizens – the people who can least afford to be ripped off. We are canceling our service. I only hope others will find this website before they sign up CC. Save yourself a lot of trouble and money.
Good morning Mr. Marick
Love Consumer Cellular. I have a problem and a suggested solution. My phone number is 541 914-XXXX if you would like to look at my account. We are on the unlimited with 20 GB of Data. Our billing period runs the ninth of the month through the eighth of the next month. This last month(Nov – Dec), we received a notice that we had exceeded our 20 GB on 12/7 and our speed was being decreased. I immediately checked our usage on your web sight and it showed around 18.8 GB used. I call customer service and they verified the amount as being 19.1 GB used. The next day I called customer service again as it was still slow. I again checked our account on line and now it showed around 18.2 GB used. This with virtually one day left till our account reset. I called customer service again and I spent a good 30 to 40 minutes trying to explain the situation. I ended up asking to speak to a supervisor. She spent the next 10 minutes trying to get one and finally said one would call me within 2 hours. A gentleman called about 45 minutes later. The result was he explained it was all computer run and generated and they have to account for data usage which may come in later.
Here is what I feel is the problem. I have a 20 GB plan. With a day and a half left and almost 2 GB remaining, our speed was slowed. The supervisor on the eighth said that the speed is slowed down at 18 GB no mater the date or time to allow for any data to come in from non AT&T towers. Our total usage on my bill ended up being just a bit over 18.5 GB. There result for me is slowed speed for a day and a half and 1.5 GB of data unused. I assumed the $40 for 20 GB of data means I’m paying for all 20 GB. If I am close as with this last month every month, I don’t see how I will ever use all 20 GB and will have to suffer with slow speed for 1 to ? days.
Suggested Solution – My example is an example of what can happen with the existing policy. From what I gather, the policy is up to 26 GB allowed ( $40 first 20, then $5 for each afterwards, and shut off at 26. If this is the case, may I suggest full speed up to 20 GB recorded usage on the account and then slow the speed. Any further usage and pending usage would fall into the $5 per GB category.
What I would like to see is my being able to agree to have full speed up to 23 or 24 GB then slow the speed to 26 GB and shut off at 26. Unless you are loosing money at $5 per GB it only means more income for you if customers go over the 20 GB. You could still make the current set up available to customers that want that type of control.
Thanks for your time.
Brian D. Parker (retired)
my experince with consumer cellular is one of the worst dealings I have ever had with any service I had purchased.I purchase cell phone service and after one day of service, the phone they sent me would not connect to a network. After talking to customer service and having to talk to them for hours they could not restore service to the cell phone, but could not even tell me what the problem was that kept my phone from having service. after 2 days of talking to them and listening to double talk they could not restore service to my phone. ultimately I had to cancel the contract with consumer cell. What a nightmare. Could not speak to manergers, told they were not available. Do not deal with this company. terrible problem solving policies.
Mr. Marick, I do no understand how JC Powers could give Consumer Cellular multiple awards. I have not been able to send or receive E mails on my Consumer Cellular phone since July 2018. I visited Three Target stores and spent many frustrated hours trying to get help to no avail. Target is more interested in selling clothing, Housewares and other retail items. It is a waste of time going to Target for Consumer Cellular service. I have also tried over the telephone to get service direct from Consumer Cellular representatives. They the service people blame my internet carrier cablevision . The straw which broke the camels back For the longest time my bill has been $45.45 per month. While my wife was in Cancer Rehab I used my phone more frequently than usual. Some how I went over the data minutes and my monthly bill was increased to $55.00. Since for the longest time I have received only partial service I called Consumer Cellular and a supervisor told me I would have to pay the extra charge and there was nothing she could do about it. So much for good customer service. Before the end of the month I will look into switching to another cell phone provider like T Mobile or Verizon.
William Panza
I called Consumer Cellular today to cancel service for my brother’s cell phone as he passed away yesterday.
Despite being told my brother had DIED, not one, but two, Customer Service representatives attempted to sell me additional service and/or give me the option of switching the phone service to another individual.
Additionally, while the bill was on auto pay and therefore a payment has NEVER been missed I was reminded that I would owe money at the end of the billing cycle and asked if I wanted to pay it while on the phone.
These two young men could not get past the fact that they must sell additional services, no matter what the circumstances. The lack of empathy on the part of Consumer Cellular is beyond disgusting.
My husband and I will also be canceling our own Consumer Cellular service, despite our being very much alive.
I have had service with your company for over 10 years. My wife had a trip to China and I asked if the service could be provided while she was there. The answer was yes, I had to convert her phone from AT&T to T-Mobile. That I did and had International service set.
She is there for 5 weeks and needs her phone while there because of her business, she is a real estate agent. I was told that her international service could only be billed in $50 increments. Paid up $100 and wanted to pay for extending her service, now I find out that a $100 Max international billing is allowed in a billing cycle. Your company has misrepresented your services. Your company has lied to me. I now see why you hide your corporate phone numbers. I suspect that you really dont give a flying ____ about me or my lousy experience.
It took one month to transfer my number to my new carrier. I was on hold for up to 55 minutes multiple times. I was told by CC my carrier did not know how to transfer my number. I was told to use the last four of my s.s, some 4 number code never given me, but each time the transfer failed. I finally got through to a manager who finally transferred my number. I told them to take me down to $9.95 and no data since I would not use the cell phone. I was still charged $24.00 plus $30 late fees, and now first time in my life I went to a collection agency because I refused to pay a bogus bill. They billed me now $70 rather than the $5.00 I might owe. By the way there were 51 minutes of phone time on my last bill. They will not arbitrate, but decided to kill my credit for their incompetence.
I keep seeing and hearing on TV ALL of the great awards for customer service by this company. While they DO have some great phone plans, their customer service SUCKS !!! Most recently it took SIX phone calls to rectify a simple Voice Mail set-up issue. Additionally ……… I purchased a new IPhone and they installed the WRONG SIM card and NO ONE gave me any instructions on how to install the new one. I was forced to take the BUS to an Apple store to get the SIM card installed. When the tech at the Apple store showed me how simple it was , I was very angry because Cons. Cell. COULD have told me this simple procedure over the phone. There have been many other tech issues and I am also wondering WHY this company did away with any Customer Service Email ??!!! EVERY corporation in America has this service. I don’t have time to wait a 1/2 hour or MORE for a chat session or to talk on the phone. When I wanted to relay some simple info. to the company ………………. they made it VERY difficult AND time consuming. BAD customer service …………… BAD !!!
Update to my previous email, my account for $24.00 (should have been the minimum)$9.95) $40.00 in late fees have been sent to the collection agency. I will continue to fight Consumer Cellular predatory billing practices. I will contact Better Business Bureau in Oregon, again, and Federal Consumer Protection Agency. I will be writing AARP as well to lodge my formal complaint.
I have tried without success to find out why I keep getting threatening invoices from Consumer Cellular (your credit will be ruined, this is your last warning etc) after it took me thirty days to transfer my number to my new carrier. Even AT&T could not successfully transfer my number. Yes, it would be quick to just cancel, but I wanted to keep my number.
I cannot tell you how many times I was put on hold for over 40 minutes, and then when answered, hung up on. This is the worse cellular service ever. The last month I tried to transfer my number, I did not use my phone for anything example calls, texts, data. It was a nothing item, still, consumer cellular scam still billed me for nothing. I asked multiple times to prove the airtime was used, but they cannot. They just send emails with invoices minus details. I asked for arbitration which has to be granted by law, but nothing. I can pay the bill, but it is the principal. I hate being threatened. My credit score is 817. Thank you for the venting. I shall do this complaint at every opportunity.
I want to start this off by saying, I am a loyal Consumer Cellular customer and have been for a lot of years. So, I am not complaining, ok, maybe a little bit, but more than that I would like to know how/why my phone did what it did. After about eleven days of absolutely no service on my phone service, being sent 2 SIM cards thru the mail, and chatting with your people on a phone for what seems like hours, on several occasions, it may be fixed. I am waiting the arrival of the 2nd new SIM Card which will allow my phone to work off a T-Mobile tower. But, another thing, while it was being decided if my phone is under warranty to replace, I mentioned that one of the things I did was to put my grandson’s sim card into my phone to see if it would work, it did. So, further checking was done and it was found that my grandsons phone (shares my plan) works off of a T-Mobile tower and mine worked off of a AT&T tower and has for years. In other words, my phone on its own, changed from an AT&T cell tower to a T-Mobile tower. How could this have changed without anyone knowing this. Will it happen again.
Geraldine Martinez
509-771-XXXXX
P.S. Received new Sim Card, it works, I now have phone service again.
I want to start this off by saying, I am a loyal Consumer Cellular customer and have been for a lot of years. So, I am not complaining, ok, maybe a little bit, but more than that I would like to know how/why my phone did what it did. After about eleven days of absolutely no service on my phone service, being sent 2 SIM cards thru the mail, and chatting with your people on a phone for what seems like hours, on several occasions, it may be fixed. I am waiting the arrival of the 2nd new SIM Card which will allow my phone to work off a T-Mobile tower. But, another thing, while it was being decided if my phone is under warranty to replace, I mentioned that one of the things I did was to put my grandson’s sim card into my phone to see if it would work, it did. So, further checking was done and it was found that my grandsons phone (509-771-3374) works off of a T-Mobile tower and mine worked off of a AT&T tower and has for years. In other words, my phone on its own, changed from an AT&T cell tower to a T-Mobile tower. How could this have changed without anyone knowing this. Will it happen again.
Geraldine Martinez
509-771-XXXXX
P.S. Received new Sim Card, it works, I now have phone service again.
I have had this happen as well. WHY can’t we ….those of us in bad service locations …get better tower service ??!!
Mr. J.Marick
My name is Charles Stephens. I am aware that you will probably not be reading this, some assistant will. My treason for writing you is that I am terribly dissatisfied with your service and customer service. Everyone I talked with by email had no idea of what the total issue was.
Now I want my phone to work. I think that I can make and receive calls but when I try to access my email I get the error that I am not on line.
FIX MY PHONE. DON’T TRY TO CALL I HAVE NO FAITH IN THE SYSTEM. SEND ME AN EMAIL
Charles Stephens
cellular; all of a sudden my cell phone went dead cannot call would like to send u my phone is this the way to do it ??tried every thing but nothing works my onfo : John Potts Blakeslee Pa. 18610 email jpjp135@ exede.net or pottz98@ outlook.com i have NO phone service that is working hopeing for quik reply.
I have called and called and called. And no reply. I left my phone number 3 times and no one returned the call.
I just opened an account and the information on the phone number I wanted to port was given incorrectly. The account number is 103419178 I am going to call my credit card company and have them refuse charges unless someone returns my call. I have emailed I have done everything possible to reach someone to no avail.
The account needs to be closed before anything is sent to me I am very dissatisfied with your customer service. PLEASE CANCEL THE ORDER FOR ACCOUNT NUMBER 103419178.
PLEASE for over 2 months I’ve tried calling and have waited AS LONG AS OVER 2 HOURS and still no answer. I have my cell phone with you that is my main phone and bought it from you less than 6 months ago and the battery is out. PLEASE I need your help to get a new one.
Judy Wolf
They have VERY few techs that KNOW what’s going on. SIX phone calls to fix my Voice Mail issue !!
PLEASE SEND MY ZERO -0- BALANCE OF MY CLOSED ACCOUNT;
100177986 Confirmation # 40333474258
vocal clerk told me -0- balance BUT I CANNOT GET A ZERO INVOICE.
THANKS
Friday evening, August 4, I was in a hurry paying bills, and when I paid my Consumer Cellular bill via First Tennessee Bank online, I did not depress the PERIOD key and I then realized that I had paid $3,828 for my $38.28 monthly bill.
I tried to edit the amount but the payment was made electronically by FT before I could determine how to edit. I tried to call both FT and CC but could never get a live person. I sent several emails, which were not answered over the weekend.
This week we were able to speak with two CC consumer service representatives — one nice, one not so nice, and they say I have $3789.72 credit with Consumer Cellular. I don’t want 100 months of paid up CC service, I want the excess $3789.72 returned to me so I can pay other bills. One CC representative said they cannot use a wire transfer to return my money to my bank account. Also, they would have to “investigate” this request and that may take up to three weeks! What is there to investigate — my bank sent them my money and Consumer Cellular has it. Than, if they return my money it would be by paper check not electronically, although they have my bank routing number and my bank account.
I made a stupid senior mistake, not depressing the PERIOD/DECIMAL key, now I am paying for it big time and without CC assistance. This could happen to anyone, especially older customers. My advice: avoid Consumer Cellular. My service has been good for years, but keeping my $3,800 is a major breakdown in service. Other complaints will be lodged with federal and state consumer protection officials if I don’t receive my money soon.
If all you need is BASIC service, Consumer Cellular is fine. However, if things get a little technical, then it is not so fine. There are layers of staff to plow through; supervisors not much better versed in the product then the front line phone representatives. To call your people liars is a little too bold. However, they DO NOT know the product or the services. All they do is obvious read off a script on their computers. The customer then makes ill informed decisions, which costs them money. Consumer Cellular doesn’t care; they are the ones making the money.
YES !!! I found this to be SSOOO true !
steve at therisingchurcharvada.org w: (303) 422-XXXXX, (303) 420-XXXXX.
Your customer service has been horrible. You have blocks everywhere so the customer is not allowed to talk with someone who can actually help. You’ve blocked your corporate number so no one can talk with anyone there. Promised help doesn’t call back. I get disconnected either intentionally or intentionally when the call is transferred. You’ve lost the lock numbers on my phone. I’m stuck with a phone I can’t use because you didn’t follow apple protocol. I need someone from CORPORATE to call me.
AND they have done away with Customer Service Email !! BAD decision !!!! BAD !!
What is he address in Pittsburgh I can mail my check to?
Thank you
Barbara Sorin