Complaint Review: Walmart Family Mobile - Nationwide

I bought a Wal-Mart Family Mobile SIM card for a specific use in traveling. The associate at Wal-Mart who sold it to me assured me that it would be suitable for my purpose.  When I got home and read all the fine print on the paperwork, I saw that was not true, and the SIM card would not work for me, so I immediately called Family Mobile.  They said I had 14 days to return the SIM card with absolutely no charges accruing on my account.  I returned the SIM card the next morning and got a refund from Wal-Mart.

Several weeks later, I got a bill from Family Mobile.  I called the customer service number listed on my bill and was told that they didn't have any record of my mobile number or my account number, and they said that I shouldn't be be getting a bill because it's a pre-paid service.  But I DID get a bill.  They kept talking about a 'migration' to Trac Phone, and said they didn't have my records.  I explained to them that I had the bill in my hand, and the instructions on the bill gave me a phone number to call for questions about the bill.  This is the number I had called.  If that wasn't the right number, could they give me another one?  No.  They could only give me the same number I already had.

They told me that in order to check further, they needed my PIN number.  I don't have a PIN number, since I never used the phone. Next, they wanted the serial number off the card.  How could I get the serial number off the phone if I returned it?!  

I called 4 times and spoke to 5 different people, including a supervisor.  The supervisor told me that there shouldn't have been a bill; to just ignore it and there would be no bill the following month.

The following month, I got a past due bill.  I called again.  Somehow, I was transferred to a person in Honduras who supposedly had my account info. Again, they asked for my non-existent PIN number, and said that without it they couldn't help me.  Then they told me to go back to the Wal-Mart store, which I had already done, and get their 'dealer code'.  I refused because I knew that would just be another dead end, and I insisted on doing a 3-way call with the Family Mobile rep and my Wal-Mart store.  Good thing, because as I suspected, it was a dead end.  The Wal-Mart person was not allowed to give out the dealer code, even to Family Mobile.  I asked him to see if his supervisor would authorized him to do that, and we finally got a dealer code.  But that wan't enough.  Next, Family Mobile wanted a 'token and passcode'.  Because of the ‘migration’, Wal-Mart no longer has access to the computer system which contained the 'token and passcode'.  Since Family Mobil has migrated from T-Mobil to Trac Phone, they use a different computer system, and they don't have token and passcode info anymore.

The latest advice I got from the Family Mobile rep was to send an email, and it could be resolved that way.  I highly doubt that an email will resolve it if a supervisor can't, but I will have to try.

I tried finding a number to call the corporate office and speak to somebody there, but so far it has been impossible to find.  Everything I find keeps referring me to the same customer service number where I can get no help.

This has not been resolved.  I would ignore it, because it's a small amount of money, but I don't want them ruining my credit over an unpaid bill.

Please, please, pay attention to all of the very similar complaints that you read about Family Mobile.  I wish I had listened!  If you keep the phone and find that the service meets your needs, maybe you’ll be ok, but if you ever want to cancel, or need customer service, expect a nightmare.