Consumer Cellular is a bad choice

It's now been over 5 years of bad reviews of Consumer Cellular, yet AARP hasn't ended their endorsement of the crooks at Consumer Cellular. I'm still dealing with a lowered credit score due to Consumer Cellular's greedy business practices. I've just informed AARP that I'm going to cancel my membership if they can't get this resolved. Maybe they will reconsider their Consumer Cellular affiliation if those wronged by Consumer Cellular cancel thier AARP memberships. With all of the horrible CC reviews, why do AARP members persist in considering CC as a viable carrier? I don't know how much money AARP earns on thier association with CC, but they should be ashamed of what they are doing. How much longer does this have to go on before AARP ends the harm it is doing to its unsuspecting members by the greed and incompetance of CC??? It was over four years ago that I was harmed by CC and the anger is still marinating. This experience leads me to believe that AARP doesn't care about thier members or their brand.

Hello all,

I keep reading some sad stories from senoirs and prior clients and iwould like to let everyone know some truths and facts about Consumer Cellular as a previous employee.

Consumer Cellular primarily runs on AT&T's network (and in some areas T-Mobile's network). The representatives are hourly employees with commission opportunities, and the sales environment is heavily focused on selling add-ons. Representatives are trained and pressured to sell seniors products such as fall detection devices, smartwatches, accessories, protection plans, and other services.

Some other concerns I want to mention for anyone considering Consumer Cellular or who currently has service: if you ever see a representative's computer while they're assisting you, you'll notice your account includes an internal customer rating or score. Every customer is evaluated using internal metrics.

A lot of representatives are focused on commission, and many can make thousands of dollars through aggressive sales and by heavily pushing additional products and services. While there are many honest employees who genuinely want to help customers, the sales pressure is real.

From my experience, the company places a strong emphasis on sales numbers, performance metrics, and meeting quotas. Representatives are closely measured on their performance, and that pressure often carries over into customer interactions.

If you read employee reviews online, you'll also see recurring complaints about micromanagement, constantly changing performance expectations, heavy sales pressure, high turnover in some locations, and a stronger focus on metrics than customer satisfaction.

I also think it's fair for consumers to ask questions about endorsements. AARP has promoted Consumer Cellular for years, and many seniors trust that recommendation. I believe consumers should do their own research, read customer and employee reviews, understand the phone unlocking policy, and compare other carriers before assuming an endorsement means the experience will be right for them.

My advice to anyone considering Consumer Cellular is simple:

• Read the phone unlocking policy before purchasing a device.
• Review every add-on before agreeing to it.
• Ask for a complete breakdown of your monthly bill.
• Don't let anyone pressure you into making a decision during the call. Take your time and make sure you understand exactly what you're paying for.

This post reflects my personal experience as a former employee along with concerns that have been raised repeatedly by other employees in publicly available reviews on glassdoor but i recommend people look elsewhere as consumer cellular has high turnover and high turnover means they dont care.

Consumer Cellular does NOT give good customer service!  No store in our area now sells their phones or gives you service.  They discontinued Target after I purchased the phone through them.  This is no longer a good phone service for seniors and AARP needs to discontinue their support of them!!!

I make AARP , Responsible of this situation. Consumer cellular are not ELDERLY FRINDLY  at all. 

they are misleading people on buying something that is going to obsoleted in 6 month. 

You are Right. They  steal from we the elder. I bout a GRANDPAD on 05/15/25 and 6 month later I can activated it because is not useful no more and have it for 6 month only, today I took the time to see if i can talk to them , but they make an issue just because i give only the my mom first name and no the second name, so they blocked me from doing accessing her account?? now wwe got stocked with a Grandpad that is no good at all. 

Tbh the “cancel anytime” thing feels pretty misleading when the phone’s basically locked to them for 6 months. Always worth checking the unlock policy before signing up, learned that the hard way too.

Consumer Cellular has been extremely disappointing to deal with. After closing my account, I was initially informed via email that my final balance would be $2.40. However, this later changed to $17.03, with the explanation that billing is processed one month behind.

The lack of clear and consistent communication throughout this process has been very frustrating. Based on this experience, I do not plan to return to this company in the future ever again, and I will say:  STAY AWAY

we have been with consumer with 20 + years.   have just through 5 days of hell . 

don't purchase their phones on line and don't purchase phones over the phone.  

customer service has gone into the toilet.   had to get corporate office involved and

was told I expect too much, too high expectations on trying to get it shipped,  in a nut shell ended up purchasing a phone at a store.   now a new process to get our money back.  good thing we can have help with the finanacial institution for the card.     again buyer be ware.

Consumer Cellular did not honor a stop payment issued by my bank (that screwed up my billpay- which I caught in 3 days), then they suspended my account 2 weeks after I paid the bill (which was paid 2 weeks ago immediately upon discovery of screw up), then demanded my birth date before they would "reinstate' my account. An account that should never have been suspended according to their own records! What **bleep**! Supervisor "Rob" was particularly arrogant A-hole. BTW, I am a 20-year customer!

  I have been using Consumer Cellular for over 10 years and have no complaints.  I buy phones separately (can find better deals on ebay) and have auto pay set up with a credit card.  Never an issue with phone usage or billing.  Would that everything in life would run as smoothly.