Consumer Cellular is a bad choice

International roaming is terrible. First time, they mailed me a new SIM card to use when I went to Korea it didn’t work. Had a friend in US call and they said I had to turn on the phone near a U.S. cell tower. Didnt tell me this before I left. Then a few months ago I went to Italy. Couldn’t access my voice mail. Was on the phone with them and it couldn’t be solved. If you have the overseas travel bug, switch to T Mobile or Verizon.  

ZERO STARS!!! Called to cancel service on July 5 and was charged for August. This raised due amount from $67 to $108. RIDICULOUS!!! BEWARE IF YOU NEED TO CANCEL SERVICE!!! 

Consumer Cellular is either the WORST most poorly run cellphone service or just deliberate deadbeat threatening lying illiterate  thieves & Cons…

Cancelled my account back in April 2025 with tje help & witness of the Manager of my Xfinity Store..took 2 wks for some woman in UTAH to push a button to finalize!!! Paid the April

bill & May.. also just to

make sure all was finished. Have their statement saying Account Closed!! But they have kept billing me for service I don’t have & now threatening me with “collection..” Prepared to charge them with Criminal threat & Attempted Robbery/,Extortion & make it as public as possible.. to warn Folks about this.,Google Consumer Cellular & discover they have a HUGE number of highly questionable BILLING complaints as well as other problems!!! WARNING!! 👹👹👹👹👹

Consumer Cellular is a bunch of scam artists.

Four business days before the bill closing date I notified them of my intent to leave. They gave me two transfer pins, which I immediately passed on to the new carrier.

Consumer Cellular then sat on the transfer untill the billing cycle closed.. and then released the two lines to the new carrier.

Consumer Cellular's unlimited data plan isn't unlimited.

I'm paying less with the new carrier than I was paying consumer Cellular for more service. I've got home internet, unlimited mobile data, and two lines for less money.. and I bumped up to 5g besides.

I'm never going back to consumer Cellular.

 Every states has different taxes and fees.  The fed has charges above that.  Get over it.  I still saved 50% over my AT&T bill.  I still have the same coverage.

I am not receiving any group messages. I am missing a lot of individual messages. Their technical service is useless. Rep in the store suggested to go to another provider as CC servers are prone to problems. after multiple attempts they couldn't resolve my issues and I am switching to t-mobile.

Lower monthly cost if you use plans frugally. However, horrendous customer service if you want to cancel your service. I was a customer for 11 years and when I cancelled my service on October 2025 - all lines were ported out, but they billed me until December. I called and asked and they said just because line were ported out didn't mean service was cancelled. Basically they charged me 2 extra months for no service at all. Very disappointed!! Be careful they will get more money one way or other.

I have been with consumer cellular for about 2 to 3 years.
Bought a new phone for the wife $180 Motorola power.
Phone comes up for sale for $150 3 weeks later,asked if they would credit my account for the 30 dollar difference,
They said I can send the new phone back and they will sel l me the $150 phone.WTF ,what kind of service is that?
Do not use Consumer cellular they have lousy customer service

With every new or replacement phone now coming direct from CC via UPS 2nd day air, why would anyone go to Target any more?
Many years ago, when upgrading to a new phone, it was delivered with a SIM card for T-Mobile network which has poor reception in my area. Consumer Cellular apologized when I complained that we had always had ATT network, and apparently henceforth I need to explicitly tell them ATT when I order a new phone. (We have had many phones from them for over ten or 15 years, for all our family members and have been 100% pleased with their *American English* customer service and their pricing.) CC said their coverage map showed we should do equally well with ATT or T-Mobile, but all I had to do was go to a nearby Target store to have the replacement ATT SIM card swapped.
Since then, phones use an eSIM (embedded SIM) which is a digital SIM card built into your device, eliminating the need for a physical plastic card; it stores your carrier info digitally, allowing for easy online plan activation, carrier switching, and the convenience of using multiple numbers on one compatible phone, offering benefits like enhanced security and space-saving for manufacturers. I have no idea why you would go to WalMart for a SIM card; only Sears and Target sell and service CC's phones. Well unless you were wanting an "unlocked" phone so you could jump around between cell phone service providers.

Update 1-18-2026

I received a call from Joshua N from Consumer Cellular today. I always record all of my calls since history shows that most companies are unscrupulous. That includes Consumer Cellular, and as I found out in this call, so is AARP.

Joshua told me that "Once you remove a line or close your account, you are NOT eligible for the $10.00 discount per our agreement with AARP." That includes your final bill when you have only 4 days left. So Consumer Cellular pins this problem on AARP. No adjustment, no credit, no apology. Joshua N. may be reached at: 888.345.5510 or 971.478.0445. - Not that it will do you any good.

He told me that this call was required because I filed a complaint with BBB.org. I let him know that there is another complaint with the Michigan State Attorney General. He said he will be calling me again for exactly the same resaon. Basically, go to hell.

Dealing with a disreputable company such as Consumer Cellular was one thing, but to be informed that this policy was due to an agreement with AARP is at the very least, disheartening.  Any future support of AARP is now in question.

Jim Todd