Question about tracfone promotional codes

[The_Otaku]

I have a tracfone cellular phone and use their pre-paid phone cards. Occasionally, they will send me (either directly to the phone or my e-mail, and rarely in the mail) promotional codes good for free bonus minutes. The free minutes they will offer you range from 10-60, usually. I don’t know whether this process is random (it seems like it is), but I do seem to notice that when they give you a freebie, they only want to give you more minutes for the higher cards. In other words, you’re not as likely to get a promotional code good for 60 free bonus minutes unless you buy one of the intermediate to expensive cards.

I guess this is their way of rewarding the customer who buys lots of minutes. However, they are pretty stingy with the bonus minutes and don’t give them out often.

Not too long ago, I came across sites online that list all the current and valid promotional codes tracfone is offering. I can’t remember whether I was told about it or whether I found them on my own. Anyways, these sites list all the valid codes for bonus minutes, and not only that, but they categorize them by the bonus minutes per the card you bought. So, I can almost always assure myself the full 60 minutes, whereas if I had waited for tracfone to throw me a bone which might not have come, I might have only gotten 20, for example.

My question is, is this morally wrong or sinful to use these promotional codes when tracfone doesn’t send them to you or offer them, yet they offer them to the public on a case by case basis? In the legal sense, you’re not taking something tracfone isn’t offering, as tracfone is the one releasing these codes and validating them. They were not hacked from tracfone, and they’re the same codes that groups of people have managed to compile for other pre-paid users. Also, I wonder how bad it could be when you consider you paid for the card and your card can only activate codes in it’s category and no code is promised to work, and only one code can be used per card. You’re still paying tracfone their due money, it’s the free bonus minutes they’re not offering you that you’re taking.

The way I see it, it’s like there’s a pool of free bonus minutes for the taking that they’re offering all their customers randomly all the time. Tracfone is giving you a straw from which to take some minutes, and the online sites are giving you a hose or pump instead, allowing for greater intake of the freebies (which never ‘run out’ so you’re not taking a resource someone else needs). As long as tracfone gets the purchase of the card, they’re allowing you access to the pool. The online sites merely capitalize on this and assures the customer gets the most from that access.

So if this is wrong, how wrong is it? Is this the same as stealing? Set me straight.

If it’s not wrong, like I’m tending to believe it is, can you guys give me some reassurance?

Tracfone only wants to give you bonus minutes when it feels like it, but with these promotional code listings, you can assure yourself the maximum bonus minutes for your card ALL the time, with EVERY card so that you’re always getting bonus minutes to supplement your purchase rather than having to hope tracfone decides to be generous. If you have the double-minutes for life feature built into your phone, like I do, the minutes really add up and this allows you to save money over time and not have to buy cards as often (which can get very expensive).

 

[Irish_Becca]

I scour the Internet for coupons and promo codes for anything I buy. I think you’re fine.

 

[The_Otaku]

I scour the Internet for coupons and promo codes for anything I buy. I think you’re fine.

LOL, you know, I never thought to think of them as coupons. Thinking of them that way makes it feel ok to be doing this. Stores print coupons all the time. Is it the consumer’s fault if he is able to accumulate multiple coupons or multiples of the same coupon? Of course not. We wouldn’t fault him for trying to save money, and the store wants his business, regardless of whether this customer isn’t spending what the store would like, due to the savings the coupons are racking up for him.

In fact, just like stores have exceptions and rules (such as “only 1 coupon per customer per visit”) tracfone does the same thing, by only allowing you 1 freebie per card, and you’re paying for the card so it’s not an issue.

The thing that had me going at first, is that they don’t always give you a freebie, and if you’re not getting it from them directly then maybe it was wrong to get something they would otherwise not offer you in that much volume. They would be giving you a set freebie, but the other promo codes give you a better one (and they usually don’t give you those ones). I guess it made me feel as though receiving more than was intended or intentioned was unfair, especially as it was offered by a third party source and not the company itself. When you compare them to coupons, though, it’s alot easier to accept doing this.

Thank you, I feel much better about it! God bless! = )

 

[Gustavo01]

Promotional codes and coupons are offered by a company as a marketing technique to increase the traffic to their website and thereby increase their sales. Most of the companies offer discounts on the products that they purchase or give freebies with the purchase.