Name: Pure TalkUSA
Brand: Pure TalkUSA

Pure TalkUSA Review

Pure TalkUSA, the company we named one of the Best Providers of Cell Phones for Seniors, offers five different plans ranging from $20 to $45 per line, per month. Each plan includes unlimited talk and text and varying amounts of high-speed data. Unlike others, Pure Talk does not charge for overages or cut off your data access once you’ve hit your monthly limit. After you have used your plan’s high-speed data allowance, you will be slowed down to 128 kbps, but you still will be able to connect with no overage fees. Another bonus is their Multi-Line Discount which saves you more money with each line added to your plan. Adding a second line will save you 10 percent off your total monthly bill. A third line saves 15 percent, and four or more lines top the savings out at 20 percent.

If you do not own an unlocked phone, Pure TalkUSA sells a wide selection of phones. It’s difficult to find a simple flip phone in a market saturated with smartphones, but there are two flip phones to choose from in their line up. Of course, they offer smartphones from Apple, Samsung and others. It’s very likely that Pure TalkUSA has a phone to fit your budget as well as your needs. You can port your existing number from your current cell phone carrier to Pure TalkUSA.

Referring family and friends also saves some money. For each person you refer to Pure TalkUSA, you’ll get a $20.00 credit on your phone bill if they sign up and stay with their plan for two months. There is no maximum on this program, so the more people you refer, the more you can save.

With no contracts for your phone or your plan, you’re never locked in with Pure TalkUSA. You can cancel service at any time, but you will still pay for the remainder of the month since there is no prorating. If you change your mind before your service is activated, you will receive a full refund. Phones purchased from Pure TalkUSA can be returned up to 14 days from the receipt of the device. Check our FAQs below to learn more about the refund process.

Pros

Keep your number and your unlocked phone
No data overage fees
Plans are billed monthly, no need to purchase minutes to keep service active

Cons

No physical stores, all transactions are done online or on the phone
No monthly financing plans for phones
No damage or theft protection for phones

Pure TalkUSA Plans and Pricing

A choice of five plans gives you plenty of flexibility with Pure TalkUSA. Every plan includes unlimited talk and text with high-speed data packages in varying amounts.

Pure TalkUSA Costs and Plans
Monthly Fee	High-Speed Data Amount	Data Amount Supports (Average)
$20	500 MB	Stream videos: 20 minutes Stream music: 3.5 hours Downloads: 5 Surf the Web: 13.5 hours Post photos: 60 Emails: 500
$25	1 GB	Stream videos: 45 minutes Stream music: 7 hours Downloads: 10 Surf the Web: 27 hours Post photos: 120 Emails: 1,000
$30	3 GB	Stream videos: 135 minutes Stream music: 21 hours Downloads: 30 Surf the Web: 81 hours Post photos: 360 Emails: 3,000
$35	5 GB	Stream videos: 225 minutes Stream music: 35 hours Downloads: 50 Surf the Web: 135 hours Post photos: 600 Emails: 5,000
$45	10 GB	Stream videos: 450 minutes Stream music: 70 hours Downloads: 100 Surf the Web: 270 hours Post photos: 1,200 Emails: 10,000

According to a 2016 Nielsen market research study, the average cellular data usage per month for seniors isn’t high. To interpret the following results, keep in mind that there are 1,024 MB in 1 GB. The study found that those in the 45-54 age bracket used an average of 2,129 MB per month. Consumers in the 55-64 bracket averaged even less usage at 1,368 MB per month, and the 65+ group came in the lowest at 811 MB per month. Consider how you use your phone throughout the month when you’re not on wifi, for example, in your car using GPS on your phone or streaming music from the cloud. Compare your activities with the FCC’s list of the most common internet activities with minimum download speeds required for each one.

Once you have hit your data cap, you can still connect, but it will be at the throttled rate of 128 kbps. This speed is slow, the equivalent of second-generation cell technology of around 1993. At that speed, you can still open a web page or a text-only email fairly quickly, but downloading one song will take nearly seven minutes and streaming a video is impossible. However, you may never reach the data cap.

Pure TalkUSA extra lines Screenshot

Pure TalkUSA Extra Lines Discount. Source: Pure TalkUSA

How to Sign up for Pure TalkUSA Plans

The Pure TalkUSA website makes signing up a fast and easy. Select the plan that you want, choose a phone or mark that you’re bringing your own to get the $3.00 SIM starter kit (a SIM card is required by all cell carriers to use their network). Then complete the checkout. Once you receive your new phone or SIM card, use the link on Pure TalkUSA’s website to activate your service. If you have any questions at any time through the process of setting up your account, call their toll-free number to speak to a U.S. based customer service agent. When we called for some general information, the agent was very helpful and personable.

Pure TalkUSA Complaints

Customer reviews are very positive about no dropped calls, affordable low rates and excellent customer service. The complaints that we found were mostly about apps that used too much data and not about Pure TalkUSA itself. Pure TalkUSA, like nearly all cell carriers, does not design apps. Other complaints were about the company not giving away free high-speed data when a customer hit the throttle point.

Pure TalkUSA Product-related Q&A

Pure TalkUSA Voice Coverage. Source: Pure TalkUSA

What speed is high-speed?
Pure TalkUSA’s high-speed data is 4G LTE across the network. 4G LTE is the current standard in the United States for high-speed communications.
Are there any requirements to participate in the Multi-Line Discount program?
Customers must enroll in automatic payments to receive the Multi-Line Discount.
Are there any hidden fees with Pure TalkUSA?
No. With Pure TalkUSA, there are no long distance fees, no roaming fees, no additional handset fees, and no prepaid cards to buy to maintain service. At the end of the month, Pure TalkUSA bills the credit or debit card that on file for your plan.
Does Pure TalkUSA sell any phones that are hearing aid compatible?
Yes. As of April 2018, every phone that Pure TalkUSA sells is M4/T3 Hearing Aid compatible.
How do I know if my existing phone is compatible with Pure TalkUSA’s network?
If your phone is AT&T or Cingular, the Pure TalkUSA SIM chip should be compatible. If you used your phone with one of the following carriers, it is not compatible with the Pure TalkUSA network: Verizon/Alltel, Boost, Sprint/Nextel, MetroPCS, Virgin Mobile, Page Plus.

If you used your existing phone with T-Mobile, TracFone, Net10 or other GSM providers, it would have to be unlocked to work on Pure TalkUSA’s network. To determine if your phone is unlocked:
1. Borrow the SIM card from a friend who uses a different cell carrier than your current carrier.
2. Power your phone off.
3. Pop your SIM card out of the tray on the side of your phone, or open the back of your phone and pull the small SIM card out. Replace it with the carrier’s SIM.
4. Turn your phone on, and if it shows your friend’s carrier as it starts up, your phone is unlocked.
What are Pure TalkUSA’s return and cancellation policies?
Returns: Once you receive your phone, the clock starts ticking so keep track of how many days are going by if you are not happy with your device. You have 14 days from receipt of the device to contact Customer Service to obtain a Return Authorization, and the package returned must be postmarked within those 14 days to be eligible for a refund. A restocking fee of the greater of $10 or 20 percent may apply. If you send a phone back, insure the package and use a shipping service that provides you with a tracking number. There are no refunds or returns accepted after 14 days from the day you receive the phone. Pure TalkUSA can’t issue refunds on phones lost in transit. If you send a phone back after the 14-day window, Pure TalkUSA will return it to you at your expense, so you’re better off to sell it on eBay.

Service cancellation: Cancel before service activation for a full refund issued to the method of payment originally charged, like your credit or debit card. Once service is activated, there are no refunds for the unused portion of the monthly service. You can cancel, but you won’t get your money back for service month in which you cancel.

Conclusion

Based on their low-cost plans and phone offerings, Pure TalkUSA is an ideal choice for seniors. The company makes the process of signing up and activating service easy and painless. If you overestimate your high-speed data usage, you can switch to a lower-priced plan with no penalties. If you find you need a higher data plan, you can switch at any time. The company does not prorate, however, so it’s best to wait until the end of your billing cycle to make the change. The number of hearing-aid compatible phones sold by PureTalkUSA surpasses offering from any other cell phone company we’ve reviewed.

To learn more about Pure TalkUSA check out their website for pricing and a free quote, or call (877) 959-9686.

36 Pure TalkUSA Reviews

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August 02 2023 6:00PM

We submitted an order online to switch to Pure Talk and it has been nothing but the worst customer service! The system hung up while I submitted an order for two new phone lines. HOWEVER, the system did take the fees from our bank account.

After 24 hours and no activation email, I called to talk to customer service. After an hour on hold/back and forth, they issued a "ticket number" for the tech team to resolve the problem. The next day.... more of the same poor customer service.

Called their customer service department who switched us over to the "porting team" who then told us our order was cancelled. No EMAIL, NO PHONE CALL from this company to explain our next steps. NOTHING.... so the porting team switched us back to customer service who was of no help as well.

They got our money and we now have to wait for a refund and start over on the process??? WORST PHONE COMPANY CUSTOMER SERVICE I have ever experienced. Is this how their phone service will be if we switch over? Trying to get away from woke companies may not be worth the hassle....

Mary B.

Afton, OK

March 24 2023 9:54PM

Totally sucks. Device is filled with apps. Confusing to use, no logic. During phone calls for help line goes dead, several times. Tech seem not to know what they are doing - sent email of instructions instead.

Website says 30 day gurantee But found out for service only. Found out from customer service only 14 days for device. Customer service person were pleasant.

David M.

Brooklyn, NY

March 24 2023 3:27PM

Another reviewer HERE said that a positive review of Pure Talk is fake. That assertion is mendacious hyperbole, or, as we say in the country, horse **. Pure Talk has provided me with outstanding coverage and excellent customer service since I signed up more than 2 1/2 years ago.

Activating our unlocked iPhones took mere minutes. I had experienced some apparent hanky-pinky by other cell carriers when it came to charging me for the amount of data that they alleged that I was using. That has never happened with Pure Talk. It’s an exceptional value, IMO.

Dennis J.

High Point, NC

January 25 2023 12:27PM

So far My wife and I have been with Puretalk for over a month. No problems in service. When I called Puretalk customer service I was met with kindness and speedy service. The customer care is stellar and swift. You sold me Puretalk. Your customer service agents are a credit to the company. Signed Robert **.

Robert R.

Elliott, IL

January 08 2023 11:16PM

Pros: you do save me money, your customer reps are sincere in their mission to help. Cons: (Old news) when tried to move 2 phones from AT&T last year it took two days to get a Sim Card debacle squared away with the end result being I still have a Phone on AT&T due to how Pure Talk sent the SIM Card lose for my wife's, I ate the cost of the sim card and it took many hours of phone time, over 2 days to correct.

Fast forward to today, I wanted to add a New Line and buy a Flip Phone for an elderly family member. Spent 45 min on line trying to add a $20 per month line and buy the $50 advertised Flip Phone. After contacting the Customer Rep, via phone, she also failed after the 1st 12 minutes to get the Pure Talk systems to take the order.

Then after 2 more minutes, the phone price was $139, not the $50 online, that was for "New Customers".. So, Pure Talk did not get any new business from me and I am at the point of once again looking at all my options as my wife's phone is still on AT&T for nearly $60 per month I need a new phone for a elderly parent and Pure Talk seems focused on something other than consumer needs!

Is Pure Talk capable of working with me/address these seemly nonsense, disrespecting approach to good customer service? Please explain to me why as an existing customer I am being penalized for wanting to add another line vs what a Non-customer would pay.

In addition no-one ever tried to make amends for the issue I had last year and this has resulted in you NOT having at least one more line on my account and now that is up to two Do you NOT want more customers? Do you have the interest to even reach back out to me? I am not looking for something for nothing, only the respect that you seem to give non-existing customers.

Steven B.

East Bridgewater, MA

November 04 2022 6:33PM

I was fed up with Verizon and looked around for options. I found Pure Talk and liked what I saw as far as plans are concerned. A little concerned about no physical locations, but went ahead with the change.

After my old number had been ported, I called customer service and told them that I had no idea how to remove or install the new sim card, and asked for instructions. I was told to open the sim port and how to do that.

I was then told to remove the sim card and install the new one Pure Talk sent me. That is all I was told. I was not told that the existing card was in a tray and had to be removed.

I was not told that the new card had to be punched out of the larger card it came in, nor was I told that the smaller punched out part had another surrounding part that had to be removed.

So I finally figured out, totally by accident, that the small sim card had another surrounding piece that had to be removed and then inserted the small new card into the slot, but because I was not told or warned that it had to be in the tray that came from the phone, I did not put it in the tray.

The phone worked, but when I figured out that it needed to be in the tray, I called Pure Talk customer service and asked what to do. I was told that it needed to be in the tray and if it would become a problem.

I asked how to remove the card and was told that person had no clue. I called back again and got a different customer service clerk who told me to take the phone to Best Buy and get them to get it out. Because I had tried to use BB for other unrelated service, I knew it would be forever to get that done.

So I called my son who said he had used a group called ubreakIfix to help him in the past. He checked and told me that one was fairly close, I went to that store. The person who worked there tried and could not remove the card, so he took it to the back where I heard him talking to a female.

He came back and said they were working on it. He brought it back a few minutes later and said they could not retrieve the card. I got back in my car and tried to make a call and found out the phone no longer worked.

I returned to my house, got on my computer and looked up Google recommended repair companies. I found that the people that I had taken the phone to were recommended and there was a second store near me.

I took the phone to the second store and they said they could fix it but it would take a while. So I left to return the next day. I returned the next day, and received the phone, but asked the clerk to turn it on to make sure it was fixed. The clerk could not get it to function properly.

I was told it could fixed but it would take a couple of hours. I left again to be emailed when repaired. Several hours later I received an email and was told that the screen was broken and they would have to order a new one which would take at least two days.

Today is day one and tomorrow is Saturday which means it will probably be Monday at earliest before I get my only phone back.

All of this is totally Pure Talk's fault because no one told me or warned me about the card tray even after I told them that I had no clue how to remove or install a sim card. BUYER BEWARE.

Richard W.

Flowery Branch, GA

June 22 2022 1:52AM

ZERO STARS! In December of 2021, I switched our family wireless phone service from Verizon to Pure Talk. Unknown to us, Pure Talk never fully ported over my wife's number she has had in her possession for 20 years.

This failure to fully port over the number resulted in split service, meaning that she was only able to receive calls from iPhone users and unable to receive calls and texts from Android users and calls from landline users.

Failure to complete this full port resulted in her being unable to communicate with family and friends.

This failure also resulted in missing calls from businesses, doctors, and pharmacies trying to contact her to assist her in her daily life and also in providing her with her insulin and other life-dependent insulin pump supplies, since these pharmacies were calling her on her own number that did not work, unknown to my wife.

Numerous lengthy calls to Pure Talk’s customer service and IT department have taken place in our attempt to solve the issue.

Every time we called Pure Talk for help, we always received the run-around, having to start at the beginning with every person who works at Pure Talk, with no one ever really wanting to fix the issue.

Resetting all kinds of functions, even completely resetting my wife’s phone did not work. Despite nothing working, Pure Talk never offered or tried to come up with a solution.

Just phone calls that would end with either a dropped call or an unsatisfactory end, with my wife’s phone still not fully working.

Frustrated and fed up, we decided to switch carriers in June of 2022, then come to find out that my wife’s number could not be switched to a new carrier because the number was never fully Pure Talk’s number the entire time.

We were informed that the company that has possession of my wife’s number is Verizon, but upon calling Verizon they stated that they do not have possession of the number. Somehow, during our time with Pure Talk, my wife’s number was given over to the carrier named Jitterbug.

We then talked to Pure Talk to have them talk to Jitterbug to bring back my wife’s number. At first, Pure Talk’s porting department denied that my wife’s number was in split service, then acknowledged that they did not fully port the number, then finally agreed that Jitterbug has the number.

Three attempts with Pure Talk to have them contact Jitterbug took place, with the third time resulting in a customer service supervisor from Jitterbug talking to a porting supervisor from Pure Talk.

This last conversation resulted in Pure Talk being perfectly content with Jitterbug having my wife’s number, and Jitterbug being unwilling to cooperate in giving back my wife’s number. The service I have received at every level of Pure Talk has been worse than terrible, and beyond frustrating.

I honestly am not sure how Pure Talk employees who work to solve problems are given their jobs since they never succeeded in working through to fix my wife’s phone. Pure Talk’s inability to function as a phone company has compromised my wife’s very own phone number.

I’m unsure of how this will end, but I will continue to fight Pure Talk to restore my wife’s phone number, on an account we have had with Pure Talk for going on seven months now.

Companies like Pure Talk and Jitterbug should be fined, shut down, account payments refunded to customers, and made an example of how not to run a business, and in particular, a phone business.

Chris P.

Ashburn, VA

April 06 2022 3:24PM

Pure Talk's customer service and tech support departments are the worst in the industry. They simply don't care about providing quality service. You will sit on hold for half an hour before being able to talk to someone who usually has no idea what they are doing.

Since they are unable to assist you, you will have to wait another half hour for another person who may or may not be able to resolve your problem. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY IF YOU DON'T HAVE A LOT OF PATIENCE AND NOTHING ELSE BETTER TO DO THAN SIT ON HOLD ALL DAY.

Mike K.

San Marcos, TX

March 25 2022 11:55AM

AVOID at all cost. There is no customer service. They have their routine which is totally unacceptable. They turned off my phone 3 weeks ago, paid FedEx overnight and received the replacement phone 6 days later.

Went to another carrier and phone was up and working, but still Pure Talk blocked me receiving calls until another day of holding they read you a laughable statement about leaving them. They do not answer emails and phone calls are a couple of hours waiting several times a day.

Had one answer and hang up after a 45 minute hole. IF you have Puretalk go to FCC and file complaint, also your local State Attorney is interested in hearing from you on this company as well as the Better Business Bureau. Also watch your final bill, they will charge you extra if they can get away with it.

Amy H.

Graham, NC

March 19 2022 12:23AM

This has been a horrible experience. I switched to PureTalk USA because it was listed on AMAC's website. I purchased my phone from PureTalk USA at the time the account was set up with them.

I already had heard about a future 3G shutdown, so as I looked at the phones PureTalkUSA was selling online while speaking to a representative of PureTalkUSA, I asked to make sure the phone I chose was going to be fine and not affected by the 3G shutdown.

I was assured that it would not be affected. It is a Nokia 5.3, 4G LTE. I made the purchase, completed the account set up. It wasn't long before problems began. The phone would stop working and I'd have to get on the phone with them. They ignored my requests for help sent on their website.

Finally had to contact AMAC and they contacted PureTalkUSA who then finally contacted me. During calls to them with their own representatives, I asked two other times on different dates and with different representatives if they were sure that the phone would still be OK during the 3G shut down, while trying to solve other problems the phone presented.

I was assured by two other representatives that it would be fine, no problems. Well, guess what? I haven't been able to make or receive any calls since March 16th, 2022.

PureTalkUSA had me on hold for an hour- no one ever picked up the call, I had to hang up because I borrowed a phone to call them because again they did not respond to online messages and I obviously couldn't call them.

I went to my online account today, March 18, 2022 to find that the phone that they had 3 times assured me was going to be fine and not affected by their 3G shut down was 'no longer being supported by policies of PureTalkUSA'.

No warning, no reimbursement for the phone I purchased from them, and they are still taking my monthly bill out of my checking account this week. That will be remedied when I go to the bank for Saturday morning hours tomorrow.

There is nothing pure about this company. In my experiences with them, they will tell you anything just to get your dollars. Worst company ever!

Susan P.

Erie, PA