Should block buying LD add-on if not on a talk plan

[JaK]

There have been a number of cases of people setting up their plan for text and/or data (ie no talk), and then buying LD minutes for the occasional call they want to make. And it makes sense that they think they can do that as the similar (reverse) situation of having a plan with no data but instead using a data add-on for occasional data is valid. 

Anyway, yes PM has added a fine print note to the Plans page "Long distance add-ons require a monthly talk feature on the rate plan", which is good, but doesn't go far enough as it is pertty easy to miss.

What PM really should do in addition is add an block that stops people from purchasing LD minutes if they do note have a talk plan.This could take the form of making the option not selectable (greying out) or an error message, etc

(Since PM has no intention of providing the LD service without the talk plan, is it even ethical to sell it under that circumstance...?)

[geogolem]

I agree with you; because... I doubt anybody would buy that add-on with the intention of eventually switching to a talk plan.. They could just not buy it.. until they actually switch to a talk plan.. lol.. 

[Brooke_C]

Hey @JaK and those that have supported this idea, 

We understand that this is a bad customer experience, so we did some research to see what work is involved to prevent this. It surprisingly requires a big change to our platforms and we also found that the issue impacts only a handful of people, since most members are on plans with talk.

While we won't be making changes to update our platforms at this time, we want to make sure that customers who purchase the long distance add-on are actually capable of using it. If you or another member on the community has accidentally purchased a long distance add-on without having a talk plan, please let our moderators @Shazia_K or @Mary_M know and they will credit your account. 

Public Mobile Community Team

[srlawren]

Hi @Brooke_C, I still think this really is an important change, and I'm really disappointed to hear that the chosen workaround is to continue to force people to stumble upon this and then have to find their way to the community and figure out how to private message a moderator to credit them back the money.  

This doesn't *appear* be very uncommon at the moment in the community.  In fact, here's a timely example from today:  http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Self-Serve/Credit-Card-Overcharged/m-p/66621#U66621

I understand that the effort required could be too much. At the very least, could not the verbiage on the plan selection page, and the add-on purchase page, be enhanced to call this out better.  This would not *prevent* people from getting into this misunderanding, but might help minimize it, with much less effort required for content or minimal functionality changes.  

[Brooke_C]

Great suggestion to improve the verbiage, @srlawren! We will be sure to do this.