topic Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help... in Get Support

Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Neutrinos — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 17:49:01 GMT

Here is a brief summary of my situation:

My payment history shows the following 2 transactions.

October 27, 2015 (Auto Pay Automatic Top-Up) for plan $XX.

At this point, I noticed I had a positive $XX balance on my account - enough to cover the next month's billing. So I turned off AutoPay. Technically, October 27, 2015 is the last date that the system registers me as having "paid" with a credit card.

November 26, 2015 $XX (Debit) is subtracted automatically, my plan is renewed as expected and I am left with a $0.00 Balance.

December, 2015. Sometime inside this month, I left the country for an extended hiatus of X months. I deliberately did not pay for services and my account has gone into suspension.

Today, I logged into my account and was shown the following, expected message:

"Your account has been suspended. Make a payment to reactivate your current plan.
Suspended accounts are deactivated after 90 days if payment is not received. You will lose your phone number and service."

Strangely, just below that message is some account information:

Plan Expiry Date: Dec 25, 2015
Account Deactivation Date: Jan 25, 2016

The terminology and date is confusing me.

My question: Is the deactivation date accurate? Is it based on the last credit card payment on October 27th, 2015, or the amount debited from the positive account balance on November, 26, 2015, or is it truly 91 days from the Plan Expiry Date, on December 25th, 2015?

Is the Account Deactivation Date of Jan 25, 2016 just standard protocol? i.e. Will it update to February 2X, 2016 once my billing cycle starts again?

I absolutely cannot lose this number and plan - but at the same time, I don't like the feeling of paying for services that won't be used in the meantime.

Can anyone give me a concrete answer as to the approximate date of my account, number and plan deletion?

Will the deactivation take place on January 25, 2016 as the account info states, or does it take place sometime in late March as per the "Plan Expiry Date" of Dec 25, 2015?

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

7789849803 — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:05:57 GMT

Actually, I noticed this 30 day deactivation date on my account during renewal time as well (in the time that my plan had expired).

Maybe @Martin can shed some light on this?

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Neutrinos — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:21:58 GMT

I forgot to mention that I'm on a grandfathered pre-Beta plan from several years ago [talk + intl text (?) + data] that is no longer in the system at the same price point. I'm not sure if that makes any difference whatsoever - in so far as how Public Mobile handles complete account deactivation.

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Martin — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:25:06 GMT

Hi 778,

Do you have a 30 or 90 plan to which you're referring?

Martin

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Martin — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:28:16 GMT

Hi @Neutrinos,

Having a grandfathered account, as I do, makes no difference. It's treated like a non-grandfathered account.

FYI.

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

7789849803 — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:30:55 GMT

@Martin: I'm not sure if being on a 30 or 90 day plan affects the time between expiry and deactivation. However, in my case, I was previously on a 90 day plan, and had requested a change to another 90 day plan on renewal. This plan change didn't happen as planned, and my account was caught in limbo for a few hours. During this time (when my plan was expired), I noticed that my account was set to be deactivated in another 30 days from then.

Hope this helps clarify the situation and my question. Do you think this 30 day deactivation date is a bug in PM's system, or has their deactivation policy changed recently (or for some but not all accounts)?

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Neutrinos — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:40:19 GMT

30 day plan.

Multiple posters in the forums have stated that complete account deactivation occurs on the 91st day after Plan Expiry. However the system info is showing me a "deactivation" date of January 25th, 2016.

This is exactly 30 days from my Plan Expiry date (December 25th, 2015) and also roughly 3 months from my last credit card autopay "payment" on October 27, 2015 (but that could just be a coincidence.)

I'm trying to ascertain whether A) The system provided deactivation date will roll over to February 25, 2016 and I can make a payment in late March 2016 based on Plan Expiry of December 25, 2015 or if B) I will be locked out of my account and lose my plan and number as of January 26th, 2016.

Since we are now well into 2016, my worst fear is that this is some new policy change.

Thank you in advance for your help in this matter...

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Martin — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:38:50 GMT

Hi 778,

Thank you for the information provided.

In all cases, the deactivation date is 91 days from plan expiry.

The displaying of 30 days is a glitch. Further, according the PM's Service Terms, any change in terms, including price, must be displayed on the plan's page at least 30 days prior to a change.

FYI.

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

7789849803 — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:44:25 GMT

Thanks for your response, @Martin. Good to know that this is a bug and that I can safely ignore the incorrect deactivation date, should I ever need to leave the plan expired for a duration of time.

Given how there are so many other bugs relatively easier to fix than this, that have gone unresolved for months now, I'm not sure it even makes sense to report this to anyone.

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Martin — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 21:04:58 GMT

Hi @Neutrinos,

There is NO new policy in effect. As I stated above, according to PM's Service Terms, any change in terms, including prices, must be displayed on the plan's page at least 30 days prior to the intended change. There has been NO display of change to date.

As far as losing your number, that would happen only if you went 91 days after your plan expires. Until then, your number is YOURS.

In terms of being locked out of your account, that may happen if a glitch occurs. If so, send a webmail to customer assistance with your account and personal identifiers so that they won't need to request them from you. If customer assistance fails to unlock your account within 48 consecutive hours, inform this community. The community manager or a moderator will then be notified of your situation, who will initiate contact and work with you until your problem is resolved.

I hope that this reply has allayed your concerns somewhat.

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Neutrinos — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:55:59 GMT

@7789849803 Thank you for your contributions to this thread, and sheddling light on the matter with your related, personal anecdotes. I appreciate it!

@Martin Thank you for the clarifcation and your time and effort in the replies. Since my Doomsday is happening in less than a week, I am still worried because I have a near vanity number similar to "234-5555" and an awesome plan that was quite difficult to acquire (all the stars were lined up for me back in the day.) I will follow up with an email to customer service to see if they can confirm the glitch. Thanks again!

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Martin — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 20:55:58 GMT

Hi 778,

You're welcome. Thank you for asking for clarification.

Cheers.

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Martin — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 21:00:59 GMT

Hi @Neutrinos,

You're quite welcome. Thanks for seeking clarification.

I strongly suggest that you communicate with customer assistance only if you encounter a problem.

Asking them about a glitch without a problem in hand may very well result in a futile exercise.

Food for thought.

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Neutrinos — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 22:36:04 GMT

@Martin Well, since my personal situation involves the absolute need to keep a vanity number and a diamond of a plan, it may be a matter of too little too late.

On the slight off-chance that we're all mistaken about a display glitch, the computer system may automatically purge my account / number / plan. At that point, no amount of communicating with customer service can reverse those changes.

If I don't receive a concrete answer from PM staff before the 24th, I may just go ahead and pony up the cash for one month's service and reinstate my account, and write off the expense as being a guinea pig.

That would be the safest strategy, and buy me at least another 60 days (renew on January 24th, 2106, leave it active until February ~2X, let it expire and possibly display a new glitch deactivation date as March ~2X.)

I would then monitor the forums, following plan renewal to see if 1) other users are posting about similar discrepancies about a deactivation date listed 30 days from Plan Expiry, 2) any users are actually losing their numbers and plans after 30 days, and 3) Public Mobile fixes the display glitch.

I do understand your insistence that PM *MUST* provide users with 30 days' notice prior to any changes in pricing or service terms, but there's a subtle difference. What we're discussing is technically automated on a system-wide basis and happening in the back-end. The effects are also applied to accounts that are not exactly in "good standing."

I actually at one point had another account with PM after the transition. It was attached to X@gmail.com and a phone number. I forgot to jot down the account number associated with the account. After porting out, the entire account was unceremoniously expunged from PM's system. No amount of communication with customer service could allow me to reaccess the old account, to retrieve plan details, the old account number, or recover my old email address to associate it with my current plan and the same phone number (re-ported back in to another existing account and causing numerous glitches for months on end.) So I don't have much faith in PM's communication of clear consequences for actions.

i.e. Also, on the topic of "good standing,"... Hypothetically speaking, can't PM also take away my plan for non-payment and hiatus? (Not that there's any precedent for this action.) Would I have much recourse in a court of law?

Thank you again, though, truly. I've taken your measured responses into consideration.

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Martin — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 21:21:30 GMT

Hi @Neutrinos,

As you know, it's your money and, if spending it ahead of time buys you peace of mind, go for it.

Cheers.

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

imm1304 — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 21:27:42 GMT

Hi @Neutrinos!

I am sure your grandfathered plan is saving you a lot of money every month. And you are saying that you want to be absolutely sure that you keep your number. So, its fair enough that you would want definitive answer and I hope that the PM support will respond to you soon.

To give you a bit more reassurance: Martin is right, to the best of my knowledge the 90-day policy is what PM goes by.

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Martin — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 21:36:24 GMT

Hi @Neutrinos,

In the realm of possibility, everything is possible, including a retiring PM employee hijacking your account. Is it probable? No!

The Service Terms are a binding contract on PM and its customers. If your account were arbitrarily taken from you, that would be breach of agreement as there is no provision to do that. You would therefore have a cause of action against Public Mobile Holdings Inc. That said, the company is not in the business of violating the agreement that its lawyers wrote. If a disgruntled employee did hijack your account and number, I have no doubt that PM would rectify the situation with haste.

Once again, is it probable? NO!

FYI.

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Martin — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 21:48:14 GMT

Hi @Neutrinos,

You're most welcome!

Cheers.

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

yads — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 05:26:09 GMT

@7789849803 wrote:
Actually, I noticed this 30 day deactivation date on my account during renewal time as well (in the time that my plan had expired).

Maybe @Martin can shed some light on this?

@7789849803 so my activation date is today and my account also says that it is expired. I have autopay on, however. My service is also still working. Is this a glitch?

Re: Account Suspension / Deactivation - Confusing System Information? Please help...

Martin — Fri, 22 Jan 2016 06:47:41 GMT

Hi @yads,

When you renew your plan at 12:01 am, it's normal for your account to have "status: expired" and *611 to state "account suspended" until 7:00 am or so even though you have service.

FYI.