topic Re: Can't pay from my bank? in Get Support

Can't pay from my bank?

Zigakly — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 14:45:22 GMT

Hi, I've read that Public Mobile does not accept payments from banks, and therefore I cannot set up automatic payments. Yes I am aware of AutoPay, but unfortunately I won't be giving you or anyone else a back door to my bank account, especially not knowing what day of the month the payments will be made.

So I just paid for another 30 days, is this egregious shortcoming going to be fixed in that time? Or am I shopping for another carrier? Because there's no chance I'm wasting a split second of my time making payments manually for a $40 account. NONE. And there's no way I'm lending you money by paying a pile in advance just so you can save a few cents. Get real!

BTW I use Fongo and don't have to worry about porting my number every time I switch cel providers. Clearly that's what's needed in this crappy market.

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

popping — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 01:26:20 GMT

@Zigakly

You can setup autopay using VISA debit card from your bank account. It is almost using bank account payment.

You payment always on your next renewal date. PM billing cycle is 30 days. I don't think PM will change that. IIRC, Telus prepaid is also on 30 days billing cycle. Correct me if I am wrong.

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

station1104 — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 01:38:27 GMT

Only if you have a debit visa/MC that comes out of your account

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

Zigakly — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 01:55:32 GMT

Yes I am aware of AutoPay, but unfortunately I won't be giving you or anyone else a back door to my bank account, especially not knowing what day of the month the payments will be made. Is there an echo in here?

I just looked up the fees my bank (TD) charges merchants for accepting bill payments online. It's $25 a month and 10 cents per transaction. So I tell you what, I'll add 50 cents to my payments, that should more than cover the transaction costs.

Now hook the **bleep** thing up. Or is it because you want to be able to hike your rates up without your customers noticing? (that's a rhetorical question btw)

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

totalUser — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 01:55:48 GMT

Prepaid card is a great option you should look into

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

88cranston — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 01:56:35 GMT

@Zigakly wrote:
Hi, I've read that Public Mobile does not accept payments from banks, and therefore I cannot set up automatic payments. Yes I am aware of AutoPay, but unfortunately I won't be giving you or anyone else a back door to my bank account, especially not knowing what day of the month the payments will be made.
You get a text on the day of payment due. You also can see when your next payment is due when you log into your account. You could use a prepaid credit card of which you will control how much is on it. But that is a loosey goosey too as will will give them your banking info. Check out STACK Mastercard...you don’t have to carry it, if you only use it for auto-pay. Or have one of your many credit cards for auto-pay and online payments only.
Or go buy a top up at a retailer to pay. But keep in mind only auto-pay gives you a $2 reward per month.

So I just paid for another 30 days, is this egregious shortcoming going to be fixed in that time? Or am I shopping for another carrier? Because there's no chance I'm wasting a split second of my time making payments manually for a $40 account. NONE. And there's no way I'm lending you money by paying a pile in advance just so you can save a few cents. Get real!
Loosen up!

BTW I use Fongo and don't have to worry about porting my number every time I switch cel providers. Clearly that's what's needed in this crappy market.

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

Zigakly — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 13:48:35 GMT

The censored word above sounds just like "***". Thanks for making me look much less reasonable than I am.

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

88cranston — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 02:04:30 GMT

@Zigakly wrote:
Yes I am aware of AutoPay, but unfortunately I won't be giving you or anyone else a back door to my bank account, especially not knowing what day of the month the payments will be made. Is there an echo in here?

I just looked up the fees my bank (TD) charges merchants for accepting bill payments online. It's $25 a month and 10 cents per transaction. So I tell you what, I'll add 50 cents to my payments, that should more than cover the transaction costs.
You will save money with PM to help offset TD charges. And then when you dump TD, as you should, you will save even more. Look at dealing with Credit Union.

Now hook the **bleep** thing up. Or is it because you want to be able to hike your rates up without your customers noticing? (that's a rhetorical question btw)

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

Zigakly — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 02:12:55 GMT

I don't make my clients make special financial preparations to do business with me. I'm not lifting a finger over a $40 monthly bill. That's insane.

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

Korth — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 02:38:52 GMT

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

Zigakly — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 02:40:08 GMT

Any other ways I can use AutoPay? Y'know, the thing I have said in no uncertain terms I am never going to allow?

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

88cranston — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 02:42:21 GMT

Left conversation.

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

Soapes — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 02:55:18 GMT

Looks like you can only use a credit card

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

Soapes — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 02:55:32 GMT

Looks like you can only use a credit card

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

hairbag1 — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 03:20:27 GMT

@Zigakly wrote:
Any other ways I can use AutoPay? Y'know, the thing I have said in no uncertain terms I am never going to allow?

Everyone gets your message... that you won't be using your credit card to get the autopay reward. Fair enough, that certainly your perogative. In order to take advatage of the Public Mobile autopay reward, you need to use a credit card for autopay. Therefore, you won't be able to get that reward.

There's other rewards such as the Refer a friend...but it doesn't sound like referring PM to your friends is something you'd do either.

Good luck where ever you go.

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

Obice — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 03:45:14 GMT

@Zigakly wrote:
Hi, I've read that Public Mobile does not accept payments from banks, and therefore I cannot set up automatic payments. Yes I am aware of AutoPay, but unfortunately I won't be giving you or anyone else a back door to my bank account, especially not knowing what day of the month the payments will be made.

So I just paid for another 30 days, is this egregious shortcoming going to be fixed in that time? Or am I shopping for another carrier? Because there's no chance I'm wasting a split second of my time making payments manually for a $40 account. NONE. And there's no way I'm lending you money by paying a pile in advance just so you can save a few cents. Get real!

BTW I use Fongo and don't have to worry about porting my number every time I switch cel providers. Clearly that's what's needed in this crappy market.

I rarely "like" or in this case "Bravo" a post but you got mine. We need more honesty around here.

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

Zigakly — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 04:16:08 GMT

@hairbag1 wrote:
@Zigakly wrote:
Any other ways I can use AutoPay? Y'know, the thing I have said in no uncertain terms I am never going to allow?
Everyone gets your message... that you won't be using your credit card to get the autopay reward. Fair enough, that certainly your perogative. In order to take advatage of the Public Mobile autopay reward, you need to use a credit card for autopay. Therefore, you won't be able to get that reward.
There's other rewards such as the Refer a friend...but it doesn't sound like referring PM to your friends is something you'd do either.
Good luck where ever you go.

Man this is worse than Facebook. At no point did I express any interest in any rewards. I'm fine with paying the full rate, but I insist on setting up a recurring payment that I control. With AutoPay, they can yank whatever amount they want at any time. Look at the pre-authorized payment form. It doesn't specify a schedule of withdrawals, it just gives them a blank cheque to your money.

Think about this - Koodo and Public Mobile are both owned by Telus. Why is PM undercutting Koodo? Fido and Chatr are both owned by Rogers, why is Chatr undercutting Fido? Take a wild guess whether Chatr accepts online bank payments either.

I'll tell you exactly why PM and Chatr exist: it's because phone companies can no longer refuse to release phone numbers of customers with outstanding balances from being ported to other companies. Soon they're going to raise the prices of both tiers so that PM and Chatr are at the current Koodo and Fido rates, then let Koodo and Fido go the way of the dodo. (can you tell I'm a songwriter?)

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

Obice — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 04:23:08 GMT

It's very unfortunate but when it comes to prepaid this is what you get. You either pay for a card at a store and add funds to your account manually or you add your credit card to your account (which will give you access to AutoPay).

There is no way to pay through your bank with prepaid, only postpaid because postpaid is reoccurring and that's EXACTLY what they want you on. You are treated (to some degree) like royalty when on postpaid but prepaid... (chuckle)

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

Zigakly — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 04:57:26 GMT

@Obice wrote:
It's very unfortunate but when it comes to prepaid this is what you get. You either pay for a card at a store and add funds to your account manually or you add your credit card to your account (which will give you access to AutoPay).

There is no way to pay through your bank with prepaid, only postpaid because postpaid is reoccurring and that's EXACTLY what they want you on. You are treated (to some degree) like royalty when on postpaid but prepaid... (chuckle)

That's what makes no sense. With prepaid they already have your money. You can't owe them money which they then have to spend money to collect. Why would they refuse to accept a similar and perfectly reasonable method of payment which all other carriers accept? I think it's safe to assume they incur the same transaction charges with AutoPay as they do with accepting bank payments.

I say it can only be because they can hike up the rates without giving you a fair opportunity to decline the rate increases. They just yank it and hope you don't notice. With recurring payments you set up through your bank, they have to give you proper notice that the rate will be increasing, so you can adjust your recurring payments, which gives you time to consider switching carriers. Insisting that you don't get that notice is inherently anti-competitive. The fact that two major telcoms are employing the exact same scheme is a huge red flag. I bet Bell can't be far behind. Let's just say the Virgin looks pregnant 😉

Re: Can't pay from my bank?

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 05:02:30 GMT

@Zigakly: A difference here is that the payment due date floats. It's not one particular day of each month like other kinds of places that do recurring payments.
I'm the opposite. I dislike automatic payments. I use a prepaid "credit" card gift card to satisfy the autopay reward. Through several circumstances, next month I'll be finally trying out it actually taking money from it automatically.
Another thing people do is simply to manually pay into the account at their own set day each month and then watch for the floating day to float up to that day.
How do you pay all your bills anyway? If you're doing auto-debits then it's the same exposure that you're worried about.

But sure...rant away. I think being able to pay via Paypal would be useful too. Are we going to see other payment methods any time soon? Doubt it.

Edit: re: price changes...you will read an announcement here at least 30 days prior to any price change.