topic Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes? in Get Support

Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

Darougar — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 08:04:01 GMT

I have 100 minutes plan, I used only call forwarding service last month and now, I get a message that I can not call out due to my plan.

I really appreciate it if somebody can help me to figure it out why it happened?

why I can not call out while I did not use my 100 minutes?

Darougar — Sun, 25 Jul 2021 13:50:39 GMT

why I can not call out while I did not use my 100 minutes?

Re: my phone minutes useage is incorrect

Darougar — Sun, 25 Jul 2021 13:56:38 GMT

why I can not call out while I did not use my 100 minutes

Re: why I can not call out while I did not use my 100 minutes?

darlicious — Sun, 25 Jul 2021 16:07:07 GMT

@Darougar

What message do you get? Can you call 611? Have you tried rebooting your phone?

Re: why I can not call out while I did not use my 100 minutes?

Yummy — Sun, 25 Jul 2021 16:10:58 GMT

Can you receive calls? Can you send/receive SMS?

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

softech — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 12:19:29 GMT

@Darougar call forwarding will count towards your outgoing minutes. Also, checking voicemail from your PM phone counts too.

You can also confirm the usage by going to My Account->Plan and Add-Ons->Usage History and look for all the Outgoing calls entry

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

Dunkman — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 13:24:25 GMT

@Darougar

Here is some more information on limited talk plans:

Talk

Talk minutes are counted whenever you make or receive calls on your phone. Talk time is calculated from the start of a call to when it is disconnected, and includes ring time and call routing. Total call time is always rounded up to the nearest minute. Please note that calls to voicemail and forwarding calls will use plan minutes.

Use Minutes	Doesn't Use Minutes
Making a call	*Calling 611 (the IVR)**
Answering a call (not with $15 plan)	Making or receiving calls from 911
Retrieving voicemail messages	Using calling apps when connected to Wifi
Using call forwarding

You can purchase the Canada wide talk add on. 500 minutes for $5 with unused minutes rolling over to next month. An useful add on for the $15 plan.

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 14:24:26 GMT

@Darougar : Unofficially, it has been found that the $15 plan doesn't consume minutes using call forwarding. Maybe this has changed. Do you see the minutes line under My Data & Add-ons on your overview page? What is the exact wording that the recording is saying? Are you adding a 1 in front for your dialing? Is your plan active? Has it become suspended?

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

Nezgar — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 17:27:42 GMT

@softech wrote:
all forwarding will count towards your outgoing minutes. Also, checking voicemail from your PM phone counts too.

The no-longer existent 50 minute $10 plan consumed minutes for unconditional call forwarding. Maybe the old version of the $15 plan that didn't include incoming calls consumed minutes for forwarding as well, but the current $15 plan definitely doesn't consume minutes for call forwarding.

@Darougarcan you confirm what plan self-serve shows in the "Show plan details" link, and if it looks like this. If it doesn't say "Unlimited Incoming Minutes" then you have the old $15 plan, and you should consider changing your plan to the current $15 plan. If you are on the old $10 plan, then note that unconditional forwarding uses your minutes. You can "hack" this by reprogramming your "conditional" forwards to go somewhere other than voicemail to not use minutes, but I'll wait to hear your findings on this before exploring that route.

My Plan

This plan includes: -
- 100 Minutes Canada-Wide Talk + Unlimited Incoming Minutes
- 250 MB at 3G speed
- Unlimited International Text

$15 per 30 Days

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

Darougar — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 10:19:58 GMT

How can I cancel all futures on my line such as call forwarding and elc...

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

Nezgar — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 08:00:55 GMT

@Darougar wrote:
How can I cancel all futures on my line such as call forwarding and elc...

Dial ##21# to disable unconditional call forwarding

Dial ##004# to reset conditional call forwarding back to default public mobile voicemail.

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

Darougar — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 10:53:34 GMT

Why public mobile does not tell customers that call forwarding it considered as a usages?

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

Triguy — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 11:15:51 GMT

@Darougar According to this help article, call forwarding and checking voicemail uses plan minutes.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/limited-talk-and-text-plans

Re: why I can not call out while I did not use my 100 minutes?

t_p — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 13:06:20 GMT

Check if your airplane mode is not on by mistake, one never knows! 😛

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

Nezgar — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 14:26:42 GMT

@DarougarPM does tell customers via the help article linked by @Triguy. However, that information is outdated, as it only applies to old plans that are no longer offered (for example $10 50 minute plan, old $15 plan without unlimited incoming minutes).

All current plans including the $15 plan do call forwarding without consuming minutes. I have confirmed this myself.

Another "undocumented" perk is that calls to toll-free numbers (800, 888, etc) also do not consume airtime minutes on limited-minute plans.

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 14:33:54 GMT

@Darougar : Maybe you're confusing between the usage details and the overview page counters. All activity will be logged in usage details. Only countable activity will show in the overview page counters.

Have you tried using any of the call forwarding options to see if the overview page counter increments? It will while on the call and then unofficially go back to what it was before the call.

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

softech — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 15:22:33 GMT

@Nezgar wrote:

All current plans including the $15 plan do call forwarding without consuming minutes. I have confirmed this myself.

@Nezgar

PM article still saying using Call Forwarding consume minutes...

Limited Talk & Text Plans (publicmobile.ca)

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 15:29:37 GMT

@softech wrote:
PM article still saying using Call Forwarding consume minutes...

@softech : That's the official stance. But we have found that it's not true in reality. It's why I asked the OP if this had maybe changed. But then of course these things are subject to change at any time without notice.

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

softech — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 15:42:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@softech wrote:
PM article still saying using Call Forwarding consume minutes...
@softech : That's the official stance. But we have found that it's not true in reality. It's why I asked the OP if this had maybe changed. But then of course these things are subject to change at any time without notice.

while this is a nice "glitch" , it certainly confused everyone..

not sure if they "fixed" the loophole and start counting now, hope OP can shine some light here.

Re: Why I can not call out while I did not use my minutes?

Iceman — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 15:53:52 GMT

You must have an active plan to be able to use your add-ons.