Changes to how you verify that you’re the account owner

[Alan_K]

Hey Community,

Respecting your privacy and taking great care to safeguard your personal information is of utmost importance to us. Along these lines, we are introducing an enhancement to how we verify that you’re the account owner. This new process provides even more security for your private information and reduces the time you’ll spend with our Moderator Team confirming you are the account owner.  

Starting December 21, 2018, here’s how the new process will work:

1. After you privately message our Moderator Team about a question that requires you to verify that you are the account owner, our support team will reply with a unique link to a secure online form.
2. You will need to provide either your Public Mobile:
1. Self-Serve username and password, or
2. Phone number and 5 digit verification code that you’ll receive to the number provided
3. If you are unable to verify using the options above, our Moderator Team will share an alternative option we have available for you.
4. After you’ve provided the information, please reply to the existing private message thread you have with our Moderator Team, and they will provide you with full support.

-Public Mobile Community Team

FAQs

Spoiler

Q: What are some examples of requests that require me to confirm I am the account owner before a Moderator can help me?

A: Here are a couple of examples:

• You would like to change your Self-Serve email address, or make other Self-Serve account changes that you are unable to do yourself.
• Your earned Rewards are not showing up.
• You need further assistance with your number transfer from another phone carrier.

Q: I’ve found myself in the scenario where I don’t have access to my phone and I can’t recall my Self-Serve username and password. How can I confirm that I’m the account owner in this circumstance?

A: Great question. We hope that you don’t find yourself in this situation, but, if you’re in this pickle, we do have a solution for you. First, if you are unable to authenticate because you’ve forgotten your Self-Serve password, please try resetting it here. If this doesn’t resolve things, please let our Moderator Team know that you’ll need to validate using an alternative method.

Q: Where can I read more about Public Mobile’s privacy policies?

A: Your privacy is important to us, and we’re committed to protecting your personal information. In addition, we believe that an important part of protecting privacy is to be clear about how we handle customers' personal information, and to make information about our approach easily accessible. To learn more about how Public Mobile and its affiliated companies use personal information for client service, marketing and product development purposes, you can review our Privacy Policy.

[Brooke_C]

@srlawrenI can't agree more! We'll be sure to reach out to you when we begin collecting feedback

[dumbdobie1]

Agreed can't wait for this change to be implemented where advance verification is done. This will cut down on alot of unecessary steps 🙂

[srlawren]

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@Brooke_C wrote:

In the future, this step will occur before you finally submit your ticket to make it faster.  

---

Thanks for clarifying, @Brooke_C.  FYI, this last bit that I've quoted cannot arrive fast enough.  Looking forward to seeing this in action, hopefully sooner than later!  [No pressure, LOL]

[Brooke_C]

Hey @RobertQc, 

Great question! Not all private messages that the Moderators answer will require authentication. But, for those that do, we would like for Community members to verify that they're the account owner using the new link and process. 

In the future, this step will occur before you finally submit your ticket to make it faster. 

[RobertQc]

I know as of Dec21st things were supposed to change even the knowledge base confirms this but when I contacted the mods I didn't get this 2 step process. They asked me in a private message for personal details, there was no link.

Not that it was a pressing matter but there was an addition 2 days added to resolution time that could have been avoided if I had just included my personal details in the first message.

Going forward to help customers should i be telling them to include their private information to save time, or explain to them about the 2 step process?

[Xakdub]

You would like to change your Self-Serve email address, or make other Self-Serve account changes that you are unable to do yourself.

[RossN]

hi still waiting for a solution to my texting issue I cant believe the lack of service here I hate to be a complainer but three weeks is unaceptable

[srlawren]

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@Brooke_C wrote:

Hey @computergeek541 and @srlawren,

We understand your concerns and you're right in that this is an interim step. We are working on improvments to the ticketing system which will incorporate authentication as a step in the process, if required, and we will be sure to share more details as soon as we can! 

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Looking forward to hearing more about this, @Brooke_C.  Thanks for the reply.

[dumbdobie1]

PM really needs to just put a contact support / mod button on the user's main account page. It will cut down on security risks and also a lot of the duplicate verification that mods and users are doing here.

[Brooke_C]

Hey @computergeek541 and @srlawren,

We understand your concerns and you're right in that this is an interim step. We are working on improvments to the ticketing system which will incorporate authentication as a step in the process, if required, and we will be sure to share more details as soon as we can! 

[ShawnC13]

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@ReenaKapur wrote:

URGENT HELP NEEDED.....

I arrived in Canada on 07 Dec 2018 and registered for a CAN$ 40 plan with Mobile No REMOVED after redeeming CAN$ 40 from a voucher valued CAN$ 60. There is an existing CAN$ 20 balance in my coupon as on date. However, there was a possible problem while registering my email ID. Hence, I am unable to login to Public Mobile to register for AUTOPAY using my email as also redeem the balance CAN$ 20.

My correct email is REMOVED and my Public Mobile No is REMOVED. My current subscription expires on 05 January 2019. I need to urgently:

1. Register my correct email ID REMOVED

2. Renew my subscription by AUTOPAY.

3. Redeem my balance CAN$ 20 coupon please.

Could the Moderate/ anyone else URGENTLY ASSIST me with the above? I look forward to a call please.

Regards,

Reena Kapur

Personal info was removed by ShawnC13

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@ReenaKapur, you have to send that info in a private message to the moderators not post it in the public forum. I edited your post to remove info from public view. 

To send a private message to a moderator click this link and describe your issue.

1. After you privately message the Moderator Team about a question that requires you to verify that you are the account owner, the support team will reply with a unique link to a secure online form.
   
2. You will need to provide either your Public Mobile:
   
1. Self-Serve username and password, or
2. Phone number and 5 digit verification code that you’ll receive to the number provided
   
3. If you are unable to verify using the options above, the Moderator Team will share an alternative option they have available for you.
   
4. After you’ve provided the information, please reply to the existing private message thread you have with the Moderator Team, and they will provide you with full support.
   

Community Moderators are available from Monday-Friday 9am(Eastern) to 9pm(Eastern) and Saturday, and Sunday from 9am(Eastern) to 7:30pm(Eastern)

More info on moderators

[ReenaKapur]

URGENT HELP NEEDED.....

I arrived in Canada on 07 Dec 2018 and registered for a CAN$ 40 plan with Mobile No REMOVED after redeeming CAN$ 40 from a voucher valued CAN$ 60. There is an existing CAN$ 20 balance in my coupon as on date. However, there was a possible problem while registering my email ID. Hence, I am unable to login to Public Mobile to register for AUTOPAY using my email as also redeem the balance CAN$ 20.

My correct email is REMOVED and my Public Mobile No is REMOVED. My current subscription expires on 05 January 2019. I need to urgently:

1. Register my correct email ID REMOVED

2. Renew my subscription by AUTOPAY.

3. Redeem my balance CAN$ 20 coupon please.

Could the Moderate/ anyone else URGENTLY ASSIST me with the above? I look forward to a call please.

Regards,

Reena Kapur

Personal info was removed by ShawnC13

[djbolton]

Thanks for your reply I got it sorted out.

[Mary_M]

Hey @VERYANGRY,

thanks for getting back to us.

According to your other post, you stated that you have an account - therefor I am doubtful a "ghost" payment was taken - it could have been applied to your Public Mobile account.

In order for me to verify this, I'll need some of your details. Can you please send me a private message?

Thanks,

Mary

[MJ23]

A ticketing system would be ideal.

[srlawren]

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@RossN wrote:

gee it wou;ld be nice just to get some service I have been trying for over two weeks now!

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@RossN 1) what's the issue you're having?  And 2) did you send a private message to the moderator team?  Please see here for more info:  How to Get Help

[RossN]

gee it wou;ld be nice just to get some service I have been trying for over two weeks now!

[TMS]

@RobertQc

LOL 😂  “4219 in queue”.  

[RobertQc]

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@TMS wrote:

Why can’t there be a live chat with queue for only customers of public mobile?

EDIT: PM would only require two Mods working 9am-9pm EST to cover all of Canada 🇨🇦. 🙂

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@TMSThis would be great, but might be pretty hard to implement. What happens when there is 4219 people queued in line at 6pm and they can handle about 40 requests per hour? At 9pm when they close does it drop all the people waiting and say "sorry, the mods went home, sorry you waited in line for 11 hours try again tomorrow" What happens if at 8:55pm I click live chat and they have 4000 people still waiting?

If its not 24/7 there would have to be some way for the chat to only accept a certain number of queued members so they could not only go home at the end of a shift but also not make us sit there all day. So it will ultimately end up when you click live chat "Sorry, all queued spots are full try again later" it would be so frustrating to sit there and keep trying to get a spot you may never get. To be honest, I would prefer sending one message in a ticket system with some sort of ETA / how many requests are infront of you and not having to check back until I am notified with their response or solution.

I am not a fan of outsourcing but if public mobile has to pay say $40,000 per support agent it makes sense to keep it tight we are a budget provider the cost is so low... but when you can hire a service in India that will charge you pennies on the dollar maybe its time to look into a 3rd party company to deal with live chat.

When it takes a week to get a response from the moderator team simply changing the method of contact isin't going to speed things up,at the end of the day fixing self serve glitches, giving customers more self-serve abilities and increasing support staff is the only thing thats going to really help imo.

[TMS]

Why can’t there be a live chat with queue for only customers of public mobile?

EDIT: PM would only require two Mods working 9am-9pm EST to cover all of Canada 🇨🇦. 🙂

[djbolton]

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@Alan_K wrote:

Hey Community,

Respecting your privacy and taking great care to safeguard your personal information is of utmost importance to us. Along these lines, we are introducing an enhancement to how we verify that you’re the account owner. This new process provides even more security for your private information and reduces the time you’ll spend with our Moderator Team confirming you are the account owner.  

Starting December 21, 2018, here’s how the new process will work:

1. After you privately message our Moderator Team about a question that requires you to verify that you are the account owner, our support team will reply with a unique link to a secure online form.
2. You will need to provide either your Public Mobile:
1. Self-Serve username and password, or
2. Phone number and 5 digit verification code that you’ll receive to the number provided
3. If you are unable to verify using the options above, our Moderator Team will share an alternative option we have available for you.
4. After you’ve provided the information, please reply to the existing private message thread you have with our Moderator Team, and they will provide you with full support.

-Public Mobile Community Team

FAQs

Spoiler

Q: What are some examples of requests that require me to confirm I am the account owner before a Moderator can help me?

A: Here are a couple of examples:

• You would like to change your Self-Serve email address, or make other Self-Serve account changes that you are unable to do yourself.
• Your earned Rewards are not showing up.
• You need further assistance with your number transfer from another phone carrier.

Q: I’ve found myself in the scenario where I don’t have access to my phone and I can’t recall my Self-Serve username and password. How can I confirm that I’m the account owner in this circumstance?

A: Great question. We hope that you don’t find yourself in this situation, but, if you’re in this pickle, we do have a solution for you. First, if you are unable to authenticate because you’ve forgotten your Self-Serve password, please try resetting it here. If this doesn’t resolve things, please let our Moderator Team know that you’ll need to validate using an alternative method.

Q: Where can I read more about Public Mobile’s privacy policies?

A: Your privacy is important to us, and we’re committed to protecting your personal information. In addition, we believe that an important part of protecting privacy is to be clear about how we handle customers' personal information, and to make information about our approach easily accessible. To learn more about how Public Mobile and its affiliated companies use personal information for client service, marketing and product development purposes, you can review our Privacy Policy.

---

---

@Alan_K wrote:

Hey Community,

Respecting your privacy and taking great care to safeguard your personal information is of utmost importance to us. Along these lines, we are introducing an enhancement to how we verify that you’re the account owner. This new process provides even more security for your private information and reduces the time you’ll spend with our Moderator Team confirming you are the account owner.  

Starting December 21, 2018, here’s how the new process will work:

1. After you privately message our Moderator Team about a question that requires you to verify that you are the account owner, our support team will reply with a unique link to a secure online form.
2. You will need to provide either your Public Mobile:
1. Self-Serve username and password, or
2. Phone number and 5 digit verification code that you’ll receive to the number provided
3. If you are unable to verify using the options above, our Moderator Team will share an alternative option we have available for you.
4. After you’ve provided the information, please reply to the existing private message thread you have with our Moderator Team, and they will provide you with full support.

-Public Mobile Community Team

FAQs

Spoiler

Q: What are some examples of requests that require me to confirm I am the account owner before a Moderator can help me?

A: Here are a couple of examples:

• You would like to change your Self-Serve email address, or make other Self-Serve account changes that you are unable to do yourself.
• Your earned Rewards are not showing up.
• You need further assistance with your number transfer from another phone carrier.

Q: I’ve found myself in the scenario where I don’t have access to my phone and I can’t recall my Self-Serve username and password. How can I confirm that I’m the account owner in this circumstance?

A: Great question. We hope that you don’t find yourself in this situation, but, if you’re in this pickle, we do have a solution for you. First, if you are unable to authenticate because you’ve forgotten your Self-Serve password, please try resetting it here. If this doesn’t resolve things, please let our Moderator Team know that you’ll need to validate using an alternative method.

Q: Where can I read more about Public Mobile’s privacy policies?

A: Your privacy is important to us, and we’re committed to protecting your personal information. In addition, we believe that an important part of protecting privacy is to be clear about how we handle customers' personal information, and to make information about our approach easily accessible. To learn more about how Public Mobile and its affiliated companies use personal information for client service, marketing and product development purposes, you can review our Privacy Policy.

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[will13am]

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@TMS wrote:

Live chat would help this whole conundrum, as long as there isn’t a 1 hour delay. 

---

I kind of hinted at that as a "natural" progression for evolution of customer service here.  The verification approach makes sense provided that it is automated so that this new process does not add to an already very slow response.  Back in the day when response times were in the order of an hour or two, I don't see this to be a problem but with response times being days, anything that can lengthen response is not good. 

[dna2016]

I think this is a great idea, it's always very important to verify that you are speaking to the right person.  From a privacy perspective this is something that should have been implemented awhile ago, but better late than never.  

Good job PM.

[NDesai]

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@mimmo wrote:

@Alan_K what happens if I provide the needed information in the original message (username + password) or pin  and email or telephone number?   

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That would be the 2nd form of verification if a customer would fail to provide info requested on the new form. If they provide needed info in the initial PM, mods would have to manually verify the info, and it would get complicated if another mod takes over the case. So the new authentication method suppose to provide a global check in the system so mods can easily see that user has already verified his/her account. 

[mimmo]

@Alan_K what happens if I provide the needed information in the original message (username + password) or pin  and email or telephone number?   

[TMS]

Live chat would help this whole conundrum, as long as there isn’t a 1 hour delay. 

[Effort]

I personally don't like this. Account information shouldn't be passed around as verification. It's part of the rule of the weakest link. The self-serve account doesn't matter how secure you make the password anymore, if your community account gets hacked, they also have access to your actual account. 

I also dislike the authorization you're giving your service desk. I've worked tier 1 service desk as well, we went through account issues too but we never had full access to account credentials. Only one of the group had increased authorization which allowed them to see more information or forced password changes and they were closer to tier 2.

[popping]

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@gamblewithandy wrote:

This is a BULLSHET! First off, y fo the need username n password? You have already went thru those ?Security? Measures b4 u can even send a message SOUNDS SHADY!!!

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This community forum is separate system from the PM self-serve system.  When you request support, moderator need to verify your PM account information before working on your account issues.

[gamblewithandy]

This is a BULLSHET! First off, y fo the need username n password? You have already went thru those ?Security? Measures b4 u can even send a message SOUNDS SHADY!!!

[dumbdobie1]

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@kav2001c wrote:

Question #1

@Alan_K

Is this system *automated*?

I am a bit concerned if this new method requires Mods to respond back to EVERY support request (doubling number of messages required, as well as possibly impacting response times)

Question #2

Why not just scrap the entire "send a private message to Mod"?

Seriously

It seems far easier to go the route your competitors have chosen

(EG, *REQUIRE* login to self serve account, THEN click a button to submit request)

 Seeing as this message board community is in no way tied to our actual Public accounts I think it is well past time that method of support is scrapped

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This is an excellent idea. Would simplify redundant messages and lighten the moderator's workload on doing mundane verification.