$10 Emergency Phone Plan changed to $13 without notice

[Sarlye]

I always have an emergency phone that I keep just in case for $10/month with 50 min and 50 text.. This month, they changed it $13 without any notice..

Who do I talk to about this? or is it worth my time? 

Any advise will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[darlicious]

@Sarlye 

Many customers received no notice at all so you are not alone in that regard. Exercise your right to complain and seek redress under the WCC (Wireless Code of Canada).

[dust2dust]

Do you get the texts from 5129? The required CCTS text shortcode number?

[Sarlye]

@esjliv re: There should have been a text or email sent out in March notifying you of this change from $10 to $13. It is possible if you had blocked any communications from Public Mobile that you may not have received anything. OR, if something went to junk/spam email folder it may have been automatically deleted by now.

I keep all the texts from PM on my phone, I just reviewed it and all I got was the plan will renew, plan renewed and $2 loyalty and $2 auto pay applied, etc. Nowhere is there a text about the change in price.

[ShawnC13]

@darlicious that is probably why the first sentence says they can change the terms of service, and rates without notice. That is why I am interested to see the interpretation and what the outcome is

[darlicious]

@ShawnC13 

And I'm not contending that term just the 30 days notice on the plans page. Public mobile wrote the terms of service. I just expect them to follow them.

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

[ShawnC13]

@darlicious lol fixed the auto correct. I was just saying there is more than the 30 days as well. It will be interesting to see how this goes because it does basically say they can change anything at anytime without notice

[darlicious]

@ShawnC13 

I'm sorry can you give me the link to the terms of service where it says :

With the $10 no longer offered it isn't in the plans page, so they emailed and texted those plan holders. Yes summer may have been missed, she may block the messages but it says the can change rates without notice if they choose to.

Because the terms of service that I agreed to doesn't include the above "term" and I went thru the terms of service several times and double checked the pdf, the plans page on the website and in my self serve account.

I also took screenshots of all three of areas when I received the texr, 30 days before April 28th, On my renewal preceding April 28th and on April 28th shortly after the rate hike misnomer took place at midnight (12:00:00am eastern). I am still unable to locate it except in your post and in my post that I copy and pasted from your post?

Am I missing something obvious here? I must be....right? Because I agreed to these terms :

Public Mobile has the right to change any of the terms of service, including rates, without notice. Changes become effective thirty days after being posted at publicmobile.ca/plans.

Until the term of service above in red occurs I am beholden to the terms that i and my service provider agreed to when I signed up for the $10 50/50 plan. Any changes to the terms of service that occur before they are posted and thirty days have passed are contrary to the WCC are a breach to the code.

Its a one sentence term of service that public mobile is required by law to uphold. They wrote their own terms of service that completely favours the pre-paid provider. Why are so many members willing to concede the one tiny protection the WCC avails prepaid customers to protect their rights?

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

[ShawnC13]

@darlicious and @dust2dust  what makes this an illegal price increase.  Here is the terms of service on the subject.

Can the terms of service change? Yes, Public Mobile has the right to change any of the terms of service, including rates, without notice. Changes become effective thirty days after being posted at publicmobile.ca/plans. By purchasing service after a change is posted, including by continuing to top up your account, you accept the current terms of service. You can cancel service at any time, without penalty or cancellation fees.

While I agree no one likes a price increase, the above says they can do it without notice if they choose to.  If the price change gets posted on the plans page it takes effect 30 days later. With the $10 no longer offered it isn't in the plans page, so they emailed and texted those plan holders. Yes some may have been missed, some may block the messages but it says the can change rates without notice if they choose to.

Lol edited phone auto correct

[ShawnC13]

@dust2dust well it isn't semantics as a member that used to be here, I am sure you would remember them z10user... Always wanted the wording to be very specific, so I always look for clarification

[dust2dust]

@ShawnC13- You being a fellow customer and not an employee one would hope that fellow customers would not engage in pointless semantics over this whole topic. Already the CCTS has allowed this to proceed to the next level. Public has of course stymied it all but the CCTS hasn't. Public is bound by rules and regulations and they're own contractual wording. They have and are violating them all over the place as we also see with Beer's experiences and observations. This company is behaving unlawfully. They need to be called out. Why no one seems to care is beyond me. Or why people are defending the company as fellow customers is also beyond me. I can see the support people of course. But fellow customers? ....then they came for me. (Martin Niemöller) (not that this has any comparison in gravity)

[ShawnC13]

@dust2dust all plans have a basic $10 charge but if you say the plan was eliminated than you can't say they are putting a huge price increase on it at the same time?  Is it the same plan with a price increase or is it a new plan?

[dust2dust]

@ShawnC13- They did eliminate the whole plan. It's now the base $10 plus $1.50 for 50 minutes plus $1.50 for 50 texts. That's what I call an eliminated plan. Not grandfathered.

[ShawnC13]

@dust2dust would it be better if they just eliminated the whole plan and didn't offer it at all?  I am sure that was an option as well

[darlicious]

@hTideGnow 

Public Mobile failed to notify many customers....this is not the OP's fault. Regardless public mobile broke the terms of service. Period.

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

[hTideGnow]

HI @Sarlye   According to PM, they have tried to email and text you about the price hike.  Check your spam folder and make sure you didn't block 611 messages.  

Yes, no one like price hike, but no business can survive if the are not allowed to increase the price.  

[JL9]

Nothing has been done about it yet and it has been a month since the increase and 2 or 3 since notification. Hopefully there is a little miracle but I guess we will see. Fingers crossed.

[dust2dust]

If you don't do any texting or maybe even emailing then you would not have noticed the illegal notification. You can register your displeasure as mentioned. Then when you get the expected nothing-burger from here then you can escalate your concern to the regulatory body CCTS.

Worth your time is entirely up to you. You are actually seeing an at least 37% hike with the minimum $2 loyalty reward you will have earned in the years since the plan was available. You might even be seeing an effective hike up to 100% if you're on autopay and 5 years of loyalty. Or 300% if you have 3 referrals as well.

I'll leave the process to the very capable darlicious who will contact you in private messaging. Click on the little envelope icon next to your shooting star avatar when you see a red number above it.

The whole thing was unlawfully executed so the company needs to address it. The intended outcome is full revocation and credits for renewed accounts.

[esjliv · Accepted solution]

@Sarlye -

There was no announcement here on the forum.

There should have been a text or email sent out in March notifying you of this change from $10 to $13. It is possible if you had blocked any communications from Public Mobile that you may not have received anything. OR, if something went to junk/spam email folder it may have been automatically deleted by now.

Did your plan renew okay? If not, you will need to add funds manually to re-activate the plan.

If you did not receive any communication about the change you can mention this to a Public Mobile representative.

Public Mobile Representatives customer support agents (CSA) can be contacted by either two methods, found here:

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/contact-an-agent

[darlicious]

@Sarlye 

Yes this is outrageous....I will private message you some helpful information on what to do but it starts with a complaint to customer support.

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.