400 min Intl Long Distance

[bantonen]

I purchased a 400 min Intl Long Distance Add on. It shows up in my account as being active. When I try to make a call I get a message saying that I need to purchase an add on. Help. Thank you.

[dna2016]

@srlawren although you're not speaking factually but I firmly believe you're probably right on point with your assumptions.  Yes i've seen those calculations you're referring to and PM/Telus is saving a bundle with this current system in place.  They probably see this a major need until they see the PM subscriber base increase dramatically to the point where it's at par with Koodo, but that'll never happen.    

[srlawren]

@dna2016 Telus definitely have the resources, but I believe (only my conjecture here, not fact) that they try to operate PM on a shoestring budget.  I think they see it as a good stepping stone into their overall ecosystem, but based on the aggressive Koodo migration offers the past seveal months (including targetting people that only signed up weeks or even days earlier with PM), it's pretty clear it's only meant to be a stepping stone. Thinking strategically, investing more into making PM better might actually make it less likely for people to want to move up the "value chain", so I believe they are extremely picky as to what they spend their budget on.  I think they factor in the cost to manage an issue via manual intervention vs. the cost of updating the system(s) required, but my personal feeling is they exlude the intangible CX (customer experience) from that, possibly purposefully to keep some rough edges here and enourage folks to migrate.  Again, this whole paragraph has been 100% my personal thoughts on what could be going on, but as we have very little transparency into their processes and decisions (as you would expect--few companies are especially open in this regard), we may never know for sure.

The other factor to consider is that not only are the moderator team costs *relatively* low (sorry I have no idea how much they make--I hope they are paid well as they definitely deserve it!), but the community at large is an even cheaper source of labour for PM.  I've seen some pople analyzing the number of reward payouts and calculating the costs per month over a few months, and the cost is quite low.  But for that cost, they get a ton of first-level triage from community members like yourself, other frequent contributors such as the oracles and mayors, etc., all for peanuts.  That cuts down on the number of moderators (ostensibly support staff) they need on hand, as we can help troubleshoot the simple cases without ever involving the mods.  

[dna2016]

@srlawren ya i had a feeling the reason would be cost savings, but figured since the Telus take over they would have had more resources to get something like this easily applied.  But then again they must be looking at how often this happens and whether it's worth it right now to invest those resources.  

I agree with you, they need to factor in the customer experience and the hassle something like this creates.  Plus you quickly decrease the number of times this occurs dramatically, and now this is one less issue that a MOD needs to deal with, and they can get to more troubling issues.  Considering this is an online only company they should have triggers in place to help prevent users from needing to reach out to MODS, and this is a perfect example.

[JL9]

This has happened to me 2 times in the last 2 years and the easy fix for me was just restarting my phone...hopefully you get it resolved!

[srlawren]

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@dna2016 wrote:

But I also think PM should consider having a built-in mechanism that doesn't allow users to apply for add-ons that won't work, or at least a pop-up advising the user the feature will not work without the base rate voice plan.  Worst thing is paying for the feature and then afterwards realizing you won't be able to use it.

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@dna2016 yep, I and many others have been begging PM to do this for literally years now.  I don't think it's ever going to happen, because it's cheaper for them to just have a moderator fix the situation manually than it is for them to invest in the system changes.  I don't think they're accounting for customer experience, or they just don't see it as important enough.  Either way, it's one of those ridiculous PM quirks that's existed for far, far longer than it should for an online-only company.

@bantonen I think between @Dunkman and @stonechucker they've nailed the most common causes for the issue you're getting.  If neither applies, and a reboot of your phone still does not fix the issue (try it--it only takes a couple of mins), then you will need to reach out to the moderator team for assistance.  Should you need to do so, please see below for all the details:

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[dna2016]

Hi @bantonen, 

As @stonechucker mentioend make sure you have a plan that includes provincial or canada-wide calling.  If you don't have either then you won't be able to use add-on calling features.  

As it says in the terms and conditions "Add-Ons are available for use only with an active plan. Long distance Add-Ons require a monthly talk feature on the rate plan."

But I also think PM should consider having a built-in mechanism that doesn't allow users to apply for add-ons that won't work, or at least a pop-up advising the user the feature will not work without the base rate voice plan.  Worst thing is paying for the feature and then afterwards realizing you won't be able to use it.

[stonechucker]

@bantonen, Have you got a voice-option selected on your plan?  In order to use the 400 LD minutes, you MUST have a Provincial or Canada-Wide or Canada&US calling option selected.

LD Minutes do not work without the base voice option.

[Dunkman]

If it is active in account, it should be working. Which country are you calling? This add on included countries: Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela. If you are calling one of these countries, you likely need to contact a moderator to fix this issue. They are usually very helpful and can help with type of issues. Here is instructions to contact moderator: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Knowledge-Base/Updated-How-to-Contact-our-Community-M...