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Add on for travel in the US not working

vickijanzen
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I am from Canada and just got back from a short trip to the US.  I bought an add on that included 5GB of data and unlimited data, messaging and talk.  This plan did not work at all while I was there.  I could not text or go online at all while is was there.  I have now returned from my trip and still see that 0GBs have been used.  I made sure all the settings on my phone were as they should be with roaming on , airplane mode off, etc.  I would like to know what went wrong and also if there is a way to be reimbursed since I was unable to access this features  of this add on. 

10 REPLIES 10

vickijanzen
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I was in Washington in the San Juan Islands area. I know I had roaming on, but not sure if it was set to LTE or 3G.  I didn't even try to make a voice call and was only concerned about texting and data, neither of which worked.  My phone is just over 2 years old . Thanks for the info.  I guess it's not super hopeful that this problem won't reoccur next time I travel. 


@vickijanzen wrote:

...it is  the unlimited talk and text that did not work.


Public Mobile does not support VoLTE, and hence relies on a 3G network for voice calls. 3G is actively being shutdown in the USA, so calls might have failed due to the lack of 3G infrastructure in the areas you were visiting. Sometimes people have been able to manually set their phone to connect between AT&T or T-Mobile for a better connection, or forcing phone to 2G mode to allow calls and then switching manually back to LTE for faster data, as T-Mobile still has a 2G network in many areas where 3G has been shutdown.

 

If you had an LTE connection, texting should have continued to work though. Did your phone indicate any connection at all, ie with LTE?

 

Which state(s) did you visit? I know from experience that T-Mobile has no 2G or 3G network in Montana for instance - only LTE on bands only supported by the newest phones, and relying on VoLTE for voice. (My LG G3 at the time could pick up nothing)

 

Anyhow -- lastly, Public Mobile warns of of the risk of service issues with roaming because of the USA 3G shutdown in a disclaimer at the bottom of their roaming plans on the home page:

 

"Important: Important: As of February 22nd, 2022, United States (U.S.) carriers have started turning down certain 3G/HSPA networks. As a result, customers using U.S. roaming add-ons will be impacted by differences in coverage or service quality (including 9-1-1 calls) when roaming in the U.S. Customers may also experience changes to services such as welcome messages, voicemail notifications, usage notifications for voice, notifications when trying to make an international call, interactive voice responses (IVR), as well as the ability to set up voicemail while in the U.S. This shutdown will not impact your service in Canada."

vickijanzen
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Yes, my mistake.  I was looking at all the add-ons in my account and the 5GB was a separate add-on, but showed up in the same area, and not part of the US unlimited talk and text that I added for my trip to the States.  So it is the unlimited talk and text that did not work (disregard what I said about the 5GB add-on) Thank you for your reply.

vickijanzen
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Yes, my mistake.  I was looking at all the add-ons in my account and the 5GB was a separate add-on, but showed up in the same area, and not part of the US unlimited talk and text that I added for my trip to the States.  

vickijanzen
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Yes, my mistake.  I was looking at all the add-ons in my account and the 5GB was a separate add-on, and not part of the US talk and text that I added for my trip to the States.  (It just showed up in the same area but I shouldn't have mentioned it.). But regardless, it is  the unlimited talk and text that did not work. I will try submitting a ticket. Thank you!

dabr
Mayor / Maire

@vickijanzen   There is no 5GB data option with the roaming packages.  Do you mean 250MB data with unlimited text/call for $20?  The roaming add-ons are only active for 10 days from time of purchase and unfortunately, some customers have had issues with connection since US carriers have shut down their 3G network which is supposed to only affect talk feature and data/text is supposed to work.  For talk you need to be connected to T-Mobile 2G network.

 

You can submit a ticket if you were unable to use any roaming add-ons to customer support to see if they will offer any account credit although there's no guarantees.  

 

chatbot: https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help


@Remember wrote:

@vickijanzen 

Manually select the network to T-Mobile and reboot phone,

not works, open a ticket with PM CS_Agent. at : https://publicmobile.ca/chatbot.

type: Contact Us and Other 
Finally Click here to submit a ticket
you will then direct to another page to open ticket.

If you have error submitting a ticket, send a private message to CS_Agent https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

check inbox(top right corner envelope icon) for response from CS_Agent.


Hi @Remember  

 

 

if you read OP message  before you reply, you will know "Manually select the network to T-Mobile and reboot phone," won't work now

 

hTideGnow
Mayor / Maire

HI @vickijanzen   

 

There is no add on that "  included 5GB of data and unlimited data, messaging and talk" for use in USA.

What you are talking about is like your base plan for use in Canada

 

There is a US Bundle  of 0.25GB  and unlimited talk and message for $20.  Did you got that one instead?

 

if you did , and unable to use in US, you can open ticket with CS agent and discuss a refund:

 

at : https://publicmobile.ca/chatbot. Follow this to get to ticket open screen quicker:

start by typing : Contact CS Agent
then Click "Contact Us"
then Click "Other"
finally Click "Click here to submit a ticket"
you will then direct to another page to open ticket.

After ticket is submitted, make sure to check your Community Inbox(top right corner envelope icon) periodically for response from PM's CS Agent


If you have problems submitting a ticket, you can also send a private message to the CS Agent (but this can take longer):
https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

esjliv
Mayor / Maire

Is there an 5GB data addon for Roaming while in the USA @vickijanzen , I don't think there is. So are you sure you added correct Roaming addons to your account? 

 

Remember
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@vickijanzen 

Manually select the network to T-Mobile and reboot phone,

not works, open a ticket with PM CS_Agent. at : https://publicmobile.ca/chatbot. ask them for remove those add-ons to give credit.

type: Contact Us and Other 
Finally Click here to submit a ticket
you will then direct to another page to open ticket.

If you have error submitting a ticket, send a private message to CS_Agent https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

check inbox(top right corner envelope icon) for response from CS_Agent.

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