Community

Fiftysix · 2 weeks ago

Last month I got a new credit card with low credit limit and unexpectedly hit zero balance.

When the Public Mobile system tried to charge me for the next month, it bounced. And you wanna know what happened?

No calling
No texting
No internet. Not even a website belonging to Public Mobile which would allow me to fix the situation with a different credit card.

So I got Wifi hotspot from my wife’s phone, logged into the app to buy credit - I couldn’t, there was no way to even buy extra credit via credit card.

I kid you not, I literally had to walk to a gas station to buy a voucher and then I applied it to rescue myself out of this circus. It’s 2025, I’m sorry this is not cool.

It’s clear this company is run by robots, either flesh-like or mechanical. I know PM isn’t perfect and I was willing to compromise on a lot of things, but this draconian disconnect is just plain dangerous.

Nah-ah: Bye-eeeeeeeee Public Mobile.

Fiftysix · a week ago

Wow. Ya it’s a pre-paid service. Thanks. I never noticed that.

The sneaky thing for me is that PM’s prices and plans as a pre-paid carrier are very comparable to those of post-paid companies, which is actually a good thing and unheard of.

If anyone can remember that 10+ years ago pre-paid was always more expensive due to the non-committing nature of the service and prices were better when you signed a contract. I suppose this is what confused me.

Anyway, I have no issue with commitment and contracts and need a reliable service in various circumstances and contexts (emergencies and overseas), something which PM is obviously not designed for. I’m just glad I discovered this sooner than later.

Nezgar · a week ago

I usually ensure that I have enough balance in my account prior to the renewal date to ensure no interruption of service. Even with a payment method in good standing, I've seen occasional reports of Public Mobile's billing system still failing and causing a temporary service outage until it is manually resolved by the customer. Having the funds loaded into the account prior to the renewal date ensures no risk of service outage since the funds are already there.

Public mobile is 100% a pre-paid service, most apparent due to the lack of any contracts to sign. As such, it is standard practice to disable service immediately for usage that is beyond the paid term.

On the positive side though, the ability to purchase those vouchers at a variety of retail outlets may let you optimize the points and or cashback categories of your credit cards... IE many credit cards offer a boost for purchases made at grocery stores or gas stations of at least 4 to 5% back, which does not apply when Public Mobile bills your card directly...

Phil_Adelphus · a week ago

@Fiftysix ? Is this company considered a pre-paid carrier

See "Service Terms" link at the bottom of this page, especially the section "How Does Public Mobile Prepaid Service Work".

computergeek541 · 2 weeks ago

@Fiftysix wrote:
Ok, hold on, one second. Did you say the words “pre-paid”? Is this company considered a pre-paid carrier? Because it sure acts like it. I’ve been around for a while to know the difference, everything about it makes it appear like post-paid.

Public Mobile is entirely a prepaid carrier.

Fiftysix · 2 weeks ago

Ok, hold on, one second. Did you say the words “pre-paid”? Is this company considered a pre-paid carrier? Because it sure acts like it. I’ve been around for a while to know the difference, everything about it makes it appear like post-paid.

And no, a normal post-paid company doesn’t immediately pull the plug on you when there happens to be a temporary financial glitch on the customer side. There is absolutely no way this is justifiable, never ever. What if I was in an urgent situation and had to use my phone, which stopped working because of this absolutely pointless issue?

I’ve been with Rogers, Fido, Bell…whatever, if you ever miss a payment, they’ll show you on your next bill. No big deal. If you don’t pay 3-4 months, then they might start making noise about collections…I don’t know because I’ve never been that far.

If this is prepaid service then yes, my bad, time to leave.

Fiftysix · 2 weeks ago

Sorry your post was a waste of your and my time. I know how to update my credit card. My account restored immediately after I bought the voucher from the gas station. Everything works now, but this is not how they should do business, that was the whole point of my post, did you even read it in its entirety?

computergeek541 · 2 weeks ago

@BKNS27 wrote:
@Fiftysix
First check your account on the PM app on your phone or online to see if your account is suspended or if the Subscribe button is disabled. Enable it if it is.
Second, on the app go to Payment tab>Update Card information and enter your new CC.
If everything looks fine then check to see if there is an outage in your area (there could be an outage):
https://istheservicedowncanada.com/status/telus/map
Final if everything looks fine (no outage, enabled Subscribe and payment looks good with CC info) then you need to contact a CS_Agent to investigate.
https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

None of the above applies in this situation. The customer has already stated that the service stopped working because payment had failed because the card issuer rejected the charge. Also, the customer has already stated that a voucher was already purchased and that service has resumed.

computergeek541 · 2 weeks ago

Unforutnately, there isn't any prepaid carrier that will allow outgoing calls, outgoing text messages, or use of data if payment has been missed. Freedom does allow prepaid customers to continue to receive incoming text messages and incoming phone calls for a short period of time after prepaid plan expiry, but that would not have changed the need to buy a voucher to top up the account even at that carrier. Only customers using postpaid plans can continue to use all services if payment is late, and even that has its limits when it comes to the amount of time that they will allow before cutting the service off.

BKNS27 · 2 weeks ago

@Fiftysix

First check your account on the PM app on your phone or online to see if your account is suspended or if the Subscribe button is disabled. Enable it if it is.

Second, on the app go to Payment tab>Update Card information and enter your new CC.

If everything looks fine then check to see if there is an outage in your area (there could be an outage):

https://istheservicedowncanada.com/status/telus/map

Final if everything looks fine (no outage, enabled Subscribe and payment looks good with CC info) then you need to contact a CS_Agent to investigate.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

Community

Bounced payment lead to complete disconnect?!