Buying a sim from a friend of a friend of mine

[caffeene]

I'm looking on purchasing a public mobile sim from a friend and he is saying it's purchased during the 12GB/90days period promo period and still qualify for the promo.

He said he'll provide me the receipt with the date, but it doesn't have a sim card# on it. How do I know if this sim card is associated with the receipt.

Anybody know? My hubby's contract is expiring soon and he's looking to switch to PM with me.

Thank you!

[srlawren]

@caffeene curious to know what you ended up deciding!  Any chance of a brief update?

[valeriekrick]

I agree!! This person seems to be trying to make money off of the promo similar to concert ticket scalpers or all those people who were selling hatchimals for double/triple the price. If you really want to go ahead with purchasing the SIM card I would try to haggle with him for a lower price since the cost of a public mobile SIM card is only $5

[mimmo]

Feb 3 is the last day to activate dor the promo as mentions in the announcement.

I would follow the memberw advice have your "friend" activate the sim for you on a temporary number and get the mods to actuvate the promo.  only then give him the money,

as for the friend aspect well I woulndt consider them a friend, frends help each other out.  Myself and other shipped sim cards for free or at cost during the end of the promo to other community members in need. in the hopes out kidness would lead  to a referral.    if you do buythe sim card do not give your "friend " the referral.  

[Watoko]

Relevant for this thread is a recent post regarding the promo plan:

http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Announcements/Last-day-to-redeem-the-40-4GB-promo-plan...

If you think it is worth $50, you can probably get your seller to activate and then transfer the account over to you.

[srlawren]

@valeriekrick earlier in the thread, @caffeene said the friend of a friend was asking $50 for the SIM card.

[valeriekrick]

How much is he trying to charge you for the SIM card attached to the promotional plan?

[dearmusic]

I think promotion is over already.

[Cypm]

i don't think you will be able to get the promo plan at this moment even you order the sim card before the promo plan expire, the plan was ended on nov 30 2016 

[ShawnC13]

@caffeene  just for your info from a post I saw today from a Moderator

http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Plans-Add-Ons/Promo-plan/m-p/131896#M14054

You would not be able to get the deal it was for people who ordered the sim and did not receive it.

[Luddite]

@caffeene et all. Do not wait for a moderator. I believe they will never respond because this is against Public Mobile's formal policies. What we do amongst ourselves they will ignore but not alway bless. 👺

[McLaren]

Agree with everyone else, definitely not a friend.  I say just sign up for the regular 90 day 6gb plan and wait for the next promotion to upgrade. 

[srlawren]

@caffeene it's a tough call.  $50 is a ridiculous price for a $5 SIM card.  Then again, if you routinely need more than 2 GB in a typical calendar month then the $45 ransom (for lack of a kinder term) would pay for itself and then some during the very first plan cycle, given that it gives you an additional $66 discount per 90 days vs. getting the same 90 day, prov-wide talk, global text, 12GB plan without the promo pricing, and would continue to save down the road.  I think if you're wanting to proceed with it, the best bet is as @will13am suggested, getting the person that ordered the sim to try to get it all set up first.  Or, at least wait to hear back from a moderator.  I suspect that ifthey are still honouring the deal at all, it's probably only for the person that ordered the SIM card.  

[ShawnC13]

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@caffeene wrote:

Friend of a friend is charging me $50, where Korth seem more reasonable with the pricing 🙂

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@caffeene  This is not a friend of a friend this is an opportunistic BULLY.  How much data do you need?  That is a huge thing that would help us here.  If you can get by on 6GB over 90 days order a sim sign up for that plan and wait for the next promo deal as PM will allow existing customers to change to new plans

[Korth]

Cellphones are cut-throat business.  A constant balancing act between trying to get more customers vs trying to get more revenue per customer.  Sooner or later PM will launch another exciting new promo (to compete vs rival promos) - and of course it's gonna have lots of data because that's what We The People keep demanding - so even if you missed out on this promo you can still score on another.

[Watoko]

I agree, charging $50 is definitely trying to profit. He'll probably ask to use his number for referral too, I bet.

As what others have said, I would wait for an official response from a mod or get him to activate it first.

I think PM's original intention for honouring those late-order SIM cards was for the benefit of the prorastinated customer to activate it right away, such that prospective customers wouldn't be sucked into buying a SIM card only to be frusturated and disappointed that by the time the SIM card got delivered, the promo period is over. For someone to stock up on a whole bunch of SIMs ordered during that grace period, and then re-selling at 10x the price for activation months after the promo seems like a fraud to me, and not what PM originally intended.

[Vickel]

Trying to get the plan now when it expired back in Nov.
That's really pushing your luck.

Let us know if it works out. Would be really impressed if it does.

[Korth]

@caffeene lol I wasn't planning on selling the SIM cards, I was just stating that they have little intrinsic value.

If you really want an unopened/unused "promo-era" PM SIM card from me then it'll cost you $5 plus a postage stamp to wherever it is you want it mailed (from Chilliwack, BC).  Or I'll just mail one to your address while you order a new one for my address, whatever works.  I'm not especially attached to these PM SIM cards, and I'm still fairly convinced they're not "special" in any way or valid for landing a now-expired promo plan, I just like to have a couple of spares around for referring friends to PM.

Paying PM a flat $5 for a new SIM card would still be a better deal for you, lol, at the very least you wouldn't need to deal with (and reveal personal mailing address to) "a person on the internet".  If you really insist on having one of my cards then private message details - but understand that I genuinely think it's a new PM SIM card identical to any other new PM SIM card.

Your "friend" wants $50 for this $5 item?  Does he/she offer some service - such as perhaps activating the account and setting up the promo plan for you? - to justify this 900% price markup?

It's probably best to wait for an "official" response from the mods, just to simplify by wiping all unworkable options off the table.

[SD08]

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@caffeene wrote:

Friend of a friend is charging me $50, where Korth seem more reasonable with the pricing 🙂

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$50??  Those were available during the promo period for $5, and if that's all your friend of a friend paid for it, then they are totally trying to profit.  

[dohadotahmed]

It's always better to get the opinion before the activation so please pm a mod asap to know if they are going to honour the promo?

Activate the sim by choosing 90 day provincial talk, global text, 6gb data $120.
Send a message to mod after activation and give order number.

[caffeene]

Friend of a friend is charging me $50, where Korth seem more reasonable with the pricing 🙂

[dearmusic]

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@caffeene wrote:

I really appreciate the input guys, i'll probably pass on this offer then.

Korth any chance you're willing to pass one of those sims to me for a decent price+shipping?  

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What's the difference between buying it from a friend of a friend of yours and buying from a person on internet...

At least the friend of friend of yours, you can pout at them up for lieing or something...

[caffeene]

I really appreciate the input guys, i'll probably pass on this offer then.

Korth any chance you're willing to pass one of those sims to me for a decent price+shipping?

Thanks for flagging the mods so they can provide me an "official" answer to this question btw.

[Korth]

Agreed with @will13am and @Luddite ... the promo itself is long over and I suspect PM's finishing plowing through the backlog of promo customers, so it's probably closed off as a done deal.  We can't seriously expect them to honour this promo deal forever.

The SIM card itself isn't linked to the promo, even if it was purchased during the promo period (Oct-Nov 2016).  I still have a couple SIM cards purchased during that time, they're worth (they cost me) all of $5 each.  I also have email "receipts" along with postal marks and tracking numbers - but there's no actual proof that this or that SIM card was purchased on a given date, each one came in a sealed envelope with the same contents (namely a silly brochure and a randomly-numbered triple-punch PM SIM card), once opened there's probably no way to guarantee when they were purchased without PM invoking a multi-department database search.

It would be best if your friend created a new PM account and activated the promo plan on it.  Transferring ownership is then as easy as changing the name/address/email information and self-serve password (although perhaps you'll need the PM mods to change some fields).  You could then request a Number Port at any time if you wish to transfer your number from whatever carrier you currently use.  (A Number Port might be more complicated if your current carrier is already PM, but I'm sure it should be possible; also remember to use the same email address for your Self-Serve and Community accounts so that Community Rewards are properly applied; and I'm not sure if you can also transfer any friend referrals from your existing account.)

@Mary_M - I'm flagging the mods to see if there's an "official" answer to the OP's question.  Who knows, maybe the SIM-Promo thing is actually still valid?

[ShawnC13]

If they are selling it for more than $5 something is up or like you say they aren't a very close friend.  People that do that drive me crazy taking advantage of people.  But I guess that is how some people become rich and I am not

[Luddite]

Suspect it will NOT work; the order for the SIM will be in your friend's name. @will13am's suggestion is the only way forward.

[will13am]

@caffeene, my suggestion would be to ask the friend assist with activating the account and getting the promotion all set up for you with the promise that you pay the fees and take over the account.  You can buy him lunch or something as a token of appreciation. 

Public Mobile did say that SIMs purchased within the promotion window would get the promotion even if activated afterwards.  There was no caveats provided.  Given the lack of headlines in the forums from customers who may have been in a similar boat, I surmise that they have kept to their word of honoring the discount.  Since your friend is the purchaser and has all the records of the transaction, he would be better positioned to negotiate in the event that negotiation is required.

[caffeene]

How do they know if the order number is associated with the sim card? This "friend" is not very close to me and I am worried he's just selling it to make a profit. It's not exactly a $5 dollar sim card like when I bought it.

[dearmusic]

Starting a new promotional plan this late?

You can try, but make sure you have the order number for any chance of this being possible.

Order number is in the email they auto generated when he placed the purchase for the sim card.

[ShawnC13]

@caffeeneI am not sure if PM will honor it 2 months from expiry date of the promo.  How much data does your husband use because if he is able to get by on 6gb over 90 days the plan is the same cost as the promo.  So it is just dependent on weather he needs all that data.  I got on the promo and am no where near using all the data and I have 16 days left.