Did anyone give up porting their number out of Public Mobile due to the difficulty?

[fcf777]

Did anyone give up porting their number out of Public Mobile due to the frustration of calling and dealing with their porting department? First of all, their SMS message never comes. Then, if you call the porting department, you get put on hold for an hour only to be cut off because "their is no one available to take your call". 

I swear this is their customer retention program. 

[Lars]

I signed every petition to the  Minister over the past 6 months or so to stop tha Rogers Shaw 'marriage'.  I somehow don't think it will work.

The Canadian wireless system has more problems than the high cost.  It needs to be redrawn from scratch.

[darlicious]

@softech 

While there are many doubters the federal government made significant policy changes last year in regards to the telecommunications industry in Canada. One of the major changes was removing the 2007 policy directive for the CRTC implemented by Harper's conservatives that relied heavily on CRTC forbearance to create a competitive marketplace which we can all recognize was a dismal failure for consumers and a huge win for the Robelus and their shareholders.

With the removal of the 2007 directive that conflicted with one they introduced in 2019 that allowed the CRTC to maintain their decades old interpretation of market forces policy. The feds have tweaked their 2019 policy directive and in addition to the feedback they solicited last summer on it and the upcoming CRTC hearings reviewing the WCC and CCTS mandate we should hopefully start to see some significant change in this industry that benefits consumers rather than the other way around.

Sadly if more consumers actually submitted feedback rather than just grumble and complain the CRTC would have less of an excuse of inaction and instead be proactive in their approach to industry regulation and opening the marketplace to real competition. I for one will be following the hearings this year with interest seeing as I submitted my 2 cents worth  so I could stand up and be counted. 😁🗳📝

[softech]

@darlicious i am still waiting for Dot Mobile to send me their free sim.  With the new CRTC director, maybe I will get it 2033? 🤔

[darlicious]

@Lars 

My sister in Portugal pays the equivalent of $80 cdn for her bundled services of home phone, internet, 500+TV channels and mobile phone with unlimited everything. CRTC has a new director and policy directive which indicates they may allow the opening up of the Canadian telecommunications marketplace to proper independent MVNO's as it has been proven and the federal government recognizes that the CRTC's history of forbearance has not created competition but rather hindered it. As such they expect the CRTC to implement the new policy directive by putting forbearance on the backburner and opening the industry to real competition. Maybe then we will see the likes of mint mobile and the resurrection of DOT mobile?

[Lars]

Just to complete the picture. My current DCI service was 'upgraded' from their $11/mo 110 minute "basic service" which is great if it fits your needs. My wife still uses it. But I upgraded my number to a 400 minute service, keeping the same number. Their $11/mo service is running on FIDO/Rogers network.

When I upgraded, I kept my (FIDO) number but DCI shipped a new SIM with Telus printed on it.

My son in Paris, France pays Euro28/mo for unlimited voice text and data. Go figure. 😒

[darlicious]

@Lars 

Some numbers are not portable as telus does not have an exchange to accept the phone number in your area. Or some numbers "owned" by smaller telecoms have the right to refuse porting because of the limited numbers they have for their customers. This is more common with city owned telecoms that go back decades.

It is possible armed with this info you could ask for a refund based on the fact that the customer support you recieved before activation should have advised checking for number portability since you encountered the initial "spinning circle of death" and you told them you were trying to port from DCI (who I never heard of before). Once I looked them up and saw they have served only 25,000 customers and had no port out info on their website it raised a red flag. If you had ported into DCI then you should be able to port out in most cases but if you get your phone # from them then it's likely you cannot port it out in most cases.

You likely will have to eat the cost of the Sim card as they are non-refundable but you have a good case to have the plan cost refunded. If they refuse you can tell them you will likely be successful to get the plan cost refunded by filing a complaint with the CCTS. That should change their mind. Activation support should have the knowledge to tell you to check for number portability or checked for you given the info you provided them. Good Luck!

[Lars]

Good point. It comes back as not a portable number. Again back to the system. Do not expect the customer to do this test. The system should be programmed to do it and report the result and give advice where to go from there.

On the side 2023 it is hard to believe that any number can not be ported. If there is surely a way to 'unlock it'.  

I am outta here .... 🥴

[esjliv]

@Lars - your post is here: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/SIM-registration-failure/td-p/947915

If you can see the threads you started under your community profile here: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/276729

[Lars]

As I said it is a mobile number. As for my complaining about the automated system. It should have recognized recognized from my input DCI as the source it should have told me what to expect instead of going yoyo in a loop. Of course I do have an account number on my DCI bill and I provided it to CS. I was told it is not a good number. I also provided the IMEI number of my phone. I could have also provided the PUK code - as that I have - for the DCI SIM, provided by Telus when I messed up the SIM -  but nobody asked for it.

I never received a port request message with my DCI SIM in the phone.

As a side; reading the list of issues raised here by users I do not have much confidence in Public Mobile. 

[darlicious]

@Lars 

Is your number portable? Check here....

https://secure.koodomobile.com/checktransfereligibilityparrot/default.do

[darlicious]

@Lars 

DCI doesn't make it easy to port out as they provide no info online about their port out process except if you have an account on a "corporate" plan it takes 3 to 5 business days to port out. You should have an account # on your bill?

Assuming that it is a mobile number you are porting out then you can use the account #, the IMEI# of your mobile phone or the 4 digit account pin#. (Preference in descending order.)

As noted above contact customer support to request porting. Ensure you have your DCI Sim card in your phone when the port request is submitted so you can reply YES to the PAT (porting authorization text) within 90 minutes of receiving it.

[Lars]

Well the 'issues' were never resolved.  The CS agent was trying to help. He did not get any from someone above. We ended up in a round and round discussion. Their automated registration system was not designed to deal with an issue like mine. For starters Step 2 should, ID-ing the number should never end up in a loop - for hours. Second I authorized the number transfer. I just can't believe that there are no other ways to identify the number. I also gave them my IMEI number, I thin it was needed for setting up the 'temp' number to register.

Frankly, I got too tired of the whole thing.

[esjliv]

@Lars - i remember you having issues. 

Did you submit a ticket to public mobile customer support group here: 

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

If so, what did they say? If not, submit a ticket and have them provide steps of what they require to port to Public.

[hTideGnow]

HI@Lars   why you didn't call DCI for the account number?

If they really do not provide account number, put the DCI sim card in teh phone, and message CS agent for the IMEI  number.  Providing IMEI is not the preferred method, but it will still work

[Lars]

Yes, after 3 days of confusion I gave up on Public mobile. Tried to port a number from DCI Telecom, which is listed in the 'drop down box' on the service request form if you want to port a number. The service request  process failed at step 2, identifying the number to be ported, it ended in a never ending loop.  Without any indication why. Cust. Service and some folks on the help board suggested to just register with a temp number, and once that done they will help me to port. I did that, at this point I was billable and was duly invoiced. With all the help from Cust. Service the following three days the port could not be completed.  The port process needed an account number which I did not have. 

At this point I gave up. I stopped the pre-authorization on my card for next month and I quit Public Mobile. The exercise cost me ~$40 for the SIM and the first month of (unwanted) service. Public Mobile gives no refund of any kind. 

I think there are some serious holes in their procedures which even AI can't fix. They need a person who is trained and authorized to make the next step. 

[darlicious]

@jjsiddiqui32123 

Do you need to reinitiate your port request into public mobile?

[jjsiddiqui32123]

Would you please be able to share this porting department contact here so we can reach them?

[fcf777]

I did not bother to ask. Freedom did not do anything different but after my sternly languaged email, Public managed to find the latest porting request and manually approve it. I never received any SMS message. 

[darlicious]

@fcf777 

So what was the actual issue that caused the problem?

[fcf777]

Thanks to advise from @darlicious and @stephenCA, this issue was finally resolved today after being bounced around like a ping pong ball and hours on hold only to be cut off several times. It's unfortunate that I had to take the gloves off and go into full irate customer mode to get support to actually do anything other than continue telling me it was up to the other carrier to keep re-sending porting requests because they did not receive it. If anyone wants a copy of the letter I sent them to get it done, DM me. It just outlines how I would have escalated the matter to Telus senior management, the CRTC, my federal MP and media consumer watchdogs (e.g. CBC Marketpace). You have to be ready to follow through on those actions, though. 

[Econ]

yes I am having the same problem as op

[darlicious · Accepted solution]

@stephenCA 

Thank you! That shines a lot of light on the likely issue being with the telus automatic authorization system.

@fcf777 

Rafael isn't the brightest bulb in the bunch. Send a private message to customer support telling them you have discovered there is a likely issue with telus's automatic authorization system. As such despite multiple attempts  to authorize the port you were forced to top up and renew and you want a full refund of your plan amount as this was 100% their fault. Mention that the ability to easily port out your number is enshrined in the WCC and you will happily file a CCTS complaint if you do not recieve a refund. Include a screenshot of your many YES replies to the PAT(s) sent to you.

Furthermore customer support can release you phone number to freedom if you give a "verbal" or written authorization. The CSA should have picked up on the issue and explained your options to you (so should have freedom)....so include in your message to customer support your pre-verifiers of your pm account:

1. Full name and address on your account.
2. Phone #, email and 4 digit account pin #.

Then give them written authorization to release your phone number......"I fc f777 give public mobile authorization to release phone # XXX-XXX-XXXX on account # 1000000XXXXXXX to freedom mobile on this day 00/00/22 at 00:00am/pm upon receipt of the next port request from freedom mobile.

Porting my phone # to freedom does not release pm from the refund amount I have requested.

Sign off with your full name and phone number. Screenshot your messages with customer support for good measure and any relevant account info. Download your usage history (90 days) and transaction history (360 days) for future reference as your account will be inaccessible after your port does complete. Good Luck!

[gpixel]

@fcf777 

you're just going to have to wait.

do all the services work with the freedom sim?

you can try resetting the network settings with the freedom sim installed. maybe that will disconnect the PM account. otherwise tomorrow morning with the porting department will be your best bet

[fcf777]

Just one of a gazzilion messages (I never received the SMS messages, so no way for me to respond)

[fcf777]

A couple of friends have been with Freedom and recommend the service. 3G roaming is gone in the US and I need LTE outside Canada/North America to receive SMS verifications which is available with Freedom's $15/month postpaid plan. Also 1Gb LTE and no limit, just throttling above it. My wife has Bell cell service, so we are still good traveling outside the Freedom home area.

[stephenCA]

Based on my experience so far, my best guess is that there seems to be something going wrong over the last couple days with Telus (and related brands) ports - particularly in the authorization portion. Here's my story and why I think that.

I have been fighting to get my number ported to Public from Telus since yesterday. Yesterday, during the request, I received my confirmation text message (on the Telus side) to confirm the port out was authorized. I responded Yes (properly) and about 1.5 later I received it again. Once again, I replied properly. 1.5 hours later, received it a third time. Worth note: My Telus line stayed active all night.

Today I eventually got a hold of someone at the Telus ports team and on their side it showed it did not receive a response from me for the confirmation of the port out (from Telus). Given my three correct responses, that seems to confirm something going on with their port authorization system - in my case a failure on the Telus side. The person I spoke to was very helpful and alluded to a lot of calls over the last few days (but in full disclosure they never directly commented on any issue). Today while I was waiting for things to get properly resolved, I hopped over to the Koodo Community to check it out (out of curiosity) - it seems several people with issues there too.

My issues have since been resolved (combination of dealing with the Port team and a Public Mobile agent), but to me, it seems like something is going on with the Telus automated port system. I ended up talking to two people through the day on the ports team - and both of them talked about having to do a manual authorization possibly. They both were pretty quick to have this answer, so I think that might support widespread issues under the Telus brand.

What's interesting is that coincidentally on Sunday evening I transferred my wife's phone out from the same Telus account, out to Koodo without issue. She had no problem with the system recognizing her Yes response. Given it was Sunday about 7pm Pacific Time, that might point toward traffic issues (I assume it would be less busy at that time of night on a Sunday). 

[Community_QA]

@fcf777   think twice if you want to go with Freedom.  My buddy was on Freedom, nothing but complains, he moved to PM couple weeks ago for the $40 deal

[fcf777]

I continue to receive text messages on the PM cell number that I am trying to port to Freedom Mobile.

[fcf777]

Initially the Freedom store rep initiated the porting request. After it did not work, I've been calling Freedom Mobile to initiate the request. I've done it 5 times. Provided the PM account number, phone number. Anything else I might have missed?

[gpixel]

@fcf777 

the simple solution is PM needs to fix it. they are having issues with their porting system. there's nothing freedom can do. don't worry about anything else. you're correct... I don't know why PM is sending you to the porting number, but send them a private message and leave it at that... can you screenshot the messages they sent you?