Do I get charged for data over usage?

[blessme4k]

My parents sometimes forget to turn off data, if they go overboard, will they get charged extra or what will happen?  We are on the $25 plan unlimited with 1gb data.

[srlawren]

@scosgrove is it possible you misunderstood and thought an explicit add-on purchase was an overage?  I mean, in a way it is a type of overage. But when people talk about data overages, they mean with a post-paid plan at another provider*, where you are billed at the end of your month for anything you used above what's included in your plan.  In that case, you could slip into overage data without even realizing it**, and receive an unexpected and unwanted bill when you are invoiced for your next month.  At Public Mobile, everything is pay first before using, so this literally cannot happen.  You'd have to manually purchase an add-on, meaning no surprise bill the next month.  

* yes, I realize many post-paid providers now offer "unlimited"/"peace of mind"/"infinite" post-paid plans now without any overages, as you instead end up with heavily-throttled data once you reach your plan limit.

** yes, I realize that some post-paid providers (e.g. Koodo post-paid plans) offer a "worry-free" approach where they initially cut you off and you have to text back an authorization to start your overage billing.  However, not all offer/offered (see * above) this, and once you authorized it for the month, you could still wind up with a much larger overage bill than you thought if you managed to use a lot of data.  With Public Mobile, your pre-purchased data add-on, if completely used, would stop your data flowing again and make you explicitly authorize (pre-purchase) another add-on, if desired.  You still have more control over your extra costs in this model.

[srlawren]

---

@scosgrove wrote:

The response regarding overages is incorrect as I have been charged extra usage fees. Obviously it is possible to exceed data limit and be charged. 

---

@scosgrove sorry but this is not true.  Once your plan data is used up, it simply stops working.  You would have had to sign into your self-serve account and explicitly purchase one or more data add-on(s) to have been charged anything, and this isn't an overage.  There are no accounts at Public Mobile that can result in an overage fee, period.  

[brettster99]

The simple answer is No. 

You will not get charged for overage as it’s a prepaid plan. Once the data runs out you simply won’t get on unless you pay for more data or switch plans. 

[Anonymous]

---

@scosgrove wrote:

Thanks Armando. I have no idea how to start a new thingy as you suggested. I have no idea how to use this forum at all and cannot see any instructions. Any idea where to find that? Are you a moderator or just a customer like me? Pretty crazy way to handle customer issues, don't you think? How about we just fumble around in the dark here for a few hours to get a simple question answered?

---

Don't worry about things. You made it here. All good. The regulars here can figure it out.

It seems exceedingly unlikely that you got charged anything extra as that is not something this place does. That's why the request for your payment history. What makes you think you got charged for some kind of overage?

[BearFBI]

Thanks @scosgrove It was @JoyLuck's idea to contact a moderator. Although PM does not offer overage. So i really dont know what you could be charged overage on. Ive used up all my data for the month and it just stops. It dosent charge overage. same with long-distance and running out of minutes.  

[scosgrove]

Thanks, Armando. I discovered the sidebar on the right and have opened a ticket. You are very nice to have offered assistance. I appreciate it. Take care.

[dabr]

---

@scosgrove wrote:

Thanks Armando. I have no idea how to start a new thingy as you suggested. I have no idea how to use this forum at all and cannot see any instructions. Any idea where to find that? Are you a moderator or just a customer like me? Pretty crazy way to handle customer issues, don't you think? How about we just fumble around in the dark here for a few hours to get a simple question answered?

---

Majority of people responding on this forum are customers like yourself.  Occasionally a moderator (PM employee) will respond, they will have the word MOD (in blue) after their username. 

I'd agree that it takes a little while to get used to posting and figuring out how to use this community forum, but once you start posting, you will start to become more familiar and comfortable.  It's okay to ask questions and you will get replies quickly from other members 🙂

[JoyLuck]

---

@scosgrove wrote:

Thanks Armando. I have no idea how to start a new thingy as you suggested. I have no idea how to use this forum at all and cannot see any instructions. Any idea where to find that? Are you a moderator or just a customer like me? Pretty crazy way to handle customer issues, don't you think? How about we just fumble around in the dark here for a few hours to get a simple question answered?

---

We are all customers on this public forum. If you need to talk to an employee of PM called a moderator follow these instructions:

Please use the chatbot SIMon to help you solve your issue. If SIMon cannot solve your issue then you have the option to contact a moderator.

Step 1: Choose the ? button at the right bottom corner of this page or choose “Get Help” at the top of the page and then choose the “Chat with SIMon” button.

Step 2: Tell SIMon what the issue is and see if he can find a solution for you.

Step 3: If Simon cannot find a solution then type in “moderator” to connect to a Public Mobile customer service representative.

Step 4: Simon will present you with two choices. Choose “Account-specific question”

Step 5 Then choose “No, I want a human”

Step 6 Create your ticket

Check the sent folder to make sure your ticket was sent (envelope icon, top right) and the inbox for a reply from the moderators.

“To ensure the safety of our team members during the COVID-19 pandemic, our Moderator team is working at reduced levels. During this time, you may experience longer than normal wait times when contacting our Moderator team for help.”

Moderators are available:

Monday to Friday from 8 AM to midnight Eastern time.

Saturday and Sunday from 8 AM to 10 PM Eastern time

[BearFBI]

@scosgrove its ok. I can help you here. What exactly did you get overcharged on ? Can i see a screenshot of your payment history. Just login to your selfserve account and on the overview page click on view payment history under the make a payment button. Then screenshot the payment history and upload it to a reply. You can blur out sensitive information. I am a costumer just like you but i try to help solve peoples problems on the community.

[scosgrove]

Thanks Armando. I have no idea how to start a new thingy as you suggested. I have no idea how to use this forum at all and cannot see any instructions. Any idea where to find that? Are you a moderator or just a customer like me? Pretty crazy way to handle customer issues, don't you think? How about we just fumble around in the dark here for a few hours to get a simple question answered?

[BearFBI]

@scosgrove There is customer service, you can contact a moderator its Public Mobile's way of customer support. I would like you to please start a new topic in the forum with a screenshot of your payment history as we might be able to solve your problem. This is an old topic. 

[scosgrove]

First time user so forgive me if i'm doing this wrong. The response regarding overages is incorrect as I have been charged extra usage fees. Obviously it is possible to exceed data limit and be charged. The real question is, how do we get our money back or get any kind of resolution when there is NO CUSTOMER SERVICE???!! This has been a most ridiculous and frustrating revelation.

[srlawren]

---

@acmethod wrote:Yes on Data, No on voice.

@acmethod well, yeah.  But this thread is about data overages.  I'm not saying theyr'e identical offerings, but most people seem to be most worried about data overages.  I'm saying, you have more control than you migh tthink.

---

@smp99 wrote:

Another difference between Koodo and PM with respect to data overage, with Koodo you simply respond to a text msg to allow overage. With PM you have to login and buy the extra data. So as a parent paying for a teenager's cell plan, PM gives the parent much more awareness or control. So Koodo would be better for ease. Depends what you want. Maybe you need a plan with more data.

---

@smp99  yes but as a parent you can give your kids limited ability to manage the account, so that YOU have to authorize it not them.  

---

@smp99 wrote:

Also, PM will not let you roam unless you prepay for US roaming package. Koodo just kicks in if you have that feature turned on. That could be good or bad depending on your wishes. Koodo also can roam in many more countries. 

---

@smp99 sure, there's this.  Very easy to work around this by turning off manaul network selection and manually choosing the Koodo network. 

[smp99]

Another difference between Koodo and PM with respect to data overage, with Koodo you simply respond to a text msg to allow overage. With PM you have to login and buy the extra data. So as a parent paying for a teenager's cell plan, PM gives the parent much more awareness or control. So Koodo would be better for ease. Depends what you want. Maybe you need a plan with more data.

Also, PM will not let you roam unless you prepay for US roaming package. Koodo just kicks in if you have that feature turned on. That could be good or bad depending on your wishes. Koodo also can roam in many more countries. 

[acmethod]

---

@srlawren wrote:

---

@acmethod wrote:

The fact that it’s impossible to generate overages was a big selling feature for me. The same is true for my in laws who are retired and on a fixed income. No suprises with Public. It’s great.

---

@acmethod while I agree with this, just to play devil's advocate for a second, if you look at the "shock free data" offered in recent and current Koodo post-paid plans, they actually function somewhat similarly in that they stop when you run out of plan data, and only go into overages if you authorize it by responding a certain way to the notification text message.  This isn't as dissimilar to PM's pre-pay for everything as it used to be.  You can still have no (or at least, very few) surprises at Koodo.  Not sure about the other brands out there but would assume at least the 2nd tiers (Fido & Virgin) operate similarly, if not the first tiers these days.  But I can only speak to Koodo.

---

Yes on Data, No on voice.

With PM there’s no pay per use rates. You pay pay up front for the services you want to use, and can’t get yourself into trouble for accidentally using some service that wasn’t covered by your plan.

Thats the the big difference here

[will13am]

---

@srlawren wrote:

---

@acmethod wrote:

The fact that it’s impossible to generate overages was a big selling feature for me. The same is true for my in laws who are retired and on a fixed income. No suprises with Public. It’s great.

---

@acmethod while I agree with this, just to play devil's advocate for a second, if you look at the "shock free data" offered in recent and current Koodo post-paid plans, they actually function somewhat similarly in that they stop when you run out of plan data, and only go into overages if you authorize it by responding a certain way to the notification text message.  This isn't as dissimilar to PM's pre-pay for everything as it used to be.  You can still have no (or at least, very few) surprises at Koodo.  Not sure about the other brands out there but would assume at least the 2nd tiers (Fido & Virgin) operate similarly, if not the first tiers these days.  But I can only speak to Koodo.

---

At the risk of derailing the conversation, Koodo does not have shock free anything else.  You could run up a big long distance bill.  What I find really difficult to explain is that long distance to the US is uber expensive compared Public Mobile even with a monthly add-on that apparently reduces the cost of long distance minutes.  

[Ibrahim23]

Once you finish the data, internet service jus stops working

[Ibrahim23]

Once you finish the data, ur data jus stops working

[Ibrahim23]

Once you finish the data. It jus doesn’t work anymore 

[srlawren]

---

@acmethod wrote:

The fact that it’s impossible to generate overages was a big selling feature for me. The same is true for my in laws who are retired and on a fixed income. No suprises with Public. It’s great.

---

@acmethod while I agree with this, just to play devil's advocate for a second, if you look at the "shock free data" offered in recent and current Koodo post-paid plans, they actually function somewhat similarly in that they stop when you run out of plan data, and only go into overages if you authorize it by responding a certain way to the notification text message.  This isn't as dissimilar to PM's pre-pay for everything as it used to be.  You can still have no (or at least, very few) surprises at Koodo.  Not sure about the other brands out there but would assume at least the 2nd tiers (Fido & Virgin) operate similarly, if not the first tiers these days.  But I can only speak to Koodo.

[dmbcanada]

My parents just asked me the same question as I referred them to Public Mobile, I assured them it would cut off at their package limit and they wouldn't get a bill for $12,000 for overages!

[Publicly_Mobile]

Unless you change plans or pay for an add-on you won’t be able to use more than the data you’ve paid for in your monthly plan.

[Omarh]

I agree its a good feature (Thumbs up)

[acmethod]

The fact that it’s impossible to generate overages was a big selling feature for me. The same is true for my in laws who are retired and on a fixed income. No suprises with Public. It’s great.

[srlawren]

---

@hycm53 wrote:

---

@blessme4k wrote:

My parents sometimes forget to turn off data, if they go overboard, will they get charged extra or what will happen?  We are on the $25 plan unlimited with 1gb data.

---

You can setup your parent’s phone data up to 1GB. 

---

@hycm53 this would accomplish very little.  There's no possible way to get into overages, so there's no point in limiting the phone to the same amount of data that's included in the plan.  If you wanted to go down this route, I'd say set the phone to cut them off after 750 or 800 MB, so there's still some room left.  However, using the phone's data usage cut off feature is very tricky with Public Mobile, since plans here are based on 30 or 90 days and not calendar months, so you'd literally have to adjust your billing date every 30 days in order to keep it somewhat accurate.

[hycm53]

---

@blessme4k wrote:

My parents sometimes forget to turn off data, if they go overboard, will they get charged extra or what will happen?  We are on the $25 plan unlimited with 1gb data.

---

You can setup your parent’s phone data up to 1GB. 

[Lieux]

---

@blessme4k  a écrit :

My parents sometimes forget to turn off data, if they go overboard, will they get charged extra or what will happen?  We are on the $25 plan unlimited with 1gb data.

---

Never charged over with prepaid as said above..but you can buy add-on if they want more and the add-on will roll-over until it's finished..

In Canada Data Add-Ons⁷

Any unused data will roll over to your next cycle.

1 GB Data

$30

200 MB Data

$10

[computergeek541]

After the data stops working from using all of it up, you would need to either purchase a data add-on, ask moderators to renew your plan early, or peform a plan change to a different plan.   Keep in mind that if you do either of those last 2 options, there will be no refund on what you have already paid for the plan that you are on.

[ZfromVanC · Accepted solution]

---

@blessme4k wrote:

My parents sometimes forget to turn off data, if they go overboard, will they get charged extra or what will happen?  We are on the $25 plan unlimited with 1gb data.

---

Once your data is used up, you cant use data anymore. There are no overages, you will simply not have internet service.