Father's Public Mobile Number has been suspended

[VPG881]

• Hi I need assistance with my father's Public Mobile Service. I am unable to make this request from his account since we need a 6 digit code sent via text or email (which we need his phone line to be active to access as well). When we try making a call on his number there's an error that says "Your phone's not registered on a network, so you can only make emergency calls". I tried resetting network settings, removing the sim a restarting the phone but none of theses options work. We checked and there was a payment on Oct 14th so I'm pretty sure the account is in good standing. Please let me know what I need to do to re-activate his service. Thanks.

[VPG881]

Appreciate the info!

[dust2dust]

Vouchers bought from stores don't have a fee or extra charge. Online yes. There is also a direct deposit method available in some stores but there is a fee. There is one of those online too also for a fee. That online option is actually pretty slick. If the voucher value is more than the plan cost then the excess would stay in the account. It can add up and then be enough to pay another renewal without buying another voucher.

[VPG881]

Great! I thought I could only purchase them at Recharge.com. I will make sure to check theses options out. Thanks again. 

[HALIMACS]

There should be no extra fee for vouchers, @VPG881 .   Sure, there is for online services like recharge.com, but not vouchers.

If so, try another provider of payment vouchers.

[VPG881]

Also, we're lucky that I also have a Public Mobile account, and I am decently tech savy. Since my father's email requires a 2-step verification that calls his cell number, he would have been unable to resolve his issue by himself. I wanted to save him money so I switched him from Bell to Public. If they can accept pre-pay once again then it's ok. If not, then it will be a hassle to always buy vouchers. You usually have to pay more than your monthly charge and they also charge an extra fee. Plus you have to enter the voucher manually each month. But I must say this community has been very helpful. So was the agent that I filed the ticket with. 

[HALIMACS]

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@dust2dust wrote:

I don't know. I think it's reasonable of the company to penalize a customer for doing a chargeback. The customer got free service for the period of time that the chargeback paid for.
The remedy however I think is harsh. The customer should have the option to square up the past payment and then do a normal pre-pay and carry on. This one year and vouchers only business is harsh.

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Don't get me wrong, @dust2dust 

I firmly agree the service should immediately cease when PM are required to chargeback the payment.  Indeed, it's like giving free service and for those using that, no way.

However the customer should, in all cases, be able to present their reasons for doing so and if the chargeback to PM was an unnecessary (or in fact, in error), then they should get the option to re-apply a credit card to the service for on-going payments.

Again, to paint all situations with the same brush is just wrong - and Public Mobile should be able to apply discretion on a case by case basis.   Which I suspect they do, when prompted enough by the customer.

Adding:  perhaps PM might give 1 free attempt at CC payments after an unintended chargeback, and if there's a 2nd instance of chargeback within a specified period, then the customer must prepay via voucher for 2 years.   Something like that ...

[dust2dust]

I don't know. I think it's reasonable of the company to penalize a customer for doing a chargeback. The customer got free service for the period of time that the chargeback paid for.
The remedy however I think is harsh. The customer should have the option to square up the past payment and then do a normal pre-pay and carry on. This one year and vouchers only business is harsh.

[VPG881]

I appreciate your reply and agree with you. An agent is supposed to message me tomorrow to confirm the service has been restored. At that time, I'll try to communicate exactly this, and if anything can be done. Cheers. 

[HALIMACS]

@VPG881 

That’s ridiculous – just explain to them the reason for the fraud investigation, and that it was not the intent to withhold / reverse payment to Public Mobile.

If front line, customer support staff cannot comprehend that, perhaps a more senior one can.

Surely there are instances where fraudulent chargebacks unintentionally are made to Public Mobile and that should not detriment a customer here from being able to use a credit card for ongoing service payments.

It seems Public Mobile paints all customers with the same brush in this regard – and that’s just wrong.

[VPG881]

Yes. My Mom and Dad share their credit card account. Due to some turmoil at the time, my Mom saw the initial Public Mobile charge and ended up calling the Fraud dept. She contested the charge and their bank sent them a new credit card. We entered the new card into the self-service auto-pay. This was around Aug 5th. After messaging an agent, the account was flagged as deactivated as "caller has disputed charge". Now we have to buy vouchers for a year since Public Mobile will not allow credit card payments on this account through the app or IVR for one year. This sucks but what can you do, it's my Mom's fault for disputing the charge. I appreciate all of your help. Cheers. 

[dust2dust · Accepted solution]

Did your father deal with a credit card problem recently and maybe the bank refunded back some charges, including this place?

[gpixel]

@VPG881 

if your father is elderly I suggest moving to a more reliable provider. what happens when there's a real emergency and this happens? it's not worth the $ your saving... you're playing with 🔥

[HALIMACS]

@VPG881 

I would recommend you make contact to customer support then; To contact a Customer Support Agent, send a private message to the Customer Support Agents by clicking here 

You’ll need to be logged into your Community account for the link to work.

Watch for their response in your Community private mailbox which will be indicated by a number on the small envelope icon to the left of your Community avatar or by tapping your community avatar and going down to Messages.

[VPG881]

• So I went to devicecheck.ca and entered the IMEI. It says the phone has not been reported lost or stolen and isn't on the blacklist. I also put the SIM card in another phone. The other phone recognizes the SIM card but I can't make any calls on it. When I try calling I get a message saying "Sorry we cannot complete your call. Please call 611 for assistance". I called 611 and got a message saying "Hello welcome to Public Mobile. Sorry we are unable to process your request. Please visit Publicmobile.ca/help for assistance". 

[dust2dust]

The voice message option could be usable if you know that the phone/account work with volte and if you know the voicemail password.

[VPG881]

Hi I edited the post. Sorry about that. I can't use the "didn't get the code" option since the only other option is to send the code via email. We can't access the email because it requires the cell number to be called to access the email. I tried calling 611 from the number but I'm still getting the message "Your phone's not registered on the network" message. 

[dust2dust]

Have a look at devicecheck.ca to rule that out. Can you try his sim in another phone to identify whether it's service related or phone related?

[HALIMACS]

@VPG881 

firstly – you really should remove the personal information on this community forum of other users just like you.

To do that, tap the downward facing triangle and edit the post.

As far as getting access to the account, click the option which reads “didn’t get the code?” Then you should be provided with an option to get it sent to the registered email address.

then you can address making payment on the account with the associated payment card, or purchase a Public Mobile payment voucher.

he can also dial 611 from the device to listen to messaging about the account status