01-09-2022 06:18 PM - last edited on 01-09-2022 06:30 PM by NDesai
If you let your plan lapse with auto pay turned off, even topping up your account to the "amount due" will not renew your plan (PM will say you're good to go, but will not enable your service). Public Mobile will not enable your service until you're well in excess stored value on the account (in my case, I had to go $9 above the amount due to get my service back). Additionally, to port out you need active SMS service, which any addons present on the account will not be active for. Terrible software, terrible experience in the past couple weeks from PM.
01-09-2022 10:48 PM
If you intend to port out I suggest you contact customer support before you do so to ask for a refund for the overpayment you had to make to reactivate your plan. While generally prepaid providers are non refundable pm is reasonable and understands that some glitches result in overpayments by the customers due to no fault of their own. If you are only considering leaving then a few pointers may help you in future when making payments.
I hope this help explain the intricacies of pm's payment system. It's a little bit of being fiat and it being a fiat....fix it again Tony!!🤔😆
01-09-2022 10:36 PM - edited 01-09-2022 11:46 PM
Not sure what the comment about add-ons in the plan not being active for is about. We’re you hoping they would work even while your plan was suspended for not being paid up to date in order too port out? Doesn’t work that way. And needing your plan to be active to port out isn’t a PM thing, I believe that all cell providers require this. There is an exception though.., if you were porting out to Telus or Koodo they will “make it so” even if your account with PM was in suspension.
AE_Collector
01-09-2022 06:43 PM
So if you HAD to overpay to get ported out, tell Public Mobile to refund the extra funds by contacting the Customer Support Agents, or process a chargeback to your payment card if they refuse to do it.
That's what I'd personally do.
To contact a Customer Support Agent, there are 2 methods (you may need to utilize option#2 if you have no active account here anymore):
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.
01-09-2022 06:40 PM
It's way more than $1. I had to add $9 (in total, after doing numerous $1/$2 payments over) to get it back, only to receive a $2 credit back. Basically what's going wrong is the bad software is looking at the credits then assuming that's the threshold to renew the plan (without tax). The other calculations are crap as well.
01-09-2022 06:40 PM
Indeed @softech, if a user is reactivating for the purpose of remaining with Public Mobile, making the 'extra' payment is fine.
However, for users porting out needing to reactivate an inactive account, they should ONLY be required to select the minimum plan amount (heck, if it were up to me, Public Mobile should be able to accommodate this without the need to restore the account)
It really is a money grab when all that's needed is official confirmation (which the message to the CSA can accomplish) that a user wishes to port their PM number out.
01-09-2022 06:40 PM
Sorry to hear this. It's deeply disheartening to see a "self serve" oriented provider simultaneously fail at providing both adequately functioning self serve system as well as prompt & effective human customer service.
01-09-2022 06:35 PM
@allardljosh you talked about porting out.. are you in the process?
yes. Amount Due might not work if account is suspended, I have been advising people to use the $1 extra trick. For most part it is ok as it is just $1 and this extra will stay in your account for next renewal.
01-09-2022 06:34 PM
@allardljosh : Two parts to that. 1. Yes the Amount Due option is buggy. It lies. Use Other. 2. An account needs to be fully active and renewed and functioning before you can port out. (except to Telus or Koodo but not all the way to deactivated)
01-09-2022 06:30 PM
@allardljosh wrote:If you let your plan lapse with auto pay turned off, even topping up your account to the "amount due" will not renew your plan (PM will say you're good to go, but will not enable your service). Public Mobile will not enable your service until you're well in excess stored value on the account (in my case, I had to go $9 above the amount due to get my service back). Additionally, to port out you need active SMS service, which any addons present on the account will not be active for. Terrible software, terrible experience in the past couple weeks from PM.
@allardljosh - topping up your account to "amount due" can be glitchy - you are correct.
Choosing "Other" tends to work when the site is not quite accepting your request.
Yes, Public Mobile will renew your plan with the exact plan amount - majority of the time. Again, just glitchy, sometimes adding one more dollar will allow to resume service.
So, you don't have SMS ability to port out? Is that your current issue?
01-09-2022 06:30 PM - edited 01-09-2022 06:36 PM
My experience is that Public Mobile WILL restore a suspended or expired service with the amount of the plan that one was most recently on. (EDIT: if one refuses to pay more than the plan price, then a CSA will restore the service at the plan price)
It's regrettable your experience was different than that.
Saying all that, Public Mobile certainly isn't for everyone. But kudos to you for giving it a shot.
01-09-2022 06:29 PM - edited 01-09-2022 06:31 PM
@allardljosh Sorry to hear that. In past, adding $1 extra or temporarily set your account to Lost/stolen phone triggers the account to reactivate. The reason texting services are required is because PM sends SMS text when you request to port in or out your number. They have seen a lot fraudulent activities in the past and SMS verification seems to help stop fraud with number transfer.
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01-09-2022 06:29 PM - edited 01-09-2022 06:55 PM
if you need your number you have to pay for your service to be Active.. to you can port out.
close all Browser and do clear cache and cookies for any Browser,
and try open one Browser incognito mode,
go sign in to Self-Serve, to review your account,
1. Click on Payment
2. Make a Payment
3. one Time Payment
4. you will see your Amount Due:$$
5. Payment Type: selected other ( Enter the desired payment amount )
6. you will do manually enter Amount:$$ + $1 extra
and if still not fix it follow this,
and if can't fix it you need To Contact Customer Support Agent by CS_Agent, and Explain your issue to them can solve your issue, they are nice service Team the will help you 100%.
Here’s How To Contact Customer Support Agent
Good Luck....
Make sure the old SIM card in your phone when you're Transfer your number. You should get a SMS message from your old carrier asking to confirm if you would like to Transfer your number. Your reply should be: YES.
The confirmation message can take a few minutes to come in. You have 90 minutes from the time of request.