How To Pre-Pay/Pay With Funds?

[mrgisa]

Hello All,

Quick question/wanted to confirm something.  I have $50 in funds in my account and would like to pay for my next month's service.  Since this is not the full amount I'd need (I'm on a $47 monthly plan and with tax that works out to $53.11) do I simply need to make a payment of $3.11 and assume that PM will automatically deduct my remaining funds to pay for the month's service? The only options I see to pay are with credit card or voucher and the funds are neither so...

I ask because I do not want either of us to have our service suspended. Proactive FTW!

Mr. Gisa

[mrgisa]

Thank you all for your advice. 

Autopay is tempting, but I do not like any corporate entity having the ability to automatically withdraw funds as they please.  I trust PM but I prefer to literally pay as I go.  I will likely be getting a new phone in a few months anyhow, so I'm okay taking a small hit for the time being.

For my needs, this plan works great.  I have 200 Canada wide minutes which I've barely put a dent in and unlimited province talk/text plus 2 GB of data (plenty for my needs).  That said, I'll take a peek at the current plan: who knows if there is a better deal?

Thanks again!

Mr. Gisa

[will13am]

@mrgisa, all amounts shown in the account are before tax.  If you need to pay $47 to renew and there is $50 in the account, you are good to go.  The account will renew without any further top up.

[wetcoaster]

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@super8989 wrote:

PM will take the credit you have first so it will be $3.11 for the service. If you don't have auto-pay, I'd register the credit card for the additional $2 discount every month (I don't know why anyone wouldn't take advantage of that). Then your bill would be down to $1.11 and it will charge your credit card for only $1.11. 

Or you can buy a voucher and add in the amount pro-actively. 

Cell phone providers don't disconnect your service immediately. Everyone has a 3 month rule where after inactivity of 3 months, your number gets released back to the company. You basically have 3 months to top up or pay again to activate your line from being dormant. 

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@super8989

Your post contains some incomplete and inaccurate information.

While the statement in bold is generally correct (Public Mobile is cancelling your account and you loose your phone number after 90 days of suspension), I think @mrgisa  is concerned about their account going into suspension due to insufficient funds / failed autopay. Because Public Mobile is a prepaid carrier that scenario would mean a service interruption until a payment is properly processed and the plan provisioned again. (Which could take a bit if mods need to step I.)

I have addressed the tax / available funds question in my post above.

[wetcoaster]

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@mrgisa wrote:

Hello All,

Quick question/wanted to confirm something.  I have $50 in funds in my account and would like to pay for my next month's service.  Since this is not the full amount I'd need (I'm on a $47 monthly plan and with tax that works out to $53.11) do I simply need to make a payment of $3.11 and assume that PM will automatically deduct my remaining funds to pay for the month's service? The only options I see to pay are with credit card or voucher and the funds are neither so...

I ask because I do not want either of us to have our service suspended. Proactive FTW!

Mr. Gisa

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Tax is charged at point of sale. If you get a voucher for say $48 from a merchant you pay them $48+tax. If you top up $48 to your account with a credit credit card your CC statement is $48+tax.

There are no additional "hidden" transactions in your account when the plan cost taken from your available funds. If you have $50 available funds, $47 is deducted, your available funds are $3 after renewal.

As for payment amounts: If autopay is enabled, the system will apply rewards first, then available funds and then any remaining balance (+tax) will be charged to your credit card on file.

Something to look into: I'm not sure what plan you are on and how long you have been a customer, but you might find a plan in the current promo line-up that would be a bit cheaper. I recommend I future dated plan change as soon as possible if you want to change your plan.

[super8989 · Accepted solution]

PM will take the credit you have first so it will be $3.11 for the service. If you don't have auto-pay, I'd register the credit card for the additional $2 discount every month (I don't know why anyone wouldn't take advantage of that). Then your bill would be down to $1.11 and it will charge your credit card for only $1.11. 

Or you can buy a voucher and add in the amount pro-actively. 

Cell phone providers don't disconnect your service immediately. Everyone has a 3 month rule where after inactivity of 3 months, your number gets released back to the company. You basically have 3 months to top up or pay again to activate your line from being dormant.