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I am not using whole 50 mins neither the data but my phone gets blocked after 20-25 mins of talk...

Arsh99
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I  have logged in to public mobile account and checked my usage based on that I can tell that its hardly around 20-22 mins, I have the call time record enabled too on the phone and it suggests the same but the customer service agents refuse to accept that and are imposing that the talk time is 50 mins. does anyone else have the same issue?

35 REPLIES 35

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@CountyDownIeUk 

At the beginning of the ring count....hang up before 53 seconds, 1 minute and 53 seconds and so on....

CountyDownIeUk
Mayor / Maire

@softech 

@darlicious 

 

Ok got it. 

If the call is answered does the minute count start at the first ring or when first answered?

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@CountyDownIeUk 

Non answered calls are not charged I minute if you dont let it go to voicemail. Hang up before the 5th ring.

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@mimmo 

Well every provider has their own marketing scheme to win over customers it shouldn't be clawed back later....thats like getting a phone deal with a $300 best buy card and expecting you to pay it back after your device subsidy is paid off.

 

If we are talking about autopay and loyalty rewards then my plan price is $6.

 

@softech 

The $13 plan price with the exchange rate was coincidental and inspired the post its not meant to argue the point of the price hike. I used it as an example for @mimmo that if he thinks the price for service of $13 is fair value would he refuse better valued service?

 

Of course I could use any other price world wide for comparison but it would not be an equal comparison now would it? The two countries that can provide a comparitive value are the US and Australia. I chose this example because of the merger between T-Mobile and Verizon can be compared to the pending Rogers/Shaw merger.

 

So while T-Mobile came up with groundbreaking low cost plans as a result of the US federal regulatory agencies not practising forbearance on telecommunications companies to the extent that the CRTC has vs the big three unilaterally raising plan prices since the announcement of the merger and offering less compelling promos other than large data buckets.....its like handing candy to a baby....and customers are falling for it.

 

You obviously don't understand how much research I have done to fight this price hike and the preparations to follow thru if necessary with further complaints to the CRTC and the Competition Bureau of Canada. In my now censored and deleted thread I followed thru with exactly what I promised. I put my mouth where my money is.....

 

Keep believing the Robelus propaganda.....

@CountyDownIeUk I think not start from ring, but start from pickup or when the voicemail recording kicks in

Some using the $5 (or less) that that are paying for their own "convenient ".  Instead of 30%, they magnify the effect by using their reduced rate from the rewards as the base.  So a 30% suddenly becomes 60% or even more.  That sounds scary and make Telus looks even a bigger monster 


@mimmo wrote:

Minutes are rounded up.   1 minute 1 second counts as two minutes.



And if you make a call the minute starts when the call starts to ring. No answer = 1 minute. 

@darlicious

 

1. Exchange rate has little to zero effect on Mobile rate.  

Mobile equipment is a long term investment and it has almost no effect from short term rate fluctuation 

 

2.  It is a fact that Canadian phone service is one of the most expensive one in the world.  So, you can use price from most other countries in the world and make an argument 

 But I think using this to prove your point of the $3 hike is insufficient  You should leave this to fight with Robellus on their overall plan prices and not just this $3.

 

 

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@darlicious my only issue with your comparisons is that you convieniently forget to mention anyone on the $10 plan is only paying at most $5 BC of autopay and loyalty. Many probably much less. This should be factored into your comparisons because it's an important factor in my opinion.

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@mimmo 

True it is a hassle and it shouldnt be to stand up for your rights as customer. The amount of time I have spent on this will no way be recovered in my lifetime if they do rescind the rate hike. But its less about the money its the point. Prepaid customers have precious few protections under the WCC to protect themselves from their provider doing whatever the heck they like when it comes to providing service and price increases.

 

I understand from a business perspective why you may feel this way but not from a customer perspective. For example recently T-Mobile started offering their version of $10 occasional use plan. If you were a US customer would you instead ask for our version of the plan based on your opinion?

 

Read below:

 

Public Mobile and Telus customers have started to pay $13/30 days with or without prior knowledge depending on whether or not they recieved an email or SMS text back in March (2022).
 
 Interestingly as the Canadian dollar loses some ground against the US dollar it's hovering around $1.30CDN=US$1 making our unjustified $3 rate hike to our $10 legacy plans $13 equal to $10 US at the same time as T-Mobile rolls out their first ever $10 plan as a part pandemic response to offer affordable service and mobile connectivity to more customers. 
 
It also fulfills promises it made to federal regulators that their merger with Sprint would be beneficial to customers and lower prices. Sound familiar...? Except unlike here in Canada the telecom actually lived up to their promises.
 
For those of you unfamiliar with Public Mobile's $10 50/50 legacy plan that has been unreasonably increased in price by $3 to $13 (for now?!!) it did and still includes :
 
  • free incoming texts and 50 outgoing SMS texts (only)
  • 50 Canada wide calling minutes (in/out)
  • voicemail and call display
By comparison for the same price the US$10 (CDN$13) T-Mobile offers :
 
  • $10 per month plus tax, billed as “the lowest price smartphone plan ever” from the un-carrier, 
  •  Includes 1,000 minutes of talk and 1,000 texts 
  • 1GB of high-speed smartphone data.
The CRTC mandated in 2021 that Rogers, Bell, Telus and Sasktel offer and promote the following plan that Public Mobile has offered for nearly 3 years:
 
  • $15 includes unlimited MMS/SMS texts and incoming calling
  • 100 outgoing Canada wide calling minutes 
Compared with T-Mobile's new offering:
 
  • 250mb of data at 3G speed (4G LTE throttled to 3mbps)
  • US$15 per month plus tax for talk and text
  • 3GB of high-speed smartphone data.
Alongside another plan Public Mobile has offered for 3 years:
 
  • $25 includes unlimited MMS/SMS texts & Canada wide calling minutes
  • 1GB data (500mb+500mb w/autopay) at 3G speed (4G LTE throttled)
T-Mobile's plan offers considerably more data at much faster data speeds:
 
  • US$25 per month plus tax for talk and text
  • 6GB of high-speed smartphone data.
The other CRTC mandated plan that Public Mobile had to increase data on:
 
  • $35 includes unlimited MMS/SMS texts & Canada wide calling minutes
  • 3GB of data at 3G speed (4G LTE throttled to 3mbps)
Cannot compare data wise with T-Mobile's plan data alottments or speed
 
  • US$35 per month plus tax, for talk, text.
  • 12 GB of high-speed smartphone data.

T-Mobile plans include added benefits like internet security protection and free Caller ID included in the rate plan, as well as access to T-Mobile’s nationwide 5G network. Plans became available Friday, March 25 a month before the $3 price hike was set to come into effect.

This shows what telecommunications marketplace that allows for a variety of providers that include NMO's, regional MO's and both NMO owned MVNO's and independently owned MVNO's equal access to wholesale network sharing prices to create and continue to foster a competitive business market place that keeps overall pricing reasonable and plan offerings innovative and at price points that meet the needs of consumers. 

This is what effective forbearance on an industry looks like in case the CRTC needs a little reminder....?

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@darlicious  no I didn't , don't believe it's worth the hassle, and as he was provided notification via sms and email, I consider that fair warning. 

 

As a side note, glad it's not, but  I believe the 10 plan should have been treated like the old  10 day plans,  rewards ineligible. Doubt it will happen, but who knows , maybe pm will decide to reverse the plan increase and make the plan ineligible for rewards. (Just voicing an opinion, thought etc, based solely on personal ideas)

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@mimmo 

Did you file a complaint on your father's behalf or did he file a complaint? (Don't answer if you consider it an invasion of privacy.) Or is he happy to accept the price hike? I only ask because our complaints have been accepted by the CCTS and the clock is ticking on filing a complaint that will be accepted by the CCTS. The more customers that complain the more likely a resolution will be reached to the benefit of all $10 plan holders rather than just individual customers who have formally complained to the CCTS.

Ind
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

100% agreeable go check out PC financial they have very good plans for cheap.

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@mimmo 

Well I would have to say your father was one of the lucky ones who recieved both an email and a text message notification of the $3 rate hike to the $10 50/50 plan. There have been plenty of customers that have reported not recieving any notice at all.

 

The blanket statement you provided above cannot possibly be considered notification of a change in the terms of service ie. a price increase. How can you agree to a new contract without mentioning the new service terms? If that was statement was acceptable your plan price could just as easily be $30 or how about $300?

 

THE CRTC has set out that wireless providers must communicate in plain language :

 

  1. A service provider must communicate with customers in a way that is clear, timely, accurate, and uses plain language.

Additionally when it comes to prepaid service which allows prepaid providers to set out their own favourable terms in their terms of service but they must adhere to some very simple rules.

 

The Commission notes that for prepaid service contracts, the customer is accepting the key terms and conditions of the contract each time they reactivate their service or top up their account. As such, it is not necessary to prohibit changes to key terms and conditions of such contracts. The Commission expects WSPs that provide prepaid wireless services to clearly publicize any change to their services

 

I expected public mobile to follow their terms of service and publicly post the change at publicmobile.ca/plans. Not wait until 12:00:00am eastern on April 28th 2022 for the amount due in one's self serve account to be the first time that public mobile acknowledged the $3 rate hike.

 

 

 

 

 

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@darlicious i cant speak to how many of the 10 plan people text, or have access to emial or selfserve account.  but i woudl probably think most of them have at least one of those..

 

    I did look at the plans page and item 7 says 

 

We will use your email address to send you information about promotions, special offers and news about Public Mobile events and services. All communications will be coming from Public Mobile. Our contact information is: Marketing Preferences, 30 Floor, 25 York Street, Toronto ON M5J 2V5. You can withdraw your consent to receive electronic messages from Public Mobile at any time.

 

that might be enough to satisfy CCTS for pm doing what is needed.   just a fyi my dad did get the email and sms re price increase.    

 

 

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@mimmo 

It depends on how you look at it from the average $10 plan holders. How many of them text? Or have access to email? Or even have a self serve account? While it may not make practical sense it's public mobile that wrote the favourable terms....its incumbent that they follow them.

 

 

 

 

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

Thanks for clarification @darlicious so basically the plan increase would be ok  if it had been posted on plans page? If it had, no need to file complaint?  Personally I think your initial post should have been more detailed , I was confused/ wanted clarification  because op was inquiring  about minutes, not the plan increase. Which most people were notified by sms and possibly email which I think is more proactive than posting on the plan page. 

dust2dust
Mayor / Maire

@mimmo 

Arsh99 wrote:
Instead of paying this proxy company I would pay 10 more dollars and switch to a standard provider.
and
I believe a monthly package of $25 unlimited calls and texts would be a better option where you have a proper customer service

 

So the author is entertaining moving on due to a couple factors primarily over the service delivery method. You're likely right with the actual minutes question. But there are additional asides in this conversation.

 

So darlicious wrote:
I suggest you exercise your rights under the WCC and first complain to public mobile and then after you recieve their standard answer file a complaint with the CCTS before you decide to change plans or providers.

 

 

Perhaps the customer can be retained for the profits of Telus with the slight possibility of the rate hike being revoked. I'm hoping the customer sees the ideas of the add-ons and stays on and understands that they've gone all this time without needing service. They're already getting at least $2 off for loyalty. Likely autopay as well. Then they can buy the add-on and use it as the overage until it finishes and then buy it again.

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@mimmo 

Of course we are assuming the OP is on the $10 50/50 plan subject to the $3 rate hike.

 

“Can the Terms Of Service change? Yes, Public Mobile has the right to change any of the Terms Of Service, including rates, without notice. Changes become effective thirty days after being posted at publicmobile.ca/plans. By purchasing service after a change is posted, including by continuing to top up your account, you accept the current Terms Of Service. You can cancel service at any time, without penalty or cancellation fees.”

 

 

 

 

 

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@darlicious sorry I don't understand which terms of service were broken. Can you be more specific? 

 

From my understanding the Op saying they are  only getting 20-22 minutes , which probably doesn't consider rounding up.  I don't recall seeing any cases where pm minute counter was incorrect.

 

And as I mentioned above op is probably noticing the limits of plan because they have used up the free Christmas bonuses.

 

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@mimmo 

 

  • Reason #1. Breaking the terms of service.

 

 

 

 

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

 

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@darlicious where is PM breaking the WCC in this case?

 

What should the op complaint to the CCTS about? Is PM miscalculating the minutes or not providing services paid for?

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@Arsh99 just a fyi for the past two Christmases PM gave out a free long distance minutes.

 

My guess is that you have been going over your 50 minutes on a regular basis but these add-ons actually kicked in so you did not realize the overage.   The add-ons are now used up this you get no calling when you go over your plan minutes.


@softech wrote:

@Arsh99 wrote:

 I believe a monthly package of $25 unlimited calls and texts would be a better option where you have a proper customer service


Check Koodo prepaid.  They have similar plan but with call centre.  The drawback is they don't have rewards like here

 


I wouldn't be so open about praising Telus Mobility and Koodo Mobility prepaid services just for the reason that they have call centres.  They are both still really self serve carriers (at least on the prepaid side) just as Public Mobile is and Telus and Koodo has charged prepaid customers a fee in the past for using the call centre.  They just happen to usually credit out the charge.

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@Arsh99 

I suggest you exercise your rights under the WCC and first complain to public mobile and then after you recieve their standard answer file a complaint with the CCTS before you decide to change plans or providers.

 

 

 

 

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

dabr
Mayor / Maire

@Arsh99    Most customers with on either the discontinued $13 plan (formerly $10) and the $15 plan with 100 outgoing mins/unlimited incoming have the $5/500 minutes add-on exactly for those times when the outgoing minutes get used up before renewal. 

 

With non-roaming add-ons being non-expiring and staying with the account until depleted, it really doesn't make sense not to have those extra minutes as back up.  BTW, you should also have received PM's holiday gifts over the last 2/3 years of data and LD international minutes which can be used for calling within Canada too, but it's more economical to purchase the domestic minutes add-on and keep those LD minutes for international calls.

 

For $2 more, it's probably better to just go with the $15 plan if you find you need more than 550 outgoing minutes for each month (30 days).

 

 

@Arsh99: Your proxy term then is the industry term MVNO for mobile virtual network operator. Piles of them in the states. The Big 3 here have filled the pockets of the regulators to block that happening here except their own little operations like this one. You knew of the support structure here from day one though. How wonderful that in all this time you hadn't needed them for anything.

Remember the rewards (assuming you didn't opt in to the points). By default without doing anything you're probably getting at least $2 for loyalty. Maybe more. But of course now that has been effectively stolen by this unlawfully executed rate hike. Then maybe you have autopay on. There's another $2. Maybe you have some referrals. There's another $1 each.

 

As for the $5 add-on, this place and Koodo are the only two providers that I know of that the add-ons roll over through each renewal without re-buying until they are finished.

So the $10 becomes $13 then minus rewards. Buy add-ons once and then use them until finished. Not 13 + 5.

 

You've gone all this time apparently not needing customer service. Are you sure you really need a live person to talk to on those rare occasions?


@Arsh99 wrote:

 I believe a monthly package of $25 unlimited calls and texts would be a better option where you have a proper customer service


Check Koodo prepaid.  They have similar plan but with call centre.  The drawback is they don't have rewards like here

 

Arsh99
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

You are right that its been that long, I called them proxy in the very beginning when I realized that they dont have a call center where customers can actually talk to an agent. I stayed that long because It did not really bothered when I did not had to communicate with their staff and on this number my minutes never ran out no idea why since the last 2 months its completely running out and as soon as it runs out the phone goes out of service, So if I have to pay $13+$5 add on then I believe a monthly package of $25 unlimited calls and texts would be a better option where you have a proper customer service

JL9
Mayor / Maire

Yes definitely this isn't a PM thing at all, I don't agree with rounding up either but every provider out there does this 

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