I'm in Toronto. Calling a 647 number consumed all of my long distance add-on minutes

[leocleung]

Hey there,

I'm based out of Toronto with a (416) phone number. I've been calling 6473744685 (a Zoom conference line) a lot lately. I assumed this would be considered a local call. Anyway, I got a text yesterday from Public Mobile telling me that I have 10 minutes left of my add-on while I was on the conference line. 

Anyone else had this problem? What should I do to get this fixed?

[computergeek541]

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@AE_Collector wrote:

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@geopublic wrote:

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@leocleung  Maybe best to call the church and ask them. Might be that the first number is getting forwarded to another location.

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I have always been of the understanding that if you Call Forward your number to a location that is a Long Distance Call on YOUR service/plan.... a person calling your number as a local call doesn’t get charged the LD fees, the Call Forwarded line is charged the LD fees.

AE_Collector

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Long distance is based on the number that's you're dialing. Any number that the other party involved is forwarding to is irrelevant. 

[AE_Collector]

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@geopublic wrote:

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@leocleung  Maybe best to call the church and ask them. Might be that the first number is getting forwarded to another location.

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I have always been of the understanding that if you Call Forward your number to a location that is a Long Distance Call on YOUR service/plan.... a person calling your number as a local call doesn’t get charged the LD fees, the Call Forwarded line is charged the LD fees.

AE_Collector

[leocleung]

Hello!

It's been awhile since I posted. The issue has finally been resolved today. The Public Mobile moderator opened a ticket with the Telus Technical team. I was then in direct contact with the Telus team via phone and SMS to get this resolved. 

The Telus team updated something (they didn't specify what it was), and it's now fixed. That is calling the 6473744685 number no longer deducts the minutes in my long distance add-ons. They also restored all of the minutes of my add-ons.

This whole issue took a bit longer than expected, but it was handled with professionalism by the Telus team.

[Nezgar]

@computergeek541 well, 306 here and 416 are both from the original 86 area codes introduced in 1947 - but the prefixes for iristel would have been more recently assigned to these area codes...

[computergeek541]

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@Nezgar wrote:

Similarly, I am in Regina, and calling a Regina-based voip.ms number (also shows as iristel on cnac.ca) was also playing the "long distance charges may apply when dialing without the 1.

The next day testing dialing it without the 1 no longer gave that message.

it's like the newest prefixes haven't been added to Telus's database of " where" they are...

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That's possible. In the case of leocleung, this wouldn't be the case since the 647 area code has been in use for nearly 20 years.

[Nezgar]

Similarly, I am in Regina, and calling a Regina-based voip.ms number (also shows as iristel on cnac.ca) was also playing the "long distance charges may apply when dialing without the 1.

The next day testing dialing it without the 1 no longer gave that message.

it's like the newest prefixes haven't been added to Telus's database of " where" they are...

[computergeek541]

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@will13am wrote:

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Telling a customer to get a Canada wide calling plan is definitely a wrong answer.  

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Since all 647 area code phone numbers are considered Toronto as the rate centre, how can calling from Toronto to Toronto possibily require Canada-wide calling?  That's a very interesting "solution".

[will13am]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The Oracle himself takes one for the team. 🙂

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It was curiosity and well worth the $0.01.  What can you buy for this kind of money these days?  I had account provisioning problems early on where I could not make in province calls and some toll free calls also.  Shazia did an account reset and I have never had calling issues since.  I really wanted to see whether the system was interpreting this particular 647 number as an Ontario number or not.  The call destination in the call history did confirm the number was an Ontario number.  Why should a call from Ontario to Ontario be treated as long distance?  The issue resides with this service, unless further investigation demonstrates otherwise.  Telling a customer to get a Canada wide calling plan is definitely a wrong answer.  

[Anonymous]

The Oracle himself takes one for the team. 🙂

[mimmo]

Yeah mods reply is bad. Especially about changing plan. Definately ask for credits for both addons. And don't settle for no.

[leocleung]

Yep. Will keep you posted.

Zoom sent me an auto reply saying that they're slammed with a high volume of support tickets because of Covid. So I might not hear back for a while.

Moderator suggested that I switch to a plan with Canada wide minutes. I just forwarded the test results that @will13am provided to the moderator in response. For now, I'll just sit tight and see how this plays out.

[leocleung]

Hey all, I'm not sure how the church got brought into this. There's no church involved here. The company I work for provides me with a Zoom subscription.  Zoom provides a list of over 100 numbers I can use to host a conference call covering area codes all over the world. Being in Toronto, I obviously have used the two with the (647) area codes. One is fine. The other burnt a few hundred of my add-on minutes.

[leocleung]

Funny enough. The reason I call in is because my WIFI has been spotty lately.  I can actually use my internet for audio with Zoom. I switched to the phone line because it was more stable.

[geopublic]

Interesting 🤔 @leocleung  Please keep us posted.

[will13am]

Just for fun, I called the zoom number just to see how the system registers the call in the usage history.  My account has province wide calling only.  The usage history shows a call from Ontario to Ontario.  However, my Canada wide minutes add-on was debited one minute for my 11 second test.  So it would seem that error is on the Public Mobile end.  Why would a call from Ontario to Ontario register as a Canada wide calling minute?  @leocleung , I would challenge the assertion that it is appropriate for this service to charge Canada wide long distance when the system appropriately registers the call destination as Ontario.  @CS_Agent , why ask the customer to take this case up with zoom when usage history shows the call destination to be within the Ontario?  

[mimmo]

@leocleung  as an Interm solutions why not get a text now or fongo number, then you can call the zoom number using the VoIP service and it won't cost any minutes, assuming you are on wifi you won't use data either.

[geopublic]

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@srlawren wrote:

@geopublic sure, but the phone numbers are controlled by Zoom, not by the meeting organizer.

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@srlawren  I never said they were controlled by the church. The church set them up though so maybe they would know why the call is out of province. Much better than submitting a ticket to the moderators IMO.

Even though I don't use their service my understanding is that paid Zoom subscribers can purchase phone numbers and even port-in numbers.

[srlawren]

@geopublic sure, but the phone numbers are controlled by Zoom, not by the meeting organizer.

[geopublic]

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@srlawren wrote:

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@geopublic church?  I'm confused.  These are calls into Zoom conferences.

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@srlawren  Ask and you will receive 🙂

https://stpaulsbramalea.ca/life-st-pauls/

[srlawren]

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@geopublic wrote:

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@leocleung  Maybe best to call the church and ask them. Might be that the first number is getting forwarded to another location.

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@geopublic church?  I'm confused.  These are calls into Zoom conferences.

[geopublic]

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@leocleung wrote:

I had a 200 and a 400 minute add-on (1 was Canada wide and 1 was US/Canada). Both are now consumed.

Anyway, thank you all for your help on here. I'll submit a request to a moderator as you suggested. Thanks again.

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@leocleung  Maybe best to call the church and ask them. Might be that the first number is getting forwarded to another location.

[leocleung]

The moderator has now asked me to reach out to Zoom to find out where they registered the 647 374 4685 number. To be continued...

[hairbag1]

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@leocleung wrote:

I had a 200 and a 400 minute add-on (1 was Canada wide and 1 was US/Canada). Both are now consumed.

Anyway, thank you all for your help on here. I'll submit a request to a moderator as you suggested. Thanks again.

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For reference...keep us posted when you get resolution.

[leocleung]

I had a 200 and a 400 minute add-on (1 was Canada wide and 1 was US/Canada). Both are now consumed.

Anyway, thank you all for your help on here. I'll submit a request to a moderator as you suggested. Thanks again.

[hairbag1]

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@leocleung wrote:

My base plan includes: 

• 12GB Data
• - Unlimited International Text
• - Unlimited Provincial Talk

Zoom conference has two 647 numbers I can call.

When I call 647 3744 685, it now won't complete the call and I get a voice message telling me to purchase an add-on. When I call 647 558 0588, it goes through just fine. I'm not going to purchase more add-on for now. I'm trying to figure out why the call is consuming my add-on when I'm calling inside my province.

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With your plan, you obviously shouldn't need any long distance add-on to call those local numbers. You'll likely need to start process of moderator assistance to explain what's happening.

Go to the top of this page, click on Get Help, then click on Chat with Simon. Follow the prompts until you can submit a ticket.

Good luck.

[gpixel · Accepted solution]

@leocleung contact Moderators here:

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/contact-a-moderator

Moderators are available from Monday to Friday from 8AM to Midnight EST and from Saturday and Sunday from 8AM to 10PM PM EST

[Anonymous]

I wonder if Zoom (apparently using Iristel) is doing some trickery with the 374 number.

Do you remember if you had either the 400 or 200 minute long distance add-ons?

[rhbcc]

those two number are within your province. I suggest to message the Moderators to help you out on this issue

[leocleung]

My base plan includes: 

• 12GB Data
• - Unlimited International Text
• - Unlimited Provincial Talk

Zoom conference has two 647 numbers I can call.

When I call 647 3744 685, it now won't complete the call and I get a voice message telling me to purchase an add-on. When I call 647 558 0588, it goes through just fine. I'm not going to purchase more add-on for now. I'm trying to figure out why the call is consuming my add-on when I'm calling inside my province.

[Anonymous]

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@leocleung wrote:

Hey there,

I'm based out of Toronto with a (416) phone number. I've been calling 6473744685 (a Zoom conference line) a lot lately. I assumed this would be considered a local call. Anyway, I got a text yesterday from Public Mobile telling me that I have 10 minutes left of my add-on while I was on the conference line. 

Anyone else had this problem? What should I do to get this fixed?

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Add-on? Or $15 plan?