I switched plans before auto-payment date. Seems like I've been overcharged.

[ArthurC]

I signed up for the $20 province wide talk plan but a couple of days later I upgraded to the $25 Canada-wide talk plan. I was charged the full price for the $20 plan and the $25 plan even though I only used the $20 plan for a couple of days. Shouldn't I get a prorated refund for the unused portion of the $20 plan?

[lili1]

I just downgraded and that is exactly what happened, i.e. i was charged the lower cost in addition to the prior auto-pay, AND i lost all of the features of the higher pay plan. The system, imo, is not intuitive and, for those who are new to PM, ends up translating into a costly mistake. i hope a moderator can understand and charge me for one or the other, not both as it is right now. 

[ArthurC]

Anyway, hopefully this thread will help someone else avoid the issue.

[stonechucker]

@ArthurC, not to beat a dead horse, but you sign up and pay for a 30-day or 90-cycle, which is your contract.  You agree to pay ahead of time for this contract, and if you decide to go to another contract, you lose what' remaining in the previous one.

It simply is that simple, and it's how all prepaid services work.  There are not negotiations, haggles, or revisions.  A plan change is a new contact.

[ArthurC]

Thanks everyone for chiming in on this. I don't recall that message but it was quite a whille ago when I switched from $20 to $25. Even so, the message doesn't explictily say that a refund won't be given but that's splitting hairs. I would suggest that Public Mobile explicitly state in the warning what the moderator told me in the message.

I think we got off on a tangent--my fault--and focused on the mesage vs. whether Public Mobile is doing the right thing. I think it's wrong not to give customers credit for unused portions of plans when they change, especially if they're upgrading.

[srlawren]

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@stonechucker wrote:

As of 8:25 ET today, March 19th, 2019, the warning screen states this when doing an immediate plan change with available funds to cover it:

This is a change from what I've seen previously and is certainly more clear now than before, but I didn't have any issue myself with the previous notice when I made my first change in 2016.

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Thanks @stonechucker.  @Alan_K I take back my previous comment to you above, the warning as it exists currently seems sufficiently clear to me.  @ArthurC unless this literally changed over night, you must have clicked through the above warning message without understanding it, unfortunately.

[stonechucker]

As of 8:25 ET today, March 19th, 2019, the warning screen states this when doing an immediate plan change with available funds to cover it:

This is a change from what I've seen previously and is certainly more clear now than before, but I didn't have any issue myself with the previous notice when I made my first change in 2016.

[ArthurC]

The more I think about how Public Mobile handles plan changes including upgrades, side-grades, and downgrades, the more I think consumer protection laws are being violated.

[srlawren]

@ArthurC the warning it gives isn't clear.  The community asked Public Mobile to make it clearer, but I don't think their efforts worked.  I was going to have a look and check exactly what it does show today, but self-serve has been spinning trying to log in for several minutes so it's not happening right now.  

@Alan_K didn't you guys make changes to the warning text when changing plans immediately?  If you've already done this, it's probably still not clear enough.  You need to call out that there change is made without prorated refund/credit.  EDIT: the screen cap @stonechucker provided seems pretty clear to me as-is.  I take this back, sorry Alan.

[ArthurC]

There is no warning that says no refunds are given for partial months. I just checked again. All it does is offer two options, switch now or switch on the auto-pay date. If you swtich now, you have to "top up" for the new plan if you're upgrading to a higher cost plan or even the same cost plan. Not sure what it does if you downgrade but I assume it makes you pay for the full amount for the downgraded plan immediatrely as well (with no prorated refund for the more expensive plan).

[computergeek541]

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@ArthurC wrote:

It would be helpful if they posted a warning stating that there is no refund for a partial month. Without that warning, I'm tempted to think that what theyre doing contravenes consumer protection laws.

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When you tell the system to do an immediate plan change, a warning does come up on the screen that you must ackknowledge before proceeding.

[ArthurC]

It would be helpful if they posted a warning stating that there is no refund for a partial month. Without that warning, I'm tempted to think that what Public Mobile is doing contravenes consumer protection laws.

[srlawren]

@ArthurC they are correct.  When you were selecting your new plan, there were two options, and you chose the one that ends your current cycle without refund and starts a new one on your new plan.  The other option would have been to schedule the plan change for your next renewal date, which would not have had this issue.

[ArthurC]

Here is Public Mobile's response. So, heads up, don't change your plan before the auto-pay date.

"The rate plan change during the billing cycle will indeed charge you a completely new and full amount even if you have not used up your previous bundles. This is the norm with the prepaid service. From what I notice though on the account, there is a auto-pay reward of $2 applied and the rewards will help out to save even more in the future ( for refer-a-friend credits and any other flash deals you may take advantage of). Please don`t hesitate to ask any other questions that you may have for us, we`ll be more than happy to assist!"

[ArthurC]

Thanks. I have sent a PM to the Moderator Team.

[Jackhyf63]

@ArthurC It would be easier to send a private message to Moderator for assistance since you cannot share your account information with them via post in community:Make sure you provide them with your account info and you may also want to attach any screenshot mentioned in your post to speed up the credit process.