I used to pay by phone with my CC, now it's pre-authorized CC payments only?

[WDemon]

I've been with PM for going on 20 yrs, I've always paid monthly with CC by phone via 611. Suddenly last month it was automatically withdrawn without notice. Is this even legal? When I logged in to see what's happening, it says that now all CC payments are per-authorized only? Also regularly applied rewards are now gone, and rewards points are now worth much less.

Am I missing or misunderstanding something or is this all very jarring and unpleasant for other customers as well?

[WDemon]

Thank for your opinion and advise. You do you too! 😀 It's true it's not that big of a deal. I do however, want to ensure they understand they were NOT pre-authorized to do the withdrawal, having ignored my explicit instruction about payment method for my monthly service. They should have informed me by text or email they already withdrawn it so at least I knew...as not knowing created inconvenience and confusion.

I am persisting so they will not do so again unauthorized in future. I've been with Public Mobile for over a decade and have encountered very few problems, so hopefully this can be solved without further misunderstanding.

[CSA_PM]

Hello there.

I sent you a private message.

You can view and reply to it by accessing this link:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/privatenotespage

[DennyCrane]

If you proceed with a chargeback, I guess we'll see you back here next month when you have an even bigger problem on your hands. But if the principle of the matter is worth it to you, fill your boots I guess.

You can try to contact support for a refund, but TBH that will take weeks, at which point your next payment will be due anyway. If I were you I'd just leave the credit on my account and let that fund my payment next month.

You do you though. Best of luck.

[WDemon]

Thanks DennyCrane, they were not authorized to take the money and now they've been paid twice. My CC company told me the standard is that they should, without censure, refund the over-payment -- whichever one it is. (They kinda know they've been paid twice now and the related laws and regulations.)

Thanks for the warning. I hope they won't do that as I would then contact the CRTC as well.

[DennyCrane]

It could be a browser or app cache issue (it might not actually be back on). Try logging in via an incognito browser tab to confirm.

As has been said, Public Mobile staff don't typically respond here. If you really want to go out of your way to send this to them, you will need to log a ticket.

[WDemon]

Hi Chalupa,

Yes thank you so much for the advise, I am in direct contact with them now. It's ok to also post in the forum so other users experiencing similar hijinx can see how it's being dealt with....or not.

Thank you!

[WDemon]

They auto-paid themselves on Oct 15. They informed me my period ended on Oct 17. 

I did mistakenly automatically authorize them when I added a new CC as payment method. When I realized that during the Sept. cycle, I turned it off myself. When I logged in today after this debacle, THEY have turned it back on! I turned it back off.

Now they must fix and acknowledge it's fixed in writing and refund the over-payment.

[WDemon]

Thanks for the info. I do not want pre-authorized payments. I am telling them that explicitly in writing now that they've ignored and over-ridden my express digital settings. It's not complicated. I can pay my own bills when they are due.

[WDemon]

Hi Hairbag1! glad you like it.

I don't. Cheers 🙂

[DennyCrane]

I won't repeat the correct answers that have already been provided, but I would caution you against filing a charge back with your credit card provider. That has potential to get your line cancelled altogether; but to be honest there are easier and more effective ways to solve this anyway (as has already been explained).

[hairbag1]

@WDemon 

hundreds of Public Mobile customers take advantage of Auto-pay for their regular plan renewal. That way, the renewal occurs and we don't have to take other steps to fund our account. Since I started with Public Mobile in 2018, I've never had a negative issue as a result of autopay. Only issue I've seen is when payment card expires without customer paying attention. 

[BKNS27]

@WDemon 

PM will only take the monthly payment amount. Any over payment will remain in your account as credit.

You can request for a refund from a CS_Agent but it may take up to 3 weeks for the refund.

[Chalupa_Batman]

You do realize everything you just said on this open forum isn't read by CS Agents of Public Mobile, right? We're all customers here. Very rarely will a CS Agent actually read the forums. You need to create a ticket, and since you can log in, I'd strongly suggest using the bot instead of the direct link offered previously. The will give you a tracking number so you have proof of communication.

Please use this link to the Public Mobile Chat Bot which will direct you to creating a trackable ticket. Enter CONTACT US into the chat and follow the prompts.

https://widget.telus.tiia.ai/publicmobile/publicmobile.html?lang=en

They will reply here.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/privatenotespage

During business hours (9 AM-10 PM EST) you can expect a response within 30 minutes, but it may be longer depending on current volumes.

[hTideGnow]

hi @WDemon 

PM is using a 30 days cycle and not monthly

So, while you think the period is not over till Oct 17th, it could be that one day issue (30 days vs monthly ) and hence it renewed on Oct 16th

And you have granted PM the permission to do Autopay, this is part of the activation, if you didn't check box that, the activation wouldn't completed

But if you already turned it off now, it won't autopay anymore.  Login My Account and check Payment page, Manage Subscription and check if Subscribed (means Autopay) is already disabled.  (if you disabled it, it won't reenable itself, no one has that issue)

if you need PM to help, open ticket.  

submit a ticket with CS Agent using Chatbot here:       
            https://widget.telus.tiia.ai/publicmobile/publicmobile.html 
             Type the question "Submit ticket", Then click the following in order: "Contact Us" ,  "Other",  "Log In".  
             (If unable to receive 2FA SMS, click "Didn't Receive Code" or "Resend Code" and Select "Send Email")         
If any issue with ticket submission, you can submit  ticket by direct message:  
          https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437 

Remember CS_agent will reply to your Community inbox within 2 to 4 hours, please check your inbox here:
           https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/privatenotespage      

[WDemon]

When I realized pre-authorized payments was automatically turned on having entered a new CC as my payment method, I IMMEDIATELY LOGGED IN HERE FOR SUPPORT -- so I immediately turned off the subscription. I want to pay my bill by phone when payment is due, as I always have. It is supposed to be OFF since mid-September  WHEN I TURNED IT OFF.

So, PM went ahead and deducted the payment on Oct 15 anyway WITHOUT MY AUTHORIZATION, but then ALSO turned off my service on OCT16 -- when the period wasn't over until OCT 17. I didn't know they had auto-deducted a payment on OCT 15, so on OCT 16 I made a payment by phone. NOW YOU'VE BEEN PAID TWICE AND I WANT THE EXCESS PAYMENT OF OCT 15 REFUNDED, INCLUDING THE ADDITIONAL .62 CENTS YOU CHARGED ME OCT 16 FOR WHO KNOWS WHAT!

I've called my CC company and you have until Nov 3 to refund the money that was NOT pre-authorized and there's a flag on your company for those transactions by my CC company FOR YOU TO NOT DO IT AGAIN. To be clear : YOU ARE NOT PRE-AUTHORIZED TO PROCESS ANY PAYMENTS OF ANY KIND ON MY CREDIT CARD EVERY AGAIN UNLESS I EXPLICITLY INSTRUCT YOU TO DO SO. I WILL PAY MANUALLY MONTHLY AS I ALWAYS HAVE.

Note when I just logged in: the auto-pay was turned on again and I'VE NOW STOPPED THE SUBSCRIPTION AGAIN. THIS NEEDS TO BE CLEARED UP NOW. TURN OFF THE AUTO-PAY IMMEDIATELY OR I'LL ENGAGE A NEW PROVIDER. Thanks

[WDemon]

I tried to take the $4 off for 6 mos but heheh oops!...a recurring error prevented me accessing the deal. The ambiguous messaging is clearly intentionally to create confusion and doubt for users. It's all very bad business imo and is not great for customer retention when competition is heating up on all sides.

[slusagm]

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@computergeek541 wrote:

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There's no debate at all about this. The word "subscription" in Public Mobile terms only refers to autopay and nothing more,

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Can't agree more

But as you see what OP posts, that "A Few Questions" and the offer "Don't miss out on these savings" offer really make people believe they are turning off renewal rather than turning off Autopay

[computergeek541]

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@slusagm wrote:

@WDemon 

and tell you the truth, there has been some debate whether the Subscribed means opt out of the subscription or just opt out autopay.  However, we have some members confirmed that if the account have enough funds to renew in Available Funds,  the account will still be renewed even the Subscribed option is turned off

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There's no debate at all about this. The word "subscription" in Public Mobile terms only refers to autopay and nothing more, and yes, customers can remain customers indefinitely with the "subscription" to autopay turned off.  Saying that, I do not believe that Public Mobile should have been trying to change the meaning of the word and if you ask any number of customers about this, I believe that the vast majority of people are going to think that you're talking about a plan subscription (not a payment method subscription).

[WDemon]

Thank for taking the time @hairbag1 🙂 yeah not much loyalty building around these days is there 🤣

[WDemon]

Thank you @Chalupa_Batman - the unsubscribe method [ultimately] has worked fine... I think. My phone service appears to still function. Not super impressed with this run-around methodology of building, then exploiting, uncertainty in your customers' ability to manage their service and payment options. It really only manages to waste customers' valuable time and build unnecessary frustration/resentment...

[slusagm]

@WDemon 

actually, if you are planning to stay with PM and top up manually ahead of the renewal, why not take the $4 off for 6 months and resubscribe?

and tell you the truth, there has been some debate whether the Subscribed means opt out of the subscription or just opt out autopay.  However, we have some members confirmed that if the account have enough funds to renew in Available Funds,  the account will still be renewed even the Subscribed option is turned off

[WDemon]

Thanks for the advice @slusagm The Manage Subscriptions is on the Payments page > THANKS!

Ah...now I see! I added a new CC# recently when my old one expired. The now-infamous "marketing dept" has decided that once you ADD a payment method, you cannot REMOVE that method, unless you replace it by a NEW method:

So, only option to stop pre-authorized payments is to Cancel Subscription > (which doesn't cancel phone service subscription, only pre-authorized payments subscription) --> But then doubles down on this miscommunication by giving you the following message, which definitely makes you think your phone service subscription will be cancelled:

When you click Unsubscribe, they then triple down by offering you a $4 discount to not unsubscribe, but then OOPS! That doesn't work so....you're not getting it.  (This all getting a bit sketchy.)

So, does this mean that there's no longer payment vouchers with PM? Also, when I went to go shop other plans and tried to choose a different package, that didn't function either 😐

[hairbag1]

@WDemon 

the old Rewards program was downgraded to the "Points" program back in May of last year. Today, you get points based on how much regular plan costs are...5% currently. Anniversary points are currently 10 points given on your activation anniversary date. Those points accumulate and can be redeemed toward regular plan costs and add-ons. Be aware that the "Points" are going to be downgraded even further starting on Oct 15th this year. Here's a link to that announcement....

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Announcements/NEW-Changes-Coming-to-the-Public-Points...

It's been a gradual degradation of the old Rewards that we all enjoyed...but that's the tack that PM has taken as of today.

[Chalupa_Batman]

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@WDemon wrote:

I've been with PM for going on 20 yrs, I've always paid monthly with CC by phone via 611. Suddenly last month it was automatically withdrawn without notice. Is this even legal? When I logged in to see what's happening, it says that now all CC payments are per-authorized only? Also regularly applied rewards are now gone, and rewards points are now worth much less.

Am I missing or misunderstanding something or is this all very jarring and unpleasant for other customers as well?

---

As well, if you wish to, you can have customer service remove your credit card on file so it doesn't happen again.

If you are able to log in, please use this link to the Public Mobile Chat Bot which will direct you to creating a trackable ticket. Enter CONTACT US into the chat and follow the prompts.

https://widget.telus.tiia.ai/publicmobile/publicmobile.html?lang=en

If you’re unable to log in to your account, please use this direct link to reach out to a CS Agent.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

A Customer Service Agent will reply to your community inbox here:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/privatenotespage

During business hours (9 AM-10 PM EST) you can expect a response within 30 minutes, but it may be longer depending on current volumes.

[slusagm · Accepted solution]

@WDemon 

you have properly triggered the autopay when you are browsing My Account.  

you can turn it off and go back to manual topup  Login My Account, Profile-> Manage Subscription and disable "Subscribed"