Is Lost/Stolen Phone the best description of what it really is??

[LurganIeUk]

Recently I replied to the post far far below.

While I have not been in the position to have to suspend service and for an elderly person that I am, over my 20 years of owning a mobile device I have never had the need to do so.

I have purchased numerous iPhones over the years and have always asked for the IMEI number to do my checks before I buy. I always do a check at Device Check Canada (Device Check provides instant access to the Canadian national database of mobile devices reported lost and stolen) for listed as stolen thus blacklisted.

So I have read here that there has been difficulties with a “Resume” of service. And it appears to be when the owner leaves service “Suspended” for close to but not over 90 days and payment is not up to date.

I can also remember on my Telus prepaid account that once the SIM was installed my account would reflect the phone device model etc including the IMEI number. If SIM was put into another phone the new phone was reflected on my account. A miracle that I can’t explain!

I assume PM knows the same but we just don’t have access to it. So my fear is if you use Lost/Stolen Phone, is there a link to report it by IMEI#, at a certain point, to the national database as shown in Device Check Canada, leaving my phone in an unusable blacklisted state?

Or is Lost/Stolen Phone not the correct tab name?

Since we can truly lose a phone by dropping it in a deep lake, misplace it because I am forgetful (=Lost) or have it stolen out of my car or is ripped from my hand (=Stolen).

Should it say Disable SIM/Mobile Service?  With options of Suspend SIM/Mobile Service or Resume SIM/Mobile Service. With a warning of account funded or becomes un-funded.

When or how would a phone used on PM ever get blacklisted due to stolen on national database? Through the Lost/Stolen Phone use?

I can understand that you may be away and not need a phone and the 90 day suspend service is a nice feature. I assume when some one suspends service for up to 90 days that they also remove auto pay? Or does PM automatically stop funding your account while suspended.....for some reason I doubt it. But when you do suspend from up to the 90 day mark there needs to be a clear process posted by PM to Resume service.

For the folks that have a truly lost/stolen phone with a fully funded account would you not check your account for activity and decide to 1. quickly take your newly purchased or new spare SIM card and register it or 2. do the suspend and buy a new SIM card, Resume, and register the new SIM? Then get a replacement phone and use the new SIM. 

When you have a fully funded account with auto-pay in place and you do a suspend for say 5 days...does that push up your renewal date by 5 days too?

Or does that only happen when you suspend for a long period and remove auto pay that you would have a new renewal date when you resume service and restore auto-pay or do a top up?

My main gist of this is......is Lost/Stolen Phone the  best informative/descriptive tab?

And secondly is there a warning of long term “suspend” with payment removed that should be auto emailed? And an auto email at the 80 day mark to explain steps to “resume”.

===========================================

Unable to resume account (account suspended due to lost phone) registered new sim card

@z10user4 wrote:

 @LurganIeUk 

The tabs say Lost/Stolen. But the final button to click says Suspend. Then Resume.

You can resume without doing anything else while your term is still paid. After that you need to pay of course.

Get another compatible, unlocked phone, get a new SIM, log in, Change SIM, Resume. I doubt the last two steps need to be in order.

Some just say to say it's lost and then to say it's found. But you're right...it's suspend/resume.

I can remember in my working days with a major retailer that we used 1000’s of acronyms and during meetings we all talked a different language using acronyms and likely a third didn’t get any value from the meeting because of it. 

It is important for all levels, newbies to experts, to all be on the same page to provide the best learning experiences. 

Out of fear of erring in that area I finally ventured into it today, on my account. 

And since some may never or rarely be in their account I have shown below what is being talked about. 

Suspend Service — Logon, In the My Data & Add-Ons frame => “View My Usage” => “Lost/Stolen Phone” => ”Suspend Service”

Resume Service — Logon, In the My Data & Add-Ons frame => “View My Usage” => “Lost/Stolen Phone” => ”Resume Service”

[dust2dust]

Still with us @Love4545 ? I saw your post 6 minutes after you posted. I've been seeing if anyone will pick up your question. You have found yourself in an old thread and the account system has changed since. What exactly are you asking about because you didn't appear to click on the reply button under a specific post to give some context?

Do you mean trying to submit a ticket?

[Love4545]

I can't even open both  verification 

[LurganIeUk]

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@darlicious wrote:

@LurganIeUk  We will have to disagree on that point. If in a panic of a lost or stolen phone I think " report phone lost/stolen" sums it up very clearly. In that case "suspend service" does not tell me clearly how it would relate to my phone being lost or stolen.

Great. I can continually see here that a lot of answers are right here. And if it was explained there as I previously mentioned it would cover what to do when stolen, lost, or on snooze for a holiday. It would then lead you to Suspend Mobile Service/SIM.  And NOT lead one to have any false conclusions that the phone will be reported to a database it is stolen which will lead to a blacklisting.  A simple request to suspend service. I am not going to compare to other Telcos terminology or charges. I am pointing out to keep it simple and understandable to all. KISS 

[darlicious]

@LurganIeUk  We will have to disagree on that point. If in a panic of a lost or stolen phone I think " report phone lost/stolen" sums it up very clearly. In that case "suspend service" does not tell me clearly how it would relate to my phone being lost or stolen.

I'll give you an example:

    Last year at about this time when my bf was still with fido he misplaced his phone. He had been at several people's houses over the course of the evening so wasnt really sure if it was lost forever lost or just misplaced. I phoned fido and explained the situation. The CS asked if I wanted to suspend the service. I said no I wanted it reported as lost and to suspend the data. The calling and texting was unlimited so I could still attempt to locate the phone and I wasn't worried about any calling or texting overages but the data could result in large overages so I wanted that suspended or blocked or whatever they do when they block the data on your phone. I was told to call back in when the phone was found.

    The phone was located a day later by a friend who found it in his couch after hearing it ringing and returned a day after that. Being that the bf was at home on WiFi I waited a few more days and phoned fido back and reported the phone found and told them to turn the data back on. I was told to give 20 min or so and everything would be back to normal. And so it appeared until I got the bill with a huge data overage bill.

    When I called fido again I was finally explained that my options were only to fully suspend the servicevand because I only wanted data blocked that's why I got the bill. They apologized for the first and second CS agents not fully explaining my options and blocking the data is not an option for the customer only the provider. The data was used because the bf didn't double check whether he had WiFi on or not and instead was using mobile data even though we both thought it was blocked. We did get the overage reduced to $50 because that was the maximum they could charge without permission but they still tried charging us the full amount and it still cost an extra $50 in overages.

Ultimately public mobiles lost/stolen feature is an advantage most pm customers don't even realize they have....whether it used for its primary function or the many others we have discovered it has....and we can use freely and free of charges and fees!

[krazykiwi]

@LurganIeUk meeting at the persons house is great but what happens if he is in an apartment and moves out the next day and reports it stolen a week later.

I have the guys information, including video, licence plate number, real phone number, neither the police nor the service provider are the least bit interested in the information I have. 

[krazykiwi]

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@LurganIeUk wrote:

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@krazykiwi wrote:

@LurganIeUk As @darlicious pointed out the original and true function of this feature is for Lost/Stolen phones. The fact that the user is able to suspend service is a mere side effect of what the feature was intended for, so calling it Lost/Stolen is appropriate. Also like mentioned, other providers require you to call them to have this function activated and since you are not able to call PM then this is their way of providing instant access to this feature until you contact a MOD to have it reported as permanently lost or stolen.

Also on a different thing you mentioned in your original post you said "I have purchased numerous iPhones over the years and have always asked for the IMEI number to do my checks before I buy. I always do a check at Device Check Canada (Device Check provides instant access to the Canadian national database of mobile devices reported lost and stolen) for listed as stolen thus blacklisted".

I would like to point out that although this is highly recommended and good practise for purchasing used phones, this in no way provides any guarantee that the used phone you purchased that wasn't on the Blacklist , will not be added to the blacklist after you have purchased and activated it. Just FYI

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Thank you. I disagree with the opinion that Lost/Stolen Phone is the right name to call it. 

i only referred to Device Check Canada and the national database because PM knows your IMEI and you report as lost on PM From which some one could feel they will pas the IMEI to the database. Thus a clearer name and explanation would be much clearer for knowing how the self service option will work. 

I also said I do check(s) and Device Check Canada is only one of them. I have other standards for purchase.....like must include orginal box with matching IMEI and pick up at sellers address. I have never been stung and not all sellers will meet at their home. So be it...they lose and I win somewhere else. 

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We agree to disagree on the Lost/stolen.

So far as your precautions, this is what I am saying there are no precautions that you can take that will guarentee a safe purchase every time, I am telling you this from experience.

[LurganIeUk]

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@krazykiwi wrote:

@LurganIeUk As @darlicious pointed out the original and true function of this feature is for Lost/Stolen phones. The fact that the user is able to suspend service is a mere side effect of what the feature was intended for, so calling it Lost/Stolen is appropriate. Also like mentioned, other providers require you to call them to have this function activated and since you are not able to call PM then this is their way of providing instant access to this feature until you contact a MOD to have it reported as permanently lost or stolen.

Also on a different thing you mentioned in your original post you said "I have purchased numerous iPhones over the years and have always asked for the IMEI number to do my checks before I buy. I always do a check at Device Check Canada (Device Check provides instant access to the Canadian national database of mobile devices reported lost and stolen) for listed as stolen thus blacklisted".

I would like to point out that although this is highly recommended and good practise for purchasing used phones, this in no way provides any guarantee that the used phone you purchased that wasn't on the Blacklist , will not be added to the blacklist after you have purchased and activated it. Just FYI

---

Thank you. I disagree with the opinion that Lost/Stolen Phone is the right name to call it. 

i only referred to Device Check Canada and the national database because PM knows your IMEI and you report as lost on PM From which some one could feel they will pas the IMEI to the database. Thus a clearer name and explanation would be much clearer for knowing how the self service option will work. 

I also said I do check(s) and Device Check Canada is only one of them. I have other standards for purchase.....like must include orginal box with matching IMEI and pick up at sellers address. I have never been stung and not all sellers will meet at their home. So be it...they lose and I win somewhere else. 

[krazykiwi]

@LurganIeUk As @darlicious pointed out the original and true function of this feature is for Lost/Stolen phones. The fact that the user is able to suspend service is a mere side effect of what the feature was intended for, so calling it Lost/Stolen is appropriate. Also like mentioned, other providers require you to call them to have this function activated and since you are not able to call PM then this is their way of providing instant access to this feature until you contact a MOD to have it reported as permanently lost or stolen.

Also on a different thing you mentioned in your original post you said "I have purchased numerous iPhones over the years and have always asked for the IMEI number to do my checks before I buy. I always do a check at Device Check Canada (Device Check provides instant access to the Canadian national database of mobile devices reported lost and stolen) for listed as stolen thus blacklisted".

I would like to point out that although this is highly recommended and good practise for purchasing used phones, this in no way provides any guarantee that the used phone you purchased that wasn't on the Blacklist , will not be added to the blacklist after you have purchased and activated it. Just FYI

[LurganIeUk]

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@darlicious wrote:

@LurganIeUk     

         This is what most mobile providers call this feature. Most other providers just don't provide the customer access to it. The other uses of it other than reporting your phone lost or stolen have been discovered by the fact that public mobile customers have access to it in their accounts. Every other provider requires you to phone them and ask them to use it. Then phone them back to report your phone found or actually stolen.....and ask for it to be blacklisted.

      Other providers will suspend your service for a fee when you take an extended holiday. All they do is report your phone lost. They don't want you to know this is also what this feature can do because they can charge you extra fees for clicking a button. So public mobile is calling it what it is.....and what it is intended for....we are just lucky enough to have full access to it and can use it for more than it's intention.

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I hear you. But if I was in a frantic scurry with a truly stolen phone....I would be asking to suspend service. 

[LurganIeUk]

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@dabr wrote:

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@LurganIeUk wrote:

I think some of you have missed my point. 

Suspend service for lost, stolen and many other reasons...what is PM really doing?

They are disallowing or suspending the use of the main link of making it all work.....the SIM card. 

Be your phone is lost, broken, stolen, in jail and can’t use, or on a European holiday. 

Why not call it what it is ...... Suspend Mobile Service.....Suspend SIM Card....or Suspend Mobile/SIM Service. Which protects unapproved use or service not required due to, stolen, lost, or need for temporary no service. 

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@LurganIeUk  I don't think anyone here would disagree with you that perhaps the wording around what the lost/stolen option (sometimes called lost/stolen trick), could be cleaned up or clearer.  I would tend to agree that calling it "suspend mobile service" would probably be much more easily understood.

However, there are a lot of things in PM's system which could/should be improved upon or made clearer, unfortunately, PM is a budget phone provider, so we all put up with some annoyances of this system because the price for services really cannot be beat, IMO.

Price point is mainly the reason we can, more or less, live with some of the shortcomings at PM, mostly:)

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Thanks for recognizing my point. I was trying to explain wIth my experience how the current tab is very misleading and may be under used. Yes low budget, great spiffs for us and service is really good with this concept. But to do things properly by making a web site change for a label makes it look more straight forward and less questions to ask a MOD. Say what it really is doing.....and state some where else what it is for. Make Sense?

[darlicious]

@LurganIeUk     

         This is what most mobile providers call this feature. Most other providers just don't provide the customer access to it. The other uses of it other than reporting your phone lost or stolen have been discovered by the fact that public mobile customers have access to it in their accounts. Every other provider requires you to phone them and ask them to use it. Then phone them back to report your phone found or actually stolen.....and ask for it to be blacklisted.

      Other providers will suspend your service for a fee when you take an extended holiday. All they do is report your phone lost. They don't want you to know this is also what this feature can do because they can charge you extra fees for clicking a button. So public mobile is calling it what it is.....and what it is intended for....we are just lucky enough to have full access to it and can use it for more than it's intention.

[dabr]

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@Dunkman wrote:

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@dabr wrote:

@Dunkmanwrote:

This feature does mess up your rewards cycle though. Some customers have had to contact moderator afterwards to get reward credit applied properly.

@Dunkman   Apparently that glitch has been fixed according to some other posts I read a week or so ago, at least if the account has been suspended for less than 30 days it appears to be no longer an issue with the rewards, IIRC.

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That is good news.  When the moderator times were 3-5 days in the past, the lost/stolen phone trick did solve many different account issues without needing moderator intervention.  

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Paying-for-your-service/SOLUTION-My-plan-has-enough-f...

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Yes definitely good news that there will be less confusion for everyone around the lost rewards scenario! 

[dabr]

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@LurganIeUk wrote:

I think some of you have missed my point. 

Suspend service for lost, stolen and many other reasons...what is PM really doing?

They are disallowing or suspending the use of the main link of making it all work.....the SIM card. 

Be your phone is lost, broken, stolen, in jail and can’t use, or on a European holiday. 

Why not call it what it is ...... Suspend Mobile Service.....Suspend SIM Card....or Suspend Mobile/SIM Service. Which protects unapproved use or service not required due to, stolen, lost, or need for temporary no service. 

---

@LurganIeUk  I don't think anyone here would disagree with you that perhaps the wording around what the lost/stolen option (sometimes called lost/stolen trick), could be cleaned up or clearer.  I would tend to agree that calling it "suspend mobile service" would probably be much more easily understood.

However, there are a lot of things in PM's system which could/should be improved upon or made clearer, unfortunately, PM is a budget phone provider, so we all put up with some annoyances of this system because the price for services really cannot be beat, IMO.

Price point is mainly the reason we can, more or less, live with some of the shortcomings at PM, mostly:)

[LurganIeUk]

I think some of you have missed my point. 

Suspend service for lost, stolen and many other reasons...what is PM really doing?

They are disallowing or suspending the use of the main link of making it all work.....the SIM card. 

Be your phone is lost, broken, stolen, in jail and can’t use, or on a European holiday. 

Why not call it what it is ...... Suspend Mobile Service.....Suspend SIM Card....or Suspend Mobile/SIM Service. Which protects unapproved use or service not required due to, stolen, lost, or need for temporary no service. 

[darlicious]

@LurganIeUk 

   The use of the lost/stolen feature simply suspends your service. This can be used for the obvious ....youve lost your phone and once found you can resume. If your phone is stolen....you can briefly resume service to call your phone or text it with a message offering a reward or an alternate phone to reach you and then suspend it again. It would also prevent an unauthorized port from going thru when suspended.

To have your phone listed as stolen on the national blacklist requires you to contact the moderators who can have it added /removed from the blacklist.

    Using the lost/stolen feature no longer affects the application of your rewards in the short term. It will not affect them if used for under 30 days during the current plan cycle. If it is suspended thru a normal renewal (which would then fail) you would then have to pay for the new plan cycle and rewards would return to be applied on the following renewal. You would have to contact a moderator to have the previous months rewards applied manually after paying and resuming service.

    It is also important to remember that suspending your service for more than 60 days will count against loyalty rewards. Your clock will be set back 60 days for your loyalty reward once past 59 days of suspension.

    The lost/stolen feature can also be used as a troubleshooting technique for some issues with your account rather than having to contact a moderator and wait for a response. Some connectivity issues that cannot be solved by using airplane mode can be fixed by briefly suspending your service. Incoming calling going straight to voicemail is one.....log in...report lost. Log out. Wait 5 min. Log in....report found. Log out. Reboot phone. It also has been used to restart after renewal failure. The payment has been taken but the renewal has failed to start the new cycle. Repeating the steps above have restarted a new cycle.

    Suspending your service for longer holidays it is always recommended that you plan to resume service by day 85 to ensure you have enough time to contact a moderator in case any problems arise trying to renew and resume. It's also prudent to check your account periodically while away to ensure nothing strange has happened. Although exceptionally rare there is a case where after resuming service (for a month while the customer was in the middle of a six month holiday) the account was accidently cancelled and phone number assigned to another telus customer. The customer did not discover this til they returned more than 60 days later and public mobile was unable to make amends to rectify the loss of long time phone number.

Hopefully this clears up many of the questions you have regarding the use of the lost/stolen feature.

[Dunkman]

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@dabr wrote:

@Dunkmanwrote:

This feature does mess up your rewards cycle though. Some customers have had to contact moderator afterwards to get reward credit applied properly.

@Dunkman   Apparently that glitch has been fixed according to some other posts I read a week or so ago, at least if the account has been suspended for less than 30 days it appears to be no longer an issue with the rewards, IIRC.

---

That is good news.  When the moderator times were 3-5 days in the past, the lost/stolen phone trick did solve many different account issues without needing moderator intervention.  

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Paying-for-your-service/SOLUTION-My-plan-has-enough-f...

[dabr]

@Dunkmanwrote:

This feature does mess up your rewards cycle though. Some customers have had to contact moderator afterwards to get reward credit applied properly.

@Dunkman   Apparently that glitch has been fixed according to some other posts I read a week or so ago, at least if the account has been suspended for less than 30 days it appears to be no longer an issue with the rewards, IIRC.

[dabr]

@LurganIeUk   @DOA  is right saying using the lost/suspend feature in your account would not list your phone on the blacklist of any data base for stolen phones.  You would need to officially report the phone to either the police or carrier for it to be blacklisted.

Once you use the lost/stolen/suspend feature, then yes you would need to go back into your account to resume service again.  Using this feature ensures no funds are taken from your balance (if enough available) to renew your plan if you going away for an extended period of upto 90 days.

[Dunkman]

Public mobile does not blacklist a phone using the lost/stolen feature.  You can contact moderator directly to blacklist the phone via IME.  

The lost/stolen phone feature does suspend your account.  The remaining time in the 30 day cycle would continue, but you will not be billed at the next payment date.  As stated above, you could just remove autopay and this achieves the same result.  However, if you have available funds in your account, by removing autopay, PM will still deduct your available funds.  

This feature does mess up your rewards cycle though.  Some customers have had to contact moderator afterwards to get reward credit applied properly.  

[DOA]

Just to sum up, what you're asking is if you report a phone as lost/stolen, and use the phone with another SIM, will the phone be blacklisted by PM.

From what I've read in the forums over the months, PM does not blacklist phones that are reported lost/stolen.

But I doubt you'e be able to use that phone's IMEI number to create--or use with--another PM account.

This might be a good question for the Mods or someone smarter than me.