Locked Phone Due To Owed Payments

[bigmouth2015]

I heard that PM locks your phone if you owe them money.  How long would this lock be? 3 months after account is closed? Or forever? How to pay after 3 months if account is closed already?

[Anonymous]

And how about making it easier and speaking in the first person and have the phone with you and have access to the account. Make it seem like we're dealing with you. All this friend back and forth is tiresome.

You seem like you know your way around phones and services as you have added some posts here and there.

[mimmo]

@bigmouth2015 please prove everyone here wrong but it is impossible for pm to do anything to your phone.

Did mods say they locked your phone? Please provide excerpt or message 

What messages did you get when you put a working sim  in the "locked" phone.  You tried both a chatr and a working pm sim? 

[bigmouth2015]

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  If your friend thinks the carrier has taken inappropriate action, the CCTS is a potential recourse.  Bringing it up in this forum isn't going to do much.  Btw, PC Mobile = Koodo. 

Never dealt with CCTS before.  Is it a complicated process? Btw, when I say PCMobile, I meant Mobile Shop at PC/Superstore. Sorry for the confusion.

[bigmouth2015]

@Anonymous wrote:

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@bigmouth2015 wrote:

No, there was no chargeback on the phone from PCMobile. My friend checked the blacklist too and his phone is not present.

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It seems to me to be a problem with where the phone was bought and not anything to do with Public Mobile.

But really...why can't your friend do all this interacting so we can get first hand communication?

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My friend is actually my cousin who doesn't know english.  I signed up and managed the account on his behalf.  I even helped him bought his phone at PCMobile and contacted the Moderator.

[bigmouth2015]

I wonder is it legal for PM to lock your phone without just notification even due to non-payments? Imagine if you have IPhone X locked out due to mispayments not on your fault, but on misfortune of fraudulent activities. PM at least should give lock-out notification in advance before they lock out the phone so that customers can actually try to pay online via logging in online before their accounts got suspended/locked out.

[Anonymous]

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@bigmouth2015 wrote:

No, there was no chargeback on the phone from PCMobile. My friend checked the blacklist too and his phone is not present.

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It seems to me to be a problem with where the phone was bought and not anything to do with Public Mobile.

But really...why can't your friend do all this interacting so we can get first hand communication?

[bigmouth2015]

No, there was no chargeback on the phone from PCMobile. My friend checked the blacklist too and his phone is not present.

[alabon]

Very instructive thread for different aspects (IMEI, credit card fraud [one more case encouraging to be very careful], etc.)

[Wonder_why]

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@computergeek541 wrote:

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@Wonder_why wrote:

How is possible for PM to LOCKED or Blacklist people phone,very strange ,since PM don't have our Phone IMEI #

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Yes, they do.

They have your IMEI as soon as you put your sim card in and power up the phone.

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Learn something new today,thanks for the information @computergeek541

[computergeek541]

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@Wonder_why wrote:

How is possible for PM to LOCKED or Blacklist people phone,very strange ,since PM don't have our Phone IMEI #

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Yes, they do.

They have your IMEI as soon as you put your sim card in and power up the phone.

[mimmo]

@bigmouth2015 by chance was there also a chargeback at superstore for the purchase of the phone?  (Don't know timeline of things)

Have you checked theblacklist checker to see if phone is blacklisted?

[ShawnC13]

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@bigmouth2015 wrote:

yes, the situation was a credit charge back due to fraudulent activities on the credit card.  So, my friend ended up owing PM money.  But as i said, he did not intend not to pay; it was just a misfortune on his part.

His phone was purchased brand new and unlocked from PCMobile at Superstore.  He wants his working again immediately, but that cannot be done without making payment to PM first via mailing PM a ceritifed cheque for payments owed! That will take days before he gets to use his phone!  Imagine not having a phone for a day or 2.  He tried using a diff SIM from PM and Chatr on his phone, but it still doesn't work.  It's still locked! 

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Could the charge back have been from PC Mobile if he used the same credit card?  PC Mobile would have all the IMEI number and would rightfully be able to report the phone stolen as they didn't receive payment for it.  I know many people have gotten PC Mobile and Public Mobile mixed up could that be the case here as well as to who blacklisted the phone.

[will13am]

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@bigmouth2015 wrote:

yes, the situation was a credit charge back due to fraudulent activities on the credit card.  So, my friend ended up owing PM money.  But as i said, he did not intend not to pay; it was just a misfortune on his part.

His phone was purchased brand new and unlocked from PCMobile at Superstore.  He wants his working again immediately, but that cannot be done without making payment to PM first via mailing PM a ceritifed cheque for payments owed! That will take days before he gets to use his phone!  Imagine not having a phone for a day or 2.  He tried using a diff SIM from PM and Chatr on his phone, but it still doesn't work.  It's still locked! 

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There's something your friend may not be fully transparent with you in what really happened. When a credit card is found to be compromised, only the fraudulent activities are charged back, not everything.  If your friend attempted to charge back everything, that itself is fraudulent.  If your friend thinks the carrier has taken inappropriate action, the CCTS is a potential recourse.  Bringing it up in this forum isn't going to do much.  Btw, PC Mobile = Koodo. 

[Wonder_why]

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@mimmo wrote:

@Wonder_why the carrier does have a way to go d the imie , At least that is what has been suggested in many threads where users lost their phones.

But it is from my understanding illegal for them to report a phone on the blacklist unless it was physically stolen. 

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To Blacklist the Phone the Provider's need to have the Phone IMEI #  to my knowledge

[computergeek541]

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@bigmouth2015 wrote:

that's not true! I have a friend whose credit card got compromised so the amounts he paid for PM got 'rolled back'.  So, that's how he owed money, but it was not his intention to NOT PAID.  However, his account was locked immediately after the rollback of credits so he couldn't even log in and pay his dues.  He has to write a certified cheque for the payments owed which will take days if not weeks before the account is activated again.

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While this is possible for there to be a credit card charge back, the fact that your friend's credit card got compromised would not necessarily cause a "roll back" (charge back or payment reversal).  If this is your firend's credit card, generally, only he could request that a the payment be reversed. They would not just automatically reverse all payments, espeically if the charge is one that the legitimate credit card user authorized.  If a charge back is done, usually this means that the credit card user requested this.  

The reason for Public Mobile wanting a certified cheque has to do with the fact that they pretty much mean that your friend was using a stolen credit card, although they would never word it like that.  They would likely cause it a payment mistake or an accidental payment reversal or something like that.

[mimmo]

@Wonder_why the carrier does have a way to go d the imie , At least that is what has been suggested in many threads where users lost their phones.

But it is from my understanding illegal for them to report a phone on the blacklist unless it was physically stolen. 

[bigmouth2015]

yes, the situation was a credit charge back due to fraudulent activities on the credit card.  So, my friend ended up owing PM money.  But as i said, he did not intend not to pay; it was just a misfortune on his part.

His phone was purchased brand new and unlocked from PCMobile at Superstore.  He wants his working again immediately, but that cannot be done without making payment to PM first via mailing PM a ceritifed cheque for payments owed! That will take days before he gets to use his phone!  Imagine not having a phone for a day or 2.  He tried using a diff SIM from PM and Chatr on his phone, but it still doesn't work.  It's still locked! 

[Wonder_why]

How is possible for PM to LOCKED or Blacklist people phone,very strange ,since PM don't have our Phone IMEI #

[computergeek541]

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@bigmouth2015 wrote:

I heard that PM locks your phone if you owe them money.  How long would this lock be? 3 months after account is closed? Or forever? How to pay after 3 months if account is closed already?

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First, as already said, you can't owe Public Mobile money (well except for a rare circumstance where some could use up the service so but then do a payment chargeback a few months later).  But either way, they'd have no way to enforce that because Public Mobile doesn't really know who any of us are.  They didn't run a credit check on any of us, nor did they verifiy our identities when we activated.

Further, carriers have no way to "lock" a phone that is already unlocked to one carrier or another.

In the cell phone industry, "locking" refers to only allow the device to work with one specific carrier.  The terminology that you are looking for is blacklisting.

Carriers can blacklist phones, but this is a method for reporting them as lost or stolen.  These phones won't work on any carriers after that.

[will13am]

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@bigmouth2015 wrote:

that's not true! I have a friend whose credit card got compromised so the amounts he paid for PM got 'rolled back'.  So, that's how he owed money, but it was not his intention to NOT PAID.  However, his account was locked immediately after the rollback of credits so he couldn't even log in and pay his dues.  He has to write a certified cheque for the payments owed which will take days if not weeks before the account is activated again.

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Being a prepaid service, if you don't prepay, the service will stop.  This applies to everyone.  I have heard of situations where credit cards are marked as doubtful and cannot be accepted.  This usually occurs when customers do charge backs.  

With respect to the phone being locked, I would need to know a little more to understand what this is all about.  Is this phone sourced from Koodo it Telus brands?  

[mimmo]

@bigmouth2015 I have heard of the certified cheque before in circumstances of cc charge backs. It is their way to ensure they get funds. Not sure the situation of your friend nor why pm had chargebacks. In my experience with cc you list the charges that were yours and those that were not.

The account being locked no issues. The only question is your phone getting g locked and I have no idea how that is possible on pm end as they do not have anything g to do with phones and they can't black list it either BC the phone was not lost or stolen.

[Anonymous]

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@bigmouth2015 wrote:

By the way, his phone is NOW locked with PM.  He couldn't even go with another carriers! It would be nice if PM could allow people to pay online or by credit card so that locked/inactive accounts can be reactivated sooner.

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I gotta think that's a pretty darn unique set of circumstances. Perhaps they declared the phone blacklisted or something? Not locked per se...just not able to be activated anywhere else.

I would also not be sure we're getting all the facts. This is a friend of a sisters nephew kinda thing.

[bigmouth2015]

Yes, the moderator says he must send in the certified cheque for the pament in order for phone to be unlocked! But during this time, my friend can't use his phone anymore! Very slow and frustrating experience

[tbark]

PM is a prepaid service so if you do not have funds your service is just not renewed. All companies. If you do not believe this then you need to deal with a Moderator.

To get help with your account, activation, or service?

 Please contact the Community Moderator Team to get help with your account.

They are Public Mobile support employees who can help with your issue (More details).

Click here to send them a private message.

 In your message please include:

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Don't know your pin?--provide any 3 of the following:

Complete mailing address, Email address, Alternate phone number, Date of birth, Last top up date & amount

 How long until they reply?:

Office Hours: Mon-Fri 9am to 9pm, and Sat-Sun 9am to 7:30pm [Toronto Time].

Messages are replied to during business hours and in the order they are received

Typ

ical response time is between 1-3 hours, but can be up to 48 hours.

There is no need to send multiple messages.

*I am happy to help, but I am not a MOD please do not include any personal info in a private message to me*

[bigmouth2015]

By the way, his phone is NOW locked with PM.  He couldn't even go with another carriers! It would be nice if PM could allow people to pay online or by credit card so that locked/inactive accounts can be reactivated sooner.

[bigmouth2015]

that's not true! I have a friend whose credit card got compromised so the amounts he paid for PM got 'rolled back'.  So, that's how he owed money, but it was not his intention to NOT PAID.  However, his account was locked immediately after the rollback of credits so he couldn't even log in and pay his dues.  He has to write a certified cheque for the payments owed which will take days if not weeks before the account is activated again.

[will13am]

@bigmouth2015, Public does not sell phones.  What you are saying is not possible.  Also this is a prepaid service.  You pay first before using the service.  If payment stops, account will go into suspension.  There's never any repercussions with missed payment other than no renewal of service.  When an account is suspended for 90 days, it will be deactivated.