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Mother Passed Away - would like to unlock phone and close account

ssmontgo
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

My mother was a customer, she passed away and I can't figure out a way to close her account and unlock the device so that it can be donated to charity. There is no way to contact anyone without verifying the account, but I don't know any of the information they request during that process. There doesn't seem to be a way to actually talk with a living person, and the chatbot might be the worst chatbot I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. It's like using a chatbot from 2001. All I want to do is close the account and unlock the device. How do I do that? Why doesn't a phone company have a phone number or at least an email. This is already such a stressful time, having to jump through multiple hoops is incredibly frustrating! 

13 REPLIES 13

tweakthis
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

That is wonderfully sage advice! My Mum passed away in November 2019 and my Dad was dealing with phone/email account, etc for at least a year. Dealing with the loss is trauma enough without worrying about a relatively inexpensive cell phone plan.

chainsawcowboy
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@ssmontgo 

I am sorry for your loss. I am sure the customer support team will help you once you explain your situation. They are very helpful once you contact them.

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@Yummy 

Lol...unfortunately I have a lot of experience in this regard. But if it helps others then just proves good can come from the bad or sad parts of life.

 

 

 

 

To contact customer support click below:

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

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

@darliciousThis is amazing list of great advises. Thank you!

darlicious
Mayor / Maire

@ssmontgo 

I am sorry for your loss. I have had to deal with this situation a few times so here is a little advice for your situation.

 

The account....call 1 855 4PUBLIC and enter your mother's 10 digit phone number. This will give you the basic plan and account info. Write all of this down. If the message says they cannot find the phone number then the account has been cancelled and deactivated due to non payment.

 

This info will be helpful for you to gain access to the account when you contact customer support. If the account is suspended note the last day it can be reactivated and the plan amount for a couple of reasons. If the plan is the $10 plan (grandfathered) or the $15 these are the cheapest plans at pm and you may want to donate the $10 plan especially (with rewards too!) to someone who needs a cheap low usage plan with or without the phone donation.

 

Additionally....and I still maintain the phone number of my late partner nearly 7 years now since he passed because I have run into online accounts like PayPal etc....that I was unaware of and without that number to send 2FA verification codes or voice calls to be able to reset the password and deal so with or close the accounts it would have been nearly impossible. A little similar to even dealing with your mother's pm account. 

 

Keep the account for awhile. Pay for 30 days and suspend via lost/stolen before midnight eastern on day 30 to retain active voicemail. Pay and reactivate when necessary or by day 85 at the latest for another 30 days and so on....The approximately yearly cost is a maximum $45 minus rewards so likely $30 or less.....this will save you a lot of headaches when discovering unknown accounts.

 

You can also check the voicemail regularly when suspended or not for messages from old friends etc...that inevitably come up and always appreciate while very sad to learn of your mother's passing rather than being left to wonder about their old friend they haven't been in touch with....?

 

Once at least a year passes you can decide to close or pass on the account or keep it awhile longer.

 

Along with the info from calling into your mother's account you can likely locate the card registered for autopay that will show PUBLIC MOBILE payments and the last date and amount paid. If it is suspended then it is possible the card on file has expired. This info and the card details along with your mothers full name, address and date of birth if she had the account for a couple of years will all help verify the account without knowing the email and/or 4 digit account pin #.

 

Send a detailed message to customer support and you will be able to verify and gain access to your mother's pm account once you gather up the info required to verify the account. If the phone was originally from the telus family then the pm CSA can help unlock it if it is a pre-December 2017 phone as can Samsung Canada if it's a Samsung device. 

 

I hope this helps you thru this time....every day does get a tiny bit better even though it may not seem like it. Stay strong!

 

 

 

 

To contact customer support click below:

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

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

LeePublic
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

Sorry to hear that your mother has passed away, my condolences to your family.

JL9
Mayor / Maire

My condolences. 

dust2dust
Mayor / Maire

Very sorry for the news. Usually at passing, credit cards and such get closed. For here then that would cause the account to suspend and then after 90 days it would fully deactivate. You might be in that suspend stage now with the phone not working. If you can call 611 then that would give you some details. If it asks for money then it's suspended. If it says something invalid then it's deactivated.

Try your sim in the phone to see if it will work. If your sim is with Bell family or Rogers family then it might say it's locked. If your sim works then it's likely unlocked. Then be sure to do a full factory wipe before handing it over to someone.

ssmontgo
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

thanks for the help everyone! 

Yummy
Mayor / Maire

Oh, my... So sorry to hear that.

To cancel account - remove autopay and credit card info from her account (if you have access to it).

On next renewal her account will be suspended for non payment. After 90+ days her account will be closed-deleted.

As for unlocking, if she obtained her phone as brand new phone (not resale, refurbished, etc.) after 2017.12.01 it should be unlocked. Best way to check is to put SIM from any other non Telus company. If phone is locked, contact agent for instructions how to unlock.

Send a private message to the CSA - agent by clicking Here

@ssmontgo     Sorry for  your loss.  You can send a private message to CS_Agent via this link if the chatbot ticket was unsuccessful and they will be able to remove the payment card for you.

 

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

 

Edit:  BTW PM doesn't lock phones unless it was purchased a long time ago when PM first used to sell phones.  Customer support will advise you for that too once you've sent your message.

ssmontgo
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Sadly I have no idea, I can't access her account on here as I don't know her login information. The phone seems deactivated, but I'd still like to unlock the device so someone else can use it. 

hairbag1
Mayor / Maire

Did mother manually pay each month or did she have a credit card on her PM file and set to Autopay ?

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