Now wait a minute - money is not unlimited

[michelsavage966]

New user. Trying to use my Visa card, and it kept saying that the card was declined. HOWEVER, 138$ was taken from that card, while the amount due was 120$. Not knowing that Public Mobile had cashed in 138$, I used another card, which took an additional 120$. Now, wait a minute. Is Public Mobile a SCAM or what? 

[computergeek541]

While Public is a legitimate company, the double charges do seem to happen more often upon activation than other carriers.  For some reason unknown to us customers, Public Mobile's activation and billing server appears to errorneous report a declined message more frequently than it should but then goes ahead and charges the credit card any way.  Public Mobile will refund the double charge after you contact them (they really are required to becasue any such extra charge is what amounts to an unauthorized credit card charge), although I'm sure that it might actually be easier for them just to give you an account credit.

[ScrapIron]

You'll definitely get your money back if you paid double, just follow the instructions that other community users have given you.

The payment system for initial sign ups is really buggy (actually the whole interface is). I can attest to that since I had to sign up three accounts. Once its up and running, there's usually no problems. It's definitely not a good feeling but I hope you are able to sort it out soon. The moderators are usually pretty good about replying promptly.

[imm1304]

@michelsavage966,

You posted a 2-part problem.  The first part where you asked why you were charged $138 when the plan price is $120. So $120 + 15% tax = $138.

For the second part of the problem, I strongly recommend you send a private message to @CS_Agent if you haven't done so already.  Rest assured that you will NOT be paying double. Public Mobile moderator team is known to do their absolute best to take care of the customers.  It is a rare software glitch that you encountered and the mods will sort it out for you once you make them aware of this issue.  Think of the moderator team as the equivalent of a call center at a traditional mobile carrier.  You gotta reach out to them via private messages to get the account related problems fixed.

 I look forward to welcoming you to the big happy PM family soon.  

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@michelsavage966 wrote:

No, it's not the taxes, it's a glitch with credit card being declined but it's not declined in reality and it took my money. I paid again for the same service with a different card. Paid twice for the same thing on two different cards. Hope this gets sorted out. I hate to pay double for anything. Or else, I'll just cancel everything and forget all about f... cel phones.

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[michelsavage966]

No, it's not the taxes, it's a glitch with credit card being declined but it's not declined in reality and it took my money. I paid again for the same service with a different card. Paid twice for the same thing on two different cards. Hope this gets sorted out. I hate to pay double for anything. Or else, I'll just cancel everything and forget all about f... cel phones.

[KMG]

One can never avoid taxes...  The prices on the website are all without taxes (just like every other phone company, I should add).

[Luddite]

It's not qualified for the Knowledge Base but I recommend this post as a must read. 

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/BE-PREPARED/m-p/112014#M20827

Also, if you enter "PMGUIDE" in the search box you will find a list of posts members have found useful.

Be annoyed but don't worry. A moderator will get this sorted for you.

[imm1304]

The "Knowledge Base" section of this forum is excellent resource for all new customers to familiarize themselves with PM.

Here is a must read article from the knowledge base section that explains how to get help from the moderator team:  https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Knowledge-Base/Updated-Contacting-our-Community-Moder...

[imm1304]

Hi @michelsavage966!

I am sure PM is not running a scam.  It sounds like you ran into a buggy activation portal that sometimes misfires.  

Taxes are extra, much like almost everywhere else in Canada.  If your plan cost is $120 then you are still responsible for the taxes which may explain $138.

Please send a private message to @CS_Agent right away and provide your public mobile phone number or sim card number and email address used to sign up.  One of the mods will gladly look into this and fix things.  Its just matter of time but I reassure you that you will not be overcharged.  In my experience, PM has always fixed such issues and ensured the customer is happy in the end.  

[michelsavage966]

Public Mobile took 138$ from my Visa Card (which they said was declined) and 138$ from my Mastercard. That's double the cost. I hope Public Mobile is better organized than that. How do I get my money back?????