Ottawa - Gatineau problems

[tipit008]

Hello,

I live in Aylmer.  It's in Québec !!!  I am close to the river, across from Ottawa.

My teenager has a Province-Wide plan and lives in the Gatineau sector of Gatineau... which is ALSO in Québec!

When he calls me, so from Gatineau to Aylmer..., he often gets the "this call in not included in your plan" message.

His public mobile phone has an 819 code, of course, and so does mine.

Why does Public Mobile treat my 819 number and my home in Aylmer Québec (!) as being part of Ontario!!!!!

Please find a way to fix this!!!!

Marc

[stonechucker]

It's not just a border issue as it was in this case.

I live in a City of about 100,000 people, and we have 3 different area codes.  The newer exchanges within the new area codes all turn up as long distance for a call no more than 10 km away, when the new exchanges are created.

Public Mobile should ALREADY be prepared for this to happen, and should know they need to update all calling allowed lists, prior to them being assigned to subscribers.  It's not like they don't know the new numbers are coming.. just set it up!

[tipit008]

Finally, a sensible reaction.

According to what I can see from the 611 operator's response, I think they are taking this on a "case by case" model. 

They ask which number I'm having problems with and then, they solve the "technical issue" with this specific number.  I guess it's one way to avoid being seen as not providing the service paid for while not going as far as offering a blanket solution to all subscribers of border regions such as Ottawa-Gatineau, like Chatr has done.

Well, it's a solution for my step-son but it's still a pain to have to call them to fix the issue phone number by phone number.

[computergeek541]

Some of these Ottawa-Gattineau issues are avoidable, if Public Mobile is willing to make some changes.

The idea of having province-wide calling or Canada-wide calling is supposed to make it so that people don't have to pay for long distance within the province that they are in or to accross the country.  It's not supposed to be there to "penalize" the customer.

Calls within the capital region have always been local calls.  As such, I do beleive that Public Mobile should be allowing calls from Ottaawa to Gatineau and vice-versa under a provincial calling plan (but they don't). 

If we take the example of Chatr Mobile, they have always allowed these calls for no extra charge, even for province-wide calling plans.

[tipit008]

Thank you for your very mature answer.

The moderator has answered but has not solved the problem, so far.  

Called 611 and they have provided an appropriate response and have commited to solve the problem.  They have solved one number in Valleyfield.  Tomorrow, they say they will solve the Alymer number.

Province wide plan and two people in the same province.  You don't need any other info than that.  It should simply work.  There are millions of people close to provincial or national boundaries.   It is their problem not ours.

 Calling it a "technical" problem doesn't add anything valuable to this situation.  Whatever issue it is, it's their issue not mine and they should find a way to fix it.  

You can't sell a specific service and then say, you can't supply the service I clearly paid for because of a "technical" issue.

It's the company's job to solve these "technical" issues.

Marc

[GreatCanadian]

@tipit008, First of all, grow up. You're acting like a toddler that just lost his pacifier. Repeating over and over that it SHOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE..won't fix anything.

Secondly, you've been asked what plan your son is on. You haven't answered that. Some of the plans are now priced equally for Canada wide and Province wide. When you're finished teething could you provide that information.

GC

[smp99]

Hi @tipit008 I haven't read the above link yet, but I get that you are both in Quebec ( actually it only matters that your son is in Quebec if he is making the call) But, his phone thinks he is Ontario because it is linking to a tower that is in Ontario. As previously said, it is not a geography issue, it is a technology issue. 

What plan is you son on? He may be eligible for a free upgrade to Cda wide with the recent price changes.

 At the same time I do feel your frustration. Trying  to explain all of these Prov wide rules is combersome. 

If prov wide rules are based on area code ( I have no idea how PM does it) they could add more area codes to each province that includes the area code 'across the river'. There would not be that many codes to add to any given table, but I get that some area codes cover a large area so you would probably be able to call most of that boardering province. But - THAT'S OK. Really what would it cost PM.

OR - get rid of Prov wide plans, similar to the evolution that they are underging now wth the 3G plans. This would certainly be easier than my suggestion above. And once again - what would it cost PM. They would lose out on most LD add-ons and anyone already on Cda wide would have a lower bill.

[stonechucker]

Without scrolling back, @tipit008, have you private messaged the moderators about this?

@CS_Agent, can you assist Marc with this issue?

[tipit008]

I'm still waiting for a moderator's response.

A call within a same province is what it is, no matter how close you are to the border.

They should have thought about this when they made this plan.  This shouldn't be my problem.

Period.

Marc

[stonechucker]

@tipit008, does this wiki page explain anything for you?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_codes_819_and_873

It appears that this phone call is not even considered a local call on regular telephone (POTS), for whatever reason.  I haven’t yet read the page, was just checking in to the forum, and thought I’d see if you had this resolved yet.

PM may need to update their own allowed calling area code files to allow these to be considered provincial calls.

i am going to read the page now, but then im heading to bed.

[matbasm]

@tipit008, I wish you luck with your complaint.  I really do.  I was once charged roaming while driving back from the US to Canada.  We had just crossed through the border and were about a kilometer on the Canadian side.  However, we just happened to be connected to a tower in the US.  It is what it is...

[tipit008]

Then they shouldn't call it a "province-wide" calling plan since it clearly is not...!!!

I'm about 1km from any cell tower in Ontario and my son is about 5km from any cell tower in Ontario... SO THIS SHOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE, PERIOD !

We are both in the SAME provice and the plan does not deliver as promised.  

It's as simple as that.  The technical issues should be their problem, not mine.

They should find a solution to this problem.  I willd definitely file a complainte with l'Office de Protection du Consommateur in Québec if this issue is NOT resolved.  It's unacceptable.

[stonechucker]

Sorry for the capital letters, my iPad is acting up.

[stonechucker]

This is a technology issue, not geographic.  The cell tower your son is connecting to, is in Ontario, and your number, as it is Quebec based, in not included in a Public Mobile Province-wide calling plan, from a tower in Ontario.  I know it is frustrating, and I firmly believe ‘regular local’ calling should be mandatory in provincial border areas.

YOUR SON COULD USE A PROGRAM ON HIS PHONE LIKE google Hangouts to make the call to you, or an App such as Fongo, which allows calling free CANADA wide.

[tipit008]

"Province wide calling" should be provice wide calling.  It's what we pay for it's what we should get.

I am much closer to the Ottawa river than he is (500 meters vs about 4km).

It shouldn't be up to me to pay extra to fix their mistakes.

We're both in Québec so they're shouldn't be any problem!

This is ridiculous!

Marc

[matbasm]

Hi @tipit008, If your son is near the Ontario border, his phone might be connecting to a tower that is in Ontario.  With a provincial plan, that means it is a long distance call to Quebec. 

Not sure if anything can be done about this from a Public Mobile standpoint.

If your son doesn't call often, you could add a canadian LD add-on ($8 for 200 mins), or change to a canada wide plan.  Note that with the new pricing, in some cases, canada-wide calling is the same price as provincial calling.

You can also contact Public Mobile (moderators) to complain.  not sure what that might get you.

Click here to send them a private message.
Information regarding the moderators team can be found by following this link.