PAYMENTS

[steverednova]

My mother is 83 and doesn't use the internet. Her phone has been cancelled for non payment even though shes been paying autopay for 4 yrs now. She pays 3 months at a time. Her service has been cut and they claim she owes them $90? How is that even possible? We cant seem to get this resolved so it looks like she and i are going to find another company that uses humans to talk to. Ive been with Public mobile since day one and i think ive has enough as well. Public mobile has the dumbest customer service 

[darlicious]

@steverednova 

You can also call 1 855 4PUBLIC and enter your mother's 10 digit phone number to hear her basic account information. It sounds like your mother is on an old grandfathered 90 day plan being paid thru autopay with a visa/debit card. It's quite possible that her card has expired (Since it was set up 4 years ago) and her bank initially allowed the payment to go thru (renewing the 90 day plan)and either noticed their error or it was pointed out to them and they clawed back the payment citing the expired card causing a much larger problem vs denying the charge causing an autopay failure.

In this highly unusual circumstance as explained by @popping  pm requires payment by certified cheque or money order. However by opening a support ticket or it may be easier to send a private message it is possible to arrange with a CSA an alternative payment such as a voucher payment thru 611 or the 1 855 4PUBLIC number to back pay the amount outstanding and either reactivate the current plan or change to a cheaper 30 day plan.

You will likely be able to verify the account and set up the self serve account if it has never been completely set up in the first place with the help of the CSA. While pm treats these situations very seriously if you explain the situation was not initiated by your mother but likely her bank they are very understanding and will work with you to sort out the issue as quickly as possible. However they may not accept the original form of payment. A call to your mothers financial institution for an explanation is in order as well.

Spoiler

Send a private message...   Contact the CSA's (formerly moderators) by sending a private message and leave a detailed message explaining your issue and the info to verify your account by including the following information:  

1. Full name and address on pm account. ( Or province and postal code for newer accounts.)
2. Email, phone # and pin #.

If  you cannot remember your pin # include at least three ( if they apply)of the following:

1.  Date of birth (n/a on newer accounts.)
2. Last payment, date, amount, type and last 4 digits.
3. Alternate phone number if any.
4. Security question and answer.
5. Plan amount, any add ons or promos on account.
6. Last 4 digits of sim card.
7. Any rewards in your account.
8. Autopay y/n?
9. Account #.
10. Frequently called/texted phone numbers in the last 30 days.  

The average wait time is 2 to 4 hours but be prepared to wait up to 48 hours for non urgent requests. Current wait times are about one hour and are probably even less as I have had some very quick responses in tne past week.

Keep an eye on your private message box the envelope icon next to your avatar for a little number to pop indicating a message from the CSA's (formerly moderators.) Responding promptly will speed up service times.

 Do not post any of this info in the community only in your private messages when communicating or contacting the Moderator_Team (CSA's.)

  To send a private message to the CSA's (formerly moderators) click below
: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

[BlueB]

@popping 

Great to know, thanks for the clarifications!  I've never been in a position where my payment was clawed back so I haven't been able to experience this "Public Mobile love" before.  🙂

[popping]

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@steverednova wrote:

How do i know? She got a letter in the mail. As far as Public mobiles pricing they aren't any different from their competitors that have proper human customer service

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PM sends letter to subscriber on the situation when a payment was reversed.   Her service continued after paying the fee on the renewal day.  If her cc  payment was reversed within the 30 days after renewal,  They cannot take money from her cc again after payment was reserved.  

PM is a prepaid provider.  Phone will not work if no payment.  PM wants payment for the service already provided.  Is PM letter stated that she has to mail a certified cheque to restore her service?

To determine that her payment was reversed or not, please post a screenshot of her payment history on her PM account with the personal info masked out.  We will determine what had happened.

[barrascuk]

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@steverednova wrote:

She set up autopay 4 yrs ago They've always taken it out of her bank account so theres no way she can owe them money.

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So what does her My Account show for transactions vs her banking information?

[barrascuk]

@steverednova wrote:

How do i know? She got a letter in the mail. As far as Public mobiles pricing they aren't any different from their competitors that have proper human customer service

Do you need help with a fix or do you just want to bash?

It won't resolve on it's own!

She pays for 3 months at a time and owes $90? She is on a $30 a month plan?

Knowing the elderly....likely she can do the $15 plan.

Read the suggestions already given and start to work with it. You and act on her behalf as long as you know all the details about her account. And it would be good if you have access to her account as well. 

Call 611, email a CSAgent, top up your self, and re-input her current and unexpired credit card. Try the hybrid auto pay plan as, as mentioned auto pay does fail every now and then. 

[hTideGnow]

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@steverednova wrote:

She set up autopay 4 yrs ago They've always taken it out of her bank account so theres no way she can owe them money.

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@steverednova 

Did you try logging into My Account and see what it says?  It should show account is suspended.  Go to Transaction History in the payment tab to confirm when was the last successful payment date

Also, since Autopay was setup 4 years ago, any chance a new credit card or new expiry date is needed?

[Dunkman]

@steverednova 

Public mobile rarely sends actual letters to customers.  Is it possible that your mother's last payment for some reason was disputed or clawed back for some reason?  Maybe the credit card or visa debit was expired.  Payment initially went through, but then got denied or clawed back.  You may need to check payment history in her account or her banking history.  

[BlueB]

@steverednova 

Please reach out to a CS Agent (staff) and open a ticket via the SIMon chatbot (chat bubble, lower-right corner), or you can try and message them here as well.

Public Mobile has its distinct advantages over other industry competitors that @hairbag1 has mentioned.  If you don't feel like this is a good fit for you or your mother, feel free to change providers.  As a prepaid service, there are no commitments to stay.

Also like @hairbag1 mentioned, Public Mobile sends letters when payments are reversed does NOT send letters in the mail as far as I know either.  Otherwise, As a prepaid service, it's hard to "owe" Public Mobile anything because you pay up front... this could be a scam.

Finally, AutoPay and its $2 discount is set up via credit card and not directly from a bank account so I'm curious if there's something (else?) that we're missing here.

Ultimately - reach out to a CS Agent because we're users just like your mother trying to help each other out.  🙂

[hairbag1]

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@steverednova wrote:

How do i know? She got a letter in the mail. As far as Public mobiles pricing they aren't any different from their competitors that have proper human customer service

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As far as I know, Public Mobile doesn't send letters in the mail.

I sent you a link to PM plan pricing...have a look at some of the current plans might be better suited for your Mom than the plan she's on now.

Also.....using her phone, dial 611 to get update on Mom's account.

[steverednova]

She set up autopay 4 yrs ago They've always taken it out of her bank account so theres no way she can owe them money.

[Anonymous]

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@steverednova wrote:

How do i know? She got a letter in the mail. As far as Public mobiles pricing they aren't any different from their competitors that have proper human customer service

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@steverednova 

at public mobile they Customer Support Agent by CS_Agent ,only private message support,

no support by phone or email...

sign in to Self-Serve, to review your account,

Plans (publicmobile.ca)

[hairbag1]

@steverednova...sounds like Mom is a very light phone user and has an older PM plan. You could have a peek at the newer PM plans currently viable. The $15 plan offers 100 minutes of Canada wide outgoing calling and unlimited in-coming calls. Plus the texting and a small bit of data. All that for less than $15 as she likely has Loyalty Rewards and such which brings her plan costs down.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/plans

[steverednova]

How do i know? She got a letter in the mail. As far as Public mobiles pricing they aren't any different from their competitors that have proper human customer service

[BlueB]

@steverednova 

Sorry to hear your mother is having issues.  Public Mobile is a low-budget provider and costs are saved without live customer support because that costs a lot of money to operate.

A lot of good suggestions her - calling 611 is a great idea, and you can also pay via prepaid voucher available a lot of online and retail vacations to help get you in a pinch.  How do you know she owes $90?

You can log into her Self Serve account to see what the status is (Active or Suspended) and do a manual top-up there too.

The CS Agents (staff) have been quite helpful so you can reach out to them via SIMon chatbot (chat bubble, lower-right corner) to create a ticket or try and message them here.  Hopefully you get it resolved soon.

[Triguy]

Sometimes autopay can fail.  Try making a manual payment.  If you still need assistance then submit a ticket.

Here’s when and how to contact our Customer Support Agents:

• Get help with your account the easy way by starting a conversation with our virtual assistant, SIMon. It’ll take you to relevant help articles, or if it’s something more urgent, it can help you submit a ticket to our Agents. Click here to get started.
• Alternatively, you can send a private message to our Agents by clicking here. You’ll need to be logged in to your Community account for the link to work.

[hairbag1]

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@steverednova wrote:

My mother is 83 and doesn't use the internet. Her phone has been cancelled for non payment even though shes been paying autopay for 4 yrs now. She pays 3 months at a time. Her service has been cut and they claim she owes them $90? How is that even possible? We cant seem to get this resolved so it looks like she and i are going to find another company that uses humans to talk to. Ive been with Public mobile since day one and i think ive has enough as well. Public mobile has the dumbest customer service 

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Can you double check that the on-file credit card is still valid and in good standing please.

Then dial 611 to pay with that card.

[Anonymous]

@steverednova 

if you need Contact Customer Support Agent by CS_Agent ,and Explain your issue to 
they can solve your issue, they are nice Service Team they will help you 100%.

Here’s How To Contact Customer Support Agent by CS_Agent,

• Get help with your account the easy way by starting a conversation with our virtual assistant, SIMon. It’ll take you to relevant help articles, or if it’s something more urgent, it can help you submit a ticket to Customer Support Agent by CS_Agent,Click Here link,to get started.

• or you can send a private message to Customer Support Agent by CS_Agent, by Click Here link,
• You’ll need to be logged in to your Community account for the link to work.

• please include in your message,
  
• your account number, 
  
• your phone number,
• your account 4 digit pin,
• your Email address,

• Customer Support Agent by CS_Agent, will Response to your inbox by private message 
• During business hours, we strive to answer customer messages swiftly. You will often get an answer within an hour. During peak periods, you may need to wait up to 48 hours.Customer Support Agents are available:
  • Monday to Sunday: 6 AM to 10 PM EST
  
  Check your private message inbox (click on the envelope top right of your screen)

         Good Luck..

[Anonymous]

@steverednova 

Reactivate A Suspended Plan

Missed a payment? After your plan expires, all you need to do is top-up your balance to keep the current plan going. You have up to 90 days to make a payment and, after doing so, your payment cycle will restart and your service will resume.After 90 days of non-payment, your account will be permanently deactivated, which means you will:

• Lose access to your phone number, and won’t be able to transfer it to a new provider in the future.
• Need a new Public Mobile SIM card if you decide to activate a new Public Mobile account.