Province wide calling

[kayla87]

I’m asking this question for my dad as he is not technology savvy. I set him up a couple months ago with public mobile. He chose the province wide calling plan with no data or text. Anyway everything seems ok until he tried calling someone the other day and it says the call cannot go thru because he does not have a long distance plan. The number he dialed was indeed a province number (we are in Newfoundland), in fact to my knowledge it’s a “newer” local number for our area. In Newfoundland we do not have to dial the area code (which is 709) to make local calls unlike some provinces. Our local area most local calls are 469-**** or 468-****. Recently, maybe the past year or so they introduced 218-****, and this is the issue he is having.  I even tried putting the area code 709 in front of it and nope will not work. And just note him and the person he was calling we’re both in the province at the time of the call. I even tried it myself as I did not believe him, I thought he dialed a wrong number but no, it will not work. That’s very inconvenient for local calls. Does anyone know why this is happening?

[stonechucker]

Another suggest, try calling the number as 1-218-xxxx.

it could be an in province long distance call.  As you normally dial only 7 digits (20 years ago for me), the 1 in front May make this work.

if you’ve tried this already, please forgive me, I must have missed this.

[stonechucker]

@kayla87, I think @Anonymous has nailed the issue down, and the dialing lists need to be updated.

The only other suggestion I would provide is using a temporary work-around by using the Hangouts dialer app (on Android or iOS), or getting a free app like Fongo, to use a free number to make free calls thruout Canada.  Inconvient, yes, but a work around to make the call.  

Not sure if you've had your dad try this or not.  As suggested, the $15 plan, or the $25 plan may be suitable plan chnages, but that shouldn't be required.

[Tiptopssss]

I'd look into a canada wide monthly plan or an add on

[geopublic]

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@kayla87 wrote:

I know the number can be long distance. But it’s a local

number. Plus he has PROVINCE WIDE LONG DISTANCE package so any Newfoundland number should work with that. And yes I’ve tried using 1-709- but I get the same message. He can call long distance numbers because I’ve tried, but this 709-218-**** will not work. 

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@kayla87  Is the issue with that specific number or all 709-218 numbers? Do you or someone else have a PM Canada Wide calling plan to try that number and see if it works. I'm just thinking maybe the issue is with that specific number?

Public Mobile just announceed a 500 minute Canada Wide add-on for $5.00. Might be worth adding to your dad's plan. The minutes never expire and can be used to avoid similar issues in the future. Just a thought..

[Anonymous]

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@kayla87 wrote:

Ok. I’ve sent a message to the mods, waiting for a reply. 

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Get comfy 🙂

[kayla87]

Ok. I’ve sent a message to the mods, waiting for a reply. 

[Anonymous]

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@kayla87 wrote:

I know the number can be long distance. But it’s a local

number. Plus he has PROVINCE WIDE LONG DISTANCE package so any Newfoundland number should work with that. And yes I’ve tried using 1-709- but I get the same message. He can call long distance numbers because I’ve tried, but this 709-218-**** will not work. 

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Dunkman above gave you a link to the moderators. I think I've seen this before with new numbers. Either area code or prefix/exchange. PM has to add the numbers into their database of available known numbers. Curiously...218 belongs to Telus 🙂

[kayla87]

I know the number can be long distance. But it’s a local

number. Plus he has PROVINCE WIDE LONG DISTANCE package so any Newfoundland number should work with that. And yes I’ve tried using 1-709- but I get the same message. He can call long distance numbers because I’ve tried, but this 709-218-**** will not work. 

[mh1983]

Not really a fix, but have you considered moving your dad to an unlimited Canada-wide plan? They're quite well priced these days and then you don't have to worry about coverage.

[kayla87]

Yes I’ve tried 1 in front. And no Newfoundland does not use 10 digit dialing. And there is only one area code 709. The 469 & 468 that I mentioned in my post are the next 3 digits after the area code. When you dial a local number weather on a cell phone or landline you do not need to dial the area code. But I’ve tried dialing the area code but it still gives me the same message 

[GreatCanadian]

Hi Kayla, 

I'm in newfoundland as well. Even though the number is in the same province it can still be long distance. Did you try the 1 as suggested above? 

1-709-xxx-xxxz

It should work.

GC 

[Anonymous]

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@kayla87 wrote:

Yes I’ve tried using the area code. Gets the same message

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Did you try the 1 in front? Do the other older area codes still work? Are you sure you don't have to do 10 digit dialing and even sometimes using the 1?

[kayla87]

Yes I’ve tried using the area code. Gets the same message

[Dunkman]

@kayla87 

Other customers have had similar problems in the past with province wide calling.  You may need to contact moderator and sometimes, they need to fix things in their backend.  

Send a private message to moderator through the following link :

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

Your dad might want to conside the $25 plan, with unlimted Canada wide and texts with 1 GB data.  For $5 more, more options.  

[Alex888]

@kayla87 Have you tried asking what there previous area code was and using that? And try dialing 1 before the area code