Public Mobile is a farce, be careful before giving them your money.

[nyall]

My card was charged 4 times each for $120, following 4 failled attempts to activate an account, each time the website indicated that I would not be charged. This was on the 27th of October, mind you.

On the 29th of November, weeks after I initally contacted a moderatoer asking for assisstance about my money, a moderator finally responded by opening an account for me even though I had never asked her to, especially not one month after the site had failed me and I had given up on this company due ot their horrible customer service. What's worse, remember how I told you that she had activated the account, I found my credit card and all my information in the payment section and it had been used for the activation of my account on the 29th of November. Why was my credit card information was kept on file for over a month even though I had never to that point opened any account with Public Mobile? Why wasn't this information encrypted and was so easily able to be accessed and re-used for another account? This was my reply to these questions: 

So accoriding to her, none of the payments were charged yet one of the declined payments for some reason was able to successfully fund the activation of an account. No new charges or pending authorizations have appeared on my card statement for yesterday or today, and I called my bank and nothing new has been charged since the initial charges on Ocotober 27th. 

This copmpany has held on to my funds after saying it wouldn't, and held on to not only my personal but credit card information even though I had never opened an account with them, for over a month, It's been an absolutely horrible experience. I just want my money back and given with the rate these moderators operate at a 60 to 90 day wait for a chargeback, will probably be the faster option. 

After this I can not recommend this company to anyone. Sure you save a few dollars but at the cost of customer service, its not worth it. And having my personal and especially my credit card information stored even though I had never successfully opened or activated an account is ridiculously shady. Add in the "none of the charges have gone through ...activated through a declined payment for some reason" bit and all you have left is a company that treats its customer like garbage, and will screw you over and then ignore you.

You have these two users going around answering every thread indicating that the problems that are happening to hundreds if not thousands of people, are only the 1%, whilst day after day the number of complains grow, with few people actually getting any sort of resolution. 

[Rockdaddy22]

🤐
I hope you get your money soon. Saray is awesome

[nyall]

Thank you. I really and truly appreciate the fact that you have actually responded to my concerns.

[Saray_O]

Hi @nyall, 

I'm really sorry about this inconvenient. When you attempted to initially create your account, it stayed on "draft" mode. It had all the information that you entered, but it didn't properly activate due to a system issue. 

When Shazia activated your account, she activated the account that was already on "draft" with all your information. Even though customer service agents do not have access to credit card information (because it's encrypted), the information remained in the account. When my colleague created the account, she saw that your payment appeared as declined, even though the money was indeed in your account. This is the same system error that prevented you from successfully creating it in the first place

Like Shazia, I am unable to find any other account with the remaining 3 payments that you made. However, I see you have sent us some screenshots from your bank account.

I understand that this situation is very frustrating and I am truly sorry, but we are doing everything we can to help you and all the other customers that are experiencing issues. 

Please allow me a moment to look into your issue, I will send you a private message shortly.

[Rockdaddy22]

@NDesai I love how he totally ignores your question.

Awaiting her reply lol He told me he would NOT send her that info.

[Rockdaddy22]

You said the bank confirmed the charges had gone through, but you went ahead and tried again. You think them walking you through is going to be any different.

Shaz was dealing with lots of problems yesterday. You can definitely be polite and get service. I've seen it countless times. But people like you keep perpetuating this myth that putting pressure on them gets things done. Things are getting done because they are starting to catch up, simple.

So again, why don't you post that email you sent her, just to remind us what you actually asked for. I didn't see any mention of not wanting an account. Just send her what she needs and have faith.

So did you even try the sim?

[nyall]

---

@dhanadhan wrote:

This was pretty entertaining to be honest 

@Shazia_K simply asked for a proof that you got charged...and what comes out of that? They are trying to help you and you are charging at them with no patient.....

---

I'm awaiting Shazia's resolution and decided to post this in hopes of it being seen and getting my problem solved faster. 

Before I started posting on this forum, it took 10 days and now I got 1 after an hour, so its definitely working. If everyone spoke up and putsome actual pressure on them, then they'd actually have to support their users.

[nyall]

---

@Rockdaddy22 wrote:
So you didn't believe your own bank, this story keeps getting better. They would know if they went through better than you. That's why you call them.

---

I'm going to stop responding to you, you are putting words in mouth and since you can't actually help me you're doing nothing but wasting my time. I already explained that I believed it to have a been an error that Public Mobiile would have corrected on their end and refunded me my money, like any company would. Expecting common business practices and ethics to be upheld, by Public Mobile was definitely a mistake on my part. I'm happy you're enjoying this story. 

It won't make you any less of shill or make the moderators here useful.

[NDesai]

This was pretty entertaining to be honest 

@Shazia_K simply asked for a proof that you got charged...and what comes out of that? They are trying to help you and you are charging at them with no patient.....

[Rockdaddy22]

Did you ever even try the sim?

[Rockdaddy22]

So you didn't believe your own bank, this story keeps getting better. They would know if they went through better than you. That's why you call them.

[nyall]

---

@Rockdaddy22 wrote:
And the bank didn't tell you the first 3 went through?

---

Yes, but I actually told them that they it was an error and it was going to be refunded because Public Mobile told me that I wasn't charged, and the error had to do with the bank. So my thiught process was get it right and get activated now and the first 3 would have come back to me. But that failed to, so I gave up.  

[Rockdaddy22]

And the bank didn't tell you the first 3 went through?

[Rockdaddy22]

Just send Shaz the info she asked for, she'll fix it for you. Maybe itll get passed on to a payments specialist or something. Just have a little faith.

[nyall]

---

@stonechucker wrote:

@nyall, nobody said you needed this service.  If you're going to continue to downtalk it and fail to see we are trying to help you the only way we as subscribers know how, then may I suggest you pack up your sorrows and request chargebacks, and leave our community.

ive worked in customer service all my working years, I know the situation sucks, but ranting over and over about it doesn't make it any faster to get resolution.

---

Believe me, I'll happily do so, the second my money is returned. But until then, I will call the mods, the service and Public Mobile out for what they truly are, and hope that it prevents even one person from having to go through what I'm going through, because I sure as hell would never have bothered to even order a SIM card had I seen a thread like this one. 

[stonechucker]

@nyall, nobody said you needed this service.  If you're going to continue to downtalk it and fail to see we are trying to help you the only way we as subscribers know how, then may I suggest you pack up your sorrows and request chargebacks, and leave our community.

ive worked in customer service all my working years, I know the situation sucks, but ranting over and over about it doesn't make it any faster to get resolution.

[nyall]

---

@Rockdaddy22 wrote:
http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Announcements/Moving-forward-together/m-p/105074#U1050...

Guys they're sorry and trying hard. Please try and be patient

---

They're taking hundreds of dollars from people and giving out sorries in return after weeks of ignoring them. 

They're failing at even doing the very basic of what is expected of them. The mods are fully aware of the problems so many are having yet they give no warnings of this to their new customers. I worked in Customer Service and know that the CSRs are usually the least responsible and yet bare the grunt of the fury, but when a company operates the way Public Mobile does, sorry and be patient really doesn't cut it.

That's not going to cover the weeks or even months of inconvenience or however much I'll be paying in Interest for the $480 I was charged.  

[Rockdaddy22]

http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Announcements/Moving-forward-together/m-p/105074#U1050...

Guys they're sorry and trying hard. Please try and be patient

[nyall]

---

@cheeseburger wrote:

@nyall

You see that last part about contacting the card issuer?

I know it's frustrating but a little due diligence goes a long way.

---

And I get that. But right before that, it said my card had not been charged. And even when I contacted my bank, after the third failed attempt and had them walk me through the sign up, making sure all my information was exactly as they had it. The same error occured. And it just allowed them to charge me another $120.

[Rockdaddy22]

You think they're the first company to underestimate demand geez. I know it sucks but they're trying. @@hslmdjim

[nyall]

---

@cheeseburger wrote:

@nyall

You see that last part about contacting the card issuer?

I know it's frustrating but a little due diligence goes a long way.

---

And I get that. But right before that, it said my card had not been charged. 

[cheeseburger]

@hslmdjim

I guess we just see it differently then.

Good luck to you.

[hslmdjim]

---

@cheeseburger wrote:

@nyall

You see that last part about contacting the card issuer?

I know it's frustrating but a little due diligence goes a long way.

---

Do you see the part about temporary transactions? Companies put a hold immediately when you do an online purchase, but I'm not aware of any company that charges you (posted transactions) when they have not shipped you the goods or provided the service. 

[hslmdjim]

---

@stonechucker wrote:

@nyall, I'm truly sorry your experience with Public Mobile has been bad.  The timing of your joining for the promo and the huge backlog is unfortunate, and I hope that you will reconsider as the product is very good, and very well priced.  

I am not employed by Telus or any of its child companies, I am a subscriber who joined in August before the promo was offered, and I am very happy with the service. I knew coming in, that this was a barebones service provider, making up for the reduced costs to get plans that make sense for me.

I too had problems activating my account, but the service provided via the community forum was terrific, and I was able to get activated and onto a plan.

i made a plan change on my first renewal, and got stuck paying $120 which activated my old plan, and left a balance on my account.  I contacted a moderator, the same one whom you've connected with, and she was able to address my issue within a couple of hours.

As I said, this was before the promo.  The forum was slower, and the reports of problems were fewer, as the volume of new subscribers or changes to plans were not as great.

When the promo hit, massive, and frankly quite unexpected numbers or new subscribers flooded Public Mobile with new activations.  I'm sure many had no, or very few issues getting setup, as the process in general is simple to follow, if you have researched, checked, and double checked, all the information the systems ask to be entered.

we have been told that a great many of the issues have been the result of incorrect entry of information by new subscribers, causing this build up of issues to be dealt with.  All of this type of information is generally entered by sales or customer service staff at other providers, however, not at Public Mobile.  Here in lays the problem, unless the general public ensures they follow all the directions to complete the process, a successful activation, plan selection, or number port can, and likely will fail.  That's what happened to a relatively small number of new subscribers, in the flood of activity of new sign ups.

you see very few threads about successful sign ups, because that is our nature to be vocal when things go bad, and only whisper when things go well.

Public Mobile has not cooked up a scam or a plan to swindle anyone out of money, nor did they want to make you wait for your issues to be resolved.  Public Mobile tried to offer what was a great plan, for a great value, to mobile users who wanted to pay less for their services.

i hope your issues are resolved to your satisfaction, and I also hope you will continue your original plan to join Public Mobile.

---

While I agree the numbers are small, to say that it is the result of customers entering wrong information is just absurd. Yes some customers entered the wrong information, but in the OP and my case, we were charged when the website said we weren't. I'm not sure how we could enter information incorrectly yet the charges go through. I think it would be alright if people didn't get connected to their service right away, there are technical issues, that's fair. But to charge a sizable number of customers without providing service is where I have a problem. If you can't provide service in a timely manner, don't be so eager to charge your customers repeatedly without providing anything, including a receipt. 

[cheeseburger]

@nyall

You see that last part about contacting the card issuer?

I know it's frustrating but a little due diligence goes a long way.

[stonechucker]

@nyall, I'm truly sorry your experience with Public Mobile has been bad.  The timing of your joining for the promo and the huge backlog is unfortunate, and I hope that you will reconsider as the product is very good, and very well priced.  

I am not employed by Telus or any of its child companies, I am a subscriber who joined in August before the promo was offered, and I am very happy with the service. I knew coming in, that this was a barebones service provider, making up for the reduced costs to get plans that make sense for me.

I too had problems activating my account, but the service provided via the community forum was terrific, and I was able to get activated and onto a plan.

i made a plan change on my first renewal, and got stuck paying $120 which activated my old plan, and left a balance on my account.  I contacted a moderator, the same one whom you've connected with, and she was able to address my issue within a couple of hours.

As I said, this was before the promo.  The forum was slower, and the reports of problems were fewer, as the volume of new subscribers or changes to plans were not as great.

When the promo hit, massive, and frankly quite unexpected numbers or new subscribers flooded Public Mobile with new activations.  I'm sure many had no, or very few issues getting setup, as the process in general is simple to follow, if you have researched, checked, and double checked, all the information the systems ask to be entered.

we have been told that a great many of the issues have been the result of incorrect entry of information by new subscribers, causing this build up of issues to be dealt with.  All of this type of information is generally entered by sales or customer service staff at other providers, however, not at Public Mobile.  Here in lays the problem, unless the general public ensures they follow all the directions to complete the process, a successful activation, plan selection, or number port can, and likely will fail.  That's what happened to a relatively small number of new subscribers, in the flood of activity of new sign ups.

you see very few threads about successful sign ups, because that is our nature to be vocal when things go bad, and only whisper when things go well.

Public Mobile has not cooked up a scam or a plan to swindle anyone out of money, nor did they want to make you wait for your issues to be resolved.  Public Mobile tried to offer what was a great plan, for a great value, to mobile users who wanted to pay less for their services.

i hope your issues are resolved to your satisfaction, and I also hope you will continue your original plan to join Public Mobile.

[nyall]

---

@cheeseburger wrote:

@hslmdjim

You tried 8 times using two different cards without stopping to confirm with your credit card company?

While I agree PM really dropped the ball with system glitches and customer communication you have to take a little responsibility here too.

---

Really? So he has to take responsibility because Public Mobile charged him 8 times after saying they were not going to? 

Don't you think the reason he tried so many times was because he felt assured that his money was safe and not being withdrawn for each failed attempt? The error if it was anything like mine stated this: 

Unable to Process Transaction 
Sorry, your credit card transaction was denied by your card issuer, so this purchase could not be completed. Your credit card has not been charged. Please contact your card issuer for more information.

He like me could have just assumed it was human error the first few times and just kept trying. Their system is the one giving users false information. The moderators need to start by acknowledging that and making sure that those signing up for accounts are aware of this potential issue. 

[hslmdjim]

---

@cheeseburger wrote:

@hslmdjim

You tried 8 times using two different cards without stopping to confirm with your credit card company?

While I agree PM really dropped the ball with system glitches and customer communication you have to take a little responsibility here too.

---

I called the card company after 2 charges, after clicking confirm only once. I called my MC and they said both charges were approved on their end. I decided to try a Visa to see if that works, and same situation. Almost every ecommerce company I have dealt charge a temporary hold when the purchase is made, but only actually charge (posted transactions) customers after the goods have been shipped or service provided. I wasn't worried about a few temporary charges, which I assume would be dropped after receiving no service. Yes, I probably should have been more cautious, but I think this is a bit of victim blaming. 

[Kraekin]

Okay, that may be the fact here on the forums, but how do you explain the fact that their customer service email says there will be a reply within 48 hours, which has long passed?

All I know is I have been in customer service for 15 years now and in NO company regardless would this be acceptable. Maybe I should find out how to apply with them and show em how its done. ill do it for just the cost of a good plan per month. no need to pay me hourly.

[hslmdjim]

---

@Rockdaddy22 wrote:
I think your wrong. Should they work ot for no pay? @Shazia_K was here late last night helping countless people.

You realize this issue only started with the promo. You used to get answers in minutes

---

Yes and that's why companies plan for Promos. Apple staffs extra employees when new iPhones are launching, stores employ more people on Black Friday, boxing day, etc. If PM wants to attract more customers with a promo, they need to plan to make sure their website is functional and they have enough support. I am not blaming the mods personally, but at this point, they are literally the only public facing figures at Public Mobile. They don't even have a corporate number, address, anything. 

[cheeseburger]

@hslmdjim

You tried 8 times using two different cards without stopping to confirm with your credit card company?

While I agree PM really dropped the ball with system glitches and customer communication you have to take a little responsibility here too.