Public Mobile policy prohibits speaking to a parent?

[mirandamiller]

My 13 yr old's phone has stopped working. I ordered the SIM card, registered the account, pay for the account, and am his legal guardian.

Neither he nor I can remember if we even set up a PIN for his account, or what it might be, because his payments come right off my credit card and we've never had to look into an issue before.

I've filed a ticket and the Moderator stated they cannot speak to me, only the account holder. 

He's sitting right here. He's a child. He doesn't know the PIN.

I've asked how we can resolve this and received a message back that these are the rules, so we'll have to contact the Privacy team.

I don't need the Privacy team to learn more about policies. I need to know why my son's phone has stopped working.

I set up and pay for this account, for my child, of whom I am the legal guardian. In any and all situations, from healthcare to school to banking, I am his legal representative. 

Does anyone else find this incredibly bizarre, that we just can't access his account?

[nguifombeoh]

Sorry about the situation.  I hope your issue can be resolved.  Sometimes I think the moderator could only be an automated service.  

[computergeek541]

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@will13am wrote:

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Having a separate community account is not necessary, but does offer certain "conveniences".  The community account used is where the private message will be sent to.  I have one community account and have successfully used it to manage my multitude of accounts.  @computergeek541 is correct, the moderators don't know who is the one submitting the ticket.  All that is required is sufficient verification information (3 items from the long list) for security purposes.  

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Some other members also manage multiplle accounts with one Community username and just fill in the apprpropriate information for that particular ticket. The fact that the e-mail addresses in the Community are different from that of the self serve account being asked about also makes no difference. The e-mail addressed saved in the Community account is only there for one purpose, and one purpose only:  to provide an address to send notfications to and so that Public knows which account to deposit any Community rewards to.  

@will13am 

I'm sure that you know that I could submit at ticket for you or anyone else in the Community. If the account verification check goes through, the moderator will talk to me about that account.

[will13am]

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@darlicious wrote:

@mirandamiller

To access your sons account it is preferable to have a community account set up with his email of his self serve account. Then when a verification link iscsentbyou can use either his self serve or his community account to verify it. However this is not the only way to verify the account. I manage a couple of accounts including my bf's. When I contact the moderators for an issue with his account thru private message I supply the following information to verify his account without the pin# v

1. Full name and address on the account.
2. Phone #, alternate phone # if any on account.
3. Date of birth and email of the account.
4. Last payment amount, type, date paid and last 4 digits on card.

I have not been required to supply this but you may also be asked for the security question and answer. Once you are able to verify the account be sure to either change or ask for the pin # and the security question and answer and write it down and put it somewhere for safekeeping.

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Having a separate community account is not necessary, but does offer certain "conveniences".  The community account used is where the private message will be sent to.  I have one community account and have successfully used it to manage my multitude of accounts.  @computergeek541 is correct, the moderators don't know who is the one submitting the ticket.  All that is required is sufficient verification information (3 items from the long list) for security purposes.  

[Naepalm]

@mirandamiller when you activated any and all your account there would be a PIN you would have inputed. You would have also received a text from 611 saying "Your new PIN is xxxx."

 

 

[darlicious]

@mirandamiller

To access your sons account it is preferable to have a community account set up with his email of his self serve account. Then when a verification link is sent you can use either his self serve or his community account to verify it. However this is not the only way to verify the account. I manage a couple of accounts including my bf's. When I contact the moderators for an issue with his account thru private message I supply the following information to verify his account without the pin# v

1. Full name and address on the account.
2. Phone #, alternate phone # if any on account.
3. Date of birth and email of the account.
4. Last payment amount, type, date paid and last 4 digits on card.

I have not been required to supply this but you may also be asked for the security question and answer. Once you are able to verify the account be sure to either change or ask for the pin # and the security question and answer and write it down and put it somewhere for safekeeping.

[computergeek541]

@mirandamiller 

Public Mobile doesn't know who is on the other side of the computer/internet connection, so if the required information is given, they will assume that the account is yours.   How does Public Mobile know that the account is your son's unless they were informed of that?  If you've actually said that the account isn't yours, that's a red flag.  

I would submit a new ticket for password reset. If the required information is given that meet account owner verification, access will be granted.

[Daps]

@mirandamillerIf restarting the phone doesn't help, try calling 611 to see if the account has been suspended. If needed, you can make a payment to reactivate service.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/pay-for-your-services-through-611

[geopublic]

@mirandamiller  Why do you need the PIN? Can you access his selfserve account? You are using different emails for each account correct?

[popping]

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@mirandamiller wrote:

Answer what? He's here and he doesn't know the PIN.

We provided his phone number and email address. We could respond to an email verification, if required. We could provide his DOB, home address, etc., and I imagine that's what needs to happen in order for the PIN to be reset.

We aren't being given any of those options, though.

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If you don't know the PIN#, you can provide any 3 of the following:
- Complete mailing address,
- Email address,
- Alternate phone number,
- Date of birth,
- Last top up date & amount

Sometime, moderator may ask for more info.  After you have access to your account, you can change the name and DOB to yours to avoid the same issue again.  This is a prepaid service.  PM does not care about what is on the account profile.  

Do you remember the answer of the security question?

If yes, you can use the forgot your password link on the login page to reset the password without going through moderator.

For the time being, buy a PM topup voucher from Shell gas station and use it to topup the account to get his phone working ASAP.  Then, deal with the account access later.

[mirandamiller]

I wish they would give us some option like verifying the credit card. This should be pretty simple... anytime you're locked out of a service, you verify your identity and reset. Not sure why this has become an issue.

[gpixel]

@mirandamiller if you were to disclose the credit card on file that may be your best option.

I'm assuming your auto-pay must have failed.

you can do an instant top up at esso. 

 

[mirandamiller]

Thank you! I'll get him to do that.

[gblackma]

While you wait for the moderators to reply, try these 2 tricks to reset his service. You could try in order:
1. Restarting your phone. Turn your phone off, wait 30 seconds and restart.
2.Putting your phone on aeroplane mode for 5 minutes. Take it off and restart.

Stay safe. 

[zblackma]

@mirandamillerhave your son create a community account with the email that you used to sign up his self service account with, and use it to contact the moderators. 

[mirandamiller]

Answer what? He's here and he doesn't know the PIN.

We provided his phone number and email address. We could respond to an email verification, if required. We could provide his DOB, home address, etc., and I imagine that's what needs to happen in order for the PIN to be reset.

We aren't being given any of those options, though.

[Anonymous]

@mirandamiller- although this may seem bizarre, you also need to consider the point of the support representative.  They have no way of knowing who is who.  Nor are they likely to know that your son is a minor.  Perhaps others reading this will consider putting the phone in their own name, and not in the name of a minor, in order to avoid such situations.

All that said, couldn't you simply have your son answer.