Reactivating after suspending due to a damaged phone

[SVillain]

Hello, I dropped my phone and the SIM card reader was damaged, so I suspended my service under lost/damaged phone. I just got a new phone, and now I'm supposed to pay for a new plan-I had just paid for three months a couple weeks before, and had just a tad over two months of service left. This doesn't make any sense to me at all, is there some way to get the two months I'm owed back?

[darlicious]

@SVillain 

Lol....implanted phone....as in some kind of phone permanently attached to his body so it would be impossible to lose!

[SVillain]

@darlicious I don't know what you mean by implanted phone, but I just got a Moto G Power from B&H in New York and it's a great phone for the price. I'd definitely recommend you give it a look-only problem is it's impossible to buy in Canada, but thankfully there are no duties on importing cell phones.

@Luddite sure the 90 day thing is explicit, but that's not the issue here. I'm not talking about that.

[Luddite]

@SVillain Yep, the issue you have with paying for service after suspension is not explicit. The deactivation is though. PM is definitely a (very slow) work in progress, but far and away the best deal in town for me.

"Lost/Stolen Phone

If your phone is lost or stolen, you can suspend your service until you find your phone. Once it's found, return to this page to resume your service.

If your account is suspended for more than 90 days, your account will be deactivated and you'll lose your phone number."

[darlicious]

@SVillain 

I've been here just over a year but my bf has smashed, lost or had his phone(s)** so many times in the last year that I'm old hat to the lost/stolen feature. I hadn't really thought about how it would affect a 90 day plan that had just renewed. It would be nice if there was an option to hold your service after the first 30 days on a YMMV basis with the moderators. It would be good to tag your post with 90 day plans for anyone else in this situation.

**5 phones in one year....S7 lost +broken but working screen found, returned and reward given, lost, found, returned, smashed+not working, sim card retrieved and reward given, uses my back up flip phone, bought new $40 RCA phone dropped a few times but undamaged. Xmas gets Umidigi A5pro, dropped small crack on screen, dropped 1/4 screen smashed, lost and self recovered by backtracking, lost wallet though, finally lost/stolen, back to RCA phone dropped very tiny chip on screen, works for one week til "something" happened blank, no power no nothing? Back to flip phone lost but recovered in the bushes at no frills next day, buys J7 lost at friends 1 week, dropped corner of screen smashed, lost + found by friend but not returned for 1 week, dropped more damage, lost next day. Find my phone says its next door at new neighbours....they deny having it or found it. Back to my flip phone....lost and found at home. Shopping for new phone......needs an implanted phone on body. Suggestions?

[SVillain]

@Luddite that isn't the issue, it has been well under 90 days, under 30 in fact. The issue is that it doesn't say under lost/damaged phone that you are suspending any and all remaining time on your plan, I still have an active account. I don't want to be rude but the rest of the thread covered this.

@darlicious oh you're right for the most part, but I've been with them for around three or four years and I'm irritated with how unresponsive they can be when there's an issue. The problem here is that they weren't 100% clear on the page where you hit suspend plan, they should have it in the clearest writing possible that you're forfeiting whatever is remaining which is entirely their responsibility as the provider of this service. Past that, yeah I agree it could be on me.

[darlicious]

@SVillain 

I wouldn't say public mobiles customer service is bad you just have to know it's limitations and understand going in that pm can be cheap service if you are willing to put in DIY work that's required  to get the most out of your service for the cheapest price. I used to be a hands off cell phone user with no knowledge with high expectations from customer services and very demanding when it came to the customer loyalty department. The moment freedoms service was no longer working for me and telus dropped the customer loyalty ball I switched. But I realized by switching I had to do most of my own account management ( and anyone I convinced to switch.) I had a massive learning curve as anyone here can a test but i figured the basics out in about a month and 90% of it in about 3 months. I've mostly mastered copy and pasting a link but i still cant hide it behind a word......thats beyond me.

The 90 day plans have their advantages and disadvantages In your case suspending it due to a lost, damaged or stolen phone with no back up or the financial ability  to immediately acquire a new one is a definite disadvantage. But don't lose faith in pm s customer service yet. COVID-19 affected many people's financial ability to pay and public mobile offered relief on an individual case by case basis. If you are thinking of changing to the new 30 day plans and maybe a cheaper one than your 90 day plan or even if you are not.....contact the moderators and explain your situation. They may be able to offer you some kind of account credit equal to a months worth plan amount due to your inability to use your service. Best of luck.

What's the worse thing that can happen? They say No? Moderators are pretty compassionate and reasonable people who also understand the importance of customer loyalty. Give it a go.....

[Luddite]

@SVillain Sorry you got caught up in some confusion. I thought is was clear that an account terminates after 90 days suspension, and that plan exiry date is not adjusted during a suspension. 😥

Fingers crossed you will be satisfied with the moderators' response, and you can continue that grandfathered plan (LTE speed I assume).

[SVillain]

@darlicious, no worries, you're just trying to help. Yes I was on a 90 day plan. I didn't know this would happen either, if Public Mobile was just a little clearer on their website about what would happen under your account I wouldn't have done this, to be honest this is kinda a last straw for me with how bad their customer service is.

[darlicious]

@SVillain 

Oops sorry about my sim card confusion. Are you on a 90 day plan?

[SVillain]

The old SIM card is fine, I have it in the new phone right now. The problem is that my two months of service was eaten up, which I didn't know would happen at the time

[darlicious]

@SVillain 

As per @hairbag1  query. Have you activated the new sim card? If not access your self serve account.  Go to the change sim card option. Change your sim card sand put your new sim card in your phone and unsuspend your service.

Edit: When you suspended your service the prepaid portion of that 30 days is nonrefundable. If you still have a balance you need to unsuspend and reactivate your service with the funds available. You should nit be charged for anything after your 30 days is up unless you are on a 90 day plan then your 90 days would be unrefundable if its been that long since suspension. Rewards will only applyvafter you pay and resume sevice.

Edit #2: Ignore the sim card info (N/A).

[popping]

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@SVillain wrote:

Hello, I dropped my phone and the SIM card reader was damaged, so I suspended my service under lost/damaged phone. I just got a new phone, and now I'm supposed to pay for a new plan-I had just paid for three months a couple weeks before, and had just a tad over two months of service left. This doesn't make any sense to me at all, is there some way to get the two months I'm owed back?

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Report your phone lost/stolen does not stop the service clock ticking.  PM service is prepaid and your bring your own phone to use PM service.  There is no refund if you are not using your service for any reason.

You can ask moderator for the credit.  But there is no guarantee you will get it.

https://publicmobile.ca.ada.support/chat/

[SVillain]

@Triguy thanks for the tip, I'll go submit a ticket now 

@Staliger  My account is ok, it's just the phone service that is suspended. The account is due to be suspended late November 

@hairbag1 nope, I'm using my old account

[hairbag1]

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@SVillain wrote:

Hello, I dropped my phone and the SIM card reader was damaged, so I suspended my service under lost/damaged phone. I just got a new phone, and now I'm supposed to pay for a new plan-I had just paid for three months a couple weeks before, and had just a tad over two months of service left. This doesn't make any sense to me at all, is there some way to get the two months I'm owed back?

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Sounds like you started a new account rather than Changing the old sim. Correct ?

[Staliger]

@SVillain PM is prepaid. Therefore, refund is problematic. Is your account suspended now? After 3 months of suspension, it would be deleted from the system.

[Triguy · Accepted solution]

PM plans are prepaid.  There is no guarantee if getting a refund but you could try submitting a ticket to a moderator.

Here’s when and how to contact the Moderator Team:

• 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 the Moderator Team. Click here to get started.
• Alternatively, you can send a private message to the Moderators by clicking here. You’ll need to be logged in to your Community account for the link to work.