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The Guide to Headache-Free PM Signup

db519
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Hey folks, I have activated two separate lines from two different carriers without issue. (well, sort of, anyways more on that).

 

Here are the main points that will make your experience pleasant, and make you feel proud for making the right choice to join. Keep in mind that I did work in AT&T escalations (both from field techs and customers) for a couple of years and dealt with a LOT of failed port-in requests... for 40 hours a week. Here is a handy guide with more in-depth explanation for those who have the time (you're waiting to hear from PM anyway so why not educate yourself?) For even more explanation please scroll to the "definitions" portion of this post.

 

1) BE PATIENT. Activations are "instant". Port-ins take a "MINIMUM" of two hours. This is a best-case scenario. Right now with a backlog of thousands of activation and port-in requests, do you think this is a best-case scenario? Give it at least 24 hours AFTER submitting your activation port-in request before you start to panic. Think spamming a mod is gonna make it quicker? No. You've been told in the main sticky that it's a bad idea. So don't. Slap yourself on the wrist before you send another PM.

 

2) DO NOT create a port-in request during your activation process. MAKE A NEW NUMBER. Activations alone are causing issues. WAIT UNTIL YOUR ACTIVATION IS COMPLETE BEFORE YOU PORT A TELEPHONE NUMBER. You can blame the usual suspects (reffered to as TUS in the remainder of this post).. number one being server load, the other reasons likely due to an understaffed moderator team being spammed by users like you and me. (TGIF right modteam!? Next round of pints are on me!) You can thank the million people who waited until the last week of the promo to jump aboard. (My own wife.. tried to convince her earlier.. sorry PM team! :D)

 

3) DO port your number from your self-serve portal once you've verified that your (temporary) PM-assigned phone number works, you have service, etc. Make/receive calls... send/receive texts... disable WiFi and try to stream some Youtube. If you're running into other issues, such as your phone not seeing the SIM or getting no service, this post is not for you. Using a temporary number also alleviates a lot of stress/pressure on PM. People left with no service on two sims really make the wrong choice when opting to port a number during activation. DO ONE THING AT A TIME.

 

4) BE PATIENT. And hope you don't reach step 5.

 

5) Recognize when the need to ask for help arises.

 

Did you submit a single-action request (activation ONLY or port ONLY) in the last 24 hours and you haven't received your welcome to PM text (activation) or haven't been able to receive calls(port)? You likely just need to sit back and let time run it's course.

 

Did you do something you shouldn't have? Did you port your number during activation and now it's been days, or weeks, and absolutely nothing has worked in spite of exhausting all troubleshooting methods? It's probably time to check-in with a mod and provide as much information as you can to ease the process.

 

Accept the reality that xxxxxxxxx truly happens. I stumbled across issues at AT&T that customers had been calling in for months regarding and no one ever figured out until I touched the account. There ARE weird things that happen with telecom. Keep in mind these issues are rare, but possible. Examples are digits missing when dialed, for some reason one number cannot call a specific carrier, numbers cannot call certain area codes/parts of the country, numbers are blacklisted due to credit, no dial tone, port-in requests that are literally not honoured by the carrier (holding your number because you owe money, or because that carrier is just a pain in the butt to deal with). These issues need to be escalated to the proper teams to rectify. A public forum is not the place to get this sort of issue resolved.

 

 

DEFINITIONS:

 

Failed activation: Your SIM activation didn't process properly. Likely a false error that will take time to process. It is likely your credit card was charged anyway. Do not call your company and claim fraud just yet folks.

 

Common symptoms include: SIM card activated with service, but calling/texting anyone throws a Public Mobile-branded message back at you saying you have no services.

 

Common fixes/troubleshooting steps: Verify your CC was charged. Write down your PM number that was assigned upon signup. Use this to register a self-serve account after waiting 24 hours. After that you should receive the verification text and your PM number should be in service.

 

Failed port-in: PM was unable to pull your number from your current provider over.

 

Common symptoms include: Error message thrown when trying to complete port-in process. Able to place calls but not receive calls.

 

Common fixes/troubleshooting steps: Verify your previous account information. Did you get married or change your name? Did you type your old account number wrong? Everything you enter into the change number screen on self-serve must match 100% with the records that your old provider has on record. Can't receive calls? Wait another 24 hours before starting to panic.

 

If anyone would like to add something to this, feel free. I followed these steps and I was able to get PM service within 48 hours in both instances. 🙂

39 REPLIES 39

Bookstore
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

I am porting my number from Google Voice, which doesn't have texting in Canada. It does, however, provide a porting PIN. I initiated the port after activation, but have received no way to provide that PIN to complete the activation, only instructions on receiving a text message, which I won't get from Google Voice. Any advice?

Sbrown33
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Thank you so much for that.  I completed it with no issues.  I called Koodo previous to setting up an account with PM to pay my owing tab balance and they informed me I do not need to as it will show up on my next bill.  Apparently that is not the case as I still can't port the number.  I'm waiting for a call back from Koodo this evening to fix it.

Thank you again!

Sosullivan
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Yes, that is correct.   I set up four different accounts for my family and two accounts had issues, so the agent advised that I select a new number to get the account up and working and then ask them to port the original number after the account has been created (that way you have access to text/calls right away)….for one account it took 24 hours to get ported, for the other it was ported within a few hours.  

Sbrown33
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

so if you make a new number you can change that to your original phone number (the one you want to port)?

Sosullivan
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Great info.  Thank you for being so detailed 

Olivia19M
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Need help with resenting the port request.

Fido didn't approve the 1st request sent by public mobile.

Fido now approved so need Public Mobile to send the request again

swpalmer
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

You might want to always use your previous provider Account Number instead of IMEI when porting.  My provider didn't have the same IMEI as my phone because I replaced their crap phone with an iPhone.

Berticus
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Hi, at what point should we deactivate the other account that we're porting from? 

Is it safe to assume:

1. activate on public mobile with new number.

2. make sure everything works as expected

3. de-activate previous account

4. request port of number

Is this correct, or are steps 3 and 4 reversed?

Thanks!

mgenn
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Very helpful, thank you! 

 

emuller1937
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

This is all very nice, but there was no waiting for them to take payments..  If this takes days to activate we are still paying for those days.  the 24/7 chat told me to put in a ticket in Community.  She was no help at all and told me she couldn't help me.

 

shep22
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@jarraneil wrote:

I have been a happy public mobile customer for around 6 months and persuaded my wife and son to join also. Unlike me, who selected a new number, they ported their existing number from Virgin Mobile. Since the sign up pages guided them in that direction, they requested the port during activation. I now know by reading posts here, that that is probably a bad idea i.e. they should have activated first and then ported but that is water under the bridge now. They can send texts and place calls using PM but are not able to receive calls, which I think indicates a stuck port. We tried to wait it out but it's been like this for 6 days now.


@jarraneil contact the moderators ask Simon the robot  here to speak to a human to generate a ticket mention port stuck   check envelope top right for a response they usually reply between 2-48 hours

jarraneil
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

I have been a happy public mobile customer for around 6 months and persuaded my wife and son to join also. Unlike me, who selected a new number, they ported their existing number from Virgin Mobile. Since the sign up pages guided them in that direction, they requested the port during activation. I now know by reading posts here, that that is probably a bad idea i.e. they should have activated first and then ported but that is water under the bridge now. They can send texts and place calls using PM but are not able to receive calls, which I think indicates a stuck port. We tried to wait it out but it's been like this for 6 days now.

@william76 


@william76 wrote:

hi i'm trying to port my number

 


More details would be helpful.  Have you activated an account yet or just planning to activate? At the present time, you can port over your number when you activate a new account/plan.  If you already have an account, you will need moderator help to port over number.

 

Here is  a good starting point:

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/choose-your-phone-number

 


@william76 wrote:

hi i'm trying to port my number

 


@william76 click on the ? Bottom right hand corner Ask Simon to speak to a human this will help create a ticket to speak to a moderator mention port request   check the envelope top right corner for a reply response time is 2 to 48 hours

william76
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

hi i'm trying to port my number

 

Michelle70
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

I am just 24 hours new and I appreciate your level headed attitude, seems people can get extremely impatient and irritable. Hey look at these prices and how they keep them low, be adaptable. So I won't get my knickers in a knot. It will work out and if I still have some kinks I can get the support I need here. tx 


@lana6 wrote:

Went through a moderator today as I couldn't port through sign up.  Had to take a new number in sign up.  My wife's 938 number from bell is apparently not compatible.  She'll have to keep her new number.


Unfortunately, if Telus Mobility doesn't also offer it's own numbers for that same city, it can't be ported to Public Mobile. We've seen this before. Usually, this is a case of the service working in a particular location because of Bell Mobility-built parts of the network, but these are sometimes in areas where Telus Mobility/Koodo/Public Mobile never decided to operate out of.

lana6
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Went through a moderator today as I couldn't port through sign up.  Had to take a new number in sign up.  My wife's 938 number from bell is apparently not compatible.  She'll have to keep her new number.

Setherson03
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Awesome, just finished activating my number and requested my number be ported in as well. Great to see this immediately after 🙄. I use this number for my local business so i guess today will be a slow day.

penasse
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

ULTRA SLOW, so slow the link for a reset password was expired the moment it reached my email.

 


@rohanferns wrote:

Is this content still valid for todays activations? Should we still request a new number and then port in?


There are varrying thoughts on that. There is an activation bug that sometimes (but rarely) causes an account to be partially activated but service doesn't get properly assigned. The idea of porting in later is, in my opinion, to avoid that particular bug that can cause the number to be ported into a new non-working Public Mobile account.

rohanferns
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Is this content still valid for todays activations? Should we still request a new number and then port in?

frankmobilepm
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I should have read this before I actived my SIM 😞

Natedmd
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

So your guide to a "Headache-Free" signup is essentially "be patient and put up with the headache".

 

 

db519
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen
What type of card are you using? Is it prepaid or visa debit?
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