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To all those currently waiting in 'Activation Failed' Purgatory: A Successful Resolution Story

KirkK
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

TL:DR version:  After approximately 72 hours, my activation failure (without porting a number) was resolved by a moderator.  (Thanks to Saray_O.)  There was no error on my part in registration/activation -- as no changes were required when my account was finally activated including Auto-Pay, and there was no port attempt (so no other company was involved) so the fault lies in Public Mobile's database adminstration/automated system.

 

 

 

 

This is addressed to all of you (formerly 'us') who are currently waiting in 'Activation Failed' purgatory with the following symptoms:

 

***************** 

- On stage 6 ('Summary') of your activation you get the following nonsensical (as in contradictory) error message:  "Sorry your account activation request has failed.  Please visit our online ....<snip>

Thanks for submitting your activation request.  Your request has been processed."

 

- You receive an e-mail from Public Mobile but cannot log-in to self-serve, or attempt to create a new account with a PM number (making it appear your account does not exist)

 

- Your SIM card works in the sense that your phone connects to the PM network, and ties your new PM (temp) phone number to the SIM card but you have no access text, voice or data service.

 

- Your credit card has been billed.

 

*****************

 

By now you've either (in probable decreasing order of effectiveness):

 

1) private messaged one of the three moderators,

2) followed the Public Mobile Get Help/Contact Us webpage labyrinth to contact Public Mobile via e-mail directly

3) posted here tagging the moderators (sometimes repeatedly and often and vocally)

 

and have now been frustratingly stuck waiting to hear back to take advantage of the best mobile deal in the country....

 

... I am pleased to finally report as follow-up to my 48 earlier posts (i.e. and offer a single data point) that after approximately 72 hours, I did hear back from Saray_O  (I'm intentionally not tagging them to not clutter their workload any further), and my account was created, and I now have full access to text, voice and data... including with phone numbers outside of the Public Mobile network.

 

I did not attempt to port my Koodo number at any point, and am not sure that I will try at this point, given that there are people who have been waiting longer than me ( @goranwong@J_Wig to name but two examples), and who have at last check, not yet been helped.  To Public Mobile: a queue structure really does mean first-in, first-out.

 

At no point (unlike some apologists here who've blamed the victim: I'm looking at you @Garry posting in reply to 'Pause the Promo?') was any of it my fault: having dealt with the internet for 22 years, and with degrees in mathematics and physics, I'm pretty good at filling out a web form with meticulous attention to detail.  And in fact there was no error on my part, because when it did get resolved finally, I did not need to actually change any account settings and my phone services started working.

 

Some general comments to Public Mobile (and apologists):

 

- Billing a new customer without account creation/login capability is point-blank unheard of in modern e-commerce.  Furthermore, technically, I don't believe I was given the chance to accept the terms of service (because I had to accept them again when I was able to finally create the new account after resolution), and so a legally binding contract had not yet been formed; therefore the billing at minumum is wildly inappropriate and legally dubious.  (Oh, and @Rockdaddy22:  please learn the difference between libel and slander, and unlike in the U.S. where a corporation has the legal rights of a person, you can't libel a corporation.  I named no individual.)

 

- Proper non-form reply communication is woefully lacking.  Your overworked mods (one working apparently part-time on the weekend) defaulted to standard/canned responses to only the most provocative posts stating that workloads were very high, response times would be delayed, etc. without providing any specifics.  This is reminiscent of airlines when there is a weather delay: this is not the way to build customer loyalty and support.  As the backlog appears(?) to be clearing now that we've reached Monday and staff levels have returned to normal (moral: never create a new account on Friday morning), I feel most sorry for our mods who then bear the brunt of the often legitimate anger.

 

- A simple Google search will reveal that these specific type of activation problems (that don't involve another phone company) date back over a year.  This points to a problem with the database/server backend that remains unresolved.  Everybody (customers, community support, moderators) could be better served (present and future), by escalating this issue to the appropriate software person.

 

**********

 

 

All this said, I will try to continue to remain active on this 'Community' (I posted 48 times this weekend and worry that I finally got my issue resolved potentially ahead of others because of well, 'squeaky wheel gets the grease'), and try to provide support for those who continue to be trapped in Activation Purgatory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

47 REPLIES 47

KirkK
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@leafian:  exactly.  blood. boiling.  

leafian
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@KirkK

I wasn't referring to you.

I read of other people who said they tried actvating yesterday and today a moderattor helped them.

That really boils my blood.

KirkK
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@leafian:  just to clarify again, I initially reported my problems to the mods and via e-mail on Friday morning, and activation failure was resolved this morning.... not yesterday, so total time was approximately 72 hours not 24.... but yes, the question remains:  are the queues not being cleared in order.

 

Account creation should have been handled correctly without human assistance, and failing that should not have billed the credit cards until account creation was successful.

leafian
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

It really is frustrating when I read that people with activation problems yesterday had their problems resolved today!!!!!!!!!!!!Man Frustrated

I'm normally a very patient person ( I'm a Leafs fan after all) but this is ridiculous.

4 moderators to handle problems and it seems there are no queues to follow.

Each moderator is free to choose what PM they will respond to.

To make matters worse, on Saturday I saw that my PM was read and then a minute later it was marked unread.

I've been in IT for over 25 years and account creation for any system shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

 

KirkK
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@J_Wig:  yes, there are a lot of invisibles, because so many people continue to be in the identical situation.... so you're not alone in limbo.  Yesterday I had proposed to stop tagging moderators as a way to help them out, but that discussion has long since been lost in the noise as I anticipated.  For now keep posting your experiences, and say once every 24 hours message saray_o.

KirkK
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@J_Wig:  Okay, this pretty much confirms the queue structure (defined as first in , first out as we say in computer science) is not functioning properly.  If I recall correctly you first used the e-mail form to contact them before private messaging the moderators?  What is the time stamp on the first moderator you contacted by private message (as opposed to tagging)?

J_Wig
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen
I feel like Bruce Willis in the sixth sense. Am I invisible?

J_Wig
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen
Still waiting for even as much as reply! Multiple PM's have been sent and most unopened. The wait continues , a week later I have zero to show for my $128.

imm1304
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@clogan2 sorry it didn't work for you.  Mods have been fully focused on replying to all those inbox messages.  I am hopeful your request will get addressed soon.  

clogan2
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@imm1304 Just tried it, it says "We are experiencing difficulties in processing this request..."

clogan2
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Haven't been able to port a number yet, each time I have to have a moderator do it.

 

I'll give that a try, I think I may have been checking off that textbox after entering account information.

KirkK
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@imm1304:  Thanks for the heads up.  Yes, I brought my wife over from Koodo to Public Mobile two months ago, I was also able to port her number without issue via self-serve.  Since my Koodo number won't be deactivated for 90 days, I think I'll wait till the promotion is over in case their are issues ... it's not a critical issue for me, and I actually kind of like the new Public Mobile assigned number.  Also, I have a bunch of unused pre-paid *Canada-wide* minutes on my Koodo plan that I don't have with the *Province-wide* Public Mobile plan.

 

imm1304
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@clogan2, have you resolved the porting issues yet?  

 

Do keep in mind the suggestion about checking the I am authorized box first if you are still waiting for a resolution.  

clogan2
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

The last three numbers I attempted from Koodo didn't work 😞

 

I'd have to agree, the software 'engine' that drives Public Mobile needs serious work. Correcting all of the bugs would take a tremendous ammount of pressure off of the moderators.

imm1304
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@KirkK, welcome aboard. Finally!

 

Thanks for sharing your experience and some very useful constructive criticism/suggestions.  

 

FYI:  If you wish to port a number from Koodo, you can go right ahead and do it from selfserve.  I have helped a dozen people without any problems.  

 

One thing to keep in mind is that some people get "..not authorized.." error.  Easy fix is to simply click the "I am authorized ..." checkbox at the bottom first and then enter the required info such as Koodo phone number, account number and PIN.  

AlucardBlack
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

It seems that I have exactly the same problem. Hope it would be resolved soon. I've created a topic, PMed moderator and sent email through form.

daredogg
Mayor / Maire

@KirkK finally it can be said... welcome to PM!

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's good for all of us to hear about the good and bad experiences. It seems to me that despite your disappointment you have a pretty level-headed analysis of what happened (and some good advice and suggestions).

 

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