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:
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- 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.
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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.
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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.
