Solved: Re: Upgrading plans xxxxxx - Community

I upgraded my plan from a $25 for 500 mb data with 500 mb bonus to $35 for 1.5 gb with 500 mb bonus.

I was forced to add the full $35 to my account to pay as though I was a new customer. You stole any money I had paid for the current plan without refunding or discounting the pro-rated portion I paid.

To be fair you I was advised you stole it after I made the upgrade, but at no point was I advised that when upgrading you loose any payment made for the current month.

That is an unfair trade practice. Refund my pro-rated portion for the current plan, or tell me how to report this behaviour to the CRTC.

Edit removed personal info by mimmo

16 REPLIES 16

The issue here is less than it is unclear whether or not you notified you are forfeiting the portion of the month you already pre-paid. It is that YOU HAVE PRE-PAID for service you did not get. It is like negative service, or negative option billing which is illegal in Ontario and Alberta. (The only difference is you get a service for what you pay with negative option billing - here your just paying for the privilege of changing your plan.)

I get it we forgo the benefit dealing with any issues quickly and in person for a way cheaper price with Public Mobile. That trade off should not include gifting or tipping Public Mobile whenever you adjust your plan on all but one day a month.

I am unclear how this forum deals with issues like this. Is it merely a sounding board for users that gives answers on what Public Mobile's other users thinks the answers are, or is it a chance to give feedback on how to develop better practices.

This is a policy that should be changed. The prorated monthly fee gifted by members wanting to change plans varies based on what day they make the change. If they want to collect a fee for changing plans the fee should be standardized and the pro-rated portion pre-paid should refunded as a credit. That would be a fairer practice.

If this is not the forum for change what is.

@skeptical11 wrote:
I upgraded and have not rec'd a text confirming my new plan
what's that about ???
Paid funds for the plan have shown in my bank account

what's with the slow service ?? I know it's budget cell Co
but really, taking funds and not providing confirmation....!!

If your self-serve is showing the new plan then you're good. I don't think any text is sent. You'll get a thank you for renewing text at noon ET and a text about rewards being applied. But not anything saying your plan.

I upgraded and have not rec'd a text confirming my new plan

what's that about ???

Paid funds for the plan have shown in my bank account

what's with the slow service ?? I know it's budget cell Co

but really, taking funds and not providing confirmation....!!

@Nezgar wrote:

@khv wrote:

...at no point was I advised that when upgrading you loose any payment made for the current month.

However, this is mostly well documented in the help articles at https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/change-your-plan

... but one line seems to be incomplete:

"Your plan will not be prorated, which means that any days remaining in your current payment"

... any days remaining in your current payment.... something?? Presumably "will be lost.' ??? 😆 @Tiana_V

Thanks for letting us know about this! We are working to update this Help Article with the correct information now. 🙂

@computergeek541The only warning I have seen is that you need to have enough funds in your account to fulfill the transaction. I dont want to test the change now function LOL

Here is the warning:

@Naepalm There actually is supposed to be a warning any time an immediate plan change is being peformed. I have seen it, but I'm unsure of which circumstances would cause the warning not to appear.

@Nezgar Yeah he is completely correct. I think they dont because they tell you to put funds in your account and that should be enough to tell the customer that they will not be getting the difference back.

But with that being said, I do agree there should be a warning that states, you will not get a refund for your previous plan and will need to pay the full amount.

@khv wrote:
...at no point was I advised that when upgrading you loose any payment made for the current month.

@khv is actually correct here - I just checked out the "Change Plan" page in Self-serve, and there's nothing explicitly stating that you will basically lose the value of remaining service you already paid for with your current plan.

Unless it says something after clicking the "Change plan now" button? I'm not going to click that to test...

However, this is mostly well documented in the help articles at https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/change-your-plan

... but one line seems to be incomplete:

"Your plan will not be prorated, which means that any days remaining in your current payment"

... any days remaining in your current payment.... something?? Presumably "will be lost.' ??? 😆 @Tiana_V

@khv as others have already stated it is prepaid. This can be hard for many people to understand. It does prompt you to add funds to your account. Which should be a red flag for you. If I was with Bell and changed my plan mid month it would never say add funds to your account.

They would pro rate it and give you a credit and add the difference on at the end of the month.

But here if you change your plan it you need to pay and will not be refunded.

Sorry you feel they "stole" your money. You may be able to have it reversed by the moderators and have it changed on your renewal date. That way you will not pay any extra.

Have a wonderful day!

@computergeek541 my bad, I thought they were the same thing I'll fix my post

@khv wrote:
I upgraded my plan from a $25 for 500 mb data with 500 mb bonus to $35 for 1.5 gb with 500 mb bonus.

I was forced to add the full $35 to my account to pay as though I was a new customer. You stole any money I had paid for the current plan without refunding or discounting the pro-rated portion I paid.

To be fair you I was advised you stole it after I made the upgrade, but at no point was I advised that when upgrading you loose any payment made for the current month.

That is an unfair trade practice. Refund my pro-rated portion for the current plan, or tell me how to report this behaviour to the CRTC.

Public Mobile does not prorate plan fees. I don't necessarily disagree with you that this is unfair to the customer, but when you chose the immediate plan change option, did a message not show on-screen that any remaining time and payment from the previous plan would be lost?

As for reporting to the CRTC, they do not handle consumer complaints from telecommunications customers. You'll want to approach the CCTS if you feel you need to. However, you do need to know that there is nothing in the rules that say that carriers need to offer prorated refunds unless the service was from a postpaid account.

Wireless Code doesn't cover this situation.

@khv PM did not steal your money. When you setup a plan change you have two options. Change immediately or change at you next plan renewal.

If you selected the " plan renewa"l option and the system messed up then submit a ticket to PM and they will investigate.

There is no refund or prorating when selecting the immediate plan change option.

Hope this helps.

If you chose change plan now you will not receive a credit for your existing plan. You should have chosen change on next renewal date.

Contact the Moderator Team (Public Mobile representative) for assistance:

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.

PM is prepaid. If you change your plan immediately then you would lose any unused minutes, texts, or data. It is recommended to change your plan on next renewal date.

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