WHY ARE GOOD ACCOUNTS SEEING EXPIRED STATUS?

[huntrods]

We (my wife and I) are both Public Mobile customers for a while now. We are on AUTO PAY, consequently we always pay the monthly charge on time (it's all under your control with auto pay turned on).

Yet yesterday, while checking our usage, we got a bit bold message on our accounts saying "ACCOUNT EXPIRED". Really? I mean, this morning you auto-charged our credit card (as per auto pay) and so how in the world could we be EXPIRED yesterday if you didn't even charge until today?

Please fix this glitch ASAP because its very disconcerting to get told your account is expired when in fact it is obviously an account in good standing (or how else could you run auto pay and bill our cc). Expired should mean either

a) auto pay failed, or

b) we turned off auto pay and didn't pay, or were never on auto pay and didn't pay.

Either way, auto pay the DAY BEFORE YOU RUN IT should not ever show EXPIRED.

Again, please fix this ASAP.

[cellphoneuser1]

@elodiemar I was replying to @huntrods  and read the posts. The mesaage said the message was showing but nothing about credit card not working. Your situation is different than the situation I was replying to.

[elodiemar]

@cellphoneuser1   You are not reading the posts. This is not the usual “account expired” message on the day of payment by auto pay. New users see what you are referring to once, search the much discussed bogus message, check that they still have service and breath a sigh of relief. This is a totally different situation where a perfectly good credit card does not process for auto pay, will not be accepted for a payment by 611 and service is cut off for non payment. Just look back at my recap a few posts ago.

This is a situation where some, perhaps few, perhaps many, auto pays did not process overnight normally although they were pre authorized yesterday. It is NOT normal, it is a PM problem that is very much a problem for those with perfectly good credit cards who lose service.

[esjliv]

@huntrods ,

If you have service then safe to ignore that message in your SELF SERVE account.

First time I noticed it on my account, I panicked and contacted the moderators.

I wonder how many times they get contacted about this. It is an unnecessary occurrence.

Wish it would change, for sure.

[cellphoneuser1]

@huntrods This message happens every renewal since I activated. You get used to it. Public Mobile doesn't seem to think it's important to fix.

[Sunflowers]

I agree, no service is a big problem and I have also been waiting to hear from mod.

[Sunflowers]

Thanks for you comment.  I'm having the added difficulty of "My Account" nor being able to verify my email address so I can't login to makes changes.

[elodiemar]

To reiterate, to those members trying to help with possible solutions such "this is normal on the day after your payment date", "your email addresses do not match" etc. This is what happened for me and also Sunflower in this thread and perhaps others.

Yesterday I got the usual 611 message that my autopay was going to process to credit card.

Checked credit card entries this morning, payment was pre authorized.

Was waiting on an unrelated code this morning to come by text, did not show but I did have text from 611 saying credit card would not process.

No longer had cel service.

Tried to make manual payment online, would not accept.

Tried to make payment to 611, would not accept.

Phone bank issuing my credit card on my landline, confirmed no problem with card. 

Tried online with wife's card number, same credit card account, it worked so paid for 3 months of service.

Got cel service again instantly.

I have not included the expletives between each of the steps because none of them worked either. 

I am still waiting to hear back from a mod almost four hours later although I consider no service a big problem personally.

[elodiemar]

You cannot make a payment using 611 when you try to use the same credit card that auto pay says is no good. Seems like PM has a good system to flag what they consider "bad" credit cards so if autopay did not process then 611 will not take that card either. As mentioned earlier my wife's credit card number (which is actually the same Mastercard account) let me make an online payment to get service back but the first thing I tried was on my cel using 611.

[HMARK]

If you happen to have multiple e-mail accounts you may want to double-check which one you have used at the time you activated your SIM card.

Or, if you have been a member, discontinued, and joined again, could you be using information from two different accounts?

Or, if neither of the above applies, do you feel like sharing a bit more about this unfortunate experience?

[Anonymous]

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@Sunflowers wrote:

I have no services but I can use 611.  The issue there is I can't do what I need to from 611.

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 @Sunflowers 

You can make payments and buy add-ons in the 611 service. Payments can be from a pre-registered payment card or vouchers that you can buy in many stores or online. You can also go to a few stores and use the Instant Top-up method.

You'd need your 4-digit PIN to use the card.

[Anonymous]

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@elodiemar wrote:

Well Mr Mayor, in my defence it is not good to be the winner of being cut off. I know the internet is a series of tubes but please don’t try to make Public Mobile’s problems excusable. Me customer they money maker.

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Absolutely agree. Like I said, the payment system is very flaky. It's incredible that a business would continue with such a flaky payment system. That's their raison d'être...taking money. Alas.

[Sunflowers]

I have no services but I can use 611.  The issue there is I can't do what I need to from 611.

[Sunflowers]

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@Sunflowers wrote:

I can't even login to check my account, I've gone the "forgot my pass word" route and it keeps saying they are unable to verify the email address.

And yes - today seems to be my day.   

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Do you have any services? Can you dial and get through to 611?

[kb_mv]

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@Sunflowers wrote:

I can't even login to check my account, I've gone the "forgot my pass word" route and it keeps saying they are unable to verify the email address.

And yes - today seems to be my day.   

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@Sunflowers Sent the moderators a PM at:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

[elodiemar]

Well Mr Mayor, in my defence it is not good to be the winner of being cut off. I know the internet is a series of tubes but please don’t try to make Public Mobile’s problems excusable. Me customer they money maker.

[Sunflowers]

I can't even login to check my account, I've gone the "forgot my pass word" route and it keeps saying they are unable to verify the email address.

And yes - today seems to be my day.   

[Anonymous]

 @elodiemar : It seems to be for the vast majority of customers coming here looking for help. The payment system here is very flaky. It works perfectly fine for thousands of customers year after year. Until it's their lucky day. Yours was today.

On the last paid day of service, in the evening, the system says Plan Expired. Then at midnight ET it'll say suspended. At this point it converts rewards into Available Funds. Then it processes things seemingly by vacuum tubes and punch cards and then the next day at noon ET you get a text saying all done.

If nothing glitches through all this then the services keep working. It might not even cut off services for another while that morning. But it'll catch up.

[elodiemar]

Thanks for the idea but resolved as per my post above yours. A glitch by PM ?? May be coincidental but this is just one year after signing up with PM. Happy Anniversary!

[Sunflowers]

I'm having the same issue and I'm finding I can't get the help I need to fix it.

[dabr]

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@elodiemar wrote:

Thanks for rapid responses and suggestions but problem is credit card processing.

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@elodiemar   Are you changing or replacing your current CC?  Try removing the old CC and then add your new or existing CC (if not expired) again, remember the name/address must duplicate how it appears on your bank/CC statement.  Leave the apt # blank and no spaces for postal code.

But it's best to done in incognito/private mode with a clean browser.

You also have the option to try paying using the 611 service.

[RosieR]

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@elodiemar wrote:

Thanks for rapid responses and suggestions but problem is credit card processing.

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@elodiemar as the site is having glitches right now, you can try to manually top up your account in your self serve account using one-time payment, or dial 611 and pay with your preregistered credit card to add payment ( you need your PIN # for this). 

If still the system is not accepting your registered credit card, you can buy a voucher from gas stations, Shoppers Drug Mart, London Drugs or your local convenience stores, and use voucher to pay for now.

[elodiemar]

Thanks for rapid responses and suggestions but problem is credit card processing.

Very weird and actually pees me off. Tried wife’s card and it worked ! Same MasterCard account, hers is secondary card on my primary account. Paid three months in advance. Waiting to hear back from a mod ( an apology would be nice). 

[dabr]

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@elodiemar wrote:

Not in PM’s defense. My plan is CUT OFF. Not getting texts. Have tried manually adding funds but card will not process. Card is just fine. Have messaged mods but think they have a global problem !

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@elodiemar   Maybe try rebooting the phone or putting in and out of airplane mode. 

Also when adding funds make sure to clear cookies/cache and opening a new browser with incognito/privacy mode enabled.  PM's system can be quite glitchy from time to time unfortunately.

[RosieR]

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@elodiemar wrote:

Not in PM’s defense. My plan is CUT OFF. Not getting texts. Have tried manually adding funds but card will not process. Card is just fine. Have messaged mods but think they have a global problem !

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@elodiemar if you don't have service whatsoever, will you please check if the last 4-digit number of your sim card the same as the 4-digit number in your self serve account?  If they match, that's good.  If they don't match, then your sim card could have been hacked.

[elodiemar]

Not in PM’s defense. My plan is CUT OFF. Not getting texts. Have tried manually adding funds but card will not process. Card is just fine. Have messaged mods but think they have a global problem !

[RosieR]

Hi @huntrods during renewal our account goes suspended, then expired, and if autopay doesn't fail or you have enough funds in your account to cover your plan, active again.  It's just how the PM system is set.  I recently watched this happened to my account even when I had more than enough funds in my account to cover my $15 plan and I am on autopay.

In PM defense, they say to disregard the message if you have enough funds in your balance or on autopay.  You don't have to do anything if you do.  Just ignore the message.

Happy Holidays!  🎄🎄🎄

[HALIMACS]

I agree @huntrods , it is inconvenient.

For some reason, Public Mobile doesn't see it necessary to not cause it's newer customers to panic the first time they see it.

[popping · Accepted solution]

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@huntrods wrote:

We (my wife and I) are both Public Mobile customers for a while now. We are on AUTO PAY, consequently we always pay the monthly charge on time (it's all under your control with auto pay turned on).

Yet yesterday, while checking our usage, we got a bit bold message on our accounts saying "ACCOUNT EXPIRED". Really? I mean, this morning you auto-charged our credit card (as per auto pay) and so how in the world could we be EXPIRED yesterday if you didn't even charge until today?

Please fix this glitch ASAP because its very disconcerting to get told your account is expired when in fact it is obviously an account in good standing (or how else could you run auto pay and bill our cc). Expired should mean either

a) auto pay failed, or

b) we turned off auto pay and didn't pay, or were never on auto pay and didn't pay.

Either way, auto pay the DAY BEFORE YOU RUN IT should not ever show EXPIRED.

Again, please fix this ASAP.

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This is normal with PM billing system.  On the evening before your renewal date, your account status will changed to expired.  Ignore the status if your phone is still working.

[computergeek541]

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@huntrods wrote:

We (my wife and I) are both Public Mobile customers for a while now. We are on AUTO PAY, consequently we always pay the monthly charge on time (it's all under your control with auto pay turned on).

Yet yesterday, while checking our usage, we got a bit bold message on our accounts saying "ACCOUNT EXPIRED". Really? I mean, this morning you auto-charged our credit card (as per auto pay) and so how in the world could we be EXPIRED yesterday if you didn't even charge until today?

Please fix this glitch ASAP because its very disconcerting to get told your account is expired when in fact it is obviously an account in good standing (or how else could you run auto pay and bill our cc). Expired should mean either

a) auto pay failed, or

b) we turned off auto pay and didn't pay, or were never on auto pay and didn't pay.

Either way, auto pay the DAY BEFORE YOU RUN IT should not ever show EXPIRED.

Again, please fix this ASAP.

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This is a long standing cosmetic issue with the self serve site at Public Mobile. if your services are working, your account is not really expired or suspended. What the message does mean is that if you're not on autopay or if the funds aren't in your account balance, your plan won't renew unelss a payment is made. If your services are still working, Public Mobile has not yet tried to renew or remove the funds from your Public Mobile account balance.