When and How to Suspend or Place an account on Hold (Extended absence, etc)

[pm-smayer97]

Much info and other pseudo answers elsewhere on this site are incomplete and confusing... what is correct info?

(see next post below and click Accept Solution if it helps you)

[pm-smayer97]

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@will13am wrote:

@pm-smayer97, the stuff you covered is intended to reside in the knowledge base area of this community forum.  @Alan_K is the custodian.  If you feel up to it, look through the knowledge base posts and supply feedback.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Knowledge-Base/tkb-p/knowledge_base

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Sorry, not clear if you are telling me there is the same info in the KB, if so, I have searched high and low and have not found this kind of info. But if you are suggesting this be moved to the KB, that would be good. I'll leave that up to mods to sort that out. Regardless, a global search would hopefully pull up this article.

[Acekiller]

I think this pretty much covers it.

[will13am]

@pm-smayer97, the stuff you covered is intended to reside in the knowledge base area of this community forum.  @Alan_K is the custodian.  If you feel up to it, look through the knowledge base posts and supply feedback.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Knowledge-Base/tkb-p/knowledge_base

[pm-smayer97]

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@jp2 wrote:

I would probably add to your post something about changing to a cheaper plan such as the 10 dollar plan so that if someone wants to hold their number longer at the end of the 90 day suspension they can just pay 10 dollars to get 30 days + another 90 in suspension afterwards. 

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Good feedback. I have added that in too at the end.

[jp2]

I know how tired the eyes get on night shift everything starts looking the same 

[pm-smayer97]

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@jp2 wrote:

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@pm-smayer97 wrote:

Q: How do I suspend or place my account on hold?

A: There are 3 ways to suspend or place your account on hold

1. If you have more funds in your account than the cost of your plan at renewal, first turn off Autopay! Then do nothing. Your account will automatically be suspended and placed on hold when your plan period expires.

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I think you meant to say if you have less funds in your account than the cost of renewal 

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Good catch! I have corrected the text. Thx.

[jp2]

I would probably add to your post something about changing to a cheaper plan such as the 10 dollar plan so that if someone wants to hold their number longer at the end of the 90 day suspension they can just pay 10 dollars to get 30 days + another 90 in suspension afterwards. 

[jp2]

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@pm-smayer97 wrote:

Q: How do I suspend or place my account on hold?

A: There are 3 ways to suspend or place your account on hold

1. If you have more funds in your account than the cost of your plan at renewal, first turn off Autopay! Then do nothing. Your account will automatically be suspended and placed on hold when your plan period expires.

---

I think you meant to say if you have less funds in your account than the cost of renewal 

[pm-smayer97]

Many people think that just because they do not plan on using their phone for a period of time that they need to suspend or place their account on hold. In some cases, that is actually not necessary. And some people think that if they have registered for AutoPay, they need to disable it. If fact, it may be worse if you do.

It is recommended that you read this entire article to fully appreciate the ins and outs of when and how to suspend your account and the implication of each method (you may need to read it more than once).

Q1: When should I suspend or place my account on hold?

A1: The answer is, it depends.

The only time you actually need to place your account on hold is if you have more funds in your account than it costs for your plan at renewal for which you are signed up OR if you have registered for AutoPay.

If you have less funds in your account than the cost of the plan, your plan will automatically be suspended when the plan period expires, unless you have registered for AutoPay.

Q2: Can I get a credit for unused time if I suspend or place my account on hold?

A2: No. Typically not. Understand that PM is a Pre-Paid service. This means that whatever time you have already paid for, is paid for. Suspending or placing your account on hold does NOT stop the clock on your plan. And you normally cannot get a credit for the balance of the time (though it can never hurt to ask, but it is not standard).

Q3: So why should I not suspend or place my account on hold manually right away?

A3: Because you only have 90 days to reactivate your account from the day the account is suspended or placed on hold. For a better way, read on.

Q4: When should I choose to suspend or place my account on hold?

A4: It Depends but typically only if you have more funds in your account than the cost of your plan at renewal or you have registered for AutoPay. As mentioned above, there is no benefit to suspend it manually otherwise.

Q5: When should I actually suspend or place my account on hold?

A5: As late as possible.

Once an account is suspended or placed on hold, you only have 90 days before you have to reactivate the account. Otherwise you will lose your telephone # and your plan. So if you suspend your plan far before your expiry date of your paid plan, you lose the extra time (for more on this, read on).

Q6: How do I suspend or place my account on hold?

A6: There are 3 ways to suspend or place your account on hold:

1. Contact the moderator team and ask them to do it. It will take effect immediately (BUT requires waiting for a moderator to respond and the back and forth of being validated).
2. Do it yourself online. Go to your self-serve account and click on [Plans and Add-ons] tab. Then click on [Lost/Stolen Phone] tab. Then click on the (Suspend Service) button. That's it.
3. If you have less funds in your account than the cost of your plan at renewal, you may turn off AutoPay! Then do nothing. Your account will automatically be suspended and placed on hold when your plan period expires. CAUTION: This may impact your bonus features (read Other considerations at the end down below)!

NOTE: You can confirm that your account is marked Lost/Stolen by clicking on the [Overview] tab. Just below the big grey box you should see "Account Status: Lost-Stolen / Fermé".

Q7: Does turning off Autopay suspend or place my account on hold?

A7: No. Not directly anyway.

The only function that registering for Autopay serves is that if you have insufficient funds in your account to pay for the plan you have selected, Autopay will automatically charge your registered account the missing funds to cover the cost.

CAUTION: If Autopay is turned off BUT if you still have sufficient funds in your account, PM will automatically apply the funds and renew your plan. The only way to stop this is to suspend or place your account on hold.

Of course, if you have Autopay turned off and you do not have sufficient funds at renewal time, your account will automatically be suspended and placed on hold.

Q8: So which method should I use to suspend or place my account on hold? Should I do it manually or not? How do I decide? (This is the key question!)

A8: It Depends. 

If you are registered for AutoPay: The simplest is to do it manually but as late as possible. See A6-1 or A6-2 above.

If you are not registered for AutoPay and :

      a) you have more funds in your account than the cost of your renewal: Again, do it manually but as late as possible. See A6-3 above.

      b) you have less funds in your account than the cost of your renewal: do nothing. Your account will automatically be suspended at the next renewal date.

Q9: What happens to my funds if my account is suspended? Do I lose my account balance?

A9: No.  No matter HOW your account gets suspended, ALL your existing funds in the account will remain. You will only lose your balance if the account becomes deactivated after the 90 days have past and no plan has not been renewed.

Q10: What happens to my add-ons? Do I lose them?

A10: No. No matter HOW your account gets suspended, ALL your existing addons in the account will remain. This includes any gifted addons from PM. You will only lose your add-ons if the account becomes deactivated after the 90 days have past and no plan has not been renewed.

Q11: What happens to my Rewards? Do I lose them?

A11: No. No matter HOW your account gets suspended, ALL your existing rewards (Loyalty, AutoPay, Refer-A-Friend, Community) in the account will remain but will also be suspended. You will only lose your pending rewards if the account becomes deactivated after the 90 days have past and no plan has not been renewed. You will not earn any more rewards until your account is re-activated, at which point you will continue to earn rewards according to PM policy. (click General Reward Rules or Help Articles-Rewards for more details)

Q12: What happens to the features or addons on my plan?

A12: They all stop working until the plan is re-activated.

This includes voicemail. Callers will simply get a ringing that does not stop (mostly if they call from a landline) or the call will simply not even go through (no ringing at all; mostly if they call from another cell phone). Either way it will never go to your voicemail.

AutoPay will also be suspended until your account is resumed.

Also note that your plan and related features will be restored when you re-activate your account (except the ones associated with AutoPay if you turned off AutoPay to suspend your account and if the AutoPay bonus is not longer available).

Q13: How do I re-activate my account?

A13: There are 3 ways to re-activate your account. They are simply the reverse of the 3 methods listed above:

1. Contact the moderator team to re-activate the account. 
2. Turn on AutoPay with enough time for the system to withdraw funds from your registered account to pay for and renew your plan. NOTE: if you have used the [Lost/Stolen Phone] feature (or even if a moderator placed your account on hold for you), you cannot turn on AutoPay first. See option 3.1., below.
3. Do it yourself online. There are 2 ways:
   1. If you used the [Lost/Stolen Phone] feature to place your plan on hold (or even if a moderator placed your account on hold for you), you must first go to your self-serve account and click on the [Plans and Add-ons] tab. Then click on the [Lost/Stolen Phone] tab. Then click the (Resume Service) button. Then you can perform step 3.2. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you try step 3.2. first, it will NOT re-activate your account, but the system will not tell you why (there is no feedback that you need to resume your account from the Lost/Stolen state first). 
   2. If you did not use the [Lost/Stolen Phone] feature to place your plan on hold yourself (AND a moderator did NOT place your account on hold for you), go to your self-serve account and click on [Overview] tab (the default tab when you first log in). Click (Reactivate Account) button if it is there. 

TIP: At the moment, there is a bug in Self-Serve that may not automatically re-activate the account after doing steps 2. or 3.1., or 3.2., even if there are sufficient funds to cover any plan you choose or you have AutoPay already turned on. Until this is fixed, there is a work-around. Simply add at least $1 to your account using a voucher, credit card or visa debit card AFTER "resuming" the account (step 3.1., if applicable). Then the system will automatically renew your plan.

NOTE: Also, the system currently prevents you from turning on AutoPay (if it was disabled) until your plan is fully re-activated and renewed with a payment (as noted in A13.2. above). 

Q14: How much time do I have before I have to re-activate a suspended account?

A14: You have a maximum of 90 days from the day the account is suspended or placed on hold. 

If you do not re-activate your account in time, you will lose your telephone # and your plan, including any balance left in the account.

The system will show the your exact date your account will be deactivated. Go to the [Overview] tab and in the big grey box you will see "Top up before [date]". You must re-activate your account by 11:59 pm the day before this date to not lose your account (telephone # and balance).

Q15: What if I want/need to suspend or place my account on hold longer than the 90 days suspend time?

A15: Two Strategies:

1. Select the cheapest available plan and add enough funds to cover that plan. This will give you the time for that plan period + 90 more days after that plan expires (and you no longer have funds to cover the cost). CAUTION: The down side is that you would give up your existing plan to do this (and you risk not being able to get it back if it is no longer offered when you re-activate your account).
2. Renew your existing plan for another payment cycle, then repeat the process of suspending or placing your account on hold (this approach is more cost effective if you already have a 30-day plan vs a 90-day plan).

Other considerations:

1. If you turn off AutoPay, you may lose any bonus feature(s) that PM gave you as a result of turning on AutoPay. The bonus feature(s) may not be recovered if they are no longer offered at the time you re-activate your account (see terms & conditions for your plan).
2. As soon as your account is placed on hold, any telephone number used as a referral will lose its referral award until your account is re-activated.
3. Beware of any turn-around time from a moderator if you choose to go through them to perform any of this, which is unpredictable, ranging from hours to days.
4. Beware of any announced or unannounced system maintenance times where you may lose access to your self-serve account to perform any of these changes. To never miss an announcement from PM, see the following instructions:   How to get notified of ANY New Promos, Announcements, System Outages, etc

TIP: As noted above, there are important implications when turning off AutoPay. Therefore. use the option to place your account on hold by turning off AutoPay as a last resort.

(click Accept Solution if this info helps you)

[pm-smayer97]

Many people think that just because they do not plan on using their phone for a period of time that they need to suspend or place their account on hold. In some cases, that is actually not necessary. And some people think that if they have registered for AutoPay, they need to disable it. If fact, it may be worse if you do.

It is recommended that you read this entire article to fully appreciate the ins and outs of when and how to suspend your account and the implication of each method (you may need to read it more than once).

Q1: When should I suspend or place my account on hold?

A1: The answer is, it depends.

The only time you actually need to place your account on hold is if you have more funds in your account than it costs for your plan at renewal for which you are signed up OR if you have registered for AutoPay.

If you have less funds in your account than the cost of the plan, your plan will automatically be suspended when the plan period expires, unless you have registered for AutoPay.

Q2: Can I get a credit for unused time if I suspend or place my account on hold?

A2: No. Typically not. Understand that PM is a Pre-Paid service. This means that whatever time you have already paid for, is paid for. Suspending or placing your account on hold does NOT stop the clock on your plan. And you normally cannot get a credit for the balance of the time (though it can never hurt to ask, but it is not standard).

Q3: So why should I not suspend or place my account on hold manually right away?

A3: Because you only have 90 days to reactivate your account from the day the account is suspended or placed on hold. For a better way, read on.

Q4: When should I choose to suspend or place my account on hold?

A4: It Depends but typically only if you have more funds in your account than the cost of your plan at renewal or you have registered for AutoPay. As mentioned above, there is no benefit to suspend it manually otherwise.

Q5: When should I actually suspend or place my account on hold?

A5: As late as possible.

Once an account is suspended or placed on hold, you only have 90 days before you have to reactivate the account. Otherwise you will lose your telephone # and your plan. So if you suspend your plan far before your expiry date of your paid plan, you lose the extra time (for more on this, read on).

Q6: How do I suspend or place my account on hold?

A6: There are 3 ways to suspend or place your account on hold:

1. Contact the moderator team and ask them to do it. It will take effect immediately (BUT requires waiting for a moderator to respond and the back and forth of being validated).
2. Do it yourself online. Go to your self-serve account and click on [Plans and Add-ons] tab. Then click on [Lost/Stolen Phone] tab. Then click on the (Suspend Service) button. That's it.
3. If you have less funds in your account than the cost of your plan at renewal, you may turn off AutoPay! Then do nothing. Your account will automatically be suspended and placed on hold when your plan period expires. CAUTION: This may impact your bonus features (read Other considerations at the end down below)!

NOTE: You can confirm that your account is marked Lost/Stolen by clicking on the [Overview] tab. Just below the big grey box you should see "Account Status: Lost-Stolen / Fermé".

Q7: Does turning off Autopay suspend or place my account on hold?

A7: No. Not directly anyway.

The only function that registering for Autopay serves is that if you have insufficient funds in your account to pay for the plan you have selected, Autopay will automatically charge your registered account the missing funds to cover the cost.

CAUTION: If Autopay is turned off BUT if you still have sufficient funds in your account, PM will automatically apply the funds and renew your plan. The only way to stop this is to suspend or place your account on hold.

Of course, if you have Autopay turned off and you do not have sufficient funds at renewal time, your account will automatically be suspended and placed on hold.

Q8: So which method should I use to suspend or place my account on hold? Should I do it manually or not? How do I decide? (This is the key question!)

A8: It Depends. 

If you are registered for AutoPay: The simplest is to do it manually but as late as possible. See A6-1 or A6-2 above.

If you are not registered for AutoPay and :

      a) you have more funds in your account than the cost of your renewal: Again, do it manually but as late as possible. See A6-3 above.

      b) you have less funds in your account than the cost of your renewal: do nothing. Your account will automatically be suspended at the next renewal date.

Q9: What happens to my funds if my account is suspended? Do I lose my account balance?

A9: No.  No matter HOW your account gets suspended, ALL your existing funds in the account will remain. You will only lose your balance if the account becomes deactivated after the 90 days have past and no plan has not been renewed.

Q10: What happens to my add-ons? Do I lose them?

A10: No. No matter HOW your account gets suspended, ALL your existing addons in the account will remain. This includes any gifted addons from PM. You will only lose your add-ons if the account becomes deactivated after the 90 days have past and no plan has not been renewed.

Q11: What happens to my Rewards? Do I lose them?

A11: No. No matter HOW your account gets suspended, ALL your existing rewards (Loyalty, AutoPay, Refer-A-Friend, Community) in the account will remain but will also be suspended. You will only lose your pending rewards if the account becomes deactivated after the 90 days have past and no plan has not been renewed. You will not earn any more rewards until your account is re-activated, at which point you will continue to earn rewards according to PM policy. (click General Reward Rules or Help Articles-Rewards for more details)

Q12: What happens to the features or addons on my plan?

A12: They all stop working until the plan is re-activated.

This includes voicemail. Callers will simply get a ringing that does not stop (mostly if they call from a landline) or the call will simply not even go through (no ringing at all; mostly if they call from another cell phone). Either way it will never go to your voicemail.

AutoPay will also be suspended until your account is resumed.

Also note that your plan and related features will be restored when you re-activate your account (except the ones associated with AutoPay if you turned off AutoPay to suspend your account and if the AutoPay bonus is not longer available).

Q13: How do I re-activate my account?

A13: There are 3 ways to re-activate your account. They are simply the reverse of the 3 methods listed above:

1. Contact the moderator team to re-activate the account. 
2. Turn on AutoPay with enough time for the system to withdraw funds from your registered account to pay for and renew your plan. NOTE: if you have used the [Lost/Stolen Phone] feature (or even if a moderator placed your account on hold for you), you cannot turn on AutoPay first. See option 3.1., below.
3. Do it yourself online. There are 2 ways:
   1. If you used the [Lost/Stolen Phone] feature to place your plan on hold (or even if a moderator placed your account on hold for you), you must first go to your self-serve account and click on the [Plans and Add-ons] tab. Then click on the [Lost/Stolen Phone] tab. Then click the (Resume Service) button. Then you can perform step 3.2. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you try step 3.2. first, it will NOT re-activate your account, but the system will not tell you why (there is no feedback that you need to resume your account from the Lost/Stolen state first). 
   2. If you did not use the [Lost/Stolen Phone] feature to place your plan on hold yourself (AND a moderator did NOT place your account on hold for you), go to your self-serve account and click on [Overview] tab (the default tab when you first log in). Click (Reactivate Account) button if it is there. 

TIP: At the moment, there is a bug in Self-Serve that may not automatically re-activate the account after doing steps 2. or 3.1., or 3.2., even if there are sufficient funds to cover any plan you choose or you have AutoPay already turned on. Until this is fixed, there is a work-around. Simply add at least $1 to your account using a voucher, credit card or visa debit card AFTER "resuming" the account (step 3.1., if applicable). Then the system will automatically renew your plan.

NOTE: Also, the system currently prevents you from turning on AutoPay (if it was disabled) until your plan is fully re-activated and renewed with a payment (as noted in A13.2. above). 

Q14: How much time do I have before I have to re-activate a suspended account?

A14: You have a maximum of 90 days from the day the account is suspended or placed on hold. 

If you do not re-activate your account in time, you will lose your telephone # and your plan, including any balance left in the account.

The system will show the your exact date your account will be deactivated. Go to the [Overview] tab and in the big grey box you will see "Top up before [date]". You must re-activate your account by 11:59 pm the day before this date to not lose your account (telephone # and balance).

Q15: What if I want/need to suspend or place my account on hold longer than the 90 days suspend time?

A15: Two Strategies:

1. Select the cheapest available plan and add enough funds to cover that plan. This will give you the time for that plan period + 90 more days after that plan expires (and you no longer have funds to cover the cost). CAUTION: The down side is that you would give up your existing plan to do this (and you risk not being able to get it back if it is no longer offered when you re-activate your account).
2. Renew your existing plan for another payment cycle, then repeat the process of suspending or placing your account on hold (this approach is more cost effective if you already have a 30-day plan vs a 90-day plan).

Other considerations:

1. If you turn off AutoPay, you may lose any bonus feature(s) that PM gave you as a result of turning on AutoPay. The bonus feature(s) may not be recovered if they are no longer offered at the time you re-activate your account (see terms & conditions for your plan).
2. As soon as your account is placed on hold, any telephone number used as a referral will lose its referral award until your account is re-activated.
3. Beware of any turn-around time from a moderator if you choose to go through them to perform any of this, which is unpredictable, ranging from hours to days.
4. Beware of any announced or unannounced system maintenance times where you may lose access to your self-serve account to perform any of these changes. To never miss an announcement from PM, see the following instructions:   How to get notified of ANY New Promos, Announcements, System Outages, etc

TIP: As noted above, there are important implications when turning off AutoPay. Therefore. use the option to place your account on hold by turning off AutoPay as a last resort.

(click Accept Solution if this info helps you)