Who's heard of the Public Mobile data scam?

[expertmarketeer]

Someone told me that Public mobile actively uses up people's data for them. I didnt believe that until I started receiving message 1-2 weeks into my month of usage, that my data is almost done. How is this possible, if I'm ALWAYS at home using wifi? After looking into my account, I can see that Public mobile is falsely showing me wrong data readings.

You can see that according to my account history,  I have only used up less than a gig of data, but when you see my data add ons, it sais I've used 3600mb and 2877 mb.

Would anyone from Public Mobile like to explain this data ?

https://www.screencast.com/t/wiHdiLXW

[Emmasmom]

I know for iPhones they have wifi assist and that really eats up your data. If you are on a wifi that is slower than your data your phone will switch to use your data

[kb_mv]

@Jb456 I stand corrected, or better yet, my bad. I should pay closer attention.

[Jb456]

@kb_mv  link below from a few weeks ago came back and said "my bad". You were tagged in their reply

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Plans-Add-Ons/30-Day-Plan-is-really-a-27-Day-Plan/m-p...

[Korth]

@kb_mv 

I'm less amazed by these claims. They suggest the opposite of rational logic - finding facts to support your bias - observing results which apparently prove your expectations, discarding results which might disprove your expectations. Or they suggest another opposite of rational logic - defensively kneejerking panic or aggressively lashing of anger.

[kb_mv]

I am always amazed by the people that come on here shouting SCAM, LAWSUIT, FRAUD, BBB COMPLAINT, CRTC etc etc rather than rationally explaining that they have an issue, can someone explain it, help them out or direct them to a moderator.

I have yet to see one account of these types of accusations validated. Of course I also can't recall someone making these claims come back and say oops, my bad, sorry.....

Life is too short to be that wound up and upset from the beginning.

My 2 cents

[sam777aircraft]

Your phone should have a page (under settings) that shows your data usage. If that usage is the same as your account usage, then there is no scam, and your phone is consuming the actual data. Having said that, I have noticed that throughout the day, my account usage and phone usage don't always line up. Sometime my account shows higher usage than my phone, but but the end of the day, things settle down and the phone and account usages are more or less the same. As said earlier, make sure your data is turned off while on wifi and under app settings, don't allow any apps to use background data

[darlicious]

@Korth 

I must say I was impressed with how little mobile data was used when hotspotting my tablet off my phone today. With the bf on Facebook for the better part of 8 hours and myself on pm and few other sites we went thru about 300mb of data with a weak telus that fluctuated between one bar and none at certain spots in the house.

[Korth]

If this is a "scam" then it's done by every operator, every network, every carrier.

Software data settings are probably misconfigured. Lots of syncs and updates and useless traffic (and unwanted advertising garbage) in the background, eating data. Using cellular wireless instead of WiFi wireless, eating data. And the softwares built into some phones/brands use up a lot more background data than they really should.

If your phone has deficient wireless - poor signal (low bars), far away from the nearest tower, or even just weak battery - then it will send and request many more data packets than necessary for error correction. This overhead won't be measured as "data" by most phone software, it will be measured as data by the network hardware which kept sending and re-sending data packets.

It's also common for people who've just activated new accounts to run speedtests right away. Curious about what sort of performance their new carrier provides.

And this is a bad move. Public Mobile's "3G Speed" 3Mbps isn't properly imposed for up to 48 hours - if your phone establishes full LTE or LTE-A then speedtests will burn through your GBs in just a few minutes. Users don't think of this as "data" because it didn't actually do anything ... but again, this is measured as data by the network hardware which sent all the data packets.

[darlicious]

@expertmarketeer 

While your plan data is for your 30 day cycle in your data usage your data add on usage is accumulative since you recieved your data add ons. You will also not recieve text from public mobile warning you of your plan data being almost consumed when you have data add ons. It's best to use your phone's data warning and data limiter tools to avoid nasty surprises with your data usage. Mine are set with a warning at 25% of plan data usage and the limiter at 50%. This way I am forced to reset before my data can be used again and I don't find out that I've used all my plan data and 8gb of add on data all of a sudden because of a rogue app.

BTW....when you go to the link you supplied to better view your data usage your phone number is showing in the first shot. Best to remove it from public view to avoid possible fraudsters.

[Nezgar]

@expertmarketeer

Keep in mind that your "4GB one time data bonus" is just that - one time.

If you go over the 5GB included in your 30 day plan, it will begin to deduct from your one-time add-on. When your 30 day cycle renews, the add-on remains partially consumed until the next time you exceed your base plan allotment, until it is fully consumed.

The other thing to watch, is to ensure the cycle renewal date is set correctly in your phones internal data usage counters. They may slowly creep off a few days as android uses the same day of the month, whereas Public Mobile is every 30 days. This will offset it for months with 28, 29, and 31 days...

[LurganIeUk]

If you leave your DATA on all the time.....don't assume it won't kick in while your WIFI is weak in a specific area.  

If you are on the $15 plan.....LEAVE IT OFF ALL THE TIME.....when you need to use it...turn it on..use it and then TURN IT OFF. 

[hairbag1]

@expertmarketeer...

before you go hollerin' "Scam"...do some research first.

Make sure your settings on the phone are correct. When you're using wifi...turn OFF the data. Sometimes we mistakenly enable "Wifi Assist"...don't. Look through your settings to see what apps are using your data.

I've been with PM for 3 years now and haven't had anything like what you describe happening.

Look around your phone and ask questions if you need scarification. There's always someone here in the Forum who's willing to help.

[Jb456]

@expertmarketeer are you going through all pages of your usage history? Seems like your screenshot only shows a few usages for the last few days?..

At the bottom of usage history there is page 1, page 2,etc.

Also when is your payment due date? Plans are thirty days so we can tell when your data started for these 30 days.

To respond about you being on wifi all the time. You should check your phone settings for future use. There is wifi + and wifi assist (different name for Android and iPhone} which automatically connect back to data when the wifi signal is weak or having issues.

There is Unrestricted data apps that could be set to on.

Also in developer options may have mobile data always on as well.

But let's first figure out your data usage portion of the question first.

[gpixel]

@expertmarketeer what's the make and model of the device? 

do you leave your mobile data enabled at all times?

unless your mobile data is always off unless you're using it, it's hard to say if you there is a leak in your data

[expertmarketeer]

This is how public mobile makes money. They use your data for you.

check out my history usage, and then compare that to what my add-ons say I have:

https://www.screencast.com/t/wiHdiLXW

Aparently this has been going on for months, and there is a civil case being created and brought forth to the CRTC and to the better business bureau. Check out their website for more info.