Why my Account Overview said Account Status: Plan Expired?

[mwang]

Hi,

I had set up auto payment with my credit card already since 2016. My plan was successfully renewed every 90 days. Today is the payment due day of another 90days cycle, but when I login and check my account, I found my account status has been marked as Plan Expired with red color. I remembered when I signed up this 90days plan, it was saying that it will always available as long as I did not change plan. But now it says expired, can anyone tell me what's going on? How I can get my plan back? Thanks. 

[srlawren]

@SD08 yes, that was also suggested as a stop-gap workaround (the updated messaging to note that it's normal).  Sadly, no movement at all in that direction has been spotted to date.  I like your wording, it's well done.  🙂

[SD08]

@srlawren& @imm1304

Thanks for the clarification.  It may not be technically a bug, but PM should be changing the account display so customers aren't unnecessarily alarmed by the status dispayed.  It could be something as simple as including a highlighted message beside the status saying something along these lines: "If today was your regular payment due date and you have registered for autopay renewal, do not be alarmed by your account's temporary expired status, as the payment will be collected soon and your service renewed without interruption.  No further action is required from you unless your service stops.  Thank you for choosing Public Mobile."

[srlawren]

@imm1304 ...and again, and again, and....   😉

[imm1304]

@SD08, PM tech staff is very well aware of this and we discussed this during the most recent conference call as well.  It is on their to-do list.. hopefully they will get to it soon.  

I agree with @srlawren that this is one of those too-much-info-being-displayed type of issue.  We, the consumer don't need to be bothered with the exact mechanism at play under the hood.  BUT, as long as the selfserve displays a suspension notice on the renewal date, we will be having this conversation with new users again and again 🙂  

[srlawren]

@SD08 once again it's not technically a bug--your plan really DOES expire temporarily until such time as the payment is applied and the new cycle starts.  It's actually operating as designed; the actual problem is that it's showing you your real technical status when it should be showing you your logical or effective status, which is that your account is active even though your plan has technically expired.  This is purely a display issue, the renewal mechanism is working fine.  It just should not freak people out by showing them what's going on behind the curtain!

[cricketfan]

I hope it's back to normal now. Active and running!. Service doesn't get effected while it's in the expired state.
During my renewal, I was waiting for the data to cut off while the switch (was streaming music) happened but it didn't.

[mwang]

Thank you. 

[mwang]

Thank you. I will wait for tomorrow and double check then.Thanks.

[Samianauman]

It's all good as long service doesn't get effected

[SD08]

@Samianauman

That's right.  This is a long running problem that PM hasn't gotten around to fixing, though I'm sure they are aware of it.  It's mostly a problem of account display & messaging around renewal time.  It's a cause of unnecessary worry when customers see it.  For now, all we can do is let the customers know what's happening to allay their concern.

[Samianauman]

@SD08
So that's means service doesn't get impacted by this is just self serve shows expired right bit all service still working even though status say suspended?

[SD08 · Accepted solution]

@mwang

This expired/account suspended message is a well-known bug on the self-serve site that appears at each renewal and is normally not cause for concern as long as your service is working. If today was your payment due date, then here's what to expect:
1. Expiration of completed period. Account will show "plan expired" sometime before midnight.
2. Conversion of all rewards to available funds at midnight; rewards reset. Payment not collected yet at this point. Account will show "Your account has been suspended" in big red letters.
3. In the early hours of the morning, available funds will be used (if any), credit card will be charged (if necessary), and plan will be renewed. Account status will then show "active."
Throughout this process, your service should be uninterrupted. You only need to contact a moderator for help if your service actually stops (can't make calls or use data).

Rest assured, you will not lose your plan.  That won't happen unless you fail to make payment on an expired plan for 90 days past the expiration.  In your case, I would advise to just let the autopay do its work, account expired messages notwithstanding.  Just check to make sure your phone still gets service tomorrow morning (incoming & outgoing calls/text/data).  

[Andy1000]

No worry thats normal, your phone will still work and the status will go back to active the next day.