"We're sorry talk is not included on your plan" or "you have 2$ left on your account"

[kingdobe]

I switched over to public mobile just after christmas, I've been with Virgin mobile since 2006 and they just couldn't get me a device I wanted with the same rate I'd been paying. I'd been off contract with them since 2016 so I owned my phone and had a grandfathered plan. I really didn't want to go but I was being told I can get almost the same deal but a bit better with Public so i jumped ship.

My issue a couple weeks after was I went to call my mother in Ontario, I have unlimited talk across canada however I got an automated message saying long distance charges may apply. So I aborted the call, tried to call 611 and was met with an automated message system making me jump through hoops with no hope of speaking to a person.  I tried calling the 1855 number and was told that my plan "doesn't include talk".

So here I am, what do I do?
my plan is the pick and pay with the following:

Pick & Pay

• This plan includes: -
• - 3 Choices with Canada wide Talk
• - 500MB at 3G Speed
• - Unlimited Canada-wide Talk
• - Unlimited International Text

I signed up for auto pay to get 2$ off, but I cant fathom how it's telling me I don't have talk on my plan or that I will be charged for long distance calling?

[stonechucker]

"Long distance charges may apply" is a message that will occur whenever you call out of your LOCAL calling area.  For example, Cambridge ON to Kitchener ON is a LOCAL call (except for the Hespeler section, unless it changed since I left), where as Cambridge ON to Toronto ON is long distance.

Yes, they're in the same province, but it is a LONG DISTANCE call.

Dialing the +1 prior to the 10 digit number blocks the warning message almost all the time.  Correctly dialing long distance with only the 1 + the 10 digits also blocks the warning.

Standing in Toronto with a Cambridge number, you don't need the +1 or the 1.

Confusing yes.... but it's how it works.

[kav2001c]

@kingdobe "long distance charges may apply" is a warning (Telus wide)

Just ignore it

If you dial the + number you can stop the system prompt also

[zhadj030]

If you have Canada wide calling then wether the 1 exists before the number or not doesn't really matter since most of the issues are related to the provincial calling. Either way as mentioned above PM is prepaid that means if you try something and it worked then it is included in you plan or else it will fail to  to work, so if you were to call an American number then the call will not work and you will get disconnected automatically. 

[kingdobe]

the +1 is there, but you answered my question. I'm almost positive I've called back east without having that automated message before but I could be wrong, thank you.

[closng · Accepted solution]

Hi @kingdobe,

First question, when you dialed the number, did you add a +1 in front of the phone number? Even if it warns you that long distance charges may apply, you do not have to worry about that because Public Mobile is a prepaid service, so there will be no extra charges (even with auto-pay).

There is also no call center or phone support for Public Mobile customers, it is the business model of Public Mobile, which is one of the reasons why the plans are priced much more competitive compared to other providers.