refund request

[CateSkate]

Recently switched carriers away from Public Mobile. Was able to port over number. Was charged for full month (with auto pay) Jan 28 and ended service on Jan 29th. Would like a refund for that last month since I only used for 1 day. Or at the very least refund for the month minus pro-rated use of 1-2 days.

[hhaidar]

Don't listen to people saying you should have "planned the port better". I did the port the day before my plan was going to be charged and it didn't go through due to a technical glitch. PM even sent me an "activate your account" email which was very strange since I was trying to leave.

Anyway, I managed to port out immediately after but my card was still charged. I contacted support and the rep was a bit snarky suggesting I do a chargeback. When I called my credit card company they told me that I should go back and talk to Telus. Telus told me they didn't provide support for PM and to go back and escalate further.

Instead of continuing to be ran around like a hamster I filed a CCTS complaint and a few days later a PM rep contacted me to apologize. They are sending me a cheque by mail for a full refund.'

I'm dumbfounded that they're willing to waste so much time and money for a $39 refund but here we are.

[Phil_Adelphus]

@Mehdireza  You will need to contact customer service, submit a ticket from the chat icon bottom right of this page. 

[Mehdireza]

Hello,  I could not activate esim due S20 Ultra compatible problem and now I want to cancel and request refund of my purchase. Can you help please?

[HALIMACS]

They certainly can @Castyl  😉

[Castyl]

Absolutely understand what you mean, just saying that it's a very small mistake and that they can afford to be nice. 😂

[HALIMACS]

@Castyl 

again, I believe Public Mobile may go ahead and credit the OP the charge.

The only point I’m making here is customers need to take accountability for their own actions and failure to act.

[Castyl]

Of course since it is in the terms of service which was agreed upon, the customer would not be successful if the case were to proceed. The point of the message was to send a broader message to the company; Telus has been hung out to dry in the court of public opinion before, for example with the credit card surcharge which crashed and burned, and a few years back when PM refused to honor a plan that was posted and several people complained to CCTS. They are used to not having to compete for their customer base and having disorganized billing practices that have caused much headache.

I doubt Telus will succeed at or want to take out the actions of a few greedy customers on its customer base, which it seemingly has aggressively grown with the PM brand. For me at least, the way I look at it is, a company the size of Telus has a lot of money, pays its employees garbage salaries, has oversized political influence and not to mention an unreasonable market share, so I don't feel bad a bit about causing them a minor inconvenience they could avoid by simply waiving a one time occurrence.

Who knows, it might even encourage that person to become a customer at a later date.

[HALIMACS]

Good reply @computergeek541  -  bang on!

@Castyl , you realize that kind of advice effectively ends up costing EXISTING customers, right?  Why in the heck would you suggest that a customer leaving Public Mobile forgo their responsibilities and have the existing customer base bear the cost of that person's failure to take the necessary steps prior to leaving?

Sure, coming from experience in a pseudo-regulatory role from a 'prior life', the companies being regulated would rather take a 'loss' than pay to fight a case they would surely win.  The only time they play that game is when there are broader ramifications for making an exception.   In the end, the squeaky wheel still does  get the grease, however my experience is that most squeaky wheels are driven by people who are in the business of circumventing personal responsibility and accountability.

I'd ask again - why should OTHERS pay for that.

Saying all the above, customer support agents can be understanding.   Refunding all or part of the final cycle payment IF a customer hasn't utilized the services is something a CSA may offer.   It's worth the ask, so long as the OP goes into the request admitting they were the ones who 'forgot' and doesn't lay blame on PM.

[computergeek541]

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@Phil_Adelphus wrote:

@Castyl   Public Mobile's service terms very clearly state no refunds for cancelled service so I don't know that the CCTS would get involved in that case. 

Quoting from service terms:  "Can I receive a refund of unused funds if I cancel my service?
Funds added to your account are non-refundable. After ninety days with no active rate plan, your account will be automatically deactivated and all unused funds will be lost."

This is why it is recommended to port out a few days before the next renewal date rather than a day or so after auto-renewing.   

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They will accept the complaint, but I can say that they will not find in the customer's favor if the complaint is proceeded with.  Despite what customers might believe, the CCTS is not on the customer's side (nor the carrier's side).    The complaint would be accepted, but the first step would simply be for CCTS to ask the carrier to contact the customer.  Hypothetically, if the carrier says "no refund", the customer could force CCTS to investigate.  I can say from experience that in these types of cases, CCTS will give the cusomer the option to proceed further, but will also actually say that they would not rule in the carrier's favor in these types of cases as they will simply uphold the carrier's terms of service specifically dealing with a prepaid account.  The consumer's argument would be a matter of whether it's legal or not to charge for services that haven't been provided.  CCTS will not rule on such matters of legality.

[Phil_Adelphus · Accepted solution]

@Castyl   Public Mobile's service terms very clearly state no refunds for cancelled service so I don't know that the CCTS would get involved in that case. 

Quoting from service terms:  "Can I receive a refund of unused funds if I cancel my service?
Funds added to your account are non-refundable. After ninety days with no active rate plan, your account will be automatically deactivated and all unused funds will be lost."

This is why it is recommended to port out a few days before the next renewal date rather than a day or so after auto-renewing.   

[Castyl]

Hi,

You may not "officially" be able to get a refund from them, but you sure can make them pay for it another way. I'd suggest contacting the CCTS, more often than not, the people who respond to CCTS complaints are more than willing to give you what you want so that they can resolve the issue.

The parent company, TELUS, also gets charged a hefty fee per complaint so it is also a way of getting back at them.

Best regards!

[hTideGnow]

sorry @CateSkate no prorated refund here. PM is prepaid and will not refund for early cancellation.  You should have planned the port better

But where you moved? if you went to Koodo or Telus, they might be able to give you a one time credit 

[HALIMACS]

@CateSkate 

Next time, please try to plan your port 2-3 days BEFORE the end of the cycle. 

[NDesai]

@CateSkate Unfortunately, Public Mobile is a prepaid service so no refund even if you didn't use it for a day.