Charged as new customer?

[Tdeguzman]

I recently switched over to PM on Nov 11 with the $40 plan and saw that I was immediately charged for the service even though I have not used it yet. I was not aware this would happen as my account says I would be billed in December.. has anyone had this issue? Is this normal?

[Anonymous]

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@Tdeguzman wrote:

Sorry, I signed up on Nov 7 and was charged immediately. As a customer who has never used a prepaid service before I was not familiar with how it worked since it never mentioned I'd be charged upfront. Thanks for all your responses to my naive question!

Does the $2 off auto pay apply to the future? As I did not receive this reward upfront.

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If you started the autopay option on sign-up then you get a $2 credit in your Available Funds right away. Then your first renewal will deduct that and then the new reward for $4. Then the second renewal will just be the $2.

If you signed up for autopay after initial activation then you'll only get the $2 reward.

[LovesToPM]

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@Tdeguzman wrote:

Sorry, I signed up on Nov 7 and was charged immediately. As a customer who has never used a prepaid service before I was not familiar with how it worked since it never mentioned I'd be charged upfront. Thanks for all your responses to my naive question!

Does the $2 off auto pay apply to the future? As I did not receive this reward upfront.

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Public Mobile charges the full plan price upon activation.
Credits are then applied to your account (usually) within 72 hours.
So for your next payment, you will have double AutoPay reward credit.

If you logon your self-serve account, you should see the $2 credit applied to your account (Available Funds). The credits that appear on your account will be applied to your next payment.

[Tdeguzman]

Sorry, I signed up on Nov 7 and was charged immediately. As a customer who has never used a prepaid service before I was not familiar with how it worked since it never mentioned I'd be charged upfront. Thanks for all your responses to my naive question!

Does the $2 off auto pay apply to the future? As I did not receive this reward upfront.

[LovesToPM]

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@Tdeguzman wrote:

I recently switched over to PM on Nov 11 with the $40 plan and saw that I was immediately charged for the service even though I have not used it yet. I was not aware this would happen as my account says I would be billed in December.. has anyone had this issue? Is this normal?

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I'm guessing you wrote the wrong date. Nov 11 is tomorrow.

Yes it is completely normal to be charged upon activation (aka sign-up).

Once you activate, the plan you selected is available for immediate use.

Renewal is every 30 days. So your next payment will be due 30 days after activation.

[Anonymous]

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@cellphoneuser1 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Even in what's called a post-paid service, you have to pay something up front. This place is what is called pre-paid. Pre = up front. The date you're seeing is for your next renewal.

So, yes, this is normal...here.

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Also,  postpaid only allows you to pay later becauae of a credit check. There's no credit checks for Public Mobile. @Tdeguzman , if you want to be billed and pay later, you're at the wrong carrier.

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Post-paid's a funny term. You still pre-pay for service, and then post-pay any overages/extras after the fact.

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@Tdeguzman wrote:

I recently switched over to PM on Nov 11 with the $40 plan and saw that I was immediately charged for the service even though I have not used it yet. I was not aware this would happen as my account says I would be billed in December.. has anyone had this issue? Is this normal?

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Wait...can customers sign-up and activate on a future date? Where did Nov 11 come from?

[cellphoneuser1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Even in what's called a post-paid service, you have to pay something up front. This place is what is called pre-paid. Pre = up front. The date you're seeing is for your next renewal.

So, yes, this is normal...here.

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Also,  postpaid only allows you to pay later becauae of a credit check. There's no credit checks for Public Mobile. @Tdeguzman , if you want to be billed and pay later, you're at the wrong carrier.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

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@Tdeguzman wrote:

I recently switched over to PM on Nov 11 with the $40 plan and saw that I was immediately charged for the service even though I have not used it yet. I was not aware this would happen as my account says I would be billed in December.. has anyone had this issue? Is this normal?

---

Even in what's called a post-paid service, you have to pay something up front. This place is what is called pre-paid. Pre = up front. The date you're seeing is for your next renewal.

So, yes, this is normal...here.

[cellphoneuser1]

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@Tdeguzman wrote:

I recently switched over to PM on Nov 11 with the $40 plan and saw that I was immediately charged for the service even though I have not used it yet. I was not aware this would happen as my account says I would be billed in December.. has anyone had this issue? Is this normal?

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Of course: if you don't pay, you can't use the service. Why would it be any different? I think you have the dates mixed up.

[hairbag1]

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@Tdeguzman wrote:

I recently switched over to PM on Nov 11 with the $40 plan and saw that I was immediately charged for the service even though I have not used it yet. I was not aware this would happen as my account says I would be billed in December.. has anyone had this issue? Is this normal?

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If you've activated your account on Nov 11, your on- file credit card will be billed that day too. 30 days later will be your next renewal date.

As of Nov 11...you should have talk / text and 4.5GB + 500MB of data, if you used your valid credit card for autopay.