Question about $15 plan

[rjcwhite]

I’m looking into the $15 plan for my son. But just want to make sure I understand that I’m reading this correctly.

It states that there is 100 Canada wide minutes and unlimited incoming minutes. 

Am am I right I’m assuming that the only calls my son would be charged for minutes is outgoing calls (voicemail included) and all incoming calls will be exempt from the 100 minutes? 

Is there a certain time on evenings and weekends minutes will be fre? Or does minutes count 24/7?

[chukdefatey]

Only calls that are answered by a live person or if the Voicemail or an answering machine kicks in, That is when you are charged for the calls. Any unanswered calls or busy or calls that simply do not connect are not Charged

[Canlan54a]

Points taken Dabr and Darlicious.

Just trying to be clear on the basic rules of the game so to speak. As a former customer of Telus from 2002 up till about a year ago, and originally with a post paid account and switching to prepaid in 2009 and as the parent company of PM, I am familiar with the policies you mentioned and just wanted to make sure they applied to their "child" company as well. Ironically what drew me over from Bhell in 2002 was that, at the time their original policy was that time was charged only in 5 second increments. That was later dropped in favour of reverting back to the status quo of 1 min increments.

What piqued my attention on the idea of potential uncompleted calls / busy signals etc. was that back in the day of dial up internet (early '90's), I had a major issue with Bhell charging me for modem dial ups to the ISP with my modem hanging up (as it should) on busy signals, and Bhell still adding every one of these to my bill. (I was living in a rural area at the time and everywhere was long distance and at the time the ld charge to call TO from approx 60km away on my landline was about .45 per min). It took a few phone calls, transfers, holds, etc and speaking to techs and the regional director's office to get it sorted after they continually tried to blame the equipment I was using - typical Bhell always the fault of the victim : (

[darlicious]

 I completely understand...you are good at not only managing your minutes but your money as well. The $15 plan ($13 w/autopay) is excellent value and if you are able to manage your outgoing minutes (like managing data) no add on is necessary even if it is cheap. As long as your conscious  of your usage 100 min is plenty . Small measures like checking voicemail from another phone and getting friends and family to call you etc...i have my roommate on that plan as well  if he calls I don't pick up I just return his call right away. There really isn't any nickel and diming here at pm. You get exactly what you pay for...no more and no less. When it's done it's done...no obligations, nothing to cancel, add on scare exactly that...you add them on and when they run out  if want them again you add them on again. Welcome to public mobile @Canlan54a  and enjoy saving money I know I sure do. Ask away in the community I have a feeling you might be an active member as the more you participate  the more you can save off your phone bill.

[dabr]

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@Canlan54a wrote:

Thanks Darlicious!

Just wanted to clarify; because if there is an urgent situation where repeated rapid dialing attempts result in a busy signal a number of times (for example), that could wipe out your calling minutes pretty quickly (and expensively) I might add!

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@Canlan54a   Any calls that don't connect to either a person or messaging system should not count against the limited plan minutes.  So getting a busy signal shouldn't count as airtime.  It is only when calls connect to the other party that it will start deducting from your minutes, and as already mentioned all calling is rounded up to the nearest minute which start from the moment of dialling to hanging up.

From personal experience if I hang up before the answering system kicks in, there is no deduction on my limited plan minutes.

The recommendation, by everyone here, of adding the $5/500 mins is to provide that insurance should you need to make an important call in the event of having depleted your outgoing minutes of using a limited plan for any particular month.  If you are a conservative user of your outgoing minutes, that 500 mins will stay on your account potentially for years and you will have only paid an extra one time $5. 

[Canlan54a]

 I was not referring to pocket dialing or dialing by accident

Thks

[Canlan54a]

please see my more recent rebuttal to Dunkman's suggestion.

[darlicious]

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@Canlan54a wrote:

Thanks Darlicious!

Just wanted to clarify; because if there is an urgent situation where repeated rapid dialing attempts result in a busy signal a number of times (for example), that could wipe out your calling minutes pretty quickly (and expensively) I might add!

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Your welcome and as @Dunkman  has mentioned the $5/500min is great back up especially at $0.01 a minute. Telus was charging me $.50 a min if dialed by accident pm gives you 50 for that price!  That's a little more than 8 hrs of talk time.

[Canlan54a]

Thanks I realise that...and if I cared to spend a little more I could go to a post paid, which is ultimately the dream of the big telcos. If I had a genuine need for additional calling minutes, I would certainly consider buying an add on.

My point was that if an account were charged under the forementioned circumstances in my other post, it would be a great injustice and defeat the purpose of going on a pre paid plan

ie: to save money, not to be nickled and dimed into moving ultimately back to a post paid plan by "extra surcharges".

[Dunkman]

@Canlan54a 

Here is another article on limited minutes plan:

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/limited-talk-and-text-plans

Might be worth buying the $5 Canadian text add on for 500 minutes just in case.  Unused minutes will roll over to next month.  Cheap way to add extra Canadian minutes.

[Canlan54a]

Thanks Darlicious!

Just wanted to clarify; because if there is an urgent situation where repeated rapid dialing attempts result in a busy signal a number of times (for example), that could wipe out your calling minutes pretty quickly (and expensively) I might add!

[darlicious]

@Canlan54a  In the terms of service it states once you finish dialing the number and forward. However if no one answers or you get a busy signal in theory you are not charged. But if the call is answered then I do believe they count those extra seconds as then it is rounded up to the minute. It's more of a default for pm if one would argue being one or two seconds over a minute and being charged for two. So unless the call is answered there really is no worry.

[Canlan54a]

Just to be clear you mentions the timer starts as soon as you "press dial"... Does this mean your minutes are deducted only when the call actually completes either to a live person or voice mail?

ie: Are the minutes still deducted

1) if caller gets a busy signal or

2)simply doesn't complete?

Thanks

[darlicious]

@rjcwhite  Chances are $15 plan is appropriate for your son. However as I suggested to @Rascal  if you activate before Sept 30th choosing the $25 plan will qualify you and your son for the extra referral credit. You get an extra $10 and your sons extra $10($20 total) basically gives him a free trial of the $25 plan and 1gb of data for the first 30 days. Then downgrade on his next renewal to the $15 with the $5/500 min add on. He can spend the first 30 days telling his friends to call or text him so when the change happens everyone will be aware of and used to texting and calling him.

[chukdefatey]

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@Rascal wrote:

We are looking into this $15 plan for my husband. He rarely calls out (not a big talker!), but likes to receive calls. I really appreciate these excellent tips, especially the 500 minute add on. That should cover him in case he goes over one month. I like the one about putting a text suggestion in his voice mail as well. Many thanks to everyone for your helpful suggestions.

Rascal

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Remember the 500 outgoing Canada wide minutes $5 add on is a one time Purchase and will remain on your account until all used up as long as you keep paying your 30 day plan fees. 

[Rascal]

We are looking into this $15 plan for my husband. He rarely calls out (not a big talker!), but likes to receive calls. I really appreciate these excellent tips, especially the 500 minute add on. That should cover him in case he goes over one month. I like the one about putting a text suggestion in his voice mail as well. Many thanks to everyone for your helpful suggestions.

Rascal

[Ninja0628]

In addition to what everyone has said, I have the $15 plan for kids and they manage quite well, including the 250mb bonus data.

You don’t really need an add-on if you:

1. Ask your son to text you or others to call him so he does not have to call out unless he really has to.

2. Let people know in the voicemail message to text instead, and that he won’t be checking messages so you don’t waste minutes checking VM.

[geopublic]

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@rjcwhite wrote:

I’m looking into the $15 plan for my son. But just want to make sure I understand that I’m reading this correctly.

It states that there is 100 Canada wide minutes and unlimited incoming minutes. 

Am am I right I’m assuming that the only calls my son would be charged for minutes is outgoing calls (voicemail included) and all incoming calls will be exempt from the 100 minutes? 

@rjcwhite  Yes that is correct.

Is there a certain time on evenings and weekends minutes will be fre? Or does minutes count 24/7?

Outgoing minutes count 24/7. Best to purchase the $5.00 add-on that will give your son an additional 500 Canada wide minutes when his 100 minute per 30 days have been used up. The add-on will stay on your son's account until all used up and will only be used when he has no more remaining minutes per his 30 day allotment. Also texting is unlimited on that plan and if you signup for autopay he will get 250 MB of data every 30 days.

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[Dunkman]

@rjcwhite 

No free evenings or weekends.  Unlimited incoming minutes. 

Buying the $5 talk add on for 500 minutes would be advisable and relatively cheap.  Unused minutes roll over to next month.  

[LovesToPM]

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@rjcwhite wrote:

I’m looking into the $15 plan for my son. But just want to make sure I understand that I’m reading this correctly.

It states that there is 100 Canada wide minutes and unlimited incoming minutes. 

Am am I right I’m assuming that the only calls my son would be charged for minutes is outgoing calls (voicemail included) and all incoming calls will be exempt from the 100 minutes? 

Is there a certain time on evenings and weekends minutes will be fre? Or does minutes count 24/7?

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You are correct. There are no time constraints on PM plans. The 100 out-going minutes limit applies 24/7.

Also your calls are rounded up by the minute and the timer starts as soon as you press dial.

You can always logon your self-serve account and check your usage. You can see how many minutes you've used to date and you can also view your call history.

Note that you can check voicemail messages from another phone. It won't count towards your out-going minutes to do so.

[GR]

@rjcwhite  you are right,  unlimited incoming anytime and anywhere in Canada!  A good investment in the 5$ 500 minute add on that rolls over every month until used up incase he uses all the 100 outgoing minutes in a month