Community

Obice · ‎01-07-2020

Hello,

Today I made the decision to try out the $15 plan and see how it goes. I have some questions though...

As gifts from PM I have 1GB of data and 400 LD minutes to X amount of countries.

When my account is switched over to the $15 plan I know I will only have 100 outgoing minutes across Canada but should I go over that will I begin to use up the LD minutes or are they strictly for cross-country talking? If I call someone from the States, as an example, will PM use my 400 LD minutes only or will it count my 100 outgoing minutes as fair game as well?

With the $15 plan a person gets 250MB of data and when that runs out you have to wait till your next billing cycle. However with the 1GB of data I believe that goes away once I use it up.

Thanks.

darlicious · ‎01-09-2020

@CannonFodder True but if you do have voicemail set up to recieve messages you could have your message say: " Please use text messaging for a more immediate response if this is not possible please leave a voicemail message after the tone. Thank you." This will get most callers to text instead but still give those who can't the option to leave a voice mail. You will also know that any voicemails you do have are likely from landlines or from callers who do not send text messages. Except that irritating Asian lady spam recording that calls from various numbers that you continually have to block. But we all have that problem.

CannonFodder · ‎01-09-2020

@darlicious wrote:
@CannonFodder @Obice Or please leave a message via text only. This way if the message is important you can review it and decide whether to respond or if be available if the caller states when they intend to call back.

At first, after reading that, I was thinking, "yeah, THAT'S the way to go, and then I won't ever need to even call voicemail to get messages!", BUT on 2nd thought, that wouldn't work very well for those cases where someone calls you via a landline, ESPECIALLY for something like, for instance, your Dr.'s office calling with an appointment time, or test results, or any number of other important items where the call isn't from a phone that can leave a text.

darlicious · ‎01-09-2020

@CannonFodder @Obice Or please leave a message via text only. This way if the message is important you can review it and decide whether to respond or if be available if the caller states when they intend to call back.

CannonFodder · ‎01-09-2020

@darlicious wrote:
@Obice I'm sure you knew when switching that pm is DIY so can't expect pm to do it for you. The extended absence option is a simple to set up. Just leave a message that your are unavailable please try calling later. Your voicemail is effectively disabled but with message rather than an endlessly ringing phone for the caller.

And THAT is actually the beauty of it, i.e. you can leave WHATEVER appropriate message you want(in the case we're talking about, simply saying you don't want voicemail, so callers can't leave any), AND the caller doesn't have the endless ringing.... seems like a win-win to me. 👍 .... well, except for those callers that REALLY want to leave a voicemail. 😉

Anonymous · ‎01-09-2020

@darlicious wrote:
@Anonymous With a blocked call there is no indicator on the phone (at least mine) but there will be a call forwarded to voice mail in your usage history and a message in your voicemail if the caller chose to leave one.

Thank you. All this time I had a contact called Block Number. I get a spam call and add that number to the contact. I had set up the contact for silence. But it still showed on the screen. I dug a little into some more settings under contacts and found yet another layer called Block contact (S7 on A8).

I'm a moron though as I had already been using Block number in Textnow for ol' Blare Woodrough and it only dawned on me now that maybe there's one in the default dialer. There is. Sigh.

Thanks. We'll see what happens as I go along.

I'm really likin' the way @Nezgar figures out stuff. Rock on dude, (dudette), (non-gender-specific term of endearment).

Nezgar · ‎01-09-2020

@darlicious wrote:
@Anonymous With a blocked call there is no indicator on the phone (at least mine) but there will be a call forwarded to voice mail in your usage history and a message in your voicemail if the caller chose to leave one.

I configured my "busy/declined" conditional call forward so that blocked calls do NOT go to my voicemail:

*67*8080000000#

its a hawaii area code that results in blocked calls going to fast busy. Unanswered and calls while out of the service area continue to go to voicemail.

darlicious · ‎01-09-2020

@Anonymous With a blocked call there is no indicator on the phone (at least mine) but there will be a call forwarded to voice mail in your usage history and a message in your voicemail if the caller chose to leave one.

Anonymous · ‎01-09-2020

I just don't understand the motivation for the complaint.

A provider has a way to disable voicemail. The phone rings and rings until the caller gives up or some background limit stops it. (20 rings?)

Your phone will still show a notification of an attempted call.

This provider has a way to disable the recording of a message from the caller but at a limit of about 6 rings.

Your phone will still show a notification of an attempted call.

Where's the problem?

I would complain about blocked calls if anything. If there was a way to check a box next to an unwanted call in the self-serve to block calls coming from that number then nothing would get through to the phone. As it is, you block the call on the phone but you still see the fact that that number did in fact call. At least as far as I understand the feature. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

darlicious · ‎01-09-2020

@Obice I'm sure you knew when switching that pm is DIY so can't expect pm to do it for you. The extended absence option is a simple to set up. Just leave a message that your are unavailable please try calling later. Your voicemail is effectively disabled but with message rather than an endlessly ringing phone for the caller.

CannonFodder · ‎01-09-2020

@Obice wrote:
Or, how 'bout, "Sorry, but I prefer not to receive voicemail, so I've disabled the option to leave a message, so please try calling me again later" and THEN disable the option to leave a message? Speaking of which, how do you disable that? 🤔
You cannot and this is my point entirely. Nothing but workarounds to avoid doing something so simple yet apparently too difficult to do.

Actually, you CAN - if you read the thread that @Nezgar posted in response to my question, the option to leave a message CAN be disabled..... in fact, within the thread @Nezgar linked to, there's another post with the same info laid out even better. Sure, it's you doing it yourself, but it CAN be done, i.e. if you absolutely DO NOT want voicemail being left, you can do it, whereas if it's simply a principle to you, and it annoys you that PM won't, or can't, disable it for you, I guess there's nothing more to say.....

Nezgar · ‎01-09-2020

@Obice wrote:
"*004*8080000000# (Hawaii area code) You cannot forward to US numbers, but it will still let you set this. This results in a fast busy instead of voicemail."

A customer pays for his/her plan and usually the voicemail part is included for "free". With these "more expensive" companies they also offer you something like 30 voicemails for an additional cost.

But but... Here at Public Mobile we're all about doing things yourself, self-serve, and community support. The moderators are there for the stuff that can't be solved in the community forum, but there are many types of challenges that the mods do not have official solutions for, but we do.. such as this one.

Obice · ‎01-09-2020

@CannonFodder wrote:
@Nezgar wrote:
OR - login to your voicemail, enable an extended absense greeting with a simple message such as "Sorry, I'm not available right now, please try again later" - and then disable the option to leave a message.
Or, how 'bout, "Sorry, but I prefer not to receive voicemail, so I've disabled the option to leave a message, so please try calling me again later" and THEN disable the option to leave a message? Speaking of which, how do you disable that? 🤔

You cannot and this is my point entirely. Nothing but workarounds to avoid doing something so simple yet apparently too difficult to do.

Nezgar · ‎01-09-2020

@CannonFodder wrote:
Or, how 'bout, "Sorry, but I prefer not to receive voicemail, so I've disabled the option to leave a message, so please try calling me again later" and THEN disable the option to leave a message? Speaking of which, how do you disable that? 🤔

Here's a previous post with specifics on the steps to enable extended absence greeting, and disable ability to leave messages:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Discussions/how-to-do-i-cancel-my-voicemail/m-p/28719...

Obice · ‎01-09-2020

@CannonFodder wrote:
@Obice wrote:
I appreciate your suggestions/workarounds however as you stated these are workarounds and not solutions. I'll be happy as a customer of Public Mobile when they just let you disable a feature that you are ultimately paying for.
I think you're splitting hairs here - you said you were a customer of Fido & Lucky, and you were glad that they could disable voicemail for you, but did they give you a discount on your monthly service charge because voicemail was disabled? I strongly suspect they didn't, and if that's the case, even though they disabled voicemail for you, then you were still "ultimately paying for it".

If, as @Nezgar says, you can disable the option to leave a message, isn't that pretty much YOU disabling voicemail? Sure seems like it to me...... 🤔

This part sounds somewhat like a solution except that it's still not PM's doing and my entire point is that the company you are paying should be able to do this.

"*004*8080000000# (Hawaii area code) You cannot forward to US numbers, but it will still let you set this. This results in a fast busy instead of voicemail."

A customer pays for his/her plan and usually the voicemail part is included for "free". With these "more expensive" companies they also offer you something like 30 voicemails for an additional cost.

CannonFodder · ‎01-09-2020

@Obice wrote:
I appreciate your suggestions/workarounds however as you stated these are workarounds and not solutions. I'll be happy as a customer of Public Mobile when they just let you disable a feature that you are ultimately paying for.

I think you're splitting hairs here - you said you were a customer of Fido & Lucky, and you were glad that they could disable voicemail for you, but did they give you a discount on your monthly service charge because voicemail was disabled? I strongly suspect they didn't, and if that's the case, even though they disabled voicemail for you, then you were still "ultimately paying for it".

If, as @Nezgar says, you can disable the option to leave a message, isn't that pretty much YOU disabling voicemail? Sure seems like it to me...... 🤔

CannonFodder · ‎01-09-2020

@Nezgar wrote:
OR - login to your voicemail, enable an extended absense greeting with a simple message such as "Sorry, I'm not available right now, please try again later" - and then disable the option to leave a message.

Or, how 'bout, "Sorry, but I prefer not to receive voicemail, so I've disabled the option to leave a message, so please try calling me again later" and THEN disable the option to leave a message? Speaking of which, how do you disable that? 🤔

Obice · ‎01-09-2020

@Nezgar wrote:
@Obice wrote:
Yes, it is included. That's not what my point is. My point is that it should be able to be disabled and yet PM claims it cannot be.
You can actually, you just have to be a little creative. The standard way to disable the 3 conditional call forwards is to dial ##004#, but Public Mobile always automatically resets these to the voicemail number when you try do this.

The workarounds I have found are:
Set the conditional call forwards to an invalid number. For example:
*004*0000000000# results in the message "Your call cannot be completed as dialed, please check the number and try again, or call client care at *611 for assistance"
*004*8080000000# (Hawaii area code) You cannot forward to US numbers, but it will still let you set this. This results in a fast busy instead of voicemail.
OR - login to your voicemail, enable an extended absense greeting with a simple message such as "Sorry, I'm not available right now, please try again later" - and then disable the option to leave a message.
Hope this helps!

I appreciate your suggestions/workarounds however as you stated these are workarounds and not solutions. I'll be happy as a customer of Public Mobile when they just let you disable a feature that you are ultimately paying for.

Nezgar · ‎01-09-2020

@Obice wrote:
Yes, it is included. That's not what my point is. My point is that it should be able to be disabled and yet PM claims it cannot be.

You can actually, you just have to be a little creative. The standard way to disable the 3 conditional call forwards is to dial ##004#, but Public Mobile always automatically resets these to the voicemail number when you try do this.

The workarounds I have found are:

Set the conditional call forwards to an invalid number. For example:
*004*0000000000# results in the message "Your call cannot be completed as dialed, please check the number and try again, or call client care at *611 for assistance"
*004*8080000000# (Hawaii area code) You cannot forward to US numbers, but it will still let you set this. This results in a fast busy instead of voicemail.
OR - login to your voicemail, enable an extended absense greeting with a simple message such as "Sorry, I'm not available right now, please try again later" - and then disable the option to leave a message.

Hope this helps!

Obice · ‎01-09-2020

@Triguy wrote:
Saw in the plan section that it is included with all plans except data only plan.
All our plans include these features: Call Display, Voicemail and Conference Calling.

Yes, it is included. That's not what my point is. My point is that it should be able to be disabled and yet PM claims it cannot be.

Triguy · ‎01-09-2020

Saw in the plan section that it is included with all plans except data only plan.

All our plans include these features: Call Display, Voicemail and Conference Calling.

Obice · ‎01-09-2020

I can skip all of this by just not using voicemail.

I don't want a voicemail either way, but PM claims they can't disable it. Right....

I WAS with Fido before PM and I've even tried Lucky briefly, both were able to disable voicemail no problem, so don't give me "we can't do it!" nonsense and if you REALLY can't... That is baffling.

You might not understand why I'm upset or irritated by this particular thing and the best way I can put it is that this is a very, very simple feature that most phone companies offer and most will also disable it upon request. A voicemail is not necessary to have, it is useful for those who want it except not everyone else; like me. So to tell me you cannot disable it, I can only sigh and move on... and in this case just not touch the thing.

cavemantoronto · ‎01-09-2020

@darlicious wrote:
@Obice Just use another phone and dial your area code 587 4001 for your voicemail.

You mean 580. Area code and that won't always work. Not every area code has a voicemail number. It'll be easier to dial own number to check voicemail from another phone because it's one less number to remember.

darlicious · ‎01-09-2020

@Obice Just use another phone and dial your area code 580 4001 for your voicemail.

Edited ph#.

Nezgar · ‎01-09-2020

... And outgoing calls to toll free numbers (800, 833, 844, 855, 866, 877, 888) also do not (currently) consume minutes on the current $15 plan either. Even if you are completely out of minutes, you can still call these numbers.

If only there was a toll free number to call voicemail.

CannonFodder · ‎01-09-2020

@Nezgar wrote:
@Obice wrote:
You mean to tell me using voicemail uses minutes? I won't even...
- People calling you and leaving voicemail does not use your minutes.
- Using your mobile phone to call your voicemail uses minutes (airtime) like most cellular plans since the beginning of time.
- Using a land line to call your voicemail to check messages does NOT use airtime/minutes.

@Obice Yeah, what @Nezgar said..... that, and apparently using someone else's cell phone(preferably one with unlimited calling on it) to check your voicemail also doesn't use minutes.

Since, as mentioned, I don't make THAT many calls(as you also said you don't), AND I have that 400 minute freebie, AND that $5/500 mins. add-on is reasonable, I don't sweat over a few minutes used on checking voicemail.

I moved over to PM, from Lucky, because the $15 plan here is better, in that incoming minutes here are unlimited, whereas on Lucky, the 100 minutes in their $15 plan is for BOTH incoming AND outgoing calls. IIRC, I don't THINK they charge for accessing voicemail on that plan, but I don't see how that could possibly make up the difference for PM's unlimited incoming calls.

Nezgar · ‎01-09-2020

@Obice wrote:
You mean to tell me using voicemail uses minutes? I won't even...

- People calling you and leaving voicemail does not use your minutes.

- Using your mobile phone to call your voicemail uses minutes (airtime) like most cellular plans since the beginning of time.

- Using a land line to call your voicemail to check messages does NOT use airtime/minutes.

Obice · ‎01-08-2020

@CannonFodder wrote:
@Obice wrote:
When I wrote "from" I meant that I'd be - in theory - calling someone who is from the States, not that I'd be in the States.

Well, for what it's worth(about 2 cents, I suppose), I, for one, figured that's PROBABLY what you meant.

I knew some of the countries, I just put X to generalize. Personally I barely use the phone to call people which is partially why I'm trying out a cheaper plan.

I probably will get 500 minutes for $5 if it comes to that, I don't see it happening though. The free 400 will probably last me eons.
Yup, same boat as me. While I don't make THAT many calls, the ones I do make can last quite a while - called my sister somewhat recently, and ended up using the remaining minutes I had on the $15 plan, and dipped into the freebie 400 minutes too, but now my plan renewal came up, so I have 100 minutes again(minus the few used for voicemail). And yeah, I'm with ya on that $5/500 minutes add-on..... some other folks pointed that out to me a few weeks ago, and that's a nice, reasonably priced safety net to have! 👍

You mean to tell me using voicemail uses minutes? I won't even...

It's fascinating to me how people find X to be a great price for Y, for example $5 for 500 minutes. I personally wonder how people would react to $1 for 500 or 1,000 minutes. We spend so much on things that are trivial and never bother to question it or we question it but go with it.

CannonFodder · ‎01-08-2020

@Obice wrote:
When I wrote "from" I meant that I'd be - in theory - calling someone who is from the States, not that I'd be in the States.

Well, for what it's worth(about 2 cents, I suppose), I, for one, figured that's PROBABLY what you meant.

I knew some of the countries, I just put X to generalize. Personally I barely use the phone to call people which is partially why I'm trying out a cheaper plan.

I probably will get 500 minutes for $5 if it comes to that, I don't see it happening though. The free 400 will probably last me eons.

Yup, same boat as me. While I don't make THAT many calls, the ones I do make can last quite a while - called my sister somewhat recently, and ended up using the remaining minutes I had on the $15 plan, and dipped into the freebie 400 minutes too, but now my plan renewal came up, so I have 100 minutes again(minus the few used for voicemail). And yeah, I'm with ya on that $5/500 minutes add-on..... some other folks pointed that out to me a few weeks ago, and that's a nice, reasonably priced safety net to have! 👍

Obice · ‎01-08-2020

Language is a beautiful thing, especially the written word.

I'm going to rest my feet.

I'm going to put my feet to an arrest.

People aren't insane but they can sometimes be inane.

AE_Collector · ‎01-08-2020

@Obice wrote:
When I wrote "from" I meant that I'd be - in theory - calling someone who is from the States, not that I'd be in the States.

Thanks for clarifying that. My wife always says that I interpret things differently than the majority of people. When I read what you wrote I was instantly confused. I thought the greatest chance was you meant go to the US and call someone but you could also very easily mean call someone who is "from" USA, IE: lives in the US. Not hard to see how many incorrect and/or wrong answers are given on forums of all types when things can be interpreted in so many different ways!

AE_Collector

Community

$15 Plan + Add-Ons