Does call forwarding use up my minutes?

[Jhalps]

I have call forwarding set up permanently (to a non-PM number). I am looking at the new 50 minutes/50 texts plan. Simple question: does a forwarded call eat up my Public Mobile minutes?

[richardkim]

I'm in the same boat. I signed up for this plan when it was limited...and call forwarding did NOT consume the 50 voice minutes. When Public Mobile announced it was no longer limited they changed the plan! Since then it has consumed plan minutes.

I've PM'd a moderator about 4 weeks ago? and no response.

I ported my number to Public Mobile solely for the call forwarding. I have a personal number that I forward out. Never use this line for voice calls.

[matbasm]

@Jhalps, I recommend you reach out to the moderator team (via private message), and let them know about your situation - namely that when you signed up, forwarding WAS included.  They cannot change your plan to start including call forwarding, but perhaps they can give you some other consideration.

EDIT:  Contact info for moderators...

Click here to send the moderators team a private message. Moderators' hours of operation are M-F 9AM-9PM(EST) & S/S 9AM-7:30PM(EST)
Information regarding the moderators team can be found by following this link.

[srlawren]

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@Dunkman wrote:

PM should really fix a few things such as using minutes for call forwards, checking voice mail, resetting passwords,   

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@Dunkman while I agree whole-heartedly (along with several other inexecusable issues and quirks), keep your expectations low because the pace of change from PM other than trying to match Lucky and Chatr promotional plans is extremely, glacier-ly slow.

[Dunkman]

That is frustrating for you.  It is also not by second billing, but by minute billing.  

PM should really fix a few things such as using minutes for call forwards, checking voice mail, resetting passwords,   

[Jhalps]

I see they updated the Announcement in mid-June to reflect that forwarding does use minutes.  Unfortunately this was well after I signed up for it and I didn't learn of it until now.  Ugh.

[Jhalps]

I have been on this $10/50 minutes plan since roughly end of June.  I forward all calls to another phone and make very few on the PM phone.  I was recently warned that I only have 10 minutes left on my plan.  Based on a rough look at my call history they must be charging me 1 minute per call, regardless of the length of call.

How do I complain about this?  I want to stay on this plan but this clearly isn't going to work.

[jackal]

I think the issue is not the usage of forwarding. It is my understanding of the T&C that call forwarding is not charged, but it also appears that different users have different experiences of this. 

Therefore, honoring the T&C is what is most important in my opinion.

[luckee7]

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@mpcdesign wrote:

Why pay for call forwarding? Just use voicemail! And the best part is, if you don't want to talk to them just yet, you don't need too. And if you are busy, voicemail will pick up and you can call back on a different line. 

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Because you may not access to that number (phone) and don't want to miss a call. Say using business phone and need to have get a call from the publicmobile number. Otherwise you would have to keep checking voicemail 

[mpcdesign]

Why pay for call forwarding? Just use voicemail! And the best part is, if you don't want to talk to them just yet, you don't need too. And if you are busy, voicemail will pick up and you can call back on a different line. 

[jackal]

Here is the Redflagdeals link: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/public-mobile-8-50-canada-wide-minutes-50-texts-2185821/34/

[jackal]

Can someone confirm what this policy is?

Redflagdeals is reporting that there is a glitch and Public Mobile is charging/using up minutes not only for call forwarding, but also for missed calls and when voicemail messages are left.

Is this true?

[econ007]

My experience is that whenever a call  forward to another number, PM count it as 1 minute call. So I had 5 calls being forwarded, and each call was counted as 1 minute call, but in fact I talked for > 5 minutes on each calls. That is still not right for PM to deduct 1 min for each call forwarded.  

Did I read the terms correctly, when it says call forward minutes does not use plan minutes??

[jp2]

@nrg_svr if you got a number with Alberta area code u would also save on tax. Not that it's much on a low cost plan but if you are going for the lowest possible monthly cost

[computergeek541]

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@Dipole_Moment wrote:

With other carriers I've delt with call forwarding did indeed use up minutes. Very surprising that it doesn't here.

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Long, long ago, many carrier call forwarding options were unlimited, by default.  Some also had a set amount of 1000 minutes and those minutes were separate from your daytime minutes.  However, those 1000 call forwarding minutes would tick down even if you were within your unlimited evening time.  More recently, carriers have implemented pay-per-use call forwarding that would use up your regular plan minutes each time you used it. 

[Dipole_Moment]

With other carriers I've delt with call forwarding did indeed use up minutes. Very surprising that it doesn't here.

[nrg_svr]

This is getting really interesting... I may actually set-up a second account for myself. 

This new limited talk and text plan for $10 is 'canada-wide'.

And call forwarding does not use minutes.

With auto-pay enabled, the plan is then down to $8, and with a referral, take another buck off (albeit via my primary account). So $7.00 plus tax

In theory, after 5 years, it would be $2.00 a month cost for me.

I can then pick a phone number in another province that I currently use voip.ms for (to forward to my primary cell), and I have a phone to use to dial canada wide while in that province... (albeit limited)

Kinda handy... the 90 day bucket of 150/150 that others have thought would be good would be even handier, but hey, this $10 plan is pretty cool for certain uses.

Now to see how call forwarding would work in a dual SIM phone... 😉 (I assume each SIM would be controlled separately, I have a Moto G5...)

[srlawren]

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@Jonavin wrote:

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@srlawren wrote:

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@Jonavin wrote:

I just checked. Call forwarding doesn’t deduct from your minutes bucket. The same call costs 50 cents a minute on Koodo.

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@Jonavin ...if you're doing pay-per-use, then yes.  If you're going to use it more than 6 mins a month, you would be FAR better off to pay the $3 monthly to add call forwarding feature to your account, though.  Then it's 0 cents a minute.

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Of course paying more will always get you “free” features.

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@Jonavin I'm just saying, if you want to do a fair comparison you have to look at the available options.  If you're doing 6 mins a month of call forwarded talk time, then not an issue.  But if you're planning to do 200, it's $3 vs. $100.  Anyone planning to do any amount under 6 mins a month would be pretty silly not to pay the $3.  Just sayin'.

[Jonavin]

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@srlawren wrote:

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@Jonavin wrote:

I just checked. Call forwarding doesn’t deduct from your minutes bucket. The same call costs 50 cents a minute on Koodo.

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@Jonavin ...if you're doing pay-per-use, then yes.  If you're going to use it more than 6 mins a month, you would be FAR better off to pay the $3 monthly to add call forwarding feature to your account, though.  Then it's 0 cents a minute.

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Of course paying more will always get you “free” features.

[srlawren]

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@Jonavin wrote:

I just checked. Call forwarding doesn’t deduct from your minutes bucket. The same call costs 50 cents a minute on Koodo.

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@Jonavin ...if you're doing pay-per-use, then yes.  If you're going to use it more than 6 mins a month, you would be FAR better off to pay the $3 monthly to add call forwarding feature to your account, though.  Then it's 0 cents a minute.

[Jonavin]

I just checked. Call forwarding doesn’t deduct from your minutes bucket. The same call costs 50 cents a minute on Koodo.

[Acekiller]

one of the main reasons for people to call forward is minimizing cell minutes.

[Luddite]

Call forwarding = no charge. Look at the FAQ: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Announcements/Plan-updates-new-10-limited-talk-and-te...

[srlawren]

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@stonechucker wrote:

@srlawren, I expanded the spoiler in the Announcement, and I thought it said "does not use minutes" for call forwarding.  I read that as call forwarding is available, and is free based on calling plan 'limits'

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@stonechucker yes I saw that too.  But then up above in the plan features, only Call Display and Call Waiting are mentioned, not Call Forwarding. 

That's why I think things are a bit confusing.  I suspect it's included though and just missed in that verbiage.

[stonechucker]

@srlawren, I expanded the spoiler in the Announcement, and I thought it said "does not use minutes" for call forwarding.  I read that as call forwarding is available, and is free based on calling plan 'limits'

[srlawren]

@stonechucker oddly though, call forwarding isn't listed in the plan features in the announcement, only call display and voicemail.  So either it's ommission in that list is an oversight, or including it on the right in the things that don't use minutes list is an oversight.

[srlawren]

@stonechucker oh good to know! I would have assumed it would, too. I'll have to check out the announcement more closely.

[stonechucker · Accepted solution]

@Jhalps, please disregard my post above, there has been a posting in Announcements with detail just this morning.  Call Forwarding does not use minutes.

[stonechucker]

@Jhalps, as this plan does not include unlimited minute, I would imagine that yes, it will use your 50 minutes of province wide calling, even if you're forwarding to another number.

This is only a guess, as I'm on an unlimited calling plan, and as such, would incur no additional charges.