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HOWTO: Purchasing Add-ons

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

Hi PM Community,

 

I know there is a lot of confusion surrounding purchasing add-ons.  As I needed to add a couple of US Roaming Add-ons for myself anyway, I decided to make up a how-to guide.  A few little details have changed along the way, so this is current as of Nov 15, 2017.

 

As I said, it's US Roaming add-ons I wanted, but the steps are the same whether you want 1 add-on or multiple, and regardless if they are domestic or US Roaming add-ons. 

 

Let's get started.

 


Step 1: Funds

 

Step 1.1: Sign into your self-serve account. 

This lands you on the Overview page:

Step01_StartOnOverviewPage.png

Here, you will see I had a starting Available Balance of $20 (in the blue box).  I added this to my account a few weeks ago to test the manual top-up process, but normally I carry don't carry more than $0.00 of Available Funds.  Your number may be $0, or it may be something else entirely.  Do make note of what your starting Available Funds balance is.  (For more info on Available Funds, see here.)

 

On this Overview page, click on Plans and Add-ons (in the green box).

 

 

Step 1.2: Start the process on the Plans and Add-ons page.

Here you can see again my available funds, and my current add-ons prior to the purchase.  You may have none showing, or several.  It varies from person to person and time to time.  You can see I just had a long-distance add-on already (in the lower blue box)

Step02_PlansAndAddOnsPage.png

On this Plans and Add-ons page, click on My Add-ons button (in the green box).

 

 

Step 1.3: Select which add-on(s) you want to add.

Here you see the menu of add-ons you might like.  I personally chose the US Roaming Talk + Text bundle for $15, plus the US Roaming 1GB data add-on for $20:

Step03_ChooseAddOns.png

Notice the box in blue at the bottom.  This is relativley new, and is telling you that the process is indeed two steps; it says:  "1. Add funds to your account, if you don't have sufficient funds.  2. go back to the add-ons page and select your add-on".

 

At this point, use the + button(s) to select the add-on(s) you want, and then click the Make a Payment button (lower green box)

 

 

Step 1.4: Make a payment (if needed).

This step is only needed if your Availalbe Funds balance (noted earlier) is less than the total of your selected add-ons in step 1.3.  If you have sufficient available funds, you can ignore this step and the next, and you'll be taken right to step 2.

Step04_MakePayment.pngHere (in the upper blue box) you can see that I had $20 available bunds, and the system is prompting me to make a $15 payment/top-up (purple box).  You can further see that taxes will be added to the payment (as always with Public Mobile).  I also highlighted the 2-step instructions again (lower blue box) as they are repeated on this payment dialog.

 

At this point, you need to click the Submit button (green box) to process the payment.

 

 

Step 1.5: Payment successful - so first half of process is done.

Here you can see the message (in the blue box) at the top of the dialog, telling me that my payment was successful.  

Step05_PaymentSuccessful.png

I noticed that the Submit button (red box, with line through it) is still enabled here.  Based on the fact that the Amount to Add amount still shows $15, that if you were to click this button again, it would process a second payment, which you don't need.  I didn't actually try it to confirm that, but I'd recommend you don't touch it.

 

You can see that the Available Funds amount for me has been updated to $35 (in the purple box), reflecting the addition of the $15 payment I just made, to the $20 Available Funds balance I already had.  This $35 is exactly what's needed to pay for my add-ons (in the next step).

 

At this point, you need to click on the Go Back link (why isn't it a button?!?) (green box) to actually make the purchase from your newly added funds.  This is the second of the 2-step process.

 

 

Step 2: Purchase

 

Step 2.1: Purhcase the add-on(s) from your available funds.

Now you have the necessary funds added, you have to complete the second step of the 2-step process.  

Step06_NowBuyTheAddOns.png

After having clicked Go back at the end of Step 1.5 above [OR: you may have landed here directly if you already had sufficient Available Funds to pay for your add-on(s)], you land back at the add-on selection page.  Notice that the button at the bottom (green box) had changed from "Make a Payment" (as noted in Step 1.3) to "Buy Add-ons".  

 

Please click Buy Add-ons button (green box) to get the final confirmation box to complete the purchase.

 

 

Step 2.1: Confirm Purchase (finally).

You should now see a confirmation dialog box showing you your selected add-on(s), and the amount to be deducted from your Availalbe Balance (blue box).  

Step07_ConfirmPurchaseFromAvailableFunds.png

Go ahead and click Confirm my purchase button (green box) to complete!

 

 

Step 2.2: Success confirmation.

At this point, you should be returned to the My Plans and Add-ons page, with a notification that the additions were successful (blue box).  Notice also my Availalbe Balance now sits back at $0.00 (other blue box).

Step08_PurchaseSuccessful.png

Click the RETURN TO OVERVIEW link (green box) to go back to the main (Overview) page.

 


Step 2.3: View your newly added Add-ons!

The final verification is to return to the Plans and Add-ons page and make sure that your new add-on(s) are listed in the My Add-ons section of the page (blue boxes), along side your existing add-on(s) (if any).

Step09_VerifyNewlyAddedAddOns.png

 

 

DONE:

Congratulations, you've just purchased [an/some] Add-on[s]!  🙂

 

 

 

 


>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.
165 REPLIES 165

@srlawren, a deeper forest/hunter green when it’s meant to be read on a light colour is best.  Or an orange like the post button, or even the PUblic Mobile logo.

 

its not the colour that’s the problem, it’s the lack of contrast between colours that is difficult.  I thank you for addressing this, as I like to help make things accessible, and although I used to have no issues, I’m getting on, and light vs dark is contrast is most important for me specifically, and I believe in general for ease of clarity.  However, at least by saying there was a green box, if someone else was near by to me at the time, I could have easily asked them to asssist me.

 

Cheers srlawren, for asking, it is appreciated.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

Sorry @stonechucker.  I will update the colours but won't be able to get to it till sometime next week.  😞  What colour would work better for you than lime green?  Can you see the blue, purple, and red colours okay?


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@srlawren, I can’t see the green!!!  Not dark enough for contrast, but I can find the items you describe as being in the green boxes.

 

Also, as @Luddite mentions, prepaid system, prepay in My. Account first.  Should never have to go thru addon purchase twice.

CalvinW
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

Excellent guide, don't know why PM never came up with these detailed write ups 


@Luddite wrote:

Great work, thanks. 

 

BTW: if you know the cost of your add-on you could just click Make a Payment, add the funds then return to Buy an Add-on. That's what I do.


Tough crowd!  I don't purchase add ons that often but I think what @srlawren presented is the most intuitive approach.  If I go to the store, I find the item I want to buy and proceed to checkout at which point the cost is provided and payment is made.  The alternative of making a payment at the cashier and then going to get the goods seems backwards.  Of course, there is always many ways to pet (word change to avoid angst from the local SPCA) the proverbial cat. 

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

Thanks for the positive feedback, everyone!

 

@Luddite yeah I tried to tackle the most likely workflow for most customers, but that's definitely an option as well.  If you go the manual pre-payment route, you'd skip over steps 4 and 5 and go right from 3 to 6.

 

@canucks4life yeah sorry it's a bit verbose!  lol.


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Taekgun
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@srlawren

 

Outstanding write up, it needs to be referenced material in the Knowledge Base for sure.


@ShawnC13 wrote:

@Luddite, always gotta be that guy that is always smarter lol.  Nice one as well.  Never thought of the payment first


Not so much smarter, just a lot of time on my hands sitting in my rocker, with Ralph for company, so the colander sometimes catches stuff. 

RalphRalph


>>> ALERT: I am not a CSA. Je ne suis pas un Agent du soutien à la clientèle.

@Luddite, always gotta be that guy that is always smarter lol.  Nice one as well.  Never thought of the payment first

 


I am happy to help, but I am not a Customer Support Agent please do not include any personal info in a message to me. Click HERE to create a trouble ticket through SIMon the Chatbot *

Great work, thanks. 

 

BTW: if you know the cost of your add-on you could just click Make a Payment, add the funds then return to Buy an Add-on. That's what I do.


>>> ALERT: I am not a CSA. Je ne suis pas un Agent du soutien à la clientèle.

canucks4life
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

TLDR Man Very Happy

ShawnC13
Oracle
Oracle

@srlawren, great write up!!!  Long over due for something like this to be put together well done!!

 


I am happy to help, but I am not a Customer Support Agent please do not include any personal info in a message to me. Click HERE to create a trouble ticket through SIMon the Chatbot *

NDesai
Oracle
Oracle

Oh wow, took someone a long time to make this guide. But it is still very helpful.

Can i sticky this? Oh wait, we can't and no PM staff is around for days.  

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wetcoaster
Mayor / Maire

Thanks for putting this guide together, @srlawren.

Can we sticky that / add to the knowledge base?

will13am
Oracle
Oracle

Excellent!  This needs to be stickied so it doesn't get lost.

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