Text Notifications at 75% and 95% for data usage (and minutes)

[esjliv]

Hi All - Okay, so i know we are supposed to receive these text notifications when our data usage reaches the 75% and 95% limits.

As per:

https://publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/managing-your-data-usage

2. Data Usage Notifications

We send you a text message when you've used 75% and 95% of the data included in your plan. If you try to use something that requires data when you’ve reached your data limit, you will be directed to Self-Serve. Once signed into Self-Serve, you can review your usage and, if you’d like to continue to have access to data, you can purchase a data Add-On here too.

But, what about when you have an add-on?

I have 250mb Plan Data + 2GB Addon Data = 2250mb total.

Should I receive a text at 75% and 95% of 250mb Plan Data limits or on the 2250mb total limits?

What are your experiences with this?

[LG2]

It will combine both amounts and give notifications on that. 

[dabr]

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@esjliv wrote:

@HALIMACS, yes, that post you linked pretty much answers my question exactly. Thanks!

@dabr , LOL, I was hoping there was a bug in the system.

I went past my 250mb and into a good chunk of the 2GB holiday bonus recently given out by PM and received no message what-so-ever. 

I am not at 75% of the 2250mb, but I am close. And I did not receive any text message from PM yet. 

Interesting how this is done. The wording in the help articles only refers to Plan Data; nothing about add-ons or cumulative data.

But lesson learned now.

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@esjliv  I should perhaps clarify my first post a bit, the bug in the system means that you won't get a warning for the plan data being consumed at the 75/95% usage if you have other add-on data already in your account.  At least that is what others have suggested/reported (IIRC) in similar discussions and I can confirm that I also didn't receive any warnings either recently despite depleting my plan data.  So if you don't get a warning it might be because you also have additional data add-ons in your account, however, like a lot of things around here these bugs don't seem to be consistent so you may or may not get the warning.  Oh well.. 😊

[Korth]

Available add-on data seems to break the 75%/95% messages. They seem to be sent at random usage thresholds. Not based on plan data, not based on add-on data, not based on added data totals, not based on totals as calculated from beginning of billing cycle or over previous 30 days, etc. In short, not based on any observable pattern I could predict.

Though my attempts to isolate the details were many months ago. It's possible PM has changed or fixed under-the-hood malfunctions since then. And I'm no longer inclined to burn through more data add-ons without useful results.

[esjliv]

@HALIMACS, yes, that post you linked pretty much answers my question exactly. Thanks!

@dabr , LOL, I was hoping there was a bug in the system.

I went past my 250mb and into a good chunk of the 2GB holiday bonus recently given out by PM and received no message what-so-ever. 

I am not at 75% of the 2250mb, but I am close. And I did not receive any text message from PM yet. 

Interesting how this is done. The wording in the help articles only refers to Plan Data; nothing about add-ons or cumulative data.

But lesson learned now.

[cavemantoronto]

@bizu12345 On plans with little data, those notifications don't do much because it's easy to use those small amounts fast. The best way to ensure you have data is to get your phone to warn you or cut off data before it's all gone. The phones assume a monthly plan, so date will have to be adjusted each month.

[bizu12345]

I actually have never received these notifications before as I’ve never used my bonus add on data, so that may be a reason why it’s not meeting threshold to receive the message. As the others have said in the other replies, the Add-ons + Original data in your plan is the most likely case that are combined for them to calculate the 75% and 95% threshold. Hope that helps!

[HALIMACS · Accepted solution]

Hi @esjliv 

I believe it'll add the total combined data available from both plan data + add-on data, then send the notifications when you're at the specified levels.

See this thread from awhile back (last reply at bottom by the OP) which seems to suggest that:

Solved: Data Add-On Usage SMS Notification? - Community (publicmobile.ca)

EDIT:   Hi again @esjliv .  Just checked with a known user who had added the More the Merrier.  They confirmed they DID receive the 75% & 95% warnings when their combined data reached the respective levels.  (they use ALOT of data)   So, it would seem it does include both plan included data + add-on data.

[dabr]

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@esjliv wrote:

Hi All - Okay, so i know we are supposed to receive these text notifications when our data usage reaches the 75% and 95% limits.

As per:

https://publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/managing-your-data-usage

2. Data Usage Notifications

We send you a text message when you've used 75% and 95% of the data included in your plan. If you try to use something that requires data when you’ve reached your data limit, you will be directed to Self-Serve. Once signed into Self-Serve, you can review your usage and, if you’d like to continue to have access to data, you can purchase a data Add-On here too.

But, what about when you have an add-on?

I have 250mb Plan Data + 1GB Addon Data = 1250mb total.

Should I receive a text at 75% and 95% of 250mb Plan Data limits or on the 1250mb total limits?

What are your experiences with this?

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@esjliv   You just reminded me that I never received any notifications at either 75% or 95% after recently using up all my plan's 250 mb data.  The explanation I've read is that there's a bug in the system if there is other data add-ons in your account, although it's just as likely that different people have different experiences with all of this similar to all the other anomalies in PM/s system.