Automatic Invoice Generation

[david_l]

I just switched to Publc Mobile and I was in disbelief when I saw that in order to have an invoice generated for you (for business or tax purposes for example), you need to e-mail PM or message a PM mod to get one. I was told there can be a 30 day delay to get an invoice. Surely that can't be more financially sensible than just having a system that automatically generates invoices when you consider the labour spent by these mods and PM customer service agents generating invoices. 

[david_l]

daredogg: No. I (and probably many other people) get reimbursed for my cell phone usage as it's part of my job. I need to send the invoices in as I get them.

[KK]

I tried looking at the payment history to determine the amount of my bill and how it was calculated.  I couldn't make heads or tails out of it....I had to look at my credit card statement.  While, I don't think a formalized invoice should be necessary, even for business purposes, the payment history should  have something that made sense AND could be printed off to be used as an alternative form of invoice. 

[kodybaker]

I'm in disbelief that this hasn't improved at all. I guess they really want to discourage business users from using the platform. They'd rather you become a full Telus user and pay 5x the price.

[srlawren]

@kodybaker you have to keep in mind that one of the reasons PM is so much cheaper (no, not 1/5the price as you have implied, but noticably cheaper) is becasue it's a no-frills operation, and is marketed to invidual personal usage rather than business/corporate users.  I don't think you should be shocked that it's missing some features, and this is how they keep the price lower, through simplicity.  

[david_l]

@srlawren  I am still not convinced that automating the process wouldn't save them money. A 1-2 week delay to manually generate the invoices means they do get a lot of requests of this nature, and they are spending labour on generating them. There are rarely cases that I have seen where automation does not make financial sense for jobs that pay above minimum wage. It just requires the company to have the foresight make the initial investment.

I work in an industry where most of the employees are paid minimum wage, and there is a massive push for automation right now because the ROI is there.

I also want to add that even if automation isn't possible, they should at least have a clickable button for requesting invoices. Currently, they make you fill out a form to request an invoice and email them directly about it. Surely, combing through emails of forms from customers that may not be properly filled out is not as easy as a standard request generated by a button click.

[kodybaker]

Even emailing a copy of a receipt for purchase should be a simple and straightforward, automated, task. 

[chrismclachlin]

Part of the issue is we are being charged GST/HST on this service and as a business we can claim this back as a credit, but it needs to be on an actual invoice with the company's GST/HST Registration number. I would think this would also apply to anyone who is required to expense this back to their place of employment. Plus, there are requirements as a company collecting GST/HST to provide proper documentation to their customers, so in my mind, every payment should be accompanied with a proper invoice or receipt.