FYI: Data add-on for unlimited plans after use of main bucket

[maurelle]

This is an FYI, not a question. There have been previous discussions about the "risk" of upsell messages sent to accounts where someone else is paying for the plan. I can see parents opting for a 5G plan thinking that there won't be surprises if there is throttled data after the main bucket is used up. However, given our experience below, they might still get hit with additional charges if the child replies "yes"...

So long story short, due to unforseen circumstances the 5G data on this plan got depleted way faster than anticipated (usually this account uses less than 10GB per 30day cycle). No big deal really. 

So as we hit 20GB we got this text from 4915 (I'm not sure if they use other short codes for this, so it could be whack-a-mole even if you do reply STOP!!):

To continue enjoying high speed data, reply YES1 to get 1GB data for $15 or reply YES4 to get 4GB data for $40. Extra data valid for 30 days. The full add-on amount will be charged to your credit card if there are insufficient funds in your wallet. Reply STOP if you no longer wish to hear about Public Mobile offers.

Logging into the account I see this:

There is no old carry-over data add-on on this account, so I can't test if that would be accessible now.

Also, in good PM fashion... Where does that 256 Kbps come from?? All advertising I see mentiones 512 Kbps and the actual "unlimited" bar seems to be on the same page with that?

[maurelle]

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@will13am wrote:

@maurelle , thanks for the heads up.  I think the only raw deal with 5G speed plans is having to give up existing / free data add-ons.  

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fixed it 😉 

Public Mobile wants people to buy expensive expiring add-ons instead of using give-aways. And on the 5G plans the add-on is only there to continue data use at "usable" speed. So far e-mail and whatsapp messaging worked ok on throttled speed but we have not tested how painful higher thoroughput applications like youtube etc are...

[DennyCrane]

@maurelleI definitely didn't intend to suggest you try that. I wouldn't either.

[maurelle]

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@DennyCrane wrote:

That's interesting because the free data add-on's are incompatible. I'm curious if it would work if you said yes, or whether it's just a generic message (like with the Welcome to the US message for Can/US plans) that isn't applicable in your case. I'm thinking that's the case, but who knows!

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I know where you are coming from with replying yes. The text clearly refers to "high speed", so it doesn't seem random.

However, a) I don't want to encourage the behaviour, and b) add-on data is just too expensive. So, sorry, won't go through with buying an add-on.

We'll likely just do an immediate plan change to the BF deal. I'm quite sure that we won't use up 40GB, but since it's the same price as the existing plan (less than $30 after rewards...) we might as well.

[DennyCrane]

That's interesting because the free data add-on's are incompatible. I'm curious if it would work if you said yes, or whether it's just a generic message (like with the Welcome to the US message for Can/US plans) that isn't applicable in your case. I'm thinking that's the case, but who knows!

[will13am]

@maurelle , thanks for the heads up.  I think the only raw deal with 5G speed plans is having to give up data add-ons.