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Re-activate account

tanavya
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

I have been out of Canada for some time so I had suspended my account so as to not unnecessarily pay every month. I had set a reminder to re-activate my account by the deadline but I missed it by a day and it seems my account has been de-activated, as I can't login or reset my password. Can someone please help me? I want my phone number back since many accounts are linked to the phone number. If getting my account back is not possible, what alternatives are there? Can I set a new account with the same number? Any help would be appreciated!

 

Thank you. 

21 REPLIES 21

But... Don’t get your hopes up too high! If it was originally a Telus/Koodo/Public Mobile number there may be a small chance. If it was ported in from elsewhere it returns to where it came from so you would likely have better luck starting an account with “them” and asking for your old number back.

 

If starting over with Public Mobile I think the Lunar New Year offer may have been extended ...not certain. AND if you really like Canada Wide instead of Provincial Wide calling, you need to get on it pretty quick and select the right plan.

 

AE_Collector

HALIMACS
Mayor / Maire

Hi @tanavya 

 

If you do choose to pursue the possibility of gaining back your old number as described by me and other hopeful folks on this thread, please do post the result on this thread.  

 

It would be very helpful to know how your particular set of circumstances were viewed and handled by Public Mobile staff.

 

Thanks and good luck!!!


@softech wrote:

@kselmak wrote:

it was available after about 30 days.

 


it will come back to the pool only after 30 days?  it is back sooner then  I thought.  No wonder some people had issues with recylced numbers  ...

 


@softech   That's news to me too if the number is available 30 days after deactivation.  I was under the impression that these numbers stay unassigned in a pool for 90 days before being released.

 

As to whether moderators should be able to help a customer to retrieve their number, especially if it's only been couple of days or so since deactivation, I would think it's just good customer policy for PM to allow that as long as the number was originally from the Telus group of carriers.  I don't see what would be the harm in allowing this.

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @mimmo : My fake news was at you editing an official response. They're the experts. It's their show. If they can't be bothered to use the correct terminology then that just perpetuates the poor communication around here. If they are writing something official then they jolly well oughta be saying things correctly.

Going to the "question" posed...it's not a case of "believe"...it's a case of actual customers coming back and reporting that the mods got their number back. Why would the Oracles be asking such a question anyway? Let it be.

We're all well aware that there are policies and procedures around here that aren't followed. I would certainly see no harm in asking. As for overloading the mods...come on...it's not like people are asking this every hour of every day.

 

Like I asked...what is the business purpose of not allowing this? Moving a number from one account to another sure...that's cheating. Is this cheating? No. It's a new account, no rewards, paid for SIM, all new everything. Where's the problem? The number has not been re-allocated. It's available. Here you go seemingly new customer. Have a nice day. Maybe I just don't have the cheating mind-set to see how this is a problem.


@kselmak wrote:

it was available after about 30 days.

 


it will come back to the pool only after 30 days?  it is back sooner then  I thought.  No wonder some people had issues with recylced numbers  ...

 

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@Anonymous  It was an response to a  question posed, and it had the wrong word.   but when reading the answer in context of the question it is clear.    not sure why you are suggesting it being fake news.

 

the questions was:

 

Recover phone number when account closed after 90 days suspension: many members believe this is possible and are told to contact the moderators to do so. What do you wish done?

 

as for being YMMV  I guess we should all put caveats on our replies no not possible  but contact  mods anyways.... just in case...  but that kind of defeats the purpose  of having a policy or the community for that matter, and will overload mod team.     

 

is it possible to retrieve the number in some circumstances probably yes  but this situation is officially not one of them  according to management. 

 

 

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@HALIMACS   I dont know teh exact details of the policy.  best guess is customer error not possible.  PM  error / fraud then yes possible.

 

 

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @mimmo : Then that would be fake news if you're going to edit an official response. I would continue to suggest that this will be a case of YMMV.

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@RosieR   I copied and pasted what was told to us, but yes you are correct i believe it should be deactivated not suspended.  I will edit.


@mimmo wrote:

This exact question was asked to the pm team.  The reply was:

 

Once customers are suspended, they lose their phone number. Mods cannot (and should not) be getting customers their phone numbers. 

 

 


Hi @mimmo , I believe you meant "deactivated" , not just suspended.  But new customers, reading your post, might be confused.  

Policies, procedures, best practice... they don't really mean much and are really only used by management to limit discretionary authority of subordinates and maintain a level of consistency.

 

In the case of this OP (if they were out of the country and the account deactivated) in these times of a global pandemic where travel is uncertain, one might hope that public mobile might find way.

 

Here's hoping,  @tanavya !!!

Anonymous
Not applicable

Until mimmo copy/pastes that apparently official response that has been transcribed with uncertain wording...I know I remember reading on several occasions people getting their number back. Particularly an original PM number. And likely Telus/Koodo. If the number has not been picked up by someone after deactivation then why not. If it's been taken then obviously it's gone. If it was ported in then obviously that's out of PM's hands after deactivation.

 

The company can do all sorts of things that policy says otherwise. But if they have a policy then it needs to be applied universally. eg. Moving numbers from one account to another...no. Possible...but no. But then so too that these are peculiar times. What is the business case for not returning a number to a "new" activation? If it's available then why not?


@mimmo wrote:

This exact question was asked to the pm team.  The reply was:

 

Once customers are suspended, they lose their phone number. Mods cannot (and should not) be getting customers their phone numbers. 

 

 


OK, PM discourages it.  That's fair, @mimmo.   I would tend to agree, in principle, they don't want folks to have a lapse in service.

 

But is it POSSIBLE without extensive effort if the number is still available to be selected?  

 

If PM says NO, then so be it.

 

If PM can do it with minimal effort, then why not for the sake of customer retention or satisfaction?

 

 

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

This exact question was asked to the pm team.  The reply was:

 

Once customers are suspended, they lose their phone number. Mods cannot (and should not) be getting customers their phone numbers. 

 

edit should say deactivated not suspended

@softech 

Yes if the same exchange number is offered if not already taken you can choose the last 4 digits and have your number back. I did it with a number that was released from one account, it was available after about 30 days.

If the exchange number is not available you could contact moderators and see if they would be able to help


@softech wrote:

@HALIMACS wrote:

 

The chance of regaining the same number is not impossible - but may be challenging. 

 

 


really?  you meant even after 90 days, the Mod will be able to give you back the same number?  We have successful story before?


No, @softech ,did not write the Mod will be able to give one their deactivated number back.

 

I wrote that it may not be impossible.   (that does not infer it's likely)

 

IF the number was placed back into the 'pool' of available numbers (the OP could always call the old number themselves to see if it's been reassigned...), then maybe it could be accessed for the OP.

 

During the activation process, an individual can select the option to customize the last 4 digits of a number.  It's possible, they may be able to secure their old number in this fashion.

 

Using activation assistance folks may be able to assist in that regard.   The suggestion to contact Moderators was to confirm the account status is, in fact, deactivated. (as the OP suggests it seems to be)

 

 


@softech wrote:

@HALIMACS wrote:

 

The chance of regaining the same number is not impossible - but may be challenging. 

 

 


really?  you meant even after 90 days, the Mod will be able to give you back the same number?  We have successful story before?


@softech I think it really depends on who (company) the number originally belonged to and whether or not it has already been re-assigned. If it was a Telus number and still un assigned I would think it possible for the mods to make it happen. Of course I might be entirely wrong lol.


@HALIMACS wrote:

 

The chance of regaining the same number is not impossible - but may be challenging. 

 

 


really?  you meant even after 90 days, the Mod will be able to give you back the same number?  We have successful story before?

HALIMACS
Mayor / Maire

@tanavya 

 

If it has been greater than 90 days, your account has been deactivated.

 

The chance of regaining the same number is not impossible - but may be challenging. 

 

You could contact the public mobile moderators just to confirm status:

 

Send a private message to the moderator by clicking here  You’ll need to be logged into your Community account for the link to work.

 

If you do have another Public Mobile SIM card and need to activate a new account, try the live assistance for activations to possibly attempt to get the number back if it's available:

 

https://chat.telus.com/chat/publicmobile/chat-pm.html?portal=publicmobile&language=en

 

Triguy
Mayor / Maire

After 90 days your account gets deactivated.  You would need to purchase a new sim and setup a new account with a different email.

will13am
Oracle
Oracle

@tanavya , after 90 days suspension, your account gets deactivated.  There's nothing that can be done now.  You will need to get a new SIM card and activate a new account.  

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