My billing cycle shifts one day every month

[lispercat]

Hi

Maybe it's a stupid question, but I can't seem to figure out the billing cycle.

It looks like each new month it shifts one day so if before I used to pay on a May 2nd, then June 1st, and so on. Now they bill me Aug 28.

Every month one day less.

Is it a regular thing?

[computergeek541]

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@Heather2010 wrote:

Same happens here with no warning mine used to be on the 10th.. this isn't fair and my other plans used to let me know day before 

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Public Mobile has never had monthly plans.  The day number for renewals during the month is suppsoed to change. Plans at Public Mobile have always been either 10, 30, or 90 days long.  

[Heather2010]

Same happens here with no warning mine used to be on the 10th.. this isn't fair and my other plans used to let me know day before 

[AE_Collector]

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@computergeek541 wrote:.

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The 30-day billing cycle is unrelated to to Public Mobile being a prepaid carrier. That just happens to be how Public Mobile chose to set things up.  Among carriers that offer prepaid plans on exact month billing cycles are Chatr Wireless and Freedom Mobile who have plans that renew on the same day number every month.

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Well I am not saying that it is “the law” that Prepaid plans be billed on a 30 day cycle. Just that when prepaid started it was designed as a way to buy temporary service for a certain period of time, not as a way to buy ongoing service. Generally the need for ongoing service was done as postpaid with credit checks and usually a contract etc. Prepaid was a way to buy yourself 10 or 30 or 90 days of service and that’s it until next time you needed service again. So people would want the number of days they purchased with a Prepaid plan, not an arbitrary number of days somewhere between 28 and 31. Most Prepaid plans were like this initially at least and now I guess some are and some are monthly since prepaid has morphed into more of an ongoing service now. 

My take on it at least.
AE_Collector

[AE_Collector]

@lispercat @Some phones can be set to a 30 day billing cycle while others can’t. I use a simple App called Dataflow that can do 30 day cycles.

AE_Collector

[lispercat]

The biggest inconvenience for me is that I can't set up the day of billing cycle in my phone to keep track of my mobile data usage so I can get notifications when I reach some limit (since the billing cycle day is a moving target).

[Korth]

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@barndoor wrote:

Its a 30 day cycle . .That way every   6 years they can squeeze an extra month out of you. 🙄 

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After 6 years, you're collecting $5 Loyalty Reward (discount) every 30 days. That could itself be enough to pay for a month of "free" service each year on the highest-cost plan, for several months of "free" service on the lowest-cost plan. So they're not really squeezing you very hard.

[computergeek541]

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@pkaraa wrote:

So PM should be charging every 30 days .. is there an exception of Feb month.

Think of this

Cos Feb have 28 days so based on that if PM start charging for monthly plan every 28 days then every year you ll be paying for close to 13 billing cycles :eek:

no!!!  I am not giving you this idea PM ....

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If they're going to make an excpetion for February, why not make an exception for months that have 31 days?   I believe that these 30-day cycles are almost universally hated by customers, and while I know that there are some months that a customer would get less for a true monthly payment, I also believe that almost everyone would prefer the plan renewing on the same day number for each renewal.

[pkaraa]

So PM should be charging every 30 days .. is there an exception of Feb month.

Think of this

Cos Feb have 28 days so based on that if PM start charging for monthly plan every 28 days then every year you ll be paying for close to 13 billing cycles :eek:

no!!!  I am not giving you this idea PM ....

[computergeek541]

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@AE_Collector wrote:

It is because is it is Prepaid Service. So it is not a contract to provide service for the next couple of years or more, you are purchasing a specific amount of service (30 days) and that’s it. No need to ever purchase any more. Some may purchase 30 days of service and then wander off or not buy another 30 days for months if ever. So even if they decided to make the plans 31 days it still wouldn’t work out. And make it either 28, 29, 30 or 31 days of service received for the same price depending what month and year you purchase the service and guess what, more complaints. Prepaid service has a significantly different way of being administered, not just the fact that no credit check is needed.

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The 30-day billing cycle is unrelated to to Public Mobile being a prepaid carrier. That just happens to be how Public Mobile chose to set things up.  Among carriers that offer prepaid plans on exact month billing cycles are Chatr Wireless and Freedom Mobile who have plans that renew on the same day number every month.

[AE_Collector]

It is because is it is Prepaid Service. So it is not a contract to provide service for the next couple of years or more, you are purchasing a specific amount of service (30 days) and that’s it. No need to ever purchase any more. Some may purchase 30 days of service and then wander off or not buy another 30 days for months if ever. So even if they decided to make the plans 31 days it still wouldn’t work out. And make it either 28, 29, 30 or 31 days of service received for the same price depending what month and year you purchase the service and guess what, more complaints. Prepaid service has a significantly different way of being administered, not just the fact that no credit check is needed.

AE_Collector

[softech]

no sure why.. but all tier 3 providers are like this.. probably they can make a little bit more money from this .. 16% more..

[lispercat]

Thanks so much to all who answered!

it's probably first time in my life that I see that odd billing cycle.

From technical point of view it would make sense to bill people on the same day.

Shaving off a day now and then may seem like penny pinching, but that probably translates to some profits and execs bonuses.

[gpixel]

@lispercat 

you can also dial 611 to get your current renewal date. 

[LurganIeUk]

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@lispercat wrote:

Hi

Maybe it's a stupid question, but I can't seem to figure out the billing cycle.

It looks like each new month it shifts one day so if before I used to pay on a May 2nd, then June 1st, and so on. Now they bill me Aug 28.

Every month one day less.

Is it a regular thing?

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Your My Account will give you your next payment due date based on every 30 days.

Another way of knowing ahead of time is......set up a calendar entry on phone or tablet as                  " @lispercat  " pay Public Mobile. Then have it repeat every 30 days.      

...then search " @lispercat  " pay Public Mobile

.....then do a screen shot of it and print it for future reference. 

[popping]

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@barndoor wrote:

Its a 30 day cycle . .That way every   6 years they can squeeze an extra month out of you. 🙄 

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Agree.  Extra 1 month every 6 years will be more than compensated by the $5 loyalty reward/cycle after staying with PM for 5 years.  The loyalty reward/cycle will be continue until you decide to leave PM.

[Egg-Roll]

It's every 30 day's, so you might want to check your account to see when your billing is, the texts to your phone will tell you your due date and under My Account will tell you when you were charged. If you are getting billed on the 28th that means your past bill wasn't on May 2, June 1, July 1, or July 31 as that would mean your next billing date should have been Aug 30th.

Only other possibility is if you changed your plan at some point and selected to upgrade now instead of the end of the month.

[Anonymous]

@lispercat 

because at public mobile is Prepaid Plans service for 30 days not monthly

[barndoor · Accepted solution]

Its a 30 day cycle . .That way every   6 years they can squeeze an extra month out of you. 🙄