Mobile Phone Questions | Your stories | Discussion forum

Wow! Thanks everyone!

(Hopefully, your Telus $100 annual plan is just about to expire because you won't get a refund for any unused funds.)

My talk 100 is up in August. But I have had Telus in the palm of my hand before and they did offer to use my high balance to pay against my home phone and internet. But I opted to the free calls for wife and I and they used the balance to pay my Talk 100 until the balance depleted. I did NOT have to top up my account for a few years. And yes I know..they still got the best out of me! And right now my account is totally screwed up with add ons that I cannot remove and one of our accounts no longer has voicemail. They admit they had a system error....which is BS......as it would have been a human error. In my futile attempts to contact them....the chat option says is is not available to prepaid plans.....and that is new. So I was refunded for the add ons but they are still there and ready to charge me again next month and I cannot fix online myself.

Public Mobile Plans and Add-On options are always changing and improving for the better. The $15. Plan, as well as the 500 minutes Canada-wide LD for $5. add-on option, are both new. I’m getting a second plan for my wife. Unfortunately, PM does not offer Share plans, so each phone number has to have a different email address. Hope that helps...

Yes thanks. I am thinking the $15 plan minus $2 and throw on a couple of Canada wide add ons and that should give me adequate calling, inbound calls free, and unlimited in/out texting. And if there is a data add on that rolls over that would be good too. But data is not a huge issue for us....but I could use the data for iMessage, FaceTime audio, or for my Zoiper app that allows me to use VOIP. ms on my iPhone.

And thanks for the tip on the account(s) as right now I can access both of our Telus accounts with one login.

You can also get your bill reduced 1.00 more a month for every person you refer, 1.00 more a month for every year you remain, and extra credits if you help with support in the online community. If you don't mind buying your own phone through Amazon or similar, then this company is great.

$2 less for auto pay, $1 less for every year of loyalty plus what you mention about community help and referrals. There are lots of referral offers on Vancouver Craigslist which are helping them with THEIR monthly bill and they say you can get your bill down to zero. The latter is part of a model of an American company that offers pocket wifi/data. So I would put up an add on CL too...why not?

All my iPhones have been second hand and bought off of CL and I have my pre checks and have never been stung.

GIC Investor: Why help out a CL stranger with their bill when you could use the number of one of your High Interest Saving friends? sf-wink Let me know.

Well stranger......I guess I could do that too. I hope Peter would not frown on that?

The $5 Canada-wide Calling only seems to be available once I actually log into my account. It doesn't show up on their generic plan page.

I just signed up to email notifications....do you have that set up? Maybe they would have updated you?

As far as purchasing second-hand phones goes, I have had very good luck using Orchard and would recommend them without hesitation. I have purchased two iPhones (6s and 7) and sold another one (5s) in the last two years. They sell both iPhones and Android. The phones have been checked and tested and come with a 30-day return guarantee. https://www.getorchard.com/search/shop-for-featured-phones/

Yes I have seen them advertised on Kijjiji. But I can reassure you I have done better price wise as you can always negotiate with an individual seller. I have been repairing iPhones too. Unfortunately I find Kijjij to be useless as a buyer or a seller and it seems that Craigslist is much more popular in the Vancouver Lower Mainland.

Another update option.

OR

Go here

Then click options, RSS feed, and add to your RSS reader APP such as FEEDLY.

BillieBob said
(Hopefully, your Telus $100 annual plan is just about to expire because you won't get a refund for any unused funds.)  

Well after a few emails back and forth with Telus Mobility they fixed most but I still don’t have voicemail. And since a lot of our unsolicited calls are in the Chinese language, they contribute to 80% of the calls we have to pay for, that also clog up my voicemail account....so I don’t care if I have voicemail. Telus also did a bunch of back peddling but nevertheless prepaid customers have been misinformed and NOT informed at all of the status of their accounts. In the old days this process would fall under the category of CYA.

So twice I advised my annual dissatisfaction towards Telus’s incompetence and that I would like my balance on hand refunded. No big shock to me......they did not acknowledge or respond to that request at all.

So since I pretty much have my 2019 balance required in my Telus account, I will have to renew for 2019. My plan is to review what Public Mobiles’ reputation is in 2020 and what they have to offer. I will call Telus for a match....if not I will follow your example to set up Public Mobile first then port my Telus number after the fact. That is, as long as the $15 plan with the $5 Canada Wide calling add on is still in tact.
o Did you have any issues when you later ported your number over??
o Was there impact on any of the add ons or your account balance after porting??
o Was there a charge for porting?

Canadians are being taken advantage of for mobile phone charges compared to other countries. Some countries you pay for everything using your smart phone (not through your contract) even a bottle of pop through a vending machine. I assume the latter requires data and I am a dunce at knowing what all data can do for you. In regards to mobile phone billing, I guess I now see the reason why the BC government is doing a survey and plans to take some form of action. And guess what.....Telus and Bell will say they have come out with reduced and more affordable plans with Public Mobile and Lucky Mobile of which Public seems to have the better options. But will the general population actually know who owns Lucky and Public??

BC Government survey

Telus’s The Future is Friendly response in regards to refunding prepaid account balances.

Prepaid account balances are non-refundable. We do not refund or transfer to other TELUS accounts part of or the whole Prepaid balance.

However, we do offer balance transfer from one Prepaid account to another TELUS Prepaid account. The minimum transfer amount is $50 and the initiating account must retain a minimum of $50 on their account. The recipient can not have a balance over $200 with the transfer amount. These balance transfers are also non-refundable.

The moral of the story is you might not be happy tomorrow for what you are happy with today. So only pay your account when needed as overpaying may kick you in the .....

Telus, the greedy company.

BillieBob said
GIC Investor: Why help out a CL stranger with their bill when you could use the number of one of your High Interest Saving friends? Let me know.

The $5 Canada-wide Calling only seems to be available once I actually log into my account. It doesn't show up on their generic plan page.

As far as purchasing second-hand phones goes, I have had very good luck using Orchard and would recommend them without hesitation. I have purchased two iPhones (6s and 7) and sold another one (5s) in the last two years. They sell both iPhones and Android. The phones have been checked and tested and come with a 30-day return guarantee. https://www.getorchard.com/search/shop-for-featured-phones/  

See pic from their revised and new website for $5 addon for 500 minutes, Canada Wide.

I assume when you waited a few days later to port your number that your Public Mobile Account number remained the same and your credits were not affected? The reason why I ask I plan to take their $15 plan with some $5 addons and take the phone number they offer. Then a few months later I will port my number over and am concerned about any $1 per month credits for being a referrer.

gicjunkie said
Another reasonable cell phone option is with Simply Connect. It's a discount Rogers subsidiary. They have reasonable talk/text/data plans and some discounted phones.. Also, if you are a former federal government employee you get a 10% discount on talk and text plans and 15% off data plans. They also offer travel pack add-ons if you need limited service when travelling.

https://www.simplyconnect.ca/promotion_offer/data-bonus-offer  

Thank you gicjunkie. It is always good to have more comparisons before making a decision. After seeing Simply Connect it further supports my decision to go with Public. I guess it what best suits an individuals needs. We are retired and don’t see the point of a $50 or more per month contract x 2. I can’t imagine how much younger folks with a family of 5 would pay per month Data and all. Some young folks don’t know the difference between wifi and data or that $300 a month family plan is not justifiable along with a home phone and a $125 cable TV bill.

Just a quick comparison between Public $15 - $2 = $13 per month prepaid plan or less vs Simply $18 a post paid (2 year contract) month. And other loyalty discounts as shown.

So Simply Connect is a post paid plan on a 2 year contract. They do have some add ons that are paid monthly (no roll over). See pic.

And Public $13 a month prepaid. And unused portions of most Canada use add ons roll over. See pics.

And Simplys addons....by the month....no roll over.