PayGo top up account confusion.

[Roxy87]

I purchased a talk and text 20 last month that expired today. Yesterday I topped up with $100 , which is good for 1 year. So today I received a text saying "The payment for your $20/month plan was received." Is that for the last month? How come I didn't get a text saying my $100 top up was successful? Am I going to be charged $20 every month now? I didn't sign up for automatic top ups, I thought when I purchased talk and text 20 is was for a month and that's it. I'm just really confused with this whole thing. Also my balance is $102.64 on myrogers account, but no where does it say I made a $100 purchase yesterday. Anyway hope this isn't too confusing and that someone can clear things up for me.

Thank you.

***Edited Labels.***

[OLDYELLR]

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@Littleboyblue wrote:

This top process is very confusing to me.

Today Rogers allowed me to top up from my existing Pay As You Go balance for next year. However they have taken off $100 for the top up. Does this mean that the $100 will be credited to my account when the renewal date comes along? Or does this  mean they will deduct amounts from the new balance every time I make a call after the renewal date?

Put another way: If my balance is $250 and I purchase another $100 worth for the next year (ignoring for the moment the $150 limit in December 2018), my new balance becomes $350 and calls etc. are deducted from this amount.

With the top up plan I would assume that my balance remains at $250 i.e. I have just "paid" Rogers for the  next year. If not then is Rogers double dipping as they are "charging" me $100 (for the top up) for the renewal and also, it appears, for any new calls?   So, my  question again is - what is the $100 top up used for?

Can anyone please help clarify this confusing point

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Obviously you have been paying $100 + tax each year to maintain your PayGo plan but not using that much in air time each year,  so your balance has built up. Some years ago I received a letter from Rogers that my balance was over $200 and I could use $100 from it to renew for another year "for free".  That's what I did and have been doing it every year I had a balance well over $100. There is no way to do it on line, so you have to call. Many people like me who use their cellphones only occasionally instead of all day long benefit from paying $100/year for the service, which works out to just $8.33 + tax a month. And if you don't use up your balance in a year, you can draw $100 (no tax) from it to renew whenever there is enough and it works to a whole lot less. But if you have just been paying $100 each year and built up a huge balance because you don't use $100 in a year, then at least you get to use $100 of it for another year "for free".  Rogers has stated that at the end of 2018 PayGo balances will be capped at $150 so you will lose anything over that.

[57]

@Littleboyblue: Check out the recent threads in the PAYGo forum. Especially the one on Maximum balance, PAYGo changes, etc.  Various people have different viewpoints on what is best for them.

For example, I've used the $100 from my account several times in the past few years to get my PAYGo payments down to an average of around $75 per year over the past 10 years, which I feel is a good deal.

Other people disagree, based on their viewpoint which is based on a $/minute calculation, so you have to decide which is more important $/minute, or $/year.

[unun4848]

Hi,

The $10 Talk & Text plan for Pay As You Go, shows that there is a $10 Monthly Service Fee and includes 50 texts and 50 minutes of anytime local calls.

Are those 50 texts and 50 minutes included each month? Or is that per year?

And can we top up for only $10 each month using voucher cards? I seem to remember some restriction if topping up less than $20 per month.

And does any remaining balance get carried forward and added to the next $10 top up with this plan?

I've been using about 65 minutes and 45 texts per month with an old plan (By the Minute - Talk All Day plan), and using $100 vouchers to top up, and so this is costing over $300 per year, which is too much.

In contrast, in looks like this $10 Talk & Text plan would cost $120 per year, and I'd only use about $4.50 per month above the 50 included minutes, so I'd also accumulate a carry forward balance of about $66 per year.

Am I correct in this thinking, or missing something? Thanks for any help.

[RogersMaude]

Good day @unun4848,

Thanks for your post! Making sure you're familiar with the plans you're thinking of switching for is key to ensure you got the best options to suit your needs adequately.

The $10 Talk & Text plan Includes the following, monthly:

50 Canadian/U.S. and international text, picture and video messages

35¢/message for international text messages

75¢/message for U.S./international picture and video messages

50 minutes of anytime local calls

30¢/minute for additional usage

50¢/minute for Canadian and U.S. long distance calls

The $10 plan does include 50 minutes and 50 texts, per month, but if you think you'll be using more than 50 minutes of airtime, you'll need to add funds to your balance to ensure your phone line continues to place and receive phone calls. Any amount you've added that was not used up will carry over.

Hope this helps!

RogersMaude

[unun4848]

With the $10 Talk & Text plan, is there a way to know through My Rogers how many minutes we've used during the month or how many minutes remain of the 50 minutes? Likewise for the 50 text messages. Thanks.

[57]

@unun4848 : I don't have that exact plan, however, when I login using MyRogers to my PAYGo account, I can click "View Call/Transaction History". It should show your calls, texts, balance, transactions, etc...

Note that the list of transactions that is "kept" is not very long, so you need to take screenshots or do printouts in order to have a history, if you want to keep older information.

[unun4848]

With the $10 Talk & Text plan, do we need to explicitly top up each month, or will $10 be taken from our balance each month? I think I read that if our balance is greater than $10, the top up would automatically be taken from our balance each month. But I've also read that if we don't top up each month, we would lose our balance.

[RogersMaude]

Good day @unun4848,

Thanks for your post!

I understand your need to make sure your account is successfully topped up, in order for you to stay connected at all times.

Please check out this Support Article for more information. I'd like to direct your attention to the Topping up your balance section.

You can also check out this thread for details about the Top-Up process.

Don't hesitate to let us know if you have any other questions!

RogersMaude

[barndoor]

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@RogersMaude wrote:

Good day @unun4848,

Thanks for your post!

I understand your need to make sure you're account is successfully topped up, in order for you to stay connected at all times.

Please check out this Support Article for more information. I'd like to direct your attention to the Topping up your balance section.

You can also check out this thread for details about the Top-Up process.

Don't hesitate to let us know if you have any other questions!

RogersMaude

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Just to cut to the chase ..... if @unun4848  bought a $40 voucher and applied it to their account  ....  if they are on the $10 a month plan  would Rogers take away their balance  at the end of the month because their expiry date is to short  or will they take the $10 out and carry on as long as the balance in the account is sufficient at renewal time . According to the info referred to above Rogers would take the balance ... but that seems a little silly .  

So according to the info referred to it would seem the only way  to avoid monthly payments would be to add $100 at a time  so the expiry is extended for a year  or go with the auto top up  ? 

And what happened to the $50 for 6 months deal ? 

[unun4848]

So if I understand this correctly then, I could top up $100, not worry about topping up again for a year (assuming my extra usage stayed below the $100), and each month the $10 fee would be automatically paid from my balance? If true, this would be ideal for my needs. Thanks.

[barndoor]

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@unun4848 wrote:

So if I understand this correctly then, I could top up $100, not worry about topping up again for a year (assuming my extra usage stayed below the $100), and each month the $10 fee would be automatically paid from my balance? If true, this would be ideal for my needs. Thanks.

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Yes ,that is the way I understand it to work.

The $100 top up will get you an account expiry 1 year out but of course when they take $10/ month for your plan  the max that would last  would be ten months if there were no extras . But, at that ten month period or when the $100 is depleted you could either ad another hundred for another one year expiry   or ad say $30  and your expiry for that added $30 will still remain the date of expiry for the original $100. 

Clear as mud ?

[billb46]

I just changed my account to a monthly "pay as you go". I have a balance of about $300 in my account. If I subscribe to auto top-up will my credit card be charged even if there if my balance more than covers the monthly charge?

[barndoor]

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@billb46 wrote:
I just changed my account to a monthly "pay as you go". I have a balance of about $300 in my account. If I subscribe to auto top-up will my credit card be charged even if there if my balance more than covers the monthly charge?

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You would need to find what they set as your expiry date I would guess ... I wouldn't be letting them access any more money than absolutely necessary .  Best bet would likely  be to call the paygo  line at  1 800 575 9090 take options 4 .... 4 .....1 and that should get you to a live agent fairly quickly and discuss the situation  with them . 

Good Luck  

[billb46]

Thanks for the fast reply.  I know my expiry date but the Roger's rules are very vague.  I don't want a top up taken out if I still have a large balance.  As it is, I'll lose over a hundred dollars at the end of the year.  Also, they say you lose your balance if you don't top up prior to the expiry date.  What's the top up deadline...a month, a week?  I've disabled auto top up and will keep an eye on my account. 

[billb46]

I just spoke to an agent and was told that if there is a large enough balance to pay the monthly fee, the credit card will not be charged.  I'll keep an eye on my account and find out if it's true.

[RogersMoin]

Hello, @billb46

Welcome to the Rogers Community Forums! I appreciate your participation in the Community. 

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@billb46 wrote:

I just changed my account to a monthly "pay as you go". I have a balance of about $300 in my account. 

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Can you clarify further about this account switching? Were you on a yearly prepaid plan and switched to monthly prepaid plan?

@OLDYELLR may be able to shed more light on this issue. 

Cheers,

RogersMoin

[OLDYELLR]

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@unun4848 wrote:

So if I understand this correctly then, I could top up $100, not worry about topping up again for a year (assuming my extra usage stayed below the $100), and each month the $10 fee would be automatically paid from my balance? If true, this would be ideal for my needs. Thanks.

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It depends on exactly which plan you have. The original plan, grandfathered if you requested it to be, but no longer available, has no monthly fee (other than the $0.75 911 charge) and calls are (were) charged from the 365 day $100 balance. The current $10/month plan is what was substituted if you didn't ask for your original plan to be grandfathered.

[OLDYELLR]

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@billb46 wrote:

I just changed my account to a monthly "pay as you go". I have a balance of about $300 in my account. If I subscribe to auto top-up will my credit card be charged even if there if my balance more than covers the monthly charge?

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I presume your plan was the original standard plan you could renew monthly for various amounts or yearly for $100, each time rolling over the balance. That is the plan I have and have been calling the PayGo number to renew each year whenever the balance was well over $100. If you called PayGo and was told your new  monthly charges would come out of your balance, I'd believe them. You'll know right away after a month by checking your balance. If Rogers charges your credit card instead, not your balance, call them right away and remove your credit card from your account until they fix it.

[barndoor]

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@billb46 wrote:

I just spoke to an agent and was told that if there is a large enough balance to pay the monthly fee, the credit card will not be charged.  I'll keep an eye on my account and find out if it's true.

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The point where I suspect you will have to be careful  is when you approach  your account expiry date  .... as Rogers Maude I believe pointed out in another thread, when asked  about balance rollovers ....if your account passes it's expiry you could lose your  balance according to the Rogers rules.  If you have made an arrangement, as it seems some have, to extend your expiry beyond a year in order to bring your balance down so they don't claw part of it back at the end of the year you should be good for a while .  I think usually they give reasonable warning that your expiry date is coming up and even give ten days grace or so after said date  to top up your account  but always ise to be one step ahead if possible .   

[barndoor]

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@OLDYELLR wrote:

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@unun4848 wrote:

So if I understand this correctly then, I could top up $100, not worry about topping up again for a year (assuming my extra usage stayed below the $100), and each month the $10 fee would be automatically paid from my balance? If true, this would be ideal for my needs. Thanks.

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It depends on exactly which plan you have. The original plan, grandfathered if you requested it to be, but no longer available, has no monthly fee (other than the $0.75 911 charge) and calls are (were) charged from the 365 day $100 balance. The current $10/month plan is what was substituted if you didn't ask for your original plan to be grandfathered.

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In post 24 of this thread  @unun4848 states the details  of why he/she wants out of the anytime plan  and we were discussing how the ten month plan could be paid  for .  

@unun4848 likely  didn't have to request his/her anytime plan  to be grandfathered as it was only customers who were paying  for their anytime plan with less than $100 increments that had to call in and request  to grandfather it . 

[57]

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@barndoor wrote:

...it was only customers who were paying  for their anytime plan with less than $100 increments that had to call in and request  to grandfather it . 

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In the following link we discussed the changes regarding PAYGo, that were sent via texts around the end of December 2017.  There were a couple of issues. One was the $150 maximum allowable at the end of 2018 and the other was the automatic migration of people on the "Anytime" plan to the $10/mo Talk/Text plan.  I don't believe it mattered how you were paying for "Anytime".  I'm quite sure that unless you called Rogers to stay on the grandfathered "Anytime" plan, you were migrated to Talk/Text, depending on your billing date. As you say, it is possible that those not paying monthly were not migrated until the end of their payment period...?

Here's my post summarizing those changes from the thread on both topics:

http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Pay-as-You-Go/Pay-As-You-Go-plan-changes/m-p/413623#M2018

The text from Rogers read as follows:

Rogers service msg: Starting on <DATE> and each month after that, your monthly top up will go towards our $10 Talk & Text plan that will give you 50 anytime local minutes and 50 text messages instead of being charged for every minute or text you use. For more details about the plan see rogers.com/payasyougo . This change is made in accordance with the CRTC Wireless Code. To go back to what you currently have or to cancel your prepaid service, reach us at rogers.com/contactus .

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