Billing Q & A’s
- 1. How are the taxes and surcharges on my bill determined?
- Taxes and surcharges are determined by the rates mandated by federal, state and
local laws. The charges applied to your bill are based on the monthly recurring
charges, local usage, toll usage and roaming usage. However, these charges vary
depending on the type of tax, taxing authority and the state, city and county in
which you reside.
- 2. How much does it cost to have my services restored?
- There is a $19.95 fee to have services restored if your services have been cancelled
due to lack of payment. The reactivation Fee must be paid before services are
reinstated.
- 3. What is the Network Access Charge for Wireless?
- It ensures first-class, affordable telecommunications services for all consumers
across the country, especially in high-cost rural areas and low-income customers.
In addition, the funds go towards providing discounted telecommunications
services for schools, libraries and rural health-care facilities. All
telecommunications companies are required to pay into the Network Access
charge or previously known as Federal USF and their contributions may be
recovered from their customers. The charge is calculated at 3.11% of all usage
charges.
The breakdown of the rate is as follows:
Universal Service is calculated at 2.54% of all usage and
Carrier Fees are calculated at 0.57% of all usage.
- 4. What is the FCC Commercial Wireless Regulatory Fee?
- This fee is a FCC regulatory fee to recover the annual costs of its enforcement,
policy and rulemaking, user information, and international activities. This is
collected at $0.02 per line.
- 5. How do Peak and Off Peak minutes work?
- Your rate plan has an amount of included package minutes for use during peak
hours (daytime) and an amount of included package minutes for use during offpeak
hours (nighttime). All calls you make and receive within the calling area
defined by your rate plan will pull from the appropriate set of minutes. This is
based upon the time when the call started.
If you exceed the minutes included in your package for the peak or off-peak time
periods you will be charged a per-minute rate for airtime on calls made and
received for the remainder of the billing cycle. This rate is determined by the
package you have selected previously.
- 6. How will calls bill if call originates in one time group, but ends in another?
- The billing system will rate the call according to the time group the call originated
in and will calculate the minutes used up until the time group changes. After the
time group changes the billing system will calculate the minutes used during this
time group and then add both “pieces” together.
- 7. What are the time periods for Peak Minutes and Off-Peak minutes?
- Peak minutes are used from 7:00 AM - 9:00 PM Monday thru Friday
Off-Peak minutes are used from 9:00 PM - 7:00 AM Monday thru Friday and
anytime on Saturday or Sunday.
- 8. Is there a fee to change my wireless phone number?
- There is no charge to change your wireless phone number.
- 9. What do I do if I suspect there is fraudulent usage on my account?
- If you suspect that there is fraudulent usage on your account, please contact our
Customer Care Department at 1-866-200-5200 or dial #764 from your
wireless phone for immediate assistance. The representative will help you
determine if this is fraudulent activity, offer ways to prevent this from occurring
in the future, and answer any further questions you may have regarding this.
- 10. How do I change my package?
- If you would like to change your current package, please contact our Customer
Care Department at 1-866-200-5200 or dial #764 from your wireless
phone.
Please be advised that these changes will not be effective until the next billing
cycle.
If you change your wireless package to one that is below $27.99 and you are
currently receiving a phone discount - you will forfeit any remaining credit due
to you for your phone.
- 11. Is there a charge to change my package plan?
- No. There is no additional charge to change a package.
- 12. Why does my bill have partial package or monthly charges on it?
- If you recently set up a wireless package with us or changed packages you will see
a partial charge for that plan. Monthly charges are prorated according to the
number of days you are billed for them during your 30 day billing cycle.
- 13. Why does the airtime on my bill not match the airtime on my phone?
- The call timer on your wireless phone keeps track of the minutes used as soon as
you press the “send” button on your phone until you “end” the call. These
minutes include misdialed calls, and 911 calls, which you are not charged for. The
call timer calculates every minute of every call made from your wireless phone,
and is typically higher than billed usage.
- 14. Will I be charged if I check my voicemail from my wireless phone?
- Yes. You will be charged airtime charges when calling to your voicemail to check
your messages from your wireless phone. The minutes used will be taken from
your Peak or Off-Peak minutes depending on time of day the call is made.
Furthermore, you are able to check your voicemail messages from a landline
phone without minutes being taken from wireless package.
- 15. Will I be charged for calls made outside of my local service area?
- No. The long distance charges you incur while outside of your local service area
will be deducted from your package minutes depending on when the call is made.
If you make a long distance call from your wireless phone during Peak hours your
minutes used will be deducted from those minutes. If you dial a long distance call
from your wireless phone during Off-Peak hours the minutes used will be
deducted from those minutes.
- 16. What are roaming charges?
- These charges are for calls made outside the PowerNet Mobile network area.
Please refer to our coverage map to determine the areas outside of our network.
There is a charge of $0.69/min regardless of plan customer is on.
- 17. What will I be charged if I go over my wireless minutes included with my
package plan?
- This will vary by the wireless plan you have selected. Please refer to your
information given to you by your agent regarding the package you have selected.
Equipment/Accessories Q & A’s
- 18. What accessories are included with my wireless phone?
- Upon activation you will receive a Li-Ion battery and a home charger with
the purchase of a phone. Other accessories are available at activation or
upon request if you wish to purchase these items.
- 19. What accessories are available to me for my wireless phone?
- This depends on the phone model you have purchased. Each phone has a set of
accessories available. Please call 1-866-200-5200 or dial #764
from your wireless phone to find out detailed information on the accessories
available for your phone.
- 20. What are the features included with my wireless phone package?
- The following features are available: Call Waiting, Caller ID, 3-Way Calling,
Voicemail, Call Forwarding ($0.10/minute), Directory Assistance ($1.25/call +
airtime charges), Emergency 911 and detailed billing.
- 21. Is there a charge to add an additional feature to my wireless service?
- No. There is no additional charge if you would like to add features to your
wireless plan. However, certain features may have a monthly or per call usage
charge.
- 22. How long will my battery last before I need to charge it?
- The amount of stand-by and talk-time is dependant upon the phone that you
have purchased and the type of battery you have. Please check your User Guide
for the exact life of your phone’s battery.
- 23. What type of battery does my wireless phone have?
- All phones shipped today by the manufacturers include Li-Ion batteries. These
batteries have the longest operating times without being recharged, without
memory and are lighter than earlier made batteries. Other batteries have an
internal memory that doesn’t recharge the battery until all power is used.
- 24. How can I determine the model of my phone?
- To identify the model of the wireless phone, remove the battery and locate the
model-specific code underneath.
- 25. How much does it cost to upgrade to a new phone?
- There is no additional charge to upgrade; you would just pay the price of the
phone you would like to purchase.
- 26. How do I upgrade to a new phone?
- Please contact our Customer Care Department at 1-866-200-5200 or dial #764
from your wireless phone. There is no additional charge to upgrade. You
will just need to purchase the phone you would like. Please be advised that at the
time of purchase we will debit your credit card.
- 27. How do I purchase accessories after my initial order is placed?
- Please contact our Customer Care Department at 1-866-200-5200 or dial #764
from your wireless phone.
Please be advised that a Credit Card will be required to purchase accessories.
These charges will not be billed to your monthly invoice. You will be responsible
for the charges at the time the order is placed.
Returns/Repairs Q & A’s
- 28. What do I do if I need to have my wireless phone repaired?
- Please contact our Customer Care Department to receive full instructions on
getting your wireless phone repaired. You may reach us at 1-866-200-5200 or
dial #764 from you wireless phone.
- 29. Is there a charge if I need to have repairs on my wireless phone and it is
still under the Manufacturer’s Warranty?
- No. If your phone is still under the Manufacturer Warranty there is no additional
charge unless the phone has been abused.
If the phone has been abused or has signs of liquid damage there will be a $5.00
fee charged by the Manufacturer and the phone will be returned without repairs
being completed.
- 30. What is the charge if I need to have my wireless phone repaired and the
Manufacturer’s Warranty has expired?
- There is a $5.00 fee that will be charged by the Manufacturer in addition to the
repair charges.
Miscellaneous Q & A’s
- 31. What do I do if my phone is lost or stolen?
- Please contact our Customer Care Department at 1-866-200-5200 immediately
to suspend the service.
- 32. If my phone is lost or stolen am I fully responsible for charges to
purchase/activate a new wireless phone?
- Yes. You will be responsible for the charges when purchasing a new wireless
phone and to have it activated.
- 33. How do I make an international call from my wireless phone?
- To make an international call from your wireless phone you will need to access
our PowerDial service. To access this service press and hold “7&rdquo on your wireless
phone and you will be prompted to complete your Int’l call. If the number doesn’t
authenticate in our switch - the customer will be prompted to enter their 14-digit
pin number to complete Int’l call.
- 34. What is an MDN?
- Mobile Dialing Number or the Wireless Phone Number you have been assigned.
- 35. What is a CSA?
- Customer Service Area or the primary area used to determine local Wireless
phone number.
- 36. What is SMS?
- Short Messaging Service or a text message.
- 37. What is an ESN?
- The Electronic Serial Number is the number that identifies each cellular phone.
This is located underneath the battery pack. It is an 11-digit number.
- 38. What is WLNP?
- Wireless Local Number Portability allows customers to take their current phone
numbers with them when switching from one wireless carrier to another or from
a wireline carrier to a wireless carrier.
- 39. What is MSID?
- Mobile Station ID is the number that is associated with the home service provider
and the wireless phone number. This is reprogrammed when the user changes
home service providers.
- 40. What is the Home SID?
- This is the identification number used to determine the customer’s “Home
Service Area.” By default the home service area for our customers
will be 4390.
- 41. What is the MIN?
- Mobile identification number or the customer’s phone number. The MIN is
actually the MSID when programming a customer’s handset per information
provided by the manufacturer’s on our handsets.
- 42. Is there a character limit when sending/receiving text messages?
- Yes, there is a 160-character limit when sending and receiving text messages,
which includes spaces.
- 43. Will a customer be able to block long distance calls from being made or
received from their wireless phone?
- No. The packages provided by PowerNet Mobile to their customers include Long
Distance calls. Therefore, these types of calls can’t be blocked.
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