The Unofficial 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless Canada Consumer Page 
Facebook
Twitter
Email this
Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
11:12 am
To those people that have this question in mind, well here is what I found when I called Customer Service:
If you balance reaches $0: You have 45 days to refill after your balance reaches $0 or your sim card number becomes void and you need to buy another SO sim.
If your airtime expires (365 days): You have less than 24 hours to refill or your sim card number becomes void and you need to buy another SO sim.
Please add whatever comments you have regarding this topic. Hope this helps!!!
Thanks
4:21 pm
March 31, 2007
Offline
Very useful info! I've now added it as #13a of the FAQ.
4:48 pm
> If your airtime expires (365 days): You have less than 24 hours to refill or your > sim card number becomes void and you need to buy another SO sim.
Wow, that seems needlessly severe! I can maybe see the 45 days for when your balance hits zero, but a 24-hour window just doesn't seem justified. Why so tight? And, if your SIM "becomes void", how are you supposed to buy a replacement SIM card? I thought they only sold them with a new phone.
Has anyone in this forum actually let their airtime expire, and had their SIM card voided? Is this written rule anywhere on 7-11's web site?
I'm still shaking my head, and I *hope* that the Cust Service person who provided this info was misinformed, or misquoted the real rules.
5:20 pm
March 15, 2008
Offline
Wow, that seems needlessly severe! I can maybe see the 45 days for when your balance hits zero, but a 24-hour window just doesn't seem justified. Why so tight?
I agree that 24-hours is too tight but 45 days seems more than reasonable. What puzzles me is why they don't send text messages 30, 7 and 1 day(s) before expiry to remind the customer that it's time to buy airtime. Surely it's better for them to keep that customer than to piss them off needlessly.
And, if your SIM "becomes void", how are you supposed to buy a replacement SIM card? I thought they only sold them with a new phone.
I don't see any mention of it on their website or in their current brochure, however, this is mentioned in an earlier brochure:
Replacement SIM cards are available at a cost of $25.00 and telephone
number changes have a fee of $10.00 each. In order to purchase a
replacement SIM card or request a Telephone number change your account
balance must have the balance sufficient to cover the cost.
Of course it's kind of hard to have $25 airtime to pay for the new SIM if you've just let your account expire 🙁
Is this written rule anywhere on 7-11's web site?
I don't see any mention of it on their website or in their current brochure either, however, this is mentioned in an earlier brochure:
Please note: When your account expires, you have 45 days to refill your
account before your phone number is cancelled. Your mobile number may
be cancelled if your account has no activity for 120 consecutive days. If this
occurs please contact Speak Out WirelessSM Customer Care to establish a
new mobile number for your account. Mobile number cancellation does not
affect your account balance and expiration. A service activation fee and new
wireless phone number may be required to reactivate service.
5:41 pm
This is what I was told when I called SO CS. And the replacement SIMs are only available if your current SIM is damaged or locked. Once it becomes void, you need to buy a new phone/sim combo!
Please note: When your account expires, you have 45 days to refill your
account before your phone number is cancelled. Your mobile number may
be cancelled if your account has no activity for 120 consecutive days. If this
occurs please contact Speak Out WirelessSM Customer Care to establish a
new mobile number for your account. Mobile number cancellation does not
affect your account balance and expiration. A service activation fee and new
wireless phone number may be required to reactivate service.
5:59 pm
October 14, 2008
Offline
I don't read it that way at all. I'm in Ontario right now. If I go to Quebec, and my airtime expires while I'm there I'm SOL, because there are no 7-11's in Quebec? I have 24 hours to get back to a 7-11 in Ontario? Based on the information in their terms & conditions, I read it this way:
If your airtime balance reaches $0, or your sim card goes past the expiry date, then you have up to 45 days to replenish your account. When you replenish your account within 45 days, then you will be given a new expiry date 1 year from the latest top-up.
If you do not replenish your account within 45 days, you will lose your phone number and account.
By they way, you will get several stories with any call into Speak Out customer service. I called in (and emailed them) to confirm or deny that the Nokia 1680 was unlocked. They stated several times that it was indeed unlocked, but in fact the Nokia 1680 they sell is locked. I got different opinions about questions about sim cards too, each time I called in.
Take what they say with a grain of salt. You will get several differing opinions when calling Speak Out customer service. It's just who you talk to at the time
9:01 pm
March 15, 2008
Offline
I meant to comment about this part from what I quoted above:
Your mobile number may be cancelled if your account has no activity for 120 consecutive days. If this occurs please contact Speak Out WirelessSM Customer Care to establish a new mobile number for your account. Mobile number cancellation does not affect your account balance and expiration. A service activation fee and new wireless phone number may be required to reactivate service.
I take that to mean if you don't place or receive calls or messages for 120 days (4 months) they can cancel your phone. While you don't lose your airtime you do lose the ability to use the phone until you get things straightened out with SO CS. So if for example you got a phone to keep in your (or your spouse's) car's glove compartment for emergencies based on the advertised 365 airtime expiry, then chances are when you need to use the phone in an emergency it won't work.
That's very disturbing, especially since this information isn't on their website or in their current brochure. I can see a big lawsuit in Ztar's and 7-11's future if someone who bought "good for a full 365 days" airtime can't use it in an emergency after 120 days.
And regardless of lawsuits, consider the negative publicity a few months ago when someone's kid died after the parents placed a 911 call on their VoIP phone and the ambulance went to their old address in another part of the country. I doubt that Ztar or 7-11 management want an embarrassment like that on their hands.
11:56 pm
August 6, 2010
Offline
Sorry about resurrecting a two-year-old topic, but does anyone know if this is still true? Do you still get a 45-day grace period to reload after your balance hits zero?
I'm in the US for awhile, and my SpeakOut balance is running low. I figured no big deal since I wouldn't be using it in the US anyway, until I remembered the 911 fee. My balance is less than the 911 fee, so when that rolls around, I'll hit zero.
According to the official website's FAQ, there's a 45-day grace period after your minutes expire, but it doesn't say anything about minutes that are just used up. I tried calling the 1-866 number from my US phone, but I get a message that says "we are having technical difficulties"-- not sure if it's from my US carrier or from SpeakOut. Has anyone here hit a zero balance recently, or talked to customer service about it more recently than two years ago?
Thanks!
4:34 am
April 22, 2009
Offline
When the monthly 911 fees eat up your balance to zero, you then have 45 days before you lose your number and service. You will still owe for those 911 fees, and they will be taken out when you recharge.
6:44 am
March 13, 2010
Offline
My account shows my balance expiring Jun 1st. Since I plan on topping up just once a year does that mean I can top up on Jun 1st or does it mean I top up on May 31st?
7:05 am
April 22, 2009
Offline
Top off the 1st of June, and you should be fine. There were reports that the balance stays intact a few days after the expiry date, Probably should not play with fire though.
9:49 am
April 26, 2011
Offline
bylo said:
That's very disturbing, especially since this information isn't on their website or in their current brochure. I can see a big lawsuit in Ztar's and 7-11's future if someone who bought a good for a full 365 days airtime can't use it in an emergency after 120 days.
I thought all cell phones can access 911 service even without a plan? not sure if you have an expired SIM in there though.
9:02 am
July 15, 2010
Offline
I know this question is more than three years old now but I'm wondering if this 120 day rule is still in effect. I can't find any mention of this rule on their website. If the rule is still in effect, can "account activity" mean an incoming text message or does it actually have to be an outgoing call?
I keep a SpeakOut phone and charger in the car all the time in case I'm ever running late or I need a towtruck etc. but I can easily go more than four months without needing it.
5:04 pm
April 22, 2009
Offline
You do not have to have the phone on at all if you so desire, as long as you have a positive balance, and you put in at least $25 once every 365 days. You will get deducted $1.25 a month to cover the system access fee.
I am not aware of any inactivity limitation. As long as you are paid up, you are good to go.
3:12 pm
October 7, 2011
Offline
I want to add my .02 cents worth. Last September I moved from Wind (worst provider I ever been with) to Speakout. At the end of October I left Canada for Mexico and was there until the end of April.
My SO phone was working just fine upon my return, but as has been mentioned before the 911 charge was deducted from my balance every month.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With regards to having an unactivated and/or no time left on a GSM phone and needing to make an Emergency call to police, fire or ambulance services.
Now here is an important piece of information, which I tested out here in the city I live in by using an expired Mexican Telcel SIM card and I dialed 112. After 2 rings a voice came on identifying themselves as EMERGENCY room. I hung up! Read more info in the following, but remember that I tested it to work in Ontario!!!!
==============================================
112 (emergency telephone number)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
112 is the common emergency telephone number that can be dialed free of charge from any telephone or any mobile phone in order to reach emergency services (Ambulances, Fire & Rescue Service and the Police) in the European Union (EU), its candidates for accession, members of the EEA agreement, as well as several other countries in the world. 112 is also mandated to function as the emergency telephone number on any GSM phone system (with the exception of GSM 1900 in the United States, Canada and Mexico).[1]
112 is managed and financed in the European Union by each Member State (country) which also decide on the organisation of the emergency call centres. The International Telecommunications Union recommends that member states that are selecting a primary or secondary emergency number choose either 911, 112 or both. [2]. 112 is one of two numbers (the other being the region's own emergency number) that can be dialed on most GSM phones even if the phone is locked.[1] The GSM mobile phone standard designates 112 as an emergency number, so it will work on GSM phones even in North America where GSM systems redirect emergency calls to 911, or Australia where emergency calls are redirected to 000
10:10 pm
December 30, 2010
Offline
my gio even without a SIM shows that i can make 112 calls.
6:10 pm
December 25, 2009
Offline
The new CRTC regulations state:
Do you pay before you use your wireless service? If so, you use prepaid services, and you have the right:
...
- to a minimum seven-day grace period in order to “top up” your prepaid card account and retain your balance.
...
Provincial Gift Card laws __may__ also apply... in which case they would be required to refund you the remaining account balance and/or give you other rights.
