topic Re: Why new activations only? in The Lounge

Why new activations only?

Skrenes — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 22:33:18 GMT

I signed up my in-laws with Public Mobile two weeks ago telling them that they the $34 / 5G plan will likely be available and they may as well do it then. Now the plan is available but for new activations only. Why have these kinds of restrictions that sours the experience of your existing customers?

I love that PM rewards loyalty with monthly discounts for each year, but "new activation" promotions are a kick in the face particularly for people that sign up at regular non-promotional times, which is better for PM's servers and support staff.

Please consider changing this restriction.

Re: Why new activations only?

hTideGnow — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 22:35:29 GMT

HI @Skrenes

all carriers like new customers more

if you don't mind to get another new number, you can disable autopay for your current account, get a new sim card and join new again.

But if you care about the number, then wait for better deal to come. Price keeps dropping and existing customers will get good deals too

Re: Why new activations only?

BKNS27 — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 22:38:23 GMT

@Skrenes

If your In-laws are not in a hurry, there is a good chance there will be a promo for existing members. Just have to keep eyes on deals that day.

Re: Why new activations only?

will13am — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 22:52:02 GMT

@Skrenes , I would apply a bit of patience here. The official boxing week deals are still more than a week away. Market forces will dictate whether the black Friday deal make a reappearance. My Spidey senses suggest they will. Just over the past couple of days we have seen deal creep.

Re: Why new activations only?

Handy1 — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 22:53:00 GMT

@Skrenes This is normal for carriers to do , chances are the plan will be available for all again maybe by Boxing Day . Or even a better plan that that like 50GB for $34 , but if you look in your account there’s couple nice offers right now

Re: Why new activations only?

Sansan — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 23:11:33 GMT

@Skrenes I feel the same way you do. It burns when I've been with a co for 10-15 years then when renewals come they give the new customer more than me!!

Why am I being loyal? That doesn't exist with companies anymore 😕.

Mais c'est la vie!!

Re: Why new activations only?

Korth_ — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 23:31:41 GMT

@hTideGnow wrote:
HI @Skrenes
all carriers like new customers more
if you don't mind to get another new number, you can disable autopay for your current account, get a new sim card and join new again.
But if you care about the number, then wait for better deal to come. Price keeps dropping and existing customers will get good deals too

For existing Public Mobile subscribers, it's more than just the phone number. It's the rewards and points, loyalty bonuses, add-ons, promos, and gifts attached to the account which keep us here. Public Mobile needs to give us no incentives to sign up for a cheaper plan. All they need to do is offer a little bonus here and there from time to time so there's always something attached to our accounts we don't want to walk away from.

Remember that Public Mobile is basically just Koodo Junior these days. Telus in disguise. They like new customer activations, they like existing customer retention, they like increasing the total number of subscribers and the average revenue per subscriber - so they're only motivated to offer promos and deals which accomplish those goals.

Re: Why new activations only?

illy — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 02:32:31 GMT

Another theory could be they don’t want to overload their servers like last time so it’s for new activations to pull in customers first. And maybe change the availability to everyone else later on? 🤞🏻

Re: Why new activations only?

Jedi1 — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 02:59:29 GMT

I keep thinking this also, I spent many hours trying to sign up Black Friday.

Re: Why new activations only?

Skrenes — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 05:13:30 GMT

Thanks for the reply everyone. I'll remain hopeful that perhaps this is strategic for load shedding and that they'll offer it to existing customers closer to Boxing Day.

I understand why MBA's love sign up promotions, especially since it's easy to demonstrate its success through numbers. Alienating your existing customers is much harder to measure. It's also insidious and when the brand is ruined or a mass exodus begins, it's too late or exceedingly difficult to reverse. In essence, negative loyalty is so easy to create and so difficult to undo, like lying vs trust, etc. Not saying PM is at risk of doing that yet, but just that it's not nice to see those patterns. I use to love Shaw and now I'd never use them even if their service was exactly the same and cheaper (to a point).

Re: Why new activations only?

Korth_ — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 06:51:13 GMT

@Skrenes

Public Mobile has broken the trust before. They've never "lied" exactly, never outright stated something false. But they have been deceptive and misleading. They have made small forgivable mistakes and large heavyhanded blunders. They have blundered through some awful Telus directives and marketing objectives.

Stick around long enough and you might see it happen again. Many customers get frustrated or angry each time. Some of them threaten to leave, others actually do. Some of them "never" come back to Public Mobile (sometimes including Telus and Koodo), others jump off their new provider the moment they see a better/cheaper promo on the market and they don't particularly seem to care that it's Public Mobile again.

But to be fair, from what I've heard and seen, this sort of thing has happened at every major Canadian provider. Public Mobile (Telus) is no better or worse than others in this regard, I think.

And Public Mobile today is not the Public Mobile I signed up with many years ago. It's made some mistakes. It's sometimes failed to apologize or correct these mistakes enough to make everybody happy. It has that horrible Telus EverSafe garbage and stupidbot now and impersonal support. But overall it's better than it's ever been. And I still have some 25GB+ 5000mins+ of assorted gifts and freebies from them on my accounts, along with tons of Rewards which actively discount $$ from every monthly bill ... I'm still with Public Mobile because even with all their warts, they're still the best deal in town.

Re: Why new activations only?

GKPublic — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 02:23:13 GMT

Yeah, I agree with your frustration, I was excited to see an entry-level plan with 4GB of data for $24, I was going to upgrade my patient daughter from her $15 plan. When it didn't show up as an option for her, I assumed it was an internet cache glitch, but I eventually noticed it was for new subscribers only. I guess we'll stick with the $9 cheaper plan for now. Kind of lose-lose for us and for Public

Re: Why new activations only?

Skrenes — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 04:41:26 GMT

Yeah. I don't like this new practice and it's a poor first impression for them too. After raving about PM for years, they finally signed on and now can't get the deal they would have been able to enjoy had they waited. These silly games breed disloyalty. Is it not enough that they paid "regular" price?

Re: Why new activations only?

Korth_ — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 05:18:16 GMT

If you've recently signed on with Public Mobile and you're not attached to your phone number then just cancel AutoPay, buy a new SIM and activate it as a "new customer". Your existing plan (and number) will automatically get suspended after non-payment and automatically get terminated after 90 more days of non-payment, there's no $ costs involved and no paperwork and no obligation and no problem.

If you are attached to your existing phone number then you're basically out of luck. Unless you want to port your number out to a different provider then port it back in to Public Mobile - this is a bit chancy (twice) and the timing would have to work out (you don't know when Public Mobile will take the promo down), and it would basically mean paying two or three months to score that killer deal (so it probably wouldn't be worth it anyhow).

Re: Why new activations only?

GKPublic — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 17:06:42 GMT

Thanks @Korth_ , those are good tips. My daughter has built up a little cache of Public Points... unfortunately she joined a little after they discontinued the old loyalty program for new users. I'd never been in a hurry to use those Public Points until now, as it's not as convenient for me to login to her account with the 2FA, but the lesson for me is to keep them spent down to add more flexibility to switch. My first impression of the points catalog was that it was clunky, but like I said, it's not really convenient for me to log in to her account. We'll likely be patient and stick with the $15 plan for now.

As an aside, I've been with Public almost five years, so my monthly loyalty (old program) is very satisfying indeed. I think I'm a lifer on this awesome mobile service provider.

Re: Why new activations only?

Korth_ — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 19:38:07 GMT

@GKPublic wrote:
As an aside, I've been with Public almost five years, so my monthly loyalty (old program) is very satisfying indeed. I think I'm a lifer on this awesome mobile service provider.

I have two accounts which caught the last of the legacy Rewards. Alas, all my Referrals impulsively switched their Rewards over to Points, quickly realized their mistakes, and floated away to better deals elsewhere.

I'm also a "lifer" ... until Public Mobile finally discontinues the Rewards program. When then happens (not if that happens) then I'll stick around only long enough to burn through my points. Who knows, maybe my old Referrals will Refer me to their new providers and better deals, lol.

Re: Why new activations only?

sfel — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 20:10:51 GMT

@publicmobileAny chance you can open up those great offers to existing customers as well?

Re: Why new activations only?

Handy1 — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 20:12:27 GMT

@sfel We are just customers like you helping one another . Submit ticket with support if you want a specific plan they can sometimes help . They helped me get the 50GB for $34 yesterday

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