topic Re: Speakout vs PM in Get Support

Speakout vs PM

doughnutmaster — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 17:16:12 GMT

Hi there:

I am considering switching from 7-11 speakout to PM, and wanted to see if anyone could share any of the downsides if any once they made the switch. From reading the community, here is what I have found so far:

Pros:

Plan loyalty/community/auto-pay bonus

250MB of data is bundled into the $15 plan (with autopay), while speakout charges $10/100MB plus an overage charge of 0.10/MB. ( I dont use data frequently, but its nice to have when there is no wifi, or it doesn't work)

online call log/better online account management

Great community of support 🙂

can roam to the US, even though it is only 10 day packages

EDIT: no $1.25 monthly 911 fee, but I presume it is bundled into plan pricing.

Cons:

no live support ( but as many have said, how often have you needed to call support?)

no "pay as you go" prices

Speakout has a 365 day expiry, while PM is on a 30 day plan cycle

I already have a sim card on the way from Canadian Cell Supplies, so I am just waiting for a promotion to come by before I dive in.

Happy to hear any more pros/cons people have found when moving from speakout to PM.

Thanks!

Re: Speakout vs PM

computergeek541 — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 20:55:29 GMT

The biggest pro at Public Mobile is the rewards program. Other than that, there isn't much to differetiate them from competitors.

Re: Speakout vs PM

Triguy — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 20:57:36 GMT

PM is prepaid so there are no overages charges. Also PM gives customers gifts such as free minutes and data. There were free additions last Christmas.

Re: Speakout vs PM

Jb456 — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 21:03:40 GMT

I think speak out text is Canada and USA while Public mobile is worldwide.

Don't forget to use a referral code for a $10 sign-up bonus.

Re: Speakout vs PM

gblackma — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 21:07:39 GMT

@doughnutmaster welcome to the community. Here's a link to the rewards

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/reward-rules . The major advantage that PM has over its competitors.

And here's 4 articles on activation and porting and the Refer a friend reward if you need them:

1. What you require to activate https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/what-you-need-to-activate
2.How to activate https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/activation-account-set-up
3.How to port https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/choose-your-phone-number
4. Refer a friend https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/the-refer-a-friend-reward

Please note your Speakout account must be active to port your number. The port will close it once its completed.

Here's an article on Porting number from speak out or Pedro Canada posted by @popping

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/Porting-number-from-Speakout-Apply-also-to-Petro-Canada-Mobility/m-p/365194/highlight/true#M6907

Re: Speakout vs PM

BearFBI — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 21:20:29 GMT

@doughnutmaster The biggest pro is the Price. Speakout robs people. It has ridiculous rates. What you can get here vs Speakout is way better. Also the rewards help lower the cost as well.

Speakout to me is good for an emergency phone.

No live support was a problem for me and thats what made me not want to come here. But I said hey why not try it out. I tried it out and sure enough it was awesome. I had to contact support once and it was a question related to the communtiy, it wasn't that important, They responded in 20 minutes.

Re: Speakout vs PM

Staliger — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 21:27:31 GMT

@doughnutmaster Due to rewards program and give aways, PM is way better in the long run.😉

Re: Speakout vs PM

popping — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 21:52:36 GMT

@doughnutmaster

It depends on your usage.

My break-even analysis

7-11 Speakout cost per month:

Fixed monthly charge $1.25

$15 - $1.25 = $13.75/m will buy you 46 minutes at $0.3/min

With PM $2 off on autopay, your break-even usage is

$13 - $1.25 = 11.75/m will buy you 40 minutes.

PM $15 plan will get you. ($13 with autopay enabled)

- 100 outgoing minutes

- Unlimited incoming minutes

- Unlimited internation text + MMS

- 250MB data with autopay enable

- no overage charge. But add-on is cheap and no expiry date.

It is very clear that your will save at PM if you use more than 40 to 46 minutes per 30 days. Do you calculation taking the SMS/MMS messages into account.

If you used all your 100 outgoing minutes, you can buy $5 500 minutes add-on at 1 cent per minute. The add-on minute does not expired until you used them up. Unused minutes will be roll-over to next cycle.

PM is a pure prepaid service provider without pay-per-use charge. Therefore, PM plan is for kids as there is no overage charge after your kid used all the 100 outgoing minutes. Speakout 365 day expiry does not mean a thing to kids. They will continue to use until the account is out of fund in a month or may be in 2 - 3 months that parents have not control on the usage.

I like to keep the $100 in my pocket and pay $15 every 30 days instead of locked in with Speakout until I used up the $100. I like the possibility to leave a provider if I find a better deal or service elsewhere.

Read my post on how I port my Speakout number to PM in 4 hours.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/Porting-number-from-Speakout-Apply-also-to-Petro-Canada-Mobility/m-p/365194

Re: Speakout vs PM

maximum_gato — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 22:12:04 GMT

@doughnutmaster

Having not used speakout myself but it is often suggested for the very low usage customer to be a cheaper overall plan. But one month/period of time of crisis and pay per use charges can wreak havoc on an yearly averaged priced plan.

Rewards are fantastic a $15 plan immediately becomes $13 with autopay and will eventually reduce $1 per year/max $5 with loyalty making it $8 with no effort at all. Keeping up to date, learning how public mobile works, account management and contributing each month can fairly easily net another $1 or $2 community reward. After you discover how great public mobile can be im sure youll have a few friends or family members youll refer for another $1 each off per month in referral rewards. The $15 plan can easily become the $0 plan within one year. I have two accounts when my loyalty kicks in next month they will both be $0.....free!

Its very easy to schedule a plan change on your next renewal if you find you need more data or in the case of the $15 plan ....more outgoing calling. But unless you need to talk on your dime (penny really) more than 1100 minutes per month (30 day cycle) then just adding the $5/500 minute calling add on backs up the $15 plan in case you exceed your 100 outgoing plan minutes.

All add ons (except the US roaming add ons) to your account ROLL OVER every month until completely used so you can safely add these to compliment your plan. The data add ons were recently reduced in price to $5/200mb and $15/1gb so these can be used to supplement plan data if necessary without breaking the bank and can be useful "on the road" to use fongo, whatsapp, textnow or other online calling/texting apps ( for free long distance outside of Canada, checking your voicemail without using minutes etc...) Even the international (18 countries) calling add on at $15/400 min is very reasonable at less than $0.04 per minute.

Customer support is all online but the community can solve 90% of all issues very quickly and moderator wait times have generally been reduced to about 2 hours. If given sufficient information to begin with account issues can be dealt with immediately often before you respond to their initial contact with you thru your private message box. Public mobile employees are very friendly and accommodating if you make a mistake. From the top all the way down to the new trainee moderators they listen to the customers needs and wants and do their best to implement our requests from account issues to new plan pricing and community changes.

On top of the rewards program they also regularily run contests ( Hey @Catherine_T were overdue for a good contest and another flash sale/promo would be great too!) for 1gb data add ons, amazon gift cards and even a year of service (once last year!) They also treat the regular customers to bonuses once or twice a year.....last christmas they gave away a 1gb data add on and the 400min international calling add on during the more than merrier campaign and a 1gb data add on as a customer appreciation bonus last August . They also offer a refer a friend bonus credits for the referrer a few times a year offering $10, $20 and as high as $25 referral bonus credit for you or both you and your friend that can help out paying for your plan if you are a good enough salesperson to your friends and family.

BTW....if you dont have a friend to refer you for the $10 referral credit just private message any member and they will happily give you their referral code! Welcome to the community and hopefully soon to public mobile!

Re: Speakout vs PM

doughnutmaster — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 22:12:49 GMT

Thank you everyone for your insights!

@poppingI honestly don't talk that much, its mainly incoming 2FA texts and promo texts, which are free anyways.

I do have their $10/100MB data plan, so hence why I'm considering PM since for an extra $3 I can get free incoming calls, unlimited texting, and 150MB more data.

Re: Speakout vs PM

sunflowershine — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 22:40:37 GMT

@doughnutmaster It really depends on your usage. I have both Speakout and PM. I use both for work and personal use. I don't use data that much. I bought 200MB last year that I have not used up yet. Add-on data will be cheaper in PM and 200MB is now $5.

I have my plan started when it has the first 30 days free. I switched to lower price after the 1st cycle. I think you can keep your Speakout for $25 without any plan. If you find PM doesn't work out as you want, you don't need to switch back and forth.

Re: Speakout vs PM

Danchvn — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 23:04:34 GMT

@doughnutmaster

I have used both. SpeakOut was great for me when I just needed something for a few calls and the odd text but no needed no data. I loved the 365 day expiry. Since then I have moved and am now texting and calling much more as well as using data so it made sense for me to switch but I didn't want to pay premium prices. That and the fact that the Rogers network, which SpeakOut uses (at least used to use), doesn't have as great a coverage in my current area it made it more worthwhile to go with Public Mobile. I have been with Public Mobile for a few months now with no service problems at all and will soon be be porting my wife's number over as well. The very knowledgeable community here is really great at assisting with issues that may crop up and though there is no call in service support, the moderators seem to be able to solve any issues the regular users cannot. That being said, Public Mobile may not be for the odd person who does not have a little patience to wait for that assistance.

Re: Speakout vs PM

kselmak — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 23:06:20 GMT

Hi @doughnutmaster

How much do you use the phone? We had grandma on 711 and since she couldn't use up $50 in a year we didn't touch it. Once she moved and started using more than 20 minutes it was logical to move her to the old $10 plan and she's still on it. With loyalty autopay and one referral she's paying $5 now. She got an add-on before they had 500 for $5, she used about 40 minutes out of 200 (costed $8). So she's saving money

Another friend moved to 15 plan from 711 and is saving money as well, her usage is much higher but sporadic. She uses fongo to turn it into unlimited

The good thing about pm that all those minutes don't expire after 365 days. Add-ons stay on your account forever.

Re: Speakout vs PM

maximum_gato — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 23:11:25 GMT

@doughnutmaster

I hope we've been helpful for you while you consider your options.....waiting for a promotion while you deplete your account balance with speakout is wise but keep in mind promotions are often for plans priced $25+ or $35+ only (although they do happen for the $15 plan occasionally.) Bonus referral credit promotions do apply to any plan if that occurs soon. Its also common to have a your next 30 days free (2nd month) promotion for plans $25+/$35+ that many take advantage of and then schedule a plan change to the $15 plan on your next renewal. Although you pay a little more up front they work out to about $8 a month for your first 4 months of service plus you get the extra data and calling for that first 30 days.

Dont forget public mobile is owned by telus so you get the great canada wide coverage and reliability of the bell/telus network. Data is 4G LTE throttled to 3mbps or you can choose 3G only for higher but variable speeds up to 20mbps +.

And i should mention the cons......autopay can fail leaving you without service until you manually top up and reactivate. Many of us just top up manually a day or two before renewal to avoid this possibility. Thats also a good time to check on your account to make sure its correct and take a couple of screenshots for your records.

Other glitches can creep up to cause the odd account issue like your data doesnt reset or your rewards didnt apply. They are easily fixed by the moderators. Sometimes you get calling messages like..... you dont have a long distance add on (Just dial 1 first or connect after you listen to the message.) If you experience something like this just pose your question to the community to resolve your issue.

Calling or texting issues try rebooting your phone or putting it in airplane mode to achieve a better connection. Using the lost/stolen feature in your account helps reprovision your sim card for troubleshooting problems or forcing your account to take a payment from your account balance after suspension.

Its also handy if you actually lose/misplace or have your phone stolen. It should also be used immediately if you suspect a fraudulent port of your number or pm texts you asking if you are porting (and you are not!) This can prevent it from happening if you are quick enough. Then message the moderators.

It can also be used just before renewal to suspend your account for holidays out of country so you dont have to pay for your service for up to 90 days (your account cancels and deactivates on day 90 so unsuspending around day 85 is recommended.) Suspension can also be achieved by removing autopay as long as you dont have a balance that covers your plan amount.

Curiously do you just like doughnuts? Or do you make a mean doughnut? Maybe you and @coffee should meet up.....you'd make a good pair.... Lol!.... Enjoy the rest of your day!

Re: Speakout vs PM

popping — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 23:35:36 GMT

@doughnutmaster wrote:
Thank you everyone for your insights!
@poppingI honestly don't talk that much, its mainly incoming 2FA texts and promo texts, which are free anyways.
I do have their $10/100MB data plan, so hence why I'm considering PM since for an extra $3 I can get free incoming calls, unlimited texting, and 150MB more data.

Good thinking You can easily spend extra $3 for at Speakout using the pay-per-use call minutes + texts. With PM, you will not go over $13 every 30 days.

If you use a refer-a-friend code, you get $10 one time credit within 72 hours after activation to offset the cost of your PM SIM card.

Re: Speakout vs PM

doughnutmaster — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 23:46:20 GMT

I don't use it that often for calls, I do use it for incoming 2FA and promotional texts which are free anyways, but it does suck to pay 0.15 just to respond YES to confirm a subscription.

My rationale for considering the switch is that I have the $10/100MB data plan for the occasional need, but now for $3 more, I can get more features.

Re: Speakout vs PM

popping — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 23:46:22 GMT

@doughnutmaster

Although PM does not have a call center, all PM support are don on this forum. You just have experienced how PM support system works.

If you have any questions or issues after activation, you can post your question. Within minutes, you will get your answer. The trick is to stay at this forum to supply more info if asked. If it is not account access related issue, we can get your issue resolved quickly.

Only moderator can access your account, we will recommend you to create a support ticket if we determine that your problem can only be solved by moderator to access your account.

Re: Speakout vs PM

doughnutmaster — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 23:59:55 GMT

everyone has been very helpful, so now its just a waiting game for a new promo.

and lol, who would turn down a delicious doughnut?

Re: Speakout vs PM

musicollector — Thu, 23 Jun 2022 03:12:07 GMT

"I like to keep the $100 in my pocket and pay $15 every 30 days instead of locked in with Speakout until I used up the $100. I like the possibility to leave a provider if I find a better deal or service elsewhere."

I am with Speakout currently. Have been contemplating moving to PM, but am wondering if I should because I pay $25 for 71 minutes with Speakout, which lasts a year. The odd time I use it for emergency and family only keeps my balance going up to an year. I have topped back to $25 maybe, twice a year in the past. I do my surfing on my computers at home on wifi and for most phone usage, I use our landline for which I am paying like $5 a month for unlimited usage. So, I wonder if paying even $15 a month when I hardly use it is worth it.

But, I do have a question. At what point do you get your service completely free?

Re: Speakout vs PM

doughnutmaster — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 01:40:03 GMT

Just circling back on this topic, and my interest is now less given the change in the rewards program, so I'm back in the waiting game for a good promo ( it appears PM hasn't done a $x off for y months in a long time which is what I am waiting for) , and /or an account up for grabs with the old rewards program.