A letter from Dave on the recent changes

[Dave_M]

Hello Community,

The past week has been full of announcements and changes: we launched 3G speed plans, we made our SIM cards available at Walmart, we changed the pricing for 4G LTE plans, and we changed how our support model works. That’s a lot. I want to take the time to thank you for coming on this journey with us, for reading all about the changes, and for voicing your opinions (good and bad). I also want to take some time to share with all of you, the path of learning we have been on at Public Mobile, in hopes that it provides context to some of the changes you have seen.

Nearly two years ago, we defined what ‘doing wireless differently’ would look like, and we launched Public Mobile in beta. At the time, we had a grand vision of being a small niche brand that appealed to a very specific person - a ‘life hacker.’ Many of you joined us during that time and have been with us through the ups and downs (and we love you for it). Since then, we have learned a lot. We have learned about our competition, our industry, and most importantly, we have learned a lot about Canadians and how they use their wireless services.

Those learnings are what have brought us to today and to the changes you’re seeing now. We’re coming up with new ways to deliver more options for Canadians and new ways to remain competitive. Many of these decisions were challenging to make - change always is - but we believe they are the right things to do to continue to offer Canadians more choice and flexibility at great rates on Canada’s largest mobile network. And we believe we’re celebrating those changes by being transparent about it through our “Less for Less” campaign: managing expectations and making sure that customers know that they are trading some frills in favour of lower prices.

Today, I ask you to continue supporting us on this journey. If you have a plan you love, keep enjoying it. If you have a friend who wants a great network for less, tell them about us - why we’re great and why we are different. We aren’t for everyone, but we believe we are the right choice for a lot of Canadians. We are not who we were a few weeks ago, but we are proud of how we’ve evolved to keep up with the wireless needs of Canadians and hope you will join us on this path.

Sincerely,

Dave

[xtwister]

If us new people who came over from freedom to the promo plan that was just introduced  have the pricing, lte or terms yanked, they will be quite unhappy since

it would be a Bait and Switch tactic.

But I'm confident that PM will honour the plan that many of us subscribed to and the

new pricing is only for new subscribers after the promo expired.

[Raven_Jet]

I wasn't expecting to hear a message so quickly from the team. I am happy to hear from you.

Thank you for the letter :)!!!

[xCameron94x]

Thanks Dave,

It is always important to get updates like this and relay them to the customers. Safe to say there have been a few concerns with the introduction of the new plans and prices, and where the future is truly going. There is also concern about future promos and what will happen to the grandfathered plans. Change can be scary sometimes for customers and they just want to be assured that everything will be okay. The customers are really the true marketing force for any company, through word of mouth. I hope future promos wont be too restricted like the Freedom Mobile promotion was, and the price changes are clearly explained to the customer. I will continue to support PM. We have a great team of staff, mods, oracles and community members

[makkahn28]

Hi @Dave_M. Thanks for the explanation.

Not sure IF these PPL might know, BUT we'll try

These PPL are hard to please

[jtm02]

---

@ShawnC13 wrote:

---

@Luddite wrote:

So it's out with the old: "At the time, we had a grand vision of being a small niche brand that appealed to a very specific person - a ‘life hacker.’" 

And in with the new: "offer Canadians more choice and flexibility at great rates on Canada’s largest mobile network. And we believe we’re celebrating those changes by being transparent about it through our “Less for Less” campaign: managing expectations and making sure that customers know that they are trading some frills in favour of lower prices." 

Some expectations to manage:

a) when offered, how long are promo prices "guaranteed"? 30 Days notice

b) are future promos to be restricted or open to all? Targeted at Chatr Customers

We do tend to forget that Publlc Mobile is a work in progress (Brownian motion anyone?) and not yet cast in stone. 

---

Adding what I am worried about for the future in RED to @Luddite, post

---

How will the 30 days notice work? I will only have to pay the updated amount when I go to renew on my renewal date?

[Jamar_so_far]

Who's this "Dave" guy? 

As a company, they can certainly do whatever they want. It's hard not to believe that "Dave, Jeremy, etc" are being guided by the overlord that is Telus. You can't have 2 koodo's...which is certiainly what it felt like when I switched over from Koodo. 

I was thinking "hey this is like Koodo, but without the stuff I rarely use (buy my own phones, rarely if ever talk to customer service, manage my own account, etc) but at 1/2 the price.

Now it's like "Hey it's like Koodo $'s, but without anything and if it goes wrong take a # and get in line. 

Glad I hopped on the bus at the right time, but you certainly expect customers to step back into 2006 and go "WOW! a 3G plan for 50 bucks?? I'm in heaven!" 

[ShawnC13]

---

@Luddite wrote:

So it's out with the old: "At the time, we had a grand vision of being a small niche brand that appealed to a very specific person - a ‘life hacker.’" 

And in with the new: "offer Canadians more choice and flexibility at great rates on Canada’s largest mobile network. And we believe we’re celebrating those changes by being transparent about it through our “Less for Less” campaign: managing expectations and making sure that customers know that they are trading some frills in favour of lower prices." 

Some expectations to manage:

a) when offered, how long are promo prices "guaranteed"? 30 Days notice

b) are future promos to be restricted or open to all? Targeted at Chatr Customers

We do tend to forget that Publlc Mobile is a work in progress (Brownian motion anyone?) and not yet cast in stone. 

---

Adding what I am worried about for the future in RED to @Luddite, post

[Luddite]

So it's out with the old: "At the time, we had a grand vision of being a small niche brand that appealed to a very specific person - a ‘life hacker.’" 

And in with the new: "offer Canadians more choice and flexibility at great rates on Canada’s largest mobile network. And we believe we’re celebrating those changes by being transparent about it through our “Less for Less” campaign: managing expectations and making sure that customers know that they are trading some frills in favour of lower prices." 

Some expectations to manage:

a) when offered, how long are promo prices "guaranteed"?

b) are future promos to be restricted or open to all?

We do tend to forget that Publlc Mobile is a work in progress (Brownian motion anyone?) and not yet cast in stone. 

[Watoko]

Thank you Dave for your statement. It certainly sheds some light as to the recent changes and what it means for both new and existing customers.

While many of us do not align with the changes, it is clear that your management team has conducted market studies and have determined that there is indeed a niche of customers for the new plans, and hence the company's new direction and focus.

It will be an interesting ride with the new PM, but I think that PM will continue to offer a quality customer experience. I know this because of the awesome moderator team and the amazing Oracles and community members. And when we speak up, most of the time we are heard such as implemented ideas from the Public Lab and your statement in response to the activity on the forums lately. Unfortunately while this new pricing structure is here to stay, I hope there will be new opportunities to attract customers in the future as I think we can agree that we all want to grow this family.

(retrieved above post that disappeared thanks to @MarieHelene_L - I had not asked to retrieve it, but she did on her own and this is what I mean by an unchanged customer experience)

[mtfolks]

Huh. I think we need to be clear. The changes made would best be summarized as "less for more" seeing as how the rates have been jacked up, in most cases by a lot.

PM's prices are now in line with other providers that DO offer things like call centres, phone apps, kiosks, and stores for basically the same price.

You've basically killed any benefit to someone willing to give up those things in exchange for paying a lower price. Well done, folks.

Like most I will be keeping an eye on promos offered by other providers and switching out the four lines I brought over to you when it makes most sense to do so.

Can't express enough how disappointed I am in the lack of loyalty to its customers (who have also been your biggest supporters, recruiters, advertisers) that PM has shown through these changes.

[Watoko]

I had written a long winded post before, but it disappeared.

To summarize,

Thanks for the update. It certainly sheds some light for the frantic community.

While some of us may not agree with the new direction that PM is heading in (including myself), it is clear that you have conducted market analysis that shows a clear niche of customers that may be able to benefit from these plans, and hence the introduction of the recent plans.

I do know however, that despite all these changes, the customer experience will remain the same top notch. This is in part due to the amazing community members and Oracles that are here to support one another, as well as a company that is receptive to listening to its community. While not all of our opinions align with the company's interest, I know you have heard us loud and clear with your statement. You should be glad to know that the PM community is so passionate about changes in the community. I sincerely hope that our ideas and opinions will continue to be heard in the future and shape future plans.

[NDesai]

Thank you Dave and staff for this announcement. It tells something to the community member when they see something like this from time to time.

[SD08]

Thank you for sharing this, Dave.  Though it may not answer all our questions and concerns, any communication from PM's management is better than nothing.  I look forward to seeing what other developments PM has in store for us in the near future.

[Watoko]

Thank you Dave for your statement. It certainly sheds some light as to the recent changes and what it means for both new and existing customers.

While many of us do not align with the changes, it is clear that your management team has conducted market studies and have determined that there is indeed a niche of customers for the new plans, and hence the company's new direction and focus.

It will be an interesting ride with the new PM, but I think that PM will continue to offer a quality customer experience. I know this because of the awesome moderator team and the amazing Oracles and community members. And when we speak up, most of the time we are heard such as implemented ideas from the Public Lab and your statement in response to the activity on the forums lately. Unfortunately while this new pricing structure is here to stay, I hope there will be new opportunities to attract customers in the future as I think we can agree that we all want to grow this family.