Doing wireless different has its ups and downs

[Dave_M]

Public Mobile Community,

It is almost 3 years ago to the day when I first walked into the Public Mobile office tasked with finding a way to turn the Public Mobile business around.  At the time, it had a limited network with a very expensive support structure (stores and a full-service call centre) that made it an unprofitable business.

So I rolled up my sleeves and along with the team, we began our journey to redefine how wireless service was delivered to Canadians.  Being blessed with Canada’s largest 4G LTE network, we wanted to find a way to give customers access to a great network while simultaneously benefitting from great pricing.  To do this, we needed to turn those expensive support costs upside down.

This is where doing wireless differently was born.  A wireless provider without a call centre - instead, an online community to support its customers.  No phones and phone discounts because, well, phones are really expensive.  No stores because as you might have guessed by now - they’re crazy expensive too.

I sat in countless focus groups and was told over and over again that we were crazy.  They would say things like “you can’t have a service without a call centre”, “you can’t be a wireless provider without selling phones”, “you have to have a store for me to go to”, and my personal favourite “I would never trust an online-only wireless provider.”

I could go on and on as this has been a very long journey to get us to where we are now, but instead I’d like to ask you for your continued trust and support as we work through some of the issues we are experiencing today.

We know some of you have been waiting a long time to hear back from us on various issues including activation/porting failures, future dated rate plan changes, and SIM delivery delays.  The truth is we have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of activity the current promo has generated and we are doing everything we can to fix things.  I can ensure you that we have moved all our available resources to assisting you.

Here are some of the things we are seeing and some solutions and commitments from us:

For activation and porting failures:

• It is clear to us we will not be able to help everyone between now and the closure of this promotion on Sunday. We will not be extending this promotion but we will honour the promotion for anyone who had activation or porting failures during the promotion period (October 25-November 20).
• Our porting success ratio has been extremely good, however, we have noticed a volume of customers are inputting errors in their porting information. Please be very diligent in the information you are inputting to ensure the port request will be successful.

• Some tips for success on porting:
  • Your device’s IMEI is the most accurate method to port. Please note that your previous carrier would need to have that IMEI used on your old account. 
• • Separate the activation from the port. If you do the activation first you will have your account setup and ready to go.  You can then log into self-serve and complete your port.  This prevents incorrect porting information from affecting your activation.
• When not porting a number in we are seeing some customers being unable to see an available phone number. To fix this, you need to clear your browser’s cache.

Future dated rate plan change:

• We have existing customers who have future dated rate plan changes to get the promotional plan and, in some cases, the change is not sticking. We are aware of the issue and we are committed to ensuring the plan change is honored for you if you in fact had chosen a future dated rate plan change. This will also take us some time to catch up on so please bear with us.

For SIM card delivery delays or if your SIM card never arrived:

• This issue is predominantly driven by address errors or missing information – I’ve personally seen returns from apartment buildings with no unit number. Please be diligent when filling in your address.
• Additionally many of you who ordered recently are asking where your SIM is. Please be mindful that Friday, November 11 was a holiday for Canada Post so there will be some delays as a result. If you ordered Wednesday through Friday of last week, please check your mail tomorrow.
• If you order a SIM at this point (Tuesday evening), it will likely not arrive before the promo ends on Sunday. To help with this, we are organizing SIM card pick up locations in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal for Friday and Saturday for anyone who wants a last minute SIM card. Details to come, but the location will be downtown in each city and the $5 for each SIM will be going to Prostate Cancer in the spirit of Movember.

How can you help us?

• If you have a problem, please only message once. We are getting 10+ messages from one person about one issue and that increases the backlog and wait time for everyone
• If you have extra SIM cards, give them to your friends or to Community members so they can join before the promo ends

Again, I’m really grateful for your support and your patience. I know that, with the above solutions, we will get through this together and prove that wireless can be done differently.

Sincecerly Dave.

[entertainer]

Finally joined this awesome provider! Looking forward to the experience of being with this great community! Thanks Public Mobile!

[Mannie]

Can we get more support??

[Rockdaddy22]

Didn't we already go through this, Public Mobile isn't an MVNO.

[Korth]

I think it's untrue because the MVNO probably purchases "bulk" bandwidth allocations.  Bandwidth which must still fully comply with the network's normal Quality-of-Service standards.

Telus takes profits from Koodo and Public Mobile.  They might be able to squeeze a little more profit by establishing the "Telus Mobile > Koodo Mobile > Public Mobile" service methodology (and reputation) ... but I doubt they'd ever dare do it (or ever dare admit it) because the loyalties of disgruntled cellular customers are fickle and any squeeze at all will drive customers towards competing service providers.

I also agree with @jimmyche - it seems far more likely a salesman will tell you exactly what he thinks you want to hear (and earn his commission) than disclose proprietary information involving strategic and technical decisions he's not positioned to personally learn or confirm.  This fellow should probably be warned for unethically misinforming potential customers, or should certainly be punished if such things actually were truthful because he'd be unethically violating (and damaging) his employer's confidentiality.  Another reason I'm happy that Public Mobile does wireless differently, lol, I never want to listen to greasy sales pitches.

[jimmyche]

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@Telus2Koodo2PM wrote:

Is it true that Public Mobile customers get less network prioirty over Telus and Koodo? Because I've been hearing a lot of reps from those respective companies saying that.

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It's pretty much bull****. The rep would say anything for you to stay with them.

[Telus2Koodo2PM]

Is it true that Public Mobile customers get less network prioirty over Telus and Koodo? Because I've been hearing a lot of reps from those respective companies saying that.

[Alain007]

When your a star, they let you do anything..... grab them by the pu***.  LOL 🙂 😉

[VictoriaBC]

Oops,  I see you had already mentioned My Data Manager.  I checked my phone backup and it was already installed!  albeit running under 1 month / too little usage, so I will have to do a fresh test with new phone & plan to compare the two apps.  

[srlawren]

@VictoriaBC it is free for PM customers. You can find more info on my posting here: http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Phones-Hardware/IWIK-s-quot-Data-Witness-quot-for-Andr... Cheers!

[VictoriaBC]

You're right on point with the labour of love trumping any nominal financial incentive!  I have already spent hours on the forum test-driving the community support and it has been great as hectic as it appears.  

I will look into that app. Hope it's free!  ( Member SD08 mentioned an app called My Data Manager (by Mobidia Technology) for good accuracy.  That one sounds familiar too. )

Really hope this model works out for PM / Telus in the long run,  whether I join or no. 

cheers from Victoria

[srlawren]

@VictoriaBC there are some Android apps such as Data Witness by community member @IWIK, and another named My Data Manager, that can help since they can be set for 90 day durations rather than monthly. I'm not sure about on the iPhone side of the world. I personally use Data Witness but your mileage may vary. 🙂

[srlawren]

Wow @VictoriaBC that is a very thorough and thoughtful analysis and I think you have pretty much nailed it. Obviously it isn't for everyone (and no provider is) but for those of us that understand and are comfortable with how it all works, it can be a tremendous value. I haven't looked in-depth at the competitors' matching plans bit looked briefly at the Fido one for bc and it is very similar minus the auto-oay, loyalty, and potential community rewards. Also their overage costs on their promo plan seem higher to me than the add-on costs here. But some may be more comfortable in dealing with Fido (or another matching provider) and that's totally okay too! At the end of the day you need to make an informed (you've got that part!) decision about what seems best for you. And everyone is different.

The community is usually quite good, but it's been impossible to keep up since the promo started, so in some ways the timeliness of help and info has suffered. The model isn't ideal, and the high volume has highlighted the flaws. But normally it works. On the bright side many community members have done an amazing job stepping up with helping new and prospective customers which is awesome to see.

One last point about the community. You mentioned reward as a possible motivator for people being helpful and that's probably true. On the other hand you also mention it takes time to actually helpful, which is also true. And if you did the math to figure out the time vs. community reward $ earned, it becomes pretty clear it's more a labour of love for the vast majority of the regular posters. 🙂

Good luck in your decision and I hope you are happy whatever the outcome is. Please keep us posted when you have a chance. Cheers!

[VictoriaBC]

One more thing to consider,   if you are planning for the 90-day cycle

App-based data limiters should not be set on monthly cycles since the dates will slowly shift more and more out of range as each month passes (save the rare "eclipses").  

If keeping track of 30 or 90 DAY minute and data cycles is a deal-breaker,  then please be warned.  The service does simply shut off rather than charge overages at crazy rates.

* Some posts suggest starting the cycle day count with the date of SIM activation.  Could an authority please confirm? 

[VictoriaBC]

About to pull the trigger on Public Mobile?  

Thinking about this myself, with 2 days left on the 90-day PROMO..

Reading some posts regarding this popular promotion - new users getting to grips with the Public Mobile model, mod response times..etc  -  I thought I would share my perspective.  I too had no response from private messaging in direct reply to mod,  but the community seems great for everything non account-specific.  This is definitely something to seriously consider.  When something doesn't go right with your main communication device or there's a billing error,  the customer service is so important.

Considering some carriers are either offering this promo in some areas (in-store), and others are working to making a similar promo for availability in the next few months,  I am seriously weighing the pros and cons of PM.

Benefits to Self-service, Re this 90-day promo (PROS):  If you prefer doing it yourself,  and like the flexibility of 12 gb data over 90 days (self-controlled).  Community-based help and news is at least somewhat less biased than agent-based customer service.  Unlike some carriers, you are rewarded for loyalty after the one year period with an annual $1 off applied monthly.  No overages

Cons to this model, and RE the 90-day promo (CONS):  It is pre-paid 90-days,  not prorated billing cycle.  If additional minutes or data required, you must purchase that, although I think this is better than overages in nearly all situations except emergency ones involving data (911 emergency always available in phone calling mode).  Arguably, No "true" customer service, or at least no typical call-centre service.  Community cannot help with Account-number-specific issues.  This promo is province-wide talk vs nation-wide for some competitor matched promotions (must check locally as this can vary so much).

Thanks to all the posters for making these points in various threads.

I have yet to make the dive.

Reading the 1st post to this thread,  I am reminded of one more PRO, and it's a big one:

Regarding customer loyalty,  It seems Public Mobile does NOT punish loyalty as some large carriers do when it comes to jumping on promotional plans and add-ons as an existing customer.  

This is such a big point for me,  and one of the reasons I am about to switch that I think it wins me over despite a lack of typical customer service, a scary thought for frequent travellers who exerience low signal or no internet zones.  Slowly I am realizing the quality of information from community posters is generally high and quite comprehensive - perhaps the incentives are what drive this,  though it can take some time to go through disseminating all the posts and replies of various ages from different threads.  This is where a direct line or bat light (limited to Gotham locale) can be a life-saver.  The wait times for community response can be faster than waiting in a phone queue, but replies are not guaranteed. 

What are your thoughts?

[computer]

I added trhe picture as hidden in the options I guess that didnt't work I removed it. There are 2 mail boxes out front and no ones lives upstairs. Shipped tons of mail etc like that via Canada Post for the past year .

[daredogg]

@computer I don't know that I'd put my information out there for people to see, but since you did, I wonder if 6658 O'Grady Road, downstairs was your issue. "Downstairs" doesn't seem like a complete address to me... too bad there isn't a unit number.

[pty]

Thank you for being open in your communication. Public Mobile tries to give customers the best value for wireless, which in Canada is lacking. I really hope this new model can work.

[computer]

So is there any option for my as you see I ordered on November 4th and still no sim here in PG?

[planchangeplz]

Thanks for the full disclosure @Dave_M. As people may tell from my name, I also experienced trouble changing plans, but this was a few months back when I finally switched over from the grandfathered plans to the new ones. At the time, my plan was just not activating, and after a few helpful replies in this forum, and a very friendly and responsive admin, I got my service up and running with no issues.

I guess I'm just telling this story to let the new folks know that just understand PM has always been extremely fast in solving issues. Let them figure out the logistics now that they have this swathe of data, and for future promos, you can hold your head high to refer anyone and everyone letting them know that PM is worth it.

[jairolevi]

@jsharpe

I emailed on the 11th, received reply yesterday on the 17th, so about a week...

JL

[imm1304]

Hi @jsharpe,

I would say its been taking several days.. not weeks for sure.  

Just want to verify that you have tried the port request in selfserve by clicking on the "I am authorized ..." box first before entering the Koodo info on the number port page?

[jsharpe]

Does anybody have any idea what the current response time is after messaging a mod? Messaged Tuesday AM about a Koodo number port that won't go through, now 4 business days with no reply. 

When they say they're swamped, are we talking 5 days turnaround time? Or will I be waiting 5 weeks before I can use the service I'm paying for?

[Luddite]

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@kav2001c wrote:

@srlawren so you are a dinosaur and @Luddite is Ralph 

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@kav2001c We've lead such better lives since then that our current reincarnations are at least humanoid.

[firstdataplan]

PM has done a great job.

[srlawren]

@kav2001c I'm almost ready to get in on @Luddite's geritol bulk orders!

[kav2001c]

@srlawren so you are a dinosaur and @Luddite is Ralph 

[Rockdaddy22]

That's why I don't edit my mistakes very often lol

[srlawren]

@kav2001c too funny. Yep I guess I'm a dinosaur in this day and age! I do lots on my phone but the mobile community site ain't great.

[kav2001c]

@Rockdaddy22 we always just thought you were a rock of few words 

Don't worry about the old ones who always need a laptop to post online  @srlawren

[srlawren]

No worries @imm1304 thanks that's an impressive queue! @Rockdaddy22 yep that's understandable!