Effective February 15th, changes are happening to Legacy/ Pioneer rate plans

[Brooke_C]

Hey Community,

We have some important information to share with our Legacy/Pioneer customers. As a reminder, Legacy/Pioneer customers are those who continue to have access to the call centre and are on one of the five plans listed below.

• $22 Province-Wide Talk
• $28 Canada-Wide Talk + Text
• $43 Canada-Wide Talk + Text + 1GB Data
• $48 Canadian & U.S. Talk + Text + 1GB Data
• $63 Canadian & U.S. Talk + Text + 2GB Data

As you know, Public Mobile has been on a journey to become an online-only brand and give Canadians control of their wireless spend. Along this journey, we will need to make some changes to adapt. To that end, effective February 15^th, 2018, all Legacy/Pioneer rate plans will increase in price. The reason for the price increase is simple: operating a call centre is expensive and, as the number of Legacy/Pioneer customers decreases, we lose the scale that has allowed us to operate it to date.

With that said, what we care about most is our customers and we want you to continue feeling good about your wireless choice, so we’ve worked with our sister brand, Koodo, to offer all Legacy/Pioneer customers a way to keep the same price. For a limited time, from January 10^th to February 9^th, 2018, Legacy/Pioneer customers can join Koodo with a similar rate plan that they have now with Public Mobile, at the same price they pay today. If you are a Legacy/Pioneer customer, you are eligible for this offer and you will be hearing from us over the next few days with details on how to take advantage of this deal.

If you are not a Legacy/Pioneer customer, this price increase and the above offer do not apply to you and you can continue enjoying your current plan.

To learn more, visit publicmobile.ca/serviceupdate.   

Thank you for your continued support as we evolve and change 

The Public Mobile Team

[Mana]

- How much is the increase in plans price?

- what is considered "similar" price and plan?

Maybe the above info will help people make an informed decision. 

[ShawnC13]

So I have gone and read through the thread.  I wasn't following it as I am not a Legacy plan holder but there is some great info in here.  This is the second price increase as the last one happened around this time last year.  I don't see this optioni being available a third time and as some have said the next announcement for Legacy plans will be switch to Koodo, change to in market plan with PM or keep your current legacy plan but you will lose call centre and not be eligible for community or loyalty rewards.

[srlawren]

@kav2001c, @mimmo interesting, "Carrier A" also seems to lag their data usage reporting by 12 (or more?) hours, eh?  

This was shortly after activating that SIM for the first time, and doing a speed test (57Mbps down and 32.59 Mbps up, not bad; downtown(ish) Vancouver, Band 7 LTE+).  Obvioulsy I'm no longer at 0 used.  🙂    EDIT: Band 2 is way faster, just got 81.37 Mbps down and 28.59 Mbps up.  Even better!

[Allexandra]

@katiefleming wrote:

@mimmoSorry, I made a mistake yesterday when looking at the price. Your example was very clear, thank you 🙂

So if I want to make the switch to one of PM's normal plans now, can I do that in my self serve account? Someone had mentioned 611? Also I just paid for this month, so would the 90 day plan start when this month is over?

And I still have quite a bit of data left over that I purchased as an add-on. What would happen to that if I switch plans?

Thanks very much for everyone's help 🙂

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Hi,

Yes, for the change you'll need to call 611, the migration to one of the new plans cannot be done on the SS. As well, the change can be programed to be effective starting  your next cycle, like this you won't lose what you paid already.  And regarding your data add-on, the plan change won't impact it at all. You won't lose it or anything. 🙂

have a great day!

[mimmo]

@katiefleming you have to call 611 as they want to make sure you know you are losing phone support. 

Not sure about your other two questions. Sorry.

[katiefleming]

@mimmoSorry, I made a mistake yesterday when looking at the price. Your example was very clear, thank you 🙂

So if I want to make the switch to one of PM's normal plans now, can I do that in my self serve account? Someone had mentioned 611? Also I just paid for this month, so would the 90 day plan start when this month is over?

And I still have quite a bit of data left over that I purchased as an add-on. What would happen to that if I switch plans?

Thanks very much for everyone's help 🙂

[stonechucker]

@devagupta, you are quickly running out of time.  If you wish to keep your number, get it paid for before your plan expires fully.  You've got less than a week left by my quick calculation.

If you need assistance, please contact the @CS_Agent via private message.

[danielj]

Public Mobile make people switch from Public Mobile takes award rewards that they have earned and would of possible continued earning.

The people with access to the call center(s) could be value members of the community, providing scale of posting call center inquiries with in the community.

They have been loyal to Public Mobile since before Telus took them over.

[devagupta]

my plan expired oct 20 

can i recharge within 90 days to keep my number active?

[wetcoaster]

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@mrotundo wrote:

Hello,

So If I change to a new plan with 90 day payment...I will get $9 loyalty reward + $6 credit card payment?

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@mrotundo

Yes, if you are a legacy customer. That's my understanding and the way it was explained to me by former legacy customers who switched to an in-market plan.

You'd also be eligible for community and referral rewards if applicable (referral rewards cannot be applied retro-actively, so they would only be applied if you were already on an in-market plan at the time your referred person signed up.)

[kav2001c]

@srlawren its usually just a few superheros

I have been able to successfully activate the data only SIMs through "Carrier A" as well

Oh & make sure to get yourself an AB number (less taxes  ) on the data plans

But I think some stores tend to scare people seriously

[mrotundo]

Hello,

So If I change to a new plan with 90 day payment...I will get $9 loyalty reward + $6 credit card payment?

[mimmo]

@mrotundo my understanding if you are a legasy/pioneer customer you will have either $2-3$ loyalty rewards  as rewards are calculated starting from Jan 27, 2015.

[mrotundo]

Hello, Can someone please private msg to tell me how many years I am with Public Mobile, so I know which loyalty rewards I fall under if I decide to switch to new plan? Thanks! 

[srlawren]

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@mimmo wrote:

I was able to get the tablet plan by itself at carrier A (man's best friend)  I just went to a 3rd party seller and asked for it. No questions or issues.

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@mimmo good to know!  

FYI for anyone interested in Carrer A's tablet plan:  ask them to add blocking of calls and texts to the account or you could be charged pay-per-use rates if you receive texts or somehow manage to make/receive a call

[nishufan]

The new PM plan or Koodo promotion is better than Legacy/Pioneer plan. Waiting for the detail to see what Koodo offer.

[mimmo]

I was able to get the tablet plan by itself at carrier A (man's best friend)  I just went to a 3rd party seller and asked for it. No questions or issues.

[srlawren]

@kav2001c I recently took advantage of the Carrier A idea.  Actually, I don't even have the SIM card in my hand yet, it's waiting at my office, I'll pick it up tomorrow. But yes it will be going into SIM slot 2, to replace my "3G" PM test SIM which is no longer being renewed.  I can't say whether or not they enforce the limitation you mention, as I actually have a post-paid line there in my name, I pay for my mother's mobile line and we've had it there for....probably 6+ years now.  So, I just added the tablet plan to that.

[kav2001c]

@Kmcmahon Public really does not offer decent data only plans

The 2 best options right now are on other carriers (exclude all Telus and Bell brands and sub brands and you are left with...)

The other carriers though should be looked at with caution

Carrier A - does not like to activate the plan unless you have another service with them, and they are notorious for price increases

Carrier B - poor network quality and small zoned regions (but free Tablet!). Be careful though as contract very clearly says if use SIM in any device other than Tablet they can cancel your service)

(I originally was going to nickname them Carrier F & ... but both would be F lol  )

[wetcoaster]

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@mimmo wrote:

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@katiefleming wrote:

@wetcoasterThank you for your reply! I don't need phone support. I've never used it with PM for the nearly 4 years I've been a customer.

Right now my plan is pretty amazing:

• Unlimited Canada-wide Long Distance
• Unlimited global text messaging and picture messaging

I pay $28+ tax a month. WIth the increase it'll be $33/month + tax.

The plan you showed me would be ~$40/month (depending if I do 30 or 90 day plan). I need Canada-wide calling as my family lives in different provinces. I buy data as an add-on only when I need it, so I don't need it as part of my plan. (Although I see it gives me a discount for some reason and says $37/month)

So it's still $4 cheaper if I stay with my legacy plan (and have the price increase) then switching to a "new" PM plan (with the discount they put on the site).

Guess I'll stay with legacy!

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@katiefleming  I think you are forgetting rewards in your calculation.

$105 /3 = $35 -$2(autopay) -$3 (loyalty) =  $30/month  as an added bonus there seems to be no additional cost  if you add 1.5gb /90  data.

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Nice catch, @mimmo!

[wetcoaster]

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@katiefleming wrote:

@wetcoasterThank you for your reply! I don't need phone support. I've never used it with PM for the nearly 4 years I've been a customer.

Right now my plan is pretty amazing:

• Unlimited Canada-wide Long Distance
• Unlimited global text messaging and picture messaging

I pay $28+ tax a month. WIth the increase it'll be $33/month + tax.

The plan you showed me would be ~$40/month (depending if I do 30 or 90 day plan). I need Canada-wide calling as my family lives in different provinces. I buy data as an add-on only when I need it, so I don't need it as part of my plan. (Although I see it gives me a discount for some reason and says $37/month)

So it's still $4 cheaper if I stay with my legacy plan (and have the price increase) then switching to a "new" PM plan (with the discount they put on the site).

Guess I'll stay with legacy!

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@katiefleming

I'm not sure where you get the $40 from... I'm sorry that my picture and calculations are not clear enough evidence that you'd save money over the increased legacy plan rate if you switch to an in-market plan (and with that start to be eligible for rewards). I was just trying to help.

[Acekiller]

these legacy plans don't even look that good?

[sbreakin]

Hi @katiefleming  

The plan details by @wetcoaster @mimmo are great and show you options that keep your price similar. When looking at base plans, they made it easier to factor in the other savings.

PM:  If you stay it's a pre-paid system where you pay in advance for a month or 90 days of specific service & that's it.  If you use too much data or wander across the border, service just stops unless you buy an add on or such (so no bill surprises).  That's one reason I'm here.  Admitedly Koodo offers that too (pre-paid) but it appears the offer is for the more common post paid (where you get a bill at end of month for all the stuff you used, which could include roaming or long distance etc, some of which -think data- you're supposed to get a text to warn you). 

Savings options: They have make it more easy to see that plans can be cheaper than they first appear.

1. pick a combo (& that one with no extra change basic data seems like good choice).

2: save $2/mo (or $6 on 90 day plan) for auto-pay which makes renewal soo much easier & trouble free. Autopay - you pay charges you pre-approved -no surprises (roaming, LD.)   

3: save another $1/mo (or $3/ 90 day) for each year of loyalty up to 5. 

4. participate in this forum (as you just have) & you'd likely earn a credit from $1 to $4 (each mo). (My own example, I have ranged from $1 to $4 in the past year every month & some months I don't comment much as these other chaps are so fast & complete).

My own goals when i switched >1 yr ago were to have:

- a fairly inexpensive basic plan (minutes/ text/ data)

- pre-paid plan so service stops if I roam/ try to make LD etc. so no risk of bill surprises (although CRTC & texts have made that less risk)

- company that historically had good service & usualy didn't raise prices/ grandfathered

- nice surprise was the loyalty credit - so your price decreases over time. It retains customer loyalty. The thing that annoyed me at big 3 (Rgr) was my plan would increase few $ & if i called i might get a tempp credit but seemed whenever I wanted a phone -my plan was always just below $ needed for nice phones & my choice was flip phone or new plan).

- also I'm surprised at how relatively easy it is to earn basic community credits (top 50% = $1)

I narrowed my top choices to to keep price down on regaulr basis & have ability to add if needed to  PM, Koodo pre-paid & maybe Koodo post paid (where phone discounts avail.) . 

[srlawren]

@Kmcmahon might vary by province.  For BC, I click on Promos, then scroll down and you can see it.

[Kmcmahon]

Do you have links to these plans

[srlawren]

@Kmcmahon I think @mimmo gave you a pretty good hint (man's best friend) already. 

One note though... if you read the fine print on the plan, it sounds like it's only available as an add-on for existing post-paid mobile customers of their service:

"Available to [man's best friend] postpaid customers with wireless plan (voice only, data only, Fido Home Phone and prepaid plans not eligible). Additional data: $10/1GB, charged in $10 increments. Standard roaming charges apply. Taxes extra."   

(The bolding was added by me for emphasis.)

[Kmcmahon]

What provider ?

[mimmo]

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@Kmcmahon wrote:

What about data only plans 

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There is another provider (man's best friend)  that offers/offered a decent data only plan 2-3 GB for 15$ last time I checked.

[Kmcmahon]

What about data only plans 

[srlawren]

@katiefleming as @kav2001c mentioned, it's just slower but still delivered over the 4G LTE network.  They call it a "3G" plan but it's just 4G, capped to 3.0 Mbps speed to "simulate" a 3G connection.

You may want to peruse these threads for more info:

Share Your 3G Real World Experience

Share your 3G plan experiences here (latency to surfing websites, streaming video, tethering usage)

3G vs. 4G LTE - What speed is right for you?

Extended: We’ve Expanded Our Offerings: Introducing 3G Speed + BONUS Data