Special Announcement Revealed!

[Alan_K]

Hey Community,

A couple weeks ago, we let you know that we had a special announcement coming soon and since then, we’ve enjoyed reading all of your comments about what it might be. As much as we’d love it to be a hot slice of pizza in the mail or a free Samsung Galaxy S10+ (thanks for the suggestion @Pizzaeh), we think the hype matches the announcement. Cue the drum roll please…

Starting this spring, we will begin to launch our own branded kiosks across Canada. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, (which many of you correctly guessed @NDesai, @dna2016, @Knockali - look out for your *winning prize*), we think it's important to tell you why we’re making this change. In 2017, we began expanding our business model from selling SIMs solely online to retail partners like Wal-mart and WOW! Mobile to name a few, in order to give more Canadians the ability to find, buy and activate Public Mobile. We wanted to ensure that everyone had easy access, not only online but in person at a retail location near you. With the launch of our own kiosks, we are continuing to build on these efforts while maintaining our focus on giving Canadians more choice on where and how they purchase and service their wireless needs.

As we continue to evolve, our vision remains the same: we’re focused on doing wireless differently; offering all Canadians more choice, freedom and value on Canada’s largest mobile network.

Have more questions? We have more information below. Have any suggestions on how we should celebrate this significant milestone? Leave us a comment.

The Public Mobile Team

FAQ

Spoiler

How many kiosks are you opening and where?

Right now, we have plans to launch up to 15 kiosks in 2019. These kiosks will be nationwide, though the exact mall locations for all of the kiosks are yet be determined and will be announced closer to the time.

The first four that are confirmed to open this Spring are in Galeries D’Anjou (Montreal, QC), Edmonton CIty Centre (Edmonton, AB), Marlborough Mall (Calgary, AB) and Richmond Centre (Richmond, BC).

Why have you changed your strategy?

Our strategy has changed to reflect the growing prepaid market and needs of Canadians where transactions predominantly happen in retail. That said, our  mission has and will always remain the same: to do wireless differently and give Canadians more control on their wireless, through more choice and flexibility while making no compromises on the things that matter most:  value and good network experience.

Why open kiosks and not full-blown corporate stores?

We’re opting for kiosks rather than big corporate stores because we felt this approach better aligns with our overall business model of providing a no frills experience at a low cost on a great network. We even took our frugal, no frills model into the design process of the kiosks. We look forward to sharing design details with you closer to launch.

Will you sell devices?

At this time, no. However, we are always looking at ways to continue to improve the customer experience.

Will store representatives at kiosks provide customer support?

While our store representatives will assist customers activating on Public Mobile, we will continue to offer customer support online.

I love Public Mobile! Can I work at the kiosk?

We love you too! And yes, calling all Public Mobile brand ambassadors to apply. Check out our job page for all the deets and to see if a kiosk is launching in a mall near you.

https://telus.taleo.net/careersection/publicmobile/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en

[firstdataplan]

Excellent .

[6500K]

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@Razvan_A wrote:

Easier access to the service, will be bringing easier access to rewards.

Razvan

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You're absolutely right!  I can go and stand by the kiosk for a few minutes at a time while on break from work or after work and approach someone activating a sim to use my number as a referrer if they don't have one.  That would be $1 per person per month discount for me.  Why I could buy them a coffee for a couple of bucks as a welcoming gift to the PM community and still come out $10 ahead for the year.

Nah, too much work and I would appear too creepy . . .  lol

[CraftyFarmer]

I agree. The reasonable prices and no-nonsense model are the whole reason my husband and I switched companies.

[tehowennathe]

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@RossN wrote:

that would be a pretty lonely kiosk just selling sims

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Hope they also include payment vouchers for the customers who prefer that method of payment.

[RossN]

that would be a pretty lonely kiosk just selling sims

[krazykiwi]

I think this is a great thing. Hopefully with the addition of Kiosk PM may be able to shed unfriendly retailers (WM for example) that create unpleasant experiences with customers. If not maybe placed them close enough so customers can go to a kiosk rather than WM which seems totally focused on signing people up for plans.

A couple suggestions i have are;

- have all employees at kiosk's fully educated on the online support model and to clearly relay that is how PM's support works to the customer prior to signing up. Include in that information that there may be circumstances where the customer may be without service for up to 2 days while waiting for support. I understand how this may discourage some from signing up but in the long run it will be much more beneficial than dealing with disgruntled customers who were not informed of this type of support. Since it is a unique model to PM, many may not be aware of it and assume it is the same as all other carriers.

- when kiosk employees do a walk through of signing up, have them sign up the customer with a new phone number from PM and then instruct the customer to go online and port their number over after they confirm all is working well. This way they will still have use of their old sim and carrier until they confirm PM service is working well.

[krazykiwi]

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@dararara wrote:

First, don't worry. Even if costs go down, Canadian providers will always make up a reason to increase prices. Second, it is really not LESS for LESS. It's LESS for THE SAME PRICE. Chatr and Lucky are equivalent to Public Mobile. They already have physical locations, they provide phone customer service, and they even have mobile apps.

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I do not believe it is accurate to suggest Chatr and Lucky to be the same as PM. I have never used ethier but do not see anywhere on their sites about ongoing autopay, friend referral, loyalty and community involvement credit? I see that they have customer service you can call but with Chatr a $5 charge for most things and PM requires you to do them online. With Lucky their add-ons expire each month. There are many other things that make them different and personally I appreciate the differences. These companies are about making money and don't get me wrong, I do not agree with the exorbitant wages and bonuses the top individuals make, but if all things were identical than the only thing that would set them apart would be price which would continue to decrease through competition until many of them went out of business and then you would see the price skyrocket. If you doubt that look at the issue of patents on medications in North America. Differences is what promotes competition which is always good for the consumer. There are plenty of options so you do not need to sign contracts which gives you the option to change carriers if you so please. Unlimited international text, unlimited calling and data for $0 would be awesome.....right now PM is the only one where that is even remotely possible. When comparing products you need to compare every aspect, not just advertised price.

[Razvan_A]

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@popping wrote:

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@computergeek541 wrote:

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@RossN wrote:

why not just sell your product in the telus or koodo stores that already exist and save a crap load of money?

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Likely, they don't want the brands competing with each other within the same store.

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Telus does not want to cross-selling its sub-brands Koodo/PM in Telus store as long as I can remember.

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The good news is that we start expanding Public Mobile brand across Canada, as part of our evolution.

Exciting times, both for new customers and for existing customers!

[Razvan_A]

Hi @danielj

New kiosks means new opportunities for existing customers, too :).

As we all know, new customers can bring rewards to existing customers.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Rewards/Refer-a-Friend-Reward/m-p/411#M4

Easier access to the service, will be bringing easier access to rewards.

Razvan

[youbme]

Exciting times at Public Mobile!

We shall see where this takes the PM brand as the kiosks emerge... While it's great to see more ways to recruit customers, there is a risk of creating new overhead without the payoff, time will tell what Telus has planned for the future of PM...

[popping]

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@computergeek541 wrote:

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@RossN wrote:

why not just sell your product in the telus or koodo stores that already exist and save a crap load of money?

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Likely, they don't want the brands competing with each other within the same store.

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Telus does not want to cross-selling its sub-brands Koodo/PM in Telus store as long as I can remember.

[computergeek541]

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@RossN wrote:

why not just sell your product in the telus or koodo stores that already exist and save a crap load of money?

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Likely, they don't want the brands competing with each other within the same store.

[RossN]

why not just sell your product in the telus or koodo stores that already exist and save a crap load of money?

[dna2016]

SWEET 

[Alan_K]

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@dna2016 wrote:

Oh and just want to confirm @Alan_K, is there really a prize or was that just a joke, not completely sure since I can't see your face to know if you're serious or was just sarcasm, lol 

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There is, I'll reach out within the next week or so 

[tehowennathe]

Would that mean that it's only sim activations at kiosks or will payment vouchers also be sold at kisosks?

[dna2016]

Oh and just want to confirm @Alan_K, is there really a prize or was that just a joke, not completely sure since I can't see your face to know if you're serious or was just sarcasm, lol 

[SkimGuy]

It would be cool to see some kiosks in malls but I feel like the online presence is sufficient for my needs. But happy overall for PM as long as the extra costs don't result in higher priced plans!

[danielj]

Kiosks, we are worried that Public Mobile maybe are moving away from their original goals. Kiosks will have a negative impact on customer end cost. At least it is not full brick & mortar.

Public Mobile when purchased by Telus closed all Kiosks and store fronts and now are going open Kiosks again. Public Mobile are closing there call centers and opening Kiosks.

On top of it as @Camelia_M clarified "store representatives will be able to help out with the activation process, all other issues will be handled thru the community." Unless existing customers for some reason are looking for a new SIM are helping refer somebody on the spot there are no benefits to existing customers.

Existing Public Mobile customers should be getting tired that Public Mobile are making decisions that are favoring new customers (getting new customers) instead of directly addressing existing customer concerns. At least this will have an indirect impact of the quality issues of retail partners selling SIMs.

Wonder if these Kiosk will be selling any phones.

[MoreYummy]

Ok.  Now its good to know the "secret"  

Dont they put more sim in store would work as well?

[sunflowershine]

Good to hear that as better services could be provided at the kiosk. 

[wickedgx]

@6500K Yeah im supprised as well none in Toronto or in any GTA malls. Prob in the future as they did say they annouced 15 with only confirming 4/15. 

[6500K]

No kiosks in the Toronto area.  I think it would be good to have one in the densest populated area of Canada.  If anyone has been to some of the malls around Toronto you would see a ton of people walking through every minute of the day.

And word of mouth travels fast in densely populated areas.  Wouldn't this be a bigger bang for the buck if you're going to set up a kiosk anywhere?  Or is it because real estate prices are too high there?  Just musing . . .

[kav2001c]

@Alan_K 

As in an exclusive Public kiosk?

Surprised you didn't start selling at Koodo / Telus locations (or maybe that cannibalized their prepaid acts too badly)

[ckl]

IMHO, I think this is a waste of time and money.

You can advertise your brand and let people know that you can activate at Walmart and London Drugs, you don't need a kiosk to do this. I've seen your ads at bus stops...

Secondly, you can bet the farm that people who activated online and failed, will be heading towards the kiosk to get their problems solved, only to find out they don't solve problems. This will add to the frustration and plenty of customer head scratching. You know Mcdonalds "spicy face" look? Well, PM will have the "confused angry face" look.

Basically, my point is, the kiosk is for exposure only because the service is duplicated by Walmart and London Drugs and any other place that can sells the SIM and can activate the plan for you. And what happens if PM rep at the kiosk tries to port a number and it fails? "Sorry, I can't do it here, you'll have to go home and post your problem to the community." What?

[dr-et]

i agree

if simple problems such as autopay not working can not be resolved

by the kiosks people not computer savvy might bulk at signing up.

I am aware that community support is great but it takes long time to resolve issues.

perhaps money better spend at improving platform so same issues do not recur,

ie autopay not going through 3rd time lucky for me.

regards

[dararara]

First, don't worry. Even if costs go down, Canadian providers will always make up a reason to increase prices. Second, it is really not LESS for LESS. It's LESS for THE SAME PRICE. Chatr and Lucky are equivalent to Public Mobile. They already have physical locations, they provide phone customer service, and they even have mobile apps.

[sa7375]

Best wishes

[italocan]

I'm a new PM customer--still within my first month--but I had been researching options for a while before making the switch. I think the one big advantage of this new kiosk model is increased visibility, Unless you're digging online or really looking for better options, you won't easily find PM. The "big 3," and increasingly Freedom, have most of the spotlight. So I understand the idea to actually try to register in people's consciousness through kiosks. To try to break through the clutter and gain some brand recognition.

However, with that visibility comes more responsibility.

Hopefully the sales staff at the kiosks will be able and willing to guide customers through the hoops to getting setup, and not just sell them a SIM. If they are able to sell the SIM, set it up in your phone, help you create your accounts, choose your plan and ensure you walk away fully activated and working, then that's great. (I did my activation online, so perhaps current in-store activations at retail partners already support this? If so, great.) Otherwise, I think leaving people to go home and set things up on their own could be a big stumbling block for a lot of customers. And the result could be an overwhelming amount of basic customer support questions flooding the online forum, stretching those resources even more.

Now that I'm happily using PM I've considered promoting family members to get on board. My in-laws are a perfect example. They are actively looking to save some money on their cell phone plans. However, I don't feel I can really promote PM to them because it would require a degree of hand-holding and support that I'm not prepared to undertake. I know if they tried to go it alone there would be problems. And I wouldn't feel good about saying to them, oh, go setup an account on the forum and see what others are saying about your issue. And it's not just an age thing. Even my wife, who I ported over recently as well, would not be on PM if it weren't for me. She would not want to mess with SIM cards and APN settings and setting up accounts, etc. I did it all, and she's happy, but she's only a customer because I became my family's PM dealer!

Anyway, for a certain demographic, PM is a perfect fit. For everyone else, there's a lot of expectations and baggage to contend with. I'm looking forward to seeing what this means for PM.

[Darren4]

Sounds like a great idea. Some people want to use Public Mobile, but haven't been able to figure it out even with help from the community.