UPDATED: Public Mobile response to COVID-19

[Alan_K]

Update as of May 1, 2020: This offer (US Roaming Credit Back) is now expired.

Update as of March 31, 2020: As of April 1st, online SIM purchases will no longer be discounted and will return to their regular price of $10. 

Update as of March 26, 2020: The $5 discount for online SIM purchases will only be available on purchases through publicmobile.ca. Please note that Amazon deliveries may be significantly delayed due to COVID-19. Make sure to check your estimated delivery date before ordering through Amazon.

Hey Community,

At Public Mobile, the health and safety of our customers, team members, and partners are paramount to us. That’s why, with COVID-19 concerns top of mind and rising uncertainty surrounding the extent of disruptions to day-to-day activities for our customers, we will be committing to make it stress-free to stay connected with friends & family. How are we doing that?

US Roaming credit-back

Public Mobile will be crediting back the full cost of US Roaming Add-Ons as account credits.

• Eligible customers: Customers who have purchased and used any US Roaming Add-On from March 13 to April 30th, 2020. Note that usage of a US Roaming Add-On is mandatory.
• Account credit will be applied to accounts within 7 business days of usage, beginning March 23. No action is required. Customers will receive a SMS when credit is applied.

$5 off SIM card when you buy online

During this challenging period, we want to ensure that our customers are staying as safe as possible and purchasing SIM cards online, if you need to. 

• For a limited time starting from March 20th, get $5 off when purchasing a SIM card online from us via Amazon or Publicmobile.ca.
• No promo code necessary.

Any changes or updates to these items will be shared on this page. We encourage you to view further details on what we’re doing to help keep you safe and connected by visiting this help article for more information.

We thank you for being a Public Mobile customer, and hope that this helps make things easier during this difficult time. 

Thanks,

-Public Mobile Community Team

[Triguy]

If you are setup with autopay pay then remove it.  Keep in mind that you would need to make a payment before 90 days in order to keep your account from being deactivated.

To set up AutoPay, sign in to your Self-Serve account, select the ‘Payment’ tab, then ‘Register for AutoPay’. From here, you can sign up for AutoPay or remove the feature, if you no longer want payments to automatically occur. If you would like to change the card that is automatically charged, scroll to the bottom of the ‘Payment’ tab, then select ‘Manage my card’. This will allow you to update or remove your credit or Visa Debit card.

[John12]

Hi there,

I am stranded out side canada due to COVID-19.  Can I kerp my number on hold? Thanks 

[agai11nst]

at Pop1

at all

...

agree with u

lots of stuff goin on

i admit i exceeced, and i regret, so many nice people conforming with evrthng nowadays

made me wonder

indeed the price were really good b4 all of this happen

some lost a lot and its kind of hard to swallow the rough pill

i wish was all different, and it is, but not this way

all the best

and i am sorry if feelings were hurt

mines will take long to heal

cheers

be safe and happy

[Pop1]

@Korth 

I just found the whole setup so easy.

Quite amazing value for money.

I moved here from the UK last October and held on to my english  mobile account because it was only costing £6.47 per month.Look up the $ and you will see why I kept it.

I was roaming so to speak so if I made calls it would have been real expensive.

I kept it down to using Wifi so I could WhatsApp call and also used the free Wifi in the malls(not the best idea I know)
When I found PM I just thought I was reading stuff wrong,it just didn’t seem right that I could take on a $25 plan for Canada wide calls plus the extra 500 meg data having sorted Autopay as well now means I can actually leave my phones mobile data on and not even worry any more about not being able to communicate if anything was wrong.I’m 70 now and our only son lives here which is why we came here in the first place.Not getting any younger right.

While I so understand that different people and younger people(I used to be one)have different usage needs.I listen to music,not so many videos but..........I get it..What I don’t agree with is people shouting s*+# and expecting everyone else to jump.

If it doesn’t suit,go elsewhere and take your aggregation you continually dish out on people with you...
Amazing setup(for me and shortly my wife too)Woo hoo more money off...

While I feel I will be with PM for considerable while..
Rant over

Stay safe

[Korth]

PM is a fine deal. In my opinion, for my wants and needs, it's the best deal in town.

But it's not the best deal for everyone, opinions and wants and needs differ.

Those who mislike what PM offers are always free to buy whatever other carriers sell. The competition might offer things like "unlimited" (throttled) data which serves some people very well, though there's always a tradeoff against something else. If one carrier was perfect and "best" for everybody then there wouldn't be a whole bunch of carriers for everybody to choose from.

[popping]

---

@pjstock wrote:

that $15 Addon ("1 GB Data. Unused data won’t expire until you’ve used it. Limited time pricing.) would have been a not bad solution. except that it would not have lasted more than a couple of days (at the rate we were using data these last few weeks- and not even for any video)
unfortunately, the Moderator Team people with whom I was speak did not suggest that as a solution.
furthermore, we have 90day 24GB plans for $150 (so about $50 for 8GB per 30 days)
in the end I piggybacked on a kind neighbours wired INternet wifi and managed to limp through until our renewal dates.
but a little bit of flexibility from PM would have been appreciated.

---

Landline internet is always the cheapest.  Rogers/Telus/Shaw offer unlimited home internet for couple of months. 

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/bell-rogers-other-telecoms-remove-internet-data-caps-amid-...

You can offer to pay part of their home internet cost as a good neighbor if you want.

[wetcoaster]

@agai11nst 

This is a free country. If you want/need unlimited data it's up to you to bring your money to a provider that offers it. 

Fine if you want to objectively inform people about facts that nobody is hiding, but your personal attacks here are not welcome.

[pjstock]

that $15 Addon ("1 GB Data. Unused data won’t expire until you’ve used it. Limited time pricing.) would have been a not bad solution. except that it would not have lasted more than a couple of days (at the rate we were using data these last few weeks- and not even for any video)
unfortunately, the Moderator Team people with whom I was speak did not suggest that as a solution.
furthermore, we have 90day 24GB plans for $150 (so about $50 for 8GB per 30 days)
in the end I piggybacked on a kind neighbours wired INternet wifi and managed to limp through until our renewal dates.
but a little bit of flexibility from PM would have been appreciated.

[agai11nst]

people sometimes vent out

and sometimes in a way others do not understand or feel upset

i wrote a note pg24 regretting my indignation

all the best

[agai11nst]

thank you for the tip

[agai11nst]

https://openmedia.org/en/how-are-internet-service-providers-responding-covid-19-crisis

[andrew88chang]

Thanks for information.

[pjstock]

PM says that because they are a prepaid services they can't/won't extend data limits.

Which IMO is nonsense..Chatr is prepaid and under normal circumstances their data plans do not run out once the cap is reached. (they just let you continue though at slower speed. Which im okay with if it is just for doing basic xommunications

[Naepalm]

I unknowingly took advantage of this a week ago. I wished I could have had it for the other two I purchased. But still thankful for this offer!

[darlicious]

@pjstock  Take advantage of the $15 data add on and limit yourself to low data use of the internet as you would have to do if you were at a provider that offers unlimited 512kbps service. The add on should be sufficient to last the 14 days of your plan. It averages out to an additional $5 per month on your plan.

[pjstock]

EXACTLY.

I rely on my PM mobile data for internet when I am away from my home base and for the last 4 weeks I have been COVID-stranded away from home without wired Internet. 
As COVID demands a LOT of data for communication, distraction, news etc. I quickly burned through the balance of my 24GB 90 day package and ran out 14 days early.

PM should have taken steps to extend mobile data limits during this crisis.

I request extensions from PM but was told they would do nothing as it was a pre-paid plan.

CHATR (also a pre-paid service) does that in their normal plans - once you get to the end of your mobile data limit, you can continue UL (although at lower speed.)

[Naepalm]

[Naepalm]

Wow thats crazy, we are on rogers fine and get 500mb/sec down and 30mb/sec up. 

[Naepalm]

I agree with you. Why are people looking for handouts? At the end of the day don't just rest in the government or powers that be, but pick your self up. If PM can give better deals sweet. But if no need to get angry. 

[Naepalm]

NOT 100% sure that was warranted. You can attract flies with honey or poop I feel you may have performed the latter. This is already a discounted provider. Bell charges 115.00 plan minimum, and I think they have more margin to be able to play with. For a company like Bell and Rogers to give free data might be possible because they are a large conglomerate. If you look at the smaller deli's, they are having a hard time staying open, but Walmart is doing quite well. Think of Public like a small deli.....that might help you sleep at night. 

Cheers hope your day finished better than it started. 

[darlicious]

@Judithcatherine 

    I see you asked for help 2 weeks ago. You have to reply so we can help you. Well be here when you come back. I sent you a private message if you prefer one on one help.

[AE_Collector]

@agai11nst 

To the best of my knowledge, most of the free data offered by others is home internet data, not cell data. But, the top tier brands make more per subscriber and likely have more room to be a bit more flexible right now. PM is do easy to change plans every month uf you want, why do they need to give everyone free data, people can quickly change to the plan with the amount of data they want. Myself, I'm at home with wifi and virtually using NO cell data at this time. I'm down to the $15 plan and hardly using it.

I tend to get a bit worried that people who have come to the point of thinking that everything should be free. People need to take responsibility for themselves. I've seen people thinking car insurance should now be free, and many other things too. There was a lobby for free parking at hospitals which was eventually granted here in BC with exactly the result that I predicted. There is nowhere to park at hospitals now. PM lowers some prices and you're disgusted by their greed? How is cutting prices greedy? 

AE_Collector

[AE_Collector]

@Judithcatherine 

No need to "think about it" any longer...

The only add-on specials that I know of here ARE available to anyone and everyone who is a Public Mobile customer. AND, you can buy as many as you want.

Also, If You ported your phone number from Fido to Public Mobile you haven't lost the ability to port to Koodo or anywhere else now or in the future. Presumably tge manager misinterpreted that you wanted the Best Deal, not just a Reasonable Deal so he suggested Public Mobile for you.

AE_Collector

[JoyLuck]

@agai11nst 

This global pandemic is really impacting everyones lives. I know for a fact that Public Mobile has helped out some of their customers during this time. If you need to reach out to Public Mobile to see what they can do for you, click on the ? In the lower right hand screen and follow the prompts. Stay safe.

[shep22]

@agai11nst well happy thursday to you too😜

[agai11nst]

PM folks are kind

[Judithcatherine]

Historically Canadians talk on the phone more than anyone in the World 

 Maybe it is both nurture and nature Since we in Ontario with the largest population claim ALEXANDER Graham BELL as our own tho he was an immigrant from Scotland

How about taking away the Restrictions to receive these Specials And Make them for Anyone who wants to buy these Addons and Make the date that they end OPEN ENDED FOR NOW

something to think about. 

[Anonymous]

 @Judithcatherine 

That's a lot to unpack.

It sounds like most of this is towards the store. That's been a terrible experience for you.

Where and how have you asked for help though? Although not required to come through here, this is the first we've seen of you here.

What do you mean "lost my chance to port my number"? Is your Fido account closed now? You can only port from an active account. Maybe they can reactivate your account and then you can ask the moderators here to port your number over.

Public Mobile didn't sell you the vouchers, the store did.

You can also pay by payment card. You can buy vouchers online as well. Costs a little more but it's convenient.

[Judithcatherine]

PM  I'M AFRAID THAT PUBLIC MOBILE HAS DONE NOTHING EXCEPT CAUSE ME SO MUCH STRESS THAT I MAY HAVE HAD MY IMMUNE SYSTEM COMPROMISED AND SOME HOW CAUGHT THE **bleep** VIRUS. 

I AM A LITTLE OLD LADY WITH NO 

TECHNOLOGY SKILLS AND WAS JOINED TO YOU BY THE MOBILE SHOP AT ST.CLAIR & BATHURST BUT THEY TOLD ME NOTHING ABOUT YOUR METHODS. I.NEED A PERSONAL LIVE IN SAINT TO HELP

ME SERVIVE TECHNICALLY

I HAVE ASKED FOR HELP FOR 30 DAYS AND GOT NONE

I'D LOVE TO SUE LOBLAWS AND G.WESTON 3RD 

I WANTED PREPAID KOODO BECAUSE IT HAD REAL PEOPLE INVOLVED BUT THE MNGR

 SAID I COULD ONLY BUY PUBLIC MOBILE. YOU LOST MY CHANCE TO PORT MY NUMBER FROM FIDO AND LOBLAWS WHO.OWNS THE MOBILE SHOP DOESN'T EVEN CARRY $ 25 TOP UP CARDS

SO YOU JUST TOOK 2 $20 ones from me

No  one Really gives a **bleep** about SENIORS. Especially BUSINESSES and GOVERNMENTS. I  AM TALKING CANADA. IN THE USA YOU CAN'T EVEN RUN FOR OFFICE BEFORE THE AGE OF 66

NO WONDER THE TRUMP CAN'T APPRECIATE OUR JUSTIN TRUDEAU. HE IS OLD ENOUGH TO BE HIS FATHER AND UNTIL THE BEARD MR. TRUDEAU LOOKED LIKE HIS GRANDSON

IN CANADA NO ONE CAN RUN FOR OFFICE UNDER 18 OR OLDER THAN 50. OUR COUNTRIES ARE OPPOSITE 

THE STATISTICS HERE ARE APPALLING 

[darlicious]

@gblackma  Depending where my VPN connects it can reaĺly slow my internet down....i was getting the circle of death trying to view a pic so I did a speed test.....