Upcoming Changes to our Old Rewards Program

[J_PM]

Hey Community,

We have an important announcement to share with our subscribers who are currently enrolled in our old Rewards program.

We’re making changes to our rewards program and are sharing how these changes impact some of our subscribers. Starting in May, we’ll be retiring our old Rewards program and moving all subscribers to our Public Points™ program. 

We launched the Public Points™ program in January 2022 to provide our subscribers with more ways to earn and spend rewards, with greater flexibility. As part of our commitment to continuously evolve our products and services, it's time to retire our old Rewards program and shift our focus on enhancing our Points program.

To show our appreciation for your continued loyalty, subscribers on our old Rewards program will receive a special thank you. We'll send you a text message when it has been added to your account by March 31st. 

We’re excited to continue providing you, our valued subscribers, more opportunities to earn and spend rewards with Public Points™ moving forward.

To learn more about your move to Public Points, check out our FAQ here.

The Public Mobile Team

[ridgeline]

I have the following questions to items raised in the Moving to Public Points FAQ referenced in the original post by J_PM.  It would be great to see a posted response from Public Mobile Team.

"...it’s time we focus on enhancing our points program further for our subscribers".  What enhancements are there over the legacy rewards program?

"the exciting features of the Public Points™ program". What are these exciting features and why is this better than the legacy rewards program?

"this move will offer you more flexibility and new ways to earn and use your points, bringing a more rewarding experience to our subscribers".  How is this a more rewarding experience for legacy subscribers?

[__c]

Others have said it better than I can, but baiting customers into paying more for plan upgrades, and then essentially surprise-hiking those prices up an extra $7, is just plain scummy.

I was paying $9 before PM pulled this chicanery, and would be paying $24 if I were to stay, almost 3x what I was already content with in 2023. I don't see myself staying with PM.

I will be making a complaint to CRTC, and suggest others to do the same if they feel like they've been deceived.

[EdN]

Why not?

[LizfromCanada]

Ah okay! Clear, thank you!

[LitlLdy]

Wow! I was wondering how long it would take for Public Mobile to make the choice for their Customers to switch them over to the points program from their old loyalty rewards program that those Customers were/are still on!

We were given over 2 years to make the choice to switch on our own before they made the decision to do it for us.

In my usual negative thinking I was sure this would happen however I was hoping that I would be incorrect with my thoughts! 😔 

In my opinion this seems like a really bad decision on Public Mobile’s part!

[theip]

awful decision... really shows that pm doesn't value their loyal customers

[ShawnC13]

@LizfromCanada no all plans get the 5% points on plan value.  My comment was to get the equivalent of the $2 autopay your plan needs to be at least $40 to get 2 Points.  I hope this clears up my post

[LizfromCanada]

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@ShawnC13 wrote:

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@Y4J259 wrote:

Am I correct in my understanding:

I will lose $50/yr from loyalty, and lose another $24/yr from auto-pay? This is another way of saying you are increasing my plan by $7/month, with no additional value? 

All my referrals will be collected as points, so you will make me log in EVERY SINGLE MONTH to convert my points to credit, and you intentionally will not allow this to happen automatically? 

The "gift" is a well-calculated joke. You know perfectly well that most users will not use that, especially users on the 50/75/100GB plans. 

The only "gift" would be for PM to have the option for legacy customers to move to a $27/mo 50GB CAN US plan. 

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@Y4J259 pretty much but the $2 autopay discount is offset by the 5% ppints back for plan price.  BUT you need to be a $40 price plan or higher to get equivalent points

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Can you please clarify this? What do you mean when you say that you need to be on a 40$ plan or more? Is the 5% not provided for cheaper plans?

[jor123]

Would be nice to finally get wifi calling as well if PM wants to stay remotely competitive 

[jor123]

100%, at the very least. 

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@zaptor99 wrote:

So the thank you gift is a data bonus add-on valid for 150 days.  Useless if you're on 5G unlimited plan, and still useless for most of us.  The gift should be extra points for being long time customers.

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[eJonavin]

Just did the math. I will be paying 77.4% more with the new rewards system.  That's a drastic change.

[Willowthecat]

This is not what Canadians need right now. Talk about not reading the room.

[ShawnC13]

@Meow we can't use the PM forum as a platform to list competitors plans and pricing.

[eJonavin]

Seems like. Token gesture for me and an effective 77%+ price increase comparing old rewards to new one.

i’m out.

[jor123]

Wow and it's only valid for 150 days. Most of us already have more data than we can use on the new plans. 

[jor123]

Massively disappointing for loyal customers who have been around for a long while and referred multiple people to PM. 

[HALIMACS]

Extremely disappointing @J_PM - we implore you to take these user comments back to the 'higher-ups' and please stop the change.

Let’s be clear folks, Public Mobile did not have to do this.  They could have retained the Legacy Rewards program for their loyal customer base who built it's success over the past 10 years.

By discarding their customers earned loyalty over the years, they are effectively saying we don’t matter as much as we did before.   Imagine a company saying that, and then trying to wordsmith key messages surrounding Public Points as if it's even remotely as beneficial.

Of course, it's not - they know it and we all know it.

Yet, here we are.

[Meow]

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@Trixxstrr wrote:

Ya, definitely going to look at moving after this. I'm a $15 a month customer, so looking around I see Freedom Mobile has a yearly prepay for $120 a year with 15GB/year which would be cheaper ($10 a month) and I would have more data than I do here.

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This Freedom thing is interesting!

I never considered moving from PM. I am on $15 plan as I (we) need mobile phone(s) as emergency phone(s) and stay in touch with my better half while I do grocery shopping or we are in some big-box store (using SMS).

I do not use data at all. Like never. I do not use phone for social bs sites or to watch movies. Thus data 'gift' is meaningless to me 1000%. I still have holidays gifts from past years untouched.

Instead of being negative, lets be constructive and create a list of ALL mobile service providers offering the LOWEST rate for very basic phone service and unlimited SMS. That might help those on $15 plan as there IS a reason WHY these people (including myself) have that basic plan.

I am sure folks on higher plans have different lifestyle and needs so if they leave PM will feel a hit.

Somebody suggested more involvement in Community to earn points. HOW is that supposed to work if suddenly hundreds of eager participants in a quest for few points start answering posts with very similar wording???
Oracles will be spending ALL their life removing redundant posts. Good luck to them!

Again, lets make a list of providers offering lowest rates and with clear head discuss pro and cons staying or leaving PM.

[Bryan316]

My reason to stay with PM is being removed, sadly.

[Arzed]

Not impressed. If I  want points I’ll buy gas and groceries. Give me the discounts and keep your lame points program 

[Eddie16271]

This is disrespectful to your loyal customers. I'm switching the moment this change applies. How can you say "focus on enhancing our points program further for our subscribers". What a load of baloney!

[Abhishek8]

For a lot of us, the loyalty discount and auto subscription discount was the main reason for staying. Fizz looks like an interesting alternative, they have roll-over data for 2 months and more flexible plans.

[MikeyMcP1]

Well, the going rate for 20GB 4G plans is $29/month. As a long-time customer, I cannot get that with Public Moblie but new members can? Does that make any sense? I guess I will go somewhere else.

[CalvinW]

You already limit most promo plans to new customers already but guess that’s not enough. You just had to directly target your loyal customers. How does a carrier go down hill so fast? Guess Public Mobile will show you. Literally no reason to stay. I was already having a headache dealing with your lack of customer support. Peace out like all your old customers. 

[ShawnC13]

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@EdN wrote:

A 5% points back payment is based on how much you pay after your referral deduction etc.

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This is incorrect, as nothing is credited against your plan price at all.  So if you are on the $34 plan you get 1.7 points. 

[EdN]

A 5% points back payment is based on how much you pay after your referral deduction etc.

[mrsblondee]

I guess it was a matter of time before they forced this change. Was good while it lasted for those on legacy rewards.

[MikeyMcP1]

Another aggravating factor is that new Public Mobile members can get my plan at $5 cheaper a month. Why can't I get that price?

[mojorising]

@J_PM thanks for the 5 years of service. I'm getting my Lucky Mobile sim card tomorrow.