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

[LizfromCanada]

Oh I'm fully aware - I'm saying the significant lack of Bravo shows just how unhappy people are - the sugarcoating hasn't worked on anyone! Trust me, I'm paying 25% more for my plan going forward (if I decide to stay and assuming my referrals do too) I know why people are mad.

[Kevlar44]

It's been a good run but I guess all things come to an end. I would have stayed with this company forever but I won't be scammed. I signed up largely because of the promise of "loyalty pays" and now all my loyalty is getting me is a worse phone bill. Us tenured customers had done a lot of good via word of mouth and for me it was because I felt I had been treated honestly and found good value. The value is still competitive but the trust has been broken and I know I'll be looking elsewhere. When the reward program ends I already know who I'll be transitioning my wife's phone plan to, as it comes with a desirable perk that's only good for one of us, and soon I'm sure I'll find something good for myself too. Also the gift of expirable data I'll never have any use for is a slap in the face as is the framing of the new reward program as being better for us as consumers. It's far worse and the consolation is worthless, but as I've seen honesty isn't a part of the story PM is telling anymore. A sad day to say the least. I honestly wonder if Telus is intentionally trying to tank it's "government mandated competition" that it owns because they don't want PM to be too desirable to do business with.

[fixin]

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@LizfromCanada wrote:

It says something when a community post has 0 Bravos, I think! Even the announcement on scheduled maintenance for March 5th has 9. 😅

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It's because people are unhappy to switch to Public Points. *Don't switch till they automatically do*

[LizfromCanada]

It says something when a community post has 0 Bravos, I think! Even the announcement on scheduled maintenance for March 5th has 9. 😅

[DennyCrane]

@ninjastar No. Any add-on's with no expiry date will remain as-is. They could change that one day, but it's not contemplated here and now.

[ninjastar]

Ok... do I lose any of the bonus data or bonus international minutes I accumulated over the years on top of my current US/Can plan? 

[fixin]

@DennyCrane - to keep everyone, they better add a 1 point its when you can redeem $1 bill credit (Or something lower than $15)

[DennyCrane]

@golfball Minimum 15 points can be redeemed, but I don't believe it has to be in 15 points increments once the minimum is satisfied.

[golfball]

Are points bill credits only in increments of $15?

[DennyCrane]

@Chalupa_Batman Correct. Those that don't earn at least $15 in points per month will need to wait until they accumulate 15 before redeeming, but you're above that threshold so you will be able to redeem that for a credit every month.

Edit: Plus you'll earn 5% in points for your net spend, and once a year you'll get 10 points for loyalty.

[Chalupa_Batman]

So basically, if I understand this correctly, my bill will still be $34 plus tax a month. I will continue to get 1 point per referral. 22 referrals if they stay is 22 points a cycle. So I cash in 22 points for $22 every cycle?

[fixin]

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@pm-smayer97 wrote:

SO unhappy about this! I have 5 plans for our family and so will be losing over $25/mon overall! The old rewards program is the ONE thing that has kept us here all these years!

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Public Mobile is the only one with a well built rewards system like this.

[DennyCrane]

@golfball I wouldn't be too concerned about that. Remember that legacy reward credits are not differentiated from credit card, voucher, or or general refunds once they're applied as a credit on your account. If they started expiring credits, that could also apply to voucher credits, for example (which would be illegal). Plus it doesn't make a lot of business sense anyway. They're not trying to punish people, they're just trying to stop the bleed and align their programs.

[golfball]

I wouldn't assume they will stop restricting plans to new activations. The carriers without rewards do it as well.

[pm-smayer97]

SO unhappy about this! I have 5 plans for our family and so will be losing over $25/mon overall! The old rewards program is the ONE thing that has kept us here all these years!

[fixin]

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@golfball wrote:

I wouldn't be surprised if they announce something like "all credits must be used up within 90 days or they will expire".

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Then I will be complicating with Freedom.

But credits are a way to save PM some money.

[samsunga31]

It was actually $10 - $7 = $3 compared to $13 - $7 = $6. Effectively a 100% increase. Now it's effectively another ~117%.

[golfball]

I wouldn't be surprised if they announce something like "all credits must be used up within 90 days or they will expire".

[ShawnC13]

@Chalupa_Batman your bill will still be $34.  You will need to convert your points into credits.  

[DennyCrane]

@Zahir_h What they said in 2022 has no relevance today. They never said that would be the case indefinitely.

As for flooding the CCTS with baseless complaints in hopes of influencing change, I have neither the time nor the desire to do that. This was a business decision that makes complete sense to me. As much as I don't like it as the consumer, I'd prefer this over the PM brand folding altogether because of a flawed business model.

Good luck to you though ✌️

[fixin]

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@PmEugeS wrote:

This is terrible. I’m losing my loyalty for having been with the company for over 7 years. 

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Yes, @Chalupa_Batman already said that he is porting one line from PM to Fizz now since there is no point if there is no Legacy Rewards system anymore.

If you have more credits in your account, they will stay till it gets used up.

"At least they aren't taking the credits from our accounts so - Example: someone who has accumulated $3000 has a $65 plan, they get at least 2.9 years of free service left from all of their credits."

Lots of people are unhappy today, PM better fix this up or else it will be a overload of port-outs (Possibly turn out to become Rogers issue all over again) & that the port out SMS system will crash.

[Amber75]

Bad move Public Mobile! The loyalty points were what kept a lot of us subscribed while you offered better deals to new customers the past few months. You've just evened the playing field with the other companies! Better deal pops up, we all disappear! Can we go back to the old Public Mobile who seemed to value their customers and rewarded loyalty??

[PmEugeS]

This is terrible. I’m losing my loyalty for having been with the company for over 7 years. 

[fixin]

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@Salvo1 wrote:

Well they should !  ( If they care ).  Like they say you lose 1 you gain another one 

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Basically half of the people who joined after Jan 2022 don't realize they are accumulating points.

[ShawnC13]

This makes that price increase look little as it is over double fire the members over 5 years

[Zahir_h]

Regardless of it being a prepaid service or not. 

They have basically raised the cost of everyone monthly plan. They have allowed us to make changes to our plans which left us under the impression that we would be having our current rewards in place.  

Their email sent to us from January 2022 states - "We want to emphasize that joining Public Points

is optional for all existing customers.

If you decide not to join, your current Rewards will remain the same.

You’ll continue to earn in the same ways, and save the same amount."

I understand that their terms and conditions can be changed anytime with notice, and that CCTS will NOT side with me, but this is a way to penalize Telus... And if they realize that they are receiving lots if complaints, they may backtrack their decision based in the fees being incurred from CCTS as these can potentially add up to being MORE then just grandfathering those of us on the old rewards system 

[samsunga31]

To all those that mocked and laughed at and dismissed fellow customers about the $10 30% price hike...I hope you enjoy your crow and yummy just desserts.

[Salvo1]

Well thay should !  ( If thay care ).  Like thay say you lose 1 you gain another one 

[Dunkman]

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@Lolo_1234 wrote:

Second, apparently we'll be losing all existing bill credit??? How is that even possible/related to the reward program??

Third, the previous compensation for voluntarily switching to the new program is being replaced by a useless expirable data bonus for being forced to switch...

Fourth, PM has the guts to say it'll be beneficial to us? At least don't sugarcoat this change with nonsense...

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@Lolo_1234 

Whatever credit in your available funds will not change with the switch. 

From the FAQ:

I still have leftover rewards from the old program that I want to use - do I lose these  rewards?

No, you won’t lose any leftover rewards from the old program. Any credits earned up to May 2024 will remain on your account and be applied to your future bills.

As for eliminating the one time legacy points bonus, I agree that it was underhanded to eliminate this one time bonus points.  It would have soften the blow to some long time customers.

Bottom line that this was a business decision.  The loyalty (up to $5/month) reward was costing the company too much money and this change was aimed at eliminating this reward. 

[fixin]

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@DennyCrane wrote:

@Zahir_h What exactly would your complaint to the CCTS say? You're not locked into a contract, and neither is PM. They are providing the necessary notice to make the change. This is a prepaid service after all.

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CCTS telling them to not make the switch??? No! The media (CTV / CBC / Global) may help out PM with backlash to keep the Legacy Rewards System.