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

[JennalynnFlesch]

After being a customer of PM since 2020, I will not accept being switched from my rewards promised when I signed up.  I will notify CCTS and I will file a complaint.  I expect PM to uphold what was promised and to this date, delivered. Loyalty rewards, Friend rewards and pre-authorized payment rewards need to remain untouched.  

[Michael6666]

Sorry about that 😔 maybe soon 🙏

[Lolo_1234]

I had high hopes for a second! Oh well, maybe one day...

[Michael6666]

You're right. 

Seems like if I can get my hands on a sim card, I can use it but I can't port in my Quebec based number and would have to activate an Ontario number.

Too bad, the search continues, hopefully fizz matches or merges with freedom. 

[Bottomshelf]

You have the FREEDOM to make that decision.  If you're thinking about $$$, the $15 plan with points, it will be maybe more expensive  - $166.88 (BC) vs $201.60 ($15x12 + BC taxes)  before points.  As I said before, it doesn't account for SIM card and activation costs, if any.  I will ultimately be paying $39.20 more with the new subscriber plan but with more data ( 250 mb versus 1.25 gb monthly that I will never fully use).

For 2 lines (my spouse and I) it works out cheaper by approx. $76 in total.

Having said that if I stayed with PM my new monthly cost will be $180 plus taxes = $201.60 less points of 21 or 43 depending on you interpret the referral point system.  If 1 point per referral per month then its 43 points; if 2 points annually for my 2 referrals then its 21 points (=$21) annual discount subject to minimum 15 point usage.

Assuming 2 points per month (24 annually), the cost of staying with PM is $131.84 (deducting points before taxes)  vs $166.88 for the other carrier.

I will not make a final decision until D-Day.

[HALIMACS]

@CoolAlex 

You can petition them whatever way you choose, here's how you reach them:

To contact a Customer Support Agent, there are 2 methods:

1. Use the ticketing system for a faster response time. Click here to create a support ticket, then type Customer Support Agent, then Contact Us,  or, 
2. Send a private message to Customer Support Agent by clicking here.  You’ll need to be logged into your Community account for the link to work.

Watch for their response in your Community private mailbox which will be indicated by a number on the small envelope icon to the left of your Community avatar.

[PMInfo1]

Its PM, lol... There is no one to talk.  Upcoming costed changes make PM a joke... I suspect it will be folded up eventually on subscriber exodus.  Koodo will return to the "low cost" Telus option. 

[CoolAlex]

Did anyone complain to the CCTS yet? They said you need to talk to the provider first, but what do you say to Customer Service? "Hello, please keep me on the old plan?"

[PMInfo1]

Regarding #2 - PM did not get the (legacy) uptake when they introduced the "new rewards points program" previous because early adopters clearly understood the "new" plan was inferior.

PM largely "glazed over" (more directly clearly misleading) the fact that several reward $'s would be removed completely (auto pay, etc).  Hiding behind the fact subscribers are not under "contract" they have already likely had lawyers working overtime to avoid issues with CCTS.  It's clear "too many" subscribers are sub $20 which is "not acceptable".  I expect Telus needs to move average ARPU to $25+ which they will successfully be doing on the backs of expense-sensitive clients.  Inflation on monthly bills will likely be in the +25% range for most.

[erorr]

If you can find a provider that has better and cheaper services by all means make the switch. For my personal situation I have not found one yet.  My wallet does the talking for me. 

[MarkTheShark]

I'm very disappointed to find out that Public Mobile is dropping their rewards program to move over to the points program. I've been with this company for over 7 years and it seems that they no longer value their customers. Very unhappy about this change.

[JimRockford_PI]

Good to know. 

Oh, I bought it at the time they changed from AGT. So, I won't lose my original investment. 

[Michael6666]

I wrote to their help. They said yes for my postal code. I will have to try. 

[Lolo_1234]

Have you tried signing up? Because I get this message: "Sorry, we don't offer service in your area at this time. Check our coverage page for more information."

[HALIMACS]

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@JimRockford_PI wrote:

I wonder if this is going to affect my Telus share prices. Concerned. 

---

I doubt it @JimRockford_PI 

Just remember to buy low, and sell high.

[Michael6666]

I just realized that freedom now accepts Quebec based customers. Without the 7$ off of the 15$ plan, there's nothing stopping my third account from paying 119$ for unlimited talk and text + 15gb yearly instead.

This is not looking good for Telus. I have to admit, I'm laughing a little inside now,the frustration is dissipating, go PKP 🤣🤣🤣

[JimRockford_PI]

I wonder if this is going to affect my Telus share prices. Concerned. 

[JimRockford_PI]

I am in the same shoes as you are. What about the 150 annual plan with Freedom mobile? 

[Bottomshelf]

I'm not at LIBERTY to disclose phone carriers promotions but if  you're an INDEPENDENT thinker you are FREE to make an informed choice .  I worked out the number for 2 lines based on this carrier's prepaid plan.
My spouse is paying $23.52 monthly on a $25 plan and I am paying $7.84 on a $15 plan.  I crunched the numbers and between the 2 lines I will have a net savings of $76.16 based on an annual prepayment plan at $119 and $149.   The data with each plan is an annual allocation of  15gb and 30 gb respectively.

I had difficulty in using the 250 mb on my plan let alone (1.25 gb per month offered in this new plan).

The caveat is, my analysis doesn't account for any activation and sim card costs.

Cheer up, things could be worse.  Sure enough I cheered up at and things got worse!

Let's keep it civil out there! 

[bcsuazon]

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@PMInfo1 wrote:

It is not up to subscribers to "figure out" or go to "help forum" to understand how the changes affect individual accounts.

PM has the obligation to inform (legacy) users to the specifics (per account) how these changes affect EACH account.  Saying "we're making changes to serve you better" is ridiculous and it is not my responsibility to read countless scenarios on a community forum.

The reality is PM/Telus needs ARPU up from lower billed subscribers to compensate for higher tier rates coming down.  It's called the "accordian effect".

---

This...the two biggest issues I have with the way they have handled this is:

1. The 1.5 month notice...this is a big hit for many customers - especially the ones with multiple lines.  They should have given at the minimum a 3 month notice for this I think.
2. They did not make it very clear as to exactly what people would be losing with the switch.  Usually when companies switch these types of programs they outline what they will be losing and then what they would be gaining.  The fact that they can't even show how the new system would be a positive in any way just tells you everything you need to know...

[Bottomshelf]

https://www.planhub.ca/

[zaku]

Can't believe my first post is about this. I doubt they would reverse this so what other options are out there other than FM? Thanks. 

[flong]

Well this is short-sighted. Just opened my email and came here to see if it's just an early April Fools joke.

With everything in the world around us falling apart, Public Mobile has been the one thing I felt I could rely on. Suddenly I feel like a rat on a sinking ship like the old times of mobile service in Canada.

Looking forward to porting my number somewhere else the second this change happens, and explaining to my 5 referrals why they do the same if they haven't done it already.

[LeoV]

Well I am so furious about this that at this point I don't really care anymore. I use about 2GB a month and pay for the 10gb 4G plan. I went out to Freedom and signed up for their prepaid plan of $150 a year. Unlimited calls and text plus wifi calling and 30GB per year. I'm trying it out and if it works well I will be transfering my number and say goodbye to PM and Telus. This might be my last post fellas. Good luck to all here.

[Bottomshelf]

Here's a novel(?) idea that will never happen - transfer the legacy reward dollars to equivalent points.  If the purpose is to have a uniform reward system my idea fits the bill but I suspect (actions speaking louder than words) it's to increase the bottom line.

In my particular case, I'm on the $15 plan (100 talk minutes, 250 mg data) paying $7.  As I've said before, it doesn't make $ sense for me to switch as there no comparable(?) $15 plans.

For my spouse who's on the $25 1 gb plan, there are more options to switch to a different carrier at a lower price point.  If PM were to open the "new activation" plans for new subscribers to their existing customer base, some customer might decide to say.
I will wait until May to make a final decision.

Have a great day everyone!

[PMInfo1]

It is not up to subscribers to "figure out" or go to "help forum" to understand how the changes affect individual accounts.

PM has the obligation to inform (legacy) users to the specifics (per account) how these changes affect EACH account.  Saying "we're making changes to serve you better" is ridiculous and it is not my responsibility to read countless scenarios on a community forum.

The reality is PM/Telus needs ARPU up from lower billed subscribers to compensate for higher tier rates coming down.  It's called the "accordian effect".

[Public_Cust_17]

Thanks for the update!  🙂

[Public_Cust_17]

Same and I'm thinking there are many, many more of us in that situation.

[Jens2]

Not impressed! I've stayed loyal because of the no frills loyalty discount. The new rewards program is very complicated. Love my $15 plan for $10 with just enough data due to auto-pay. I've toyed an upgrade to the Public Mobile 5G plan but the prices are not competitive. This might well be my impetus to switch carriers.

[Dre64]

I guarantee you this decision came from the top at Telus since they own both Koodoo and Public Mobile. If your planning on leaving Public Mobile, make sure NOT to switch to Telus or Koodoo. No use giving this company any of your hard earned money!