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

[ShawnC13]

@Wolfcore and @edeepm you are over reading into that.   That is @J_PM way of acknowledging that they have read the post.  That is the way it works in our Oracle area as well.  This notifies us that they have read the message.  It isn't laughing at customers at all.

[Wolfcore]

It was amazing before Telus took over. It was a company that actually listened to their customers, and gave us something fresh. There was no other company like PM. Just felt like a real community. I recommended these guys to everyone I could. I can't even tell you how many conversations I had with people who'd say "public mobile? Ugh, their prices sound great, but I'm afraid about bad reception", and then I'd explain how they run on Telus towers, and they're no different than any of the big guys in that sense.

But yeah, add-ons didn't expire, it felt good to build towards something over time (loyalty rewards), community was tight knit and always helped each other out with problems, etc. Was just a unique experience that you'd never felt with any other telecom company before. 

[tanyaluke1]

This change is totally unfair.  Right now I get $6.00 off of my bill a month with the old rewards.  I get $2.00 off a month right now for having my bill go automatically on my visa, $1.00 off for 1 friend renewal and $3.00 off for being with PM for 3 years.  I always looked forward to the lower bill each month and now you are forcing me into the new reward program that Will Not give me a reward if $6.00 a month.  Not a wise choice fur Public Mobile to do to their long time, loyal customers.  I will be keeping my eyes open for a better plan elsewhere.  Very disappointed with PM.

[surj1]

This is totally wrong forcing loyal customers to unilaterally switch their  long earned rewards programs with credits that are superior to the new rewards programs. I along with others will be summitting a complaint to CCTS as Public Mobile had clearly stated (in the past) that exiting rewards members would stay on the original rewards program. Also if all fails I along with numerous others would be saying good bye to Public Mobile as there are better offers else where.

[Dunkman]

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@edeepm wrote:

@J_PMleft a bravo/thumbs up on my message complaining that @J_PM ignored my direct message? Is that supposed to be funny?

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From my interactions with J_PM on the oracle forum, I believe that her bravo was meant to acknowledge that she has read your post.  Not as a taunt.

From my understanding, Public mobile has decided not to comment on the announcement thread at the present time. Whatever is said on this thread has been passed up the chain.  Not sure when PM will respond.  

[Kydd]

How was the reception Before Telus took over?

[Wolfcore]

Been like this for a while now. Once Telus took over, it's been downhill since. Anything the benefits the consumer even slightly, is slowly being stripped away in favour of profits for the company.

[Dunkman]

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@Jp21 wrote:

Got the email about the free data add on that expires. That is not a perk when I am on an unlimited data plan? Also, since when do data add ons expire at PM?

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@Jp21 

Regular data add ons started having expiry dates (30 days) from spring 2023 (? May).  

According to PM, your unlimited data plan would still benefit from the data bonus add on.  If you go over your plan data allotment, you will not need to use unlimited "slow" throttled data, your data bonus add on should kick in and you should continue to have normal speed data. 

[Robbwell]

So the deal was that if we stay with PM, after one year we get $1 off and so on until $5 .... but when we achieve this, it is taken away. Like being good all your life to get to heaven only to fine the gate closed.

[orbomn]

Tell me you're improving my customer experience without telling me you're charging me more for the same entry-level account features...

[Jp21]

Got the email about the free data add on that expires. That is not a perk when I am on an unlimited data plan? Also, since when do data add ons expire at PM?

[dariovitale]

I clicked on the link you provided but it just redirects me to the long list of comments in PM's advisory post. Can you please give the link to officially file a complaint?

[dariovitale]

What is CCTS?

[dariovitale]

I have a old cell line under Pm thats with the old legacy points. I agree, this sucks. However Telus is really a good company to deal with as I have been part of the Telus family since the 90s when they were called Clearnet. I have 5 other cell lines where each line is $20 a month with CAN-US 50gb unlimited everything and $20 a month for house alarm since Im an old adt customer. 

[Nelsaur2]

I'm cancelling my line with Public Mobile if this actually goes through. There are way too many other options for me to stay.

[Jp21]

I like to use like to dislike ratio to analyse how satisfied people are with content.

In other news the announcement got 14 Bravos and there are ~1800 negative replies. 

[ridgeline]

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@edeepm wrote:

@J_PMleft a bravo/thumbs up on my message complaining that @J_PM ignored my direct message? Is that supposed to be funny?

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@J_PM also gave a bravo to my post about Public being silent for the past week and not responding to customer concerns.

[Wolfcore]

Wow, that's clear taunting if you ask me. Can't think of any other reason to do that. Crazy that an employee would do that when these customers are clearly upset about how they've been lied to by the company that employs them. Pretty disgusting behavior, but considering who they work for, I guess it makes sense.

[Wolfcore]

If that's true, it's ridiculous. These people have no shame. Imagine an employee laughing at customers who've been blatantly lied to and gaslit by the multibillion dollar company that employs them.

[PumpkinBook]

Hello.

As per the rules of the CCTS, I must reach out to you and inform you that I do not agree with your decision to get rid of the old rewards program.

The reason I disagree is because I had a very affordable plan that met my usage needs, not just due to the overall price, but due to the loyalty and referrals I have done through the years. My willingness to recommend Public Mobile was due to the affordability I earned myself through usage of the old rewards program. Similar to others, I started with a cheaper, $120 per 3 months plan, but as my rewards increased through the years, I decided to upgrade to a more expensive $34 per month plan. From the start, older customers like myself were assured that our prices would be honoured, and we would have the ability to retain our plans. Part of the plan to me was the rewards attached to it. Even when the new rewards system came out, we were assured that we could keep our plan with the old system.

This change is predatory, as it results in less savings under the guise of it being more “flexible”. Public Mobile’s words exactly are: “We launched the Public Points™ program in January 2022 to provide our subscribers with more ways to earn and spend rewards, with greater flexibility”. Please tell me in what way forcing me to use this new points system, which are accrued at a lower rate than my current rewards, is more flexible? The pinnacle of flexibility to me is being able to use the savings that I’ve been earning on my phone bill with the old program as I see fit, not being forced into a rewards program that gives me less, for more spent.

To add to all this, I have an email from January 22, 2022, explicitly stating that "Joining Public Points is optional for all existing customers".

Please accept this as my official complaint.

cc: @J_PM @CS_Agent @PumpkinBook 

[PCIrish]

Actually it’s no longer Public Mobile.  They’re the “puppets” for the take over giant TELUS.  Public had integrity.  Obviously TELUS does NOT!  Nor do they care about customer loyalty.  Yup!  Time to look else where for cell service.

[Dunkman]

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@RevCo17 wrote:

This should be class action as some legacy subscribers aren't properly informed that PM intends to break this contract. 

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@RevCo17 

Public mobile intends to either email or text all affected  legacy customers.  Supposedly, the initial announcement stated the wrong date of March 8.  Should be March 12 (today).  

Out of my 4 accounts, 2 receive a text (weekend) and 2 received an email (today).  Also, if you login to your app, there is a popup explaining the migration to points.  

With PM, there seems often to be a delay unfortunately. The technical team is smaller. 

[RevCo17]

Sorry, just upset since I've been a consumer since 2019 and ported to PM. Being a person on odsp on a tight budget who doesn't use much data (always under a gig) as per 25$ plan, finding out that 240 or 250gb for a few months would be utterly useless for someone like me. Tho I have sent I a ticket, and could you elaborate on what CCTS is for those who aren't familiar? Thank you for your time and recommendations. 

[Chalupa_Batman]

Honestly, not sure I'd go that far. However, I do know 2 co-workers who have not received any text messages or emails from PM. They haven't received any notices on their apps either... as of this afternoon. So you're correct, not everyone has been notified yet. 

Once again, I appreciate that Public Mobile wishes to change over and cancel legacy rewards. However, Public Mobile stated multiple times on multiple medias, "You will continue to get legacy rewards for as long as you are a customer". I'm still a customer. 

[Chalupa_Batman]

Hi @BJ69 

This is what the CCTS said to do.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Announcements/Upcoming-Changes-to-our-Old-Rewards-Pro...

Then, send it in a PM to a CS Agent to lodge the complaint on record. Not doing this will make your CCTS complaint invalid. Take screenshots for proof.

[RevCo17]

This should be class action as some legacy subscribers aren't properly informed that PM intends to break this contract. 

[BJ69]

Did you put in a "ticket" to lodge your complaint? I'll do the same.

[Chalupa_Batman]

Update:

I received a second reply from a CS Agent.

Hi there!

How are you today? My name is Maria and I just wanted to check if you still need our help. If the conversation is left unanswered for 24h, the system will automatically close it, however, if you need any assistance, our chatbot is available 24/7.   

Respectfully,
Maria_G
Public Mobile CS_Agent

Here is my reply.

Hi Maria,

Are you talking about my registered complaint about cancelling Legacy Rewards and being forced into Public Points?

If so, no, the complaint is still legit. According to the CCTS, to record a complaint against Public Mobile, we must first reach out to Public Mobile to register the complaint. I have done so, now it is on record. I'm sure you have fielded a ton of complaints from customers about this. But I'm sticking to my values. When it says "You will continue to get legacy rewards for as long as you are a customer" part, I'm still a customer, and my rewards should not be cancelled. 

I also understand you're not in Canada. Just know, this is not personal. We believed in the core value of Public Mobile and the Legacy Rewards. To cancel it, isn't something we take lightly. When Public Mobile said "You will continue to get legacy rewards for as long as you are a customer" , we took it to heart, believed and trusted Public Mobile to honour their word. Here in Canada, a company's' WORD means something. 

Thank you.

[JennalynnFlesch]

Thank you for the info!  Will be doing the same

[JennalynnFlesch]

Me as well.  I will be taking my phone and 3 of my referrals with me.