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

[JDBlue1966]

I feel the same. Everyone I talked to about phone plans, i praised PM. Not anymore though. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that none of the other providers are 100% loyal to their customers. I will just go with another provider and keep chopping and changing for the best deal. 

[Dunkgirl1]

I have been with public mobile over 5 years I don't know why they got rid of my username and changed this forum.

I was told I would stay on the old rewards system as long as I remained a customer. I will be leaving public mobile once my remaining balance is used up. It is unfortunate just how strongly I have felt love for PM and have advocated their service to everyone anytime I spoke about cell phones / service with everyone.

I can assure you, I will do my absolute best to let everyone know to stay away in the future.

[mikasik2]

lmao bro

[Dunkgirl1]

$40 per 30 days is more expensive than $40 per month.

Public mobile "points" is a clever way of returning extra money they already charge us by selling 30 day instead of a monthly plans.

Remember there are 12.167 billing periods per year on a 30 day plan.

[Aehmttw]

Just going to leave this link here for koodo, I'm gonna drop by the store tomorrow and buy a sim card, then grab one of the new customer plans. Anyone else who might need these cheaper options should take a look. I seen a lot of people using the loyalty program to be able to afford the monthly charges so I hope this helps. I'm gonna grab the 35 dollar phone plan that matches with the PC plan I have now. 

https://www.koodomobile.com/en/rate-plans?INTCMP=KMNew_NavMenu_Shop_Plans

[Hollister]

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@golfball wrote:

No, it was something that said when you switch to public points you will get 1 point for every month that you've been with PM. Maybe they got rid of it.

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Was it this:

“Switch to Public Mobile today and earn 3x the points-back on every dollar spent on eligible purchases for 12 months.”

or this:

Points-Back

Earn points just by paying your bill. For every dollar you spend (on your plan or any add-ons) for a limited time, you’ll make 15% of it back in points.

[SeniorCitizen]

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@golfball wrote:

No, it was something that said when you switch to public points you will get 1 point for every month that you've been with PM. Maybe they got rid of it.

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I never dug into that. BUT if they took it away is that kind of sly?

Leave it in and forget about the free data. Points help everyone. . 

[Handy1]

@golfball  .oh yea I remember what you mean now for if you voluntarily choose to switch to the points program . No they got rid of that day or so before the announcement very very sneakily 

[golfball]

No, it was something that said when you switch to public points you will get 1 point for every month that you've been with PM. Maybe they got rid of it.

[RetiredGuy1]

Hi @slusagm 

Please allow me to try and help you understand. You need to appreciate that PM changed the rules for legacy rewards subscribers after promising they wouldn’t. Anyone who joined PM since the introduction of the Points rewards (or moved over from the legacy rewards program) knew what they were agreeing to and those rules haven’t changed.

I would replace the idea of “profit” with “benefit”. Under the old system that benefit was applied as a discount because you could reduce your bill on a monthly basis. Now, that benefit is treated more like a rebate as you must pay your monthly bill in full and wait until 15 points accumulate to redeem against your account so to speak.

[Handy1]

@golfball you mean this 

[golfball]

Have they removed the thing that says you will get 1 point for every month you've been a PM member when you switch over?

[Upset100]

Why hurt the people that have been loyal? How is it good? It doesn't help loyalty. It is just another system. If people are cheating the system, stop them. Don't hurt the rest of us how are loyal and honest. 

[Public_Cust_17]

@liuxinbing  it will be interesting... hopefully you're correct but you'll have to excuse me if I don't hold my breath. 🙂

[slusagm]

This is actually a good change, now everyone is on one single Point system. To those just joined, it is fair.  

Also, I see people have been sellling legacy account to make profit, this change will put that to an end.  

[fixin]

@liuxinbing - I hope so too!

[liuxinbing]

I bet tomorrow Mar 17th maintenance is to patch the reward system. They might want to change it, if not fully reverse. Let’s look forward to the announcement after the maintenance is done. 

[LucilleBluth]

I've been with Public Mobile for 6 years. I joined because of the rewards system and stayed because I wanted to get the benefit from the loyalty rewards that you advertised as permanent. I would have been perfectly happy to stay with Public Mobile forever with this loyalty discount. Now, not only are you taking it away, but you are thanking me for my loyalty with some expiring free data? Why would anyone want free data on top of their unlimited data? 

The points system is significantly worse than the previous one. My phone bill will be increased, even if I took the time to use your terrible website or app to spend my "greater flexibility" points on the same thing that was already done for me automatically. 

Not sure who sat in the Zoom meeting thinking this was a good idea. The loyalty program was synonymous to Public Mobile for me. It was why I told friends and family about it. What does your marketing department think the draw of Public Mobile is now? Can't really brand being the same price as everyone else, but with some lies and a bad website. It's been a fun run, I guess.

[Sophia]

Ugh. So much for loyalty. I was paying $6 and now I have to remember some garbage redeem thingie. I have already signed up with someone else - as soon as the SIM card arrives, I'm porting out. Thanks for nothing Public Mobile!

[Public_Cust_17]

Geesh, I wonder if W5 or one of the other consumer advocates would like to catch wind of this money grab on the backs of the most vulnerable of PM's customers.. hmmmm, does give me some ideas.   🤔 😒

[abcde4431]

- updated website. Result bad user experience. 
- rewards are sort of separate website. Result bad user experience
- forced switch to telus ID whatever..  Result bad user experience
- new accounts getting better plans, than existing. Result killed loyalty
- now forced new rewards system. Result? 

[Upset100]

This is a terrible decision. We signed up and were loyal but now there is no point in staying loyal since we don't get the points. You have made it harder to access the points. I don't want to log in every month. I want the points I get from being a loyal customer, bringing customers and automatically paying every month. I don't want to have to think about it. I have a lot more to do than fiddle with the phone plan every month. If you proceed with this crazy plan change, we are gone. There is no point in staying since PM would cost the same or more and be worse other services. We have been with PM for almost 5 years. Goodbye Public Mobile. Who ever thought this new rewards program up should be fired. 

[Upset100]

I also agree. We signed up and were loyal but now there is no point in staying loyal since we don't get the points. They have made it harder to access the points. I don't want to log in every month. I want the points I get from being a loyal customer, bringing customers and automatically paying every month. I don't want to have to think about it. I have a lot more to do than fiddle with the phone plan. If they proceed with this crazy plan change, we are also gone. There is no point in staying since they would cost the same or more and be worse other services. We have been with them for almost 5 years. Goodbye Public Mobile. Who ever thought this new rewards program up should be fired. 

[hTideGnow]

hi @Mike-B yes, PM never really price match others 

[public_999]

The 34$ already has the $5 dollars off per month.  Regular price is $44.  You get $5 off for digital discount (preauthorized payments) and another $5 bring your own phone discount (24 months)

[public_999]

With flippant answers like that, one might think the end game is to ultimately shut down Public Mobile.

[SeniorCitizen]

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@Delfino wrote:

This is really disappointing. I switched mine and my family's phone plans to Public Mobile specifically because of the loyalty rewards. The promise of receiving increased loyalty rewards each year was the reason that we stayed. It feels a little like a bait-and-switch. The new rewards system is evidently inferior and it's condescending to have your marketing department spin this like an improvement for us after repeatedly telling us it was optional.

The new way to earn rewards does not have greater flexibility than money. In addition to being worse financially, if we want to utilize the points, we are expected to log in repeatedly to manually redeem them. It was already annoying to log in to this website once to type this, I can't imagine trying to do this on each of my family member's phones.

Lastly, sending us expiring data as "appreciation for our loyalty", is insulting. Our loyalty was a result of the rewards program that you told us would stay in place as long as we had an active account. What is the use of extra data on an unlimited data plan? 

Will be switching the family to another provider in May.

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Very well said. 
And those customers that specifically moved over for the loyalty (and auto pay) rewards are very likely the first ones to leave. They overlooked all the inadequacies and quirks of PM and soon will be are left only with the inadequacies and quirks so why stay for the fluffy promise( ?) of continuously evolving products and services. 
Yes a harsh statement but something to consider. 

[public_999]

redact your sim card number