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

[hTideGnow]

HI @JohnDoe3 

they will keep the $15 plan because that is a CRTC mandated plan.  they won't abandon it unless CRTC makes change to it

[Public_Cust_17]

@JohnDoe3  believe me if they could've they would've already.. it's not something they can do.  See this link regarding low-cost and occasional plans which I screenshot the below from.  https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/phone/mobile/occa.htm  the more you know.. the more informed decisions you can make  😎

[JohnDoe3]

How much would you be they're hoping to phase-out the $10/15 plans if enough of those customers abandon it and leave $20 as the cheapest option available.

[JohnDoe3]

They phase out cheaper options at lower tiers when they get the opportunity, knowing that people will be stuck moving to whatever the cheapest thing you can find is. Why price at market leader -$5 when you can price at market leader -$0.01. There's a nominal savings necessary to make the move worthwhile and a minimum price drop necessary to not look disingenuous with the pricing. The same thing has been happening with veterinary care (VCA buying up clinics), and housing (REITs buying up rental inventory).

You either are the market lead, or you buy the floor out of the market and become the market lead. This works when supply is finite, or there's a substantial resistance to introducing competition. The only thing to counteract this effect is to out-supply the market leader with new competition. The leader is forced to become cash-poor trying to buy the floor out of the market.

[JohnDoe3]

Is that 20,000 pts only the first 2 months, or every 2 months?

[JohnDoe3]

Another explanation is that the forum is very community-help oriented, so the presumption is there's a lot of valuable feedback in the conversation histories which you wouldn't necessarily want to discard haphazardly. Every post, regardless of the user ID associated with it, is just another database entry with links to parent post ID, so it can technically exist independent of the pm account of someone who transfers #. IE, the posts aren't subordinate data of the user account, but rather they exist in a separate database for which the userID is a subordinate field. It may be possible to test this theory by making a post, then changing visible user details of the profile which made the post, and making another post. If the prior post retains old user details, then the individual post details are just fields in a database table, and not looked up at page-load from any user database.

[Markaps]

@Soon-ex-PM-user I came from Telus, I was paying $60 unlimited nationwide calling, and texting, with 5GB of data. If I used "Easy Roam" in the U.S., it cost me $14 per day. I now have the $34 for 50GB Can/US plan, it's a huge saving for me, and I look at the Public points as an added bonus. 

[G_Pomzz]

To date, Fizz Mobile seems to be the most comparable to PM, with respect to the plans offered, website navigation, ease of use & the community. My own requirements met, it’s the carrier I would migrate to, if necessary.

Hmm... with Fizz the 50 GB Canada - USA plan is $38

PM charges $34 for the same plan. Fizz offers an initial discount for 6 months. PM points for loyalty etc are constant. I'll stick with PM. 

[Stelawrat]

Review ToS met: edited to remove customer review statistics & hyperlinks.

Depending on what happens with PM’s $24 plan, if made available to everyone, then I’ll probably stay, as I've never had problems with PM. I’m taking advantage of my Legacy Rewards until May when, if it’s worthwhile, I’ll begin comparison shopping.

To date, Fizz Mobile seems to be the most comparable to PM, with respect to the plans offered, website navigation, ease of use & the community. My own requirements met, it’s the carrier I would migrate to, if necessary.

Note: Bell & Telus share towers. Bell towers dominate eastern Canada & are shared by Telus, while Telus towers dominate western Canada & are shared by Bell. Rogers coverage is coast to coast. Despite this, many complaints were connectivity related, so you might want to check map coverage / tower locations local to you for work & home.

For the most budget friendly service providers, I’ve looked at customer reviews from several sources, in addition to their own websites. I’ve looked at their plans, support features if any & website navigation.

Fido Mobile: Rogers Network / Owned by Rogers: complaints re: customer service & billing issues.

Fizz Mobile: Rogers/Vidéotron Network / Owned by Québecor: good for internet, not as good for phones.

Freedom Mobile: Freedom/Vidéotron Network / Owned by Québecor: complaints re: customer support & connectivity issues.

Koodo Mobile: Telus Network / Owned by Telus: complaints re: customer support, billing & connectivity issues.

Lucky Mobile: Bell Network / Owned by Bell: complaints: bad in general.

PC Mobile: Bell Network / Owned by Bell: complaints re: customer service, billing & connectivity issues.

Public Mobile: Telus Network / Owned by Telus: complaints re: customer service & billing issues; note: rarely connectivity issues, mostly related to those using 5G who live / work in concrete / eco-friendly buildings, which applies to all service providers.

For those of you who have the time & patience to do more research, these are just a few of many sites available. I chose these because of their engagement with a wide demographic, allowing for a better picture overall.

BBB – Cansumer – cellphones.ca – Reddit – Trustpilot Reviews

Interesting Facts Regarding 5G Plans: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/The-Lounge/Some-Interesting-Facts-Regarding-5G-Plans/...

Jan.’24: Tutorial: How to Switch to A New Cell Provider and Keep Your Number | WhistleOut 

[hTideGnow]

HI @HALIMACS 

Rewards and loyalty program are protected by provincial consumer acts, CRTC and CCTS really cannot do much.  CCTS can try to resolve the problem, but in this case, I cannot see what they can do 

At least in Ontario and Quebec, the act only protects the points earned , it doesn't stop  the merchants or businesses from changing how rewards are earned or they have no say if the rewards system is cancelled altogether (as long as the unused rewards are taken care of)

With PM system, they are changing how rewards are earned, not expiring any earned rewards (with our legacy system, all rewards are credited to the account monthly as available funds, so no question about expiry)

Legally, PM is doing what it is allowed to do with sufficient advance notice. Yes, it upset many customers in this process, me included.   but PM didn't really do anything illegally.

[Dunkman]

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@Soon-ex-PM-user wrote:

Correct no USA roaming but current PM plans, also lacking the the follow features or service:

- Not capable of WiFi calling or VoLTE features

- Zero human customer support

- Not working outside of Canada/USA.  No roaming International. 

- no way to receive 2FA text messages when traveling abroad -  I learnt the hard lesson when travelling overseas last year with PM for lacking this important feature. 

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Public mobile does have VoLTE features.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/ab/get-help/articles/volte

Not all phones will be compatible with Public mobile VoLTE though.  

It is true that Public mobile has no live human customer service, but it does have human customer service via the ticketing, private messaging system.  It does take time for customer service agents to respond, but it usually takes  a few hours to fix most issues.  

Definitely, all customers should do their own research and figure what what is best for their needs and price point.  Certain PM plans (including the $34 US Canada 5G plans) are competitive enough that many new customers did port over to Public mobile under the new points system. Unfortunately, for the $15 and $25 plans without the legacy rewards, there are better options outside Public mobile.  

[hTideGnow]

HI @Sophia 

if you have EPP, then yes, you might save more from there than staying with PM without the old rewards system.   🙂

[Sophia]

LOL! I wish I had that kind of power 😂

All jokes aside though, and yes I know you were only joking... but we were paying $6 because of the system THEY enabled. We weren't and aren't cheating our way into a cheaper plan.

It's just such a slap in the face that they unceremoniously take away the old rewards. If they had approached it differently, I wouldn't be so angry/hurt/disappointed. For example, if they had given us a number of extra points  (like 15 points head start) to ease into the new system. Or an increase over a period of time. 

As it is, the expiring data gift is a huge slap in the face. My husband was on the $15 plan BECAUSE he has little use for data - he still has all his previous bonus gifts that he got during Xmas etc. It was literally the worst "gift" imaginable.

So yeah, I decided to move elsewhere, because at least we'll get the benefit of an EPP discount then.

[Soon-ex-PM-user]

Correct no USA roaming but current PM plans, also lacking the the follow features or service:

- Not capable of WiFi calling or VoLTE features

- Zero human customer support

- Not working outside of Canada/USA.  No roaming International. 

- no way to receive 2FA text messages when traveling abroad -  I learnt the hard lesson when travelling overseas last year with PM for lacking this important feature. 

- etc.

It is up to each person in figuring if one can live without the disadvantages above and if are you ok with paying a few bucks more to go with Rogers or Bell as they have these features or advantage. 

Also for your USA roaming concern, non-PM providers have add-ons or use one of a provider here https://forums.redflagdeals.com/roaming-sims-esims-travelers-2183565/

[hTideGnow]

HI @Ausome 

I can't agree more.  Yes, if you are in the region, it works.  But the reason to get mobile phone is the phone moves with you and you always have a chance, high chance that you will get poor reception.  

I tried to point this out, but couple "free" "sales reps" here insists it is as good.  Price-wise yes, because they cut down the price knowing the product is not comparable to others.  This is especially concerning when people paying for an annual plan not knowing fully the product they lock down for a year

[Ausome]

Why is any one at all, comparing to Freedom. It's apple and oranges. Freedom has half the coverage that Public does. No wonder Freedom's price is cheaper. If people are going to compare, understand what it is being compared. Ridiculous.

[HALIMACS]

Aren’t we all, @JDBlue1966?

[kb_mv]

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@Burdwood  I owe you an apology! I completely screwed up the comparison!

[Wolfcore]

Some people in this thread clearly have ulterior motives. They're constantly repeating the exact same messages, constantly claiming that things aren't important, yet they've spoken about them 30 times. Constantly spreading outright lies while claiming others are doing it. They'll also make outrageous claims but are never willing to back them up, etc.

I've also started to see certain people completely switch their tune from being pro-pm for all of last week, and now pretending to be anti-pm a lot more. Clearly farming bravos, which is hilarious, because they claimed others were doing this as well, and even went as far as saying that Bravos shouldn't count in threads like this 🤣

I stopped paying them much attention once I figured out what was going on.

[Ausome]

I joined recently. Like a month ago. I understand what people's complaints are cause they are saving, what sounds like, a lot of money per month. However comparatively to what they will be spending by going to another carrier for something of similar value, they will be spending more in comparison. 

[JDBlue1966]

If you are interested in the numbers, then fine. I’m just interested in PM doing the right thing.

[HALIMACS]

It doesn’t matter @JDBlue1966 - who said it did?

 Can’t a guy be curious about the numbers?

[hTideGnow]

HI @Ausome you are on the new points system already or you have enough friend referrals to help to lower the cost?

yes, rather than just leave here because being upset by the decision, better to check around and wait for a plan that really save you money.  Go with your wallet

[hTideGnow]

yes @bcsuazon  if you have a Canada-US $34 plan, it is still one of the better one

I would say no rush to leave, price come down a lot last 2 years, you never know what better offers around in couple months

[bcsuazon]

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@Markaps wrote:

@TrentJ4  No US roaming

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That's the biggest catch with many of the competitor plans.  It's either no roaming or that the $34 plan they offer is only after a 24 month $5 credit which means at the end of 24 months you have to do the dance and negotiate or find another plan at that time.

Still have over a month to go before the switch so hopefully something better comes along that meets my needs.  For those that only need talk & text there are already some decent plans out there from the competitors.

[Ausome]

I'm not affected by the change. So I know my opinion may not matter. However, comparatively, to other competitors, PM is giving my wife and I a saving of $150/month compared to our last mobile plan. 

This side of the grass may not seem as green as before. However, like many have stated before, it may be greener than you think. 

Even now after the Big 3 have decided to "jump"on this bandwagon. What they offer still isn't as good as what PM is offering. Telus couldn't even match the Can-US 75GB plan. Not for $40. Telus comparable was still $85, 2x what I'm paying. 

Good luck to all those still comparing and researching plans with other carriers

[JDBlue1966]

Why does it matter about the number of posters? For me it all about PM customers being upset and angry about what they are doing. 

[HALIMACS]

No ones pretending the number of unique posters is small @dabr , as some might imply.

I’d go so far as to say that for every 1 poster on this site, there’s at least 20-30 other people impacted.

Of course, Public Mobile would never share the actual numbers, but it’s got to be well over 20,000 subscribers still on legacy rewards.

EDIT :  MAYBE even 200,000 ? Who knows???

[Burdwood]

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@kb_mv wrote:

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@Burdwood wrote:

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Lets say unlimited talk and text plus 1GB of data...  Full price at PM as of May: 12*$25=$300. Compare with Freedom yearly prepaid: $119/15GB/year. That is potential of $181 savings per year. (Yes, that is based on the assumption that you live in Freedom's native coverage. Things are, unfortunately, different for people in rural settings and in the Maritimes.)

@Burdwood The monthly prepaid Freedom plan that is identical to the PM plan (other than 3G/4G) that you mention is $19/month. By all means mention the option of paying yearly but I think it's easier to compare providers if we are comparing the same thing.

 

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True. But then you can go and pick that plan apart as well and find that it's not perfectly equal to PM's... Discounts, bonus data etc. Technically, as it is as $ price in your screen shot, it's still $72 savings over PM... 😉

If I can reasonably do so, I'm a fan of set and forget. Up until the recent upheaval in plan prices where the flexibility of monthly payments is an advantage, I personally go for the longer term prepaid offerings, as long as the price is right. I always loved the "use x GB over 90days" here at PM, it's what drew me here in the plan builder days. For the line that we will move to that $119 plan has very irregular data use, the person would go months and months without any data usage, and then the usage would spike considerably for a month or two. So the 15GB/year included are more flexible and convenient, as well as cheaper than switching plans or now expiring data add-ons at PM.

IMHO what this is boiling down is simply that we all have different needs, we all have to do our own homework about what is the best solution for our current needs. What works for me is not the silver bullet for you.

[hTideGnow]

HI @bw2024 

if you have 3 mobiles lines and internet and TV services, check with Telus for bundle discount. Of course, other carriers also have bundle discounts that might save you money altogether