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

[hyT]

@J_PM 

Already unhappy to be forced to accept the Points instead of Rewards. Then realized that you gave me a "loyalty bonus" that's incompatible to my subscription. Is this a joke? See the attached screenshot.

 

[Knockali5]

Exactly, it was nice ride though.  Last 5 years, I convinced many people to switch to PM.  Telus has right make their business decisions and so do we.  Now we are free to move on.  

[hTideGnow]

HI @Lubna31 

but remember, your friend referral will stay, but they will be earned as points

[Knockali5]

In December 2023 I got one yearly plan from freedom.  At that time it was $99 unlimited talk and text plus 50 GB data.  Later on they added extra 5 GB when Quebecor took over.  They also added free canadawide roaming.  
So far in last 15 months no issues at all.  Freedom did offer no increase guarantee.  Let’s see if they keep that promise.  

[ValeryD1]

  Everyone is kind of nervous in this topic...
Personally, unlike most users, I am very grateful to PM’s decision to cancel discounts earned over the years! I'd be sitting here right now paying for my three lines while the PM made me get look at alternative plans from other providers.
So, two lines already with PC Mobile, $20 for unlimited calls and SMS, 1 GB of data with LTE 150 m/s. Here the closest one was $25 with 1GB 3G. The savings are already a little and the speed is higher. So even compared to today's PM bonuses, it will be cheaper. In principle, the date doesn’t really interest me, I’m a sysadmin and so I work 24/7 on an optical gigalan; on my phone I practically use the date for Google maps on the road.
PM belongs to Telus, and Telus is distinguished by completely unpredictable changes in payment and exclusively in its favor, this is their experience of communicating with Telus somewhere from 98 or 99, I don’t remember the exact date, I only remember how they raised the payment 2 times and the connection was lost outside the city , when Telus switched to GSM format. I tried for a long time not to have anything to do with Telus, but Telus bought PM and this is the result...
Well, there’s only one line left, let’s see carefully what happens after May 1st.

[Lubna31]

I think, there should be the option to keep either the old point system, or to switched to the new system. I am been with Public mobile for almost 5 years now, and with $2 auto pay, I was receiving $9 credit each month with friends referral, which was great, but I am very disappointed now, that all of that is taken away, and have to pay full bill payment. Thinking about switching to something else soon, just because of this reason.

[lovewelldropin]

I did not give permission for anyone to make the changes on the billing of my account so if this does change, I’ll be very upset as you’ll be violating my account and upsetting a loyal customer. 

[Boki]

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@Gimli007 wrote:

I got 240gb - expiring soon - i have half a mind to auto dload 1000 linux iso's to use it all up just outa spite.

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Nah. Make your phone hotspot and download windows 10/11 legally using computer. 40 times... and 240GB are gone.

[SeniorCitizen]

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@hTideGnow wrote:

hi @G_Pomzz I have to agree with you.  PM has not raise any price, just change in Rewards which they have full right to do 

Many thought there are lots of complaints, but I doubt it.  All activated in the last 2 years already on the new point system  

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Whoa there. Was there not a $10 plan that went to $13 and you would have been a fool to not bump up to the $15 minus $2 for auto pay?  
And is this forced change to the new rewards not an increase? $15 plan is now at least, for me, 45% more. 

[mikasik2]

@hTideGnow wrote:

hi @G_Pomzz I have to agree with you.  PM has not raise any price, just change in Rewards which they have full right to do 

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No Surprises!No expiration

[hTideGnow]

hi @G_Pomzz I have to agree with you.  PM has not raise any price, just change in Rewards which they have full right to do 

Many thought there are lots of complaints, but I doubt it.  All activated in the last 2 years already on the new point system  

[G_Pomzz]

I do not agree to switch loyalty plans. I have filed a complaint with CCTS

Well, you are just wasting your time. PM has every right to change up the rewards bonus system. And don't think for a minute that the bean counters didn't consider the collateral damage. In the long run, it's probably a good decision and provides shareholder value which is their fiduciary duty. 

[Camera4617]

And one line ported out of PM. You wanted to save 5$ on removing my loyalty bonus, now you'll lose $30.. And if I'm happy with other provider (which is good so far), other 4 lines will be moved. Thank you again PM

[oilers84second]

I do not agree to switch loyalty plans.  I have filed a complaint with CCTS.

[fixin]

@Oakestester - That is because every single complaint - agreed on or not it costs the provider $140 per complaint.

[Skaliger]

PM objected my CCTS complaint as well by stating that I was informed about future change, the company can change their TOS at any time, and blah blah blah. Luckily, CCTS dismissed their objection today! Now, PM has 2 weeks left to provide any other response. Interesting to see what happens next...

[JDBlue1966]

I got the same response. Made up with that.

[Oakestester]

They also objected to my complaint, and CCTS dismissed their objection in my case as well!

Anyone who hasn't yet filed your complaint, do it! The more that complain, the more likely they are to reverse course.

[NoseyNick1]

> Look at the plans available from Bell, Rogers and Telus. You'll see that they offer the exact same thing for the exact same price.
> That's not a ton of choices. That's three companies agreeing not to undersell each other to keep profits high for everyone.

You think the companies agreed amongst themselves? Nah, see https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/phone/mobile/occa.htm - the regulator INSISTED they all offer some plans that are "only" three times as expensive as a typical European plan for 1/10th of the data.   😞

[HALIMACS]

Sure @mc931 

Those are great points as it relates to your individual situation.  It's really troubling that a hospital, and currently your doctor, still cannot get a hold of you, for whatever reason.

I guess I just try not to let my attachment to my mobile phone service be as much of a necessity.  Heck, I still know several people who still don't use mobile phones and they get along fine with other support systems in place. (I still don't really know how they do it, but they do)

Dating myself, I didn't for 30+ years.

Still, I completely understand that it needs to be certain things for certain people, and that's fine.

Thanks for sharing.  🙂

[mc931]

I can see your point - although I’m not sure I fully agree.

if you live in metro Vancouver or Ontario or Quebec, you have way more viable options than elsewhere in Canada. There are definitely options for everyone, but there are way more options for people in certain places.

One thing I learned when I tried out a line on Lum, which is SK’s “discount” provider, is that many people (including me) really count on their phones. For safety, for access to services, etc. It turned out that number had routing issues and some people/businesses just can’t call it successfully. The only reason I figured it out was because there were medical providers who couldn’t contact me - so they emailed or sent letters or phoned an alternate number. I to this day have no idea how many people who didn’t have an alternate contact method for me, tried to call me back on that number and just … couldn’t. At any rate, unreliable service (for whatever reason, whether it’s the provider’s network or the routing or whatever) actually can be a very big deal. If a hospital had tried to call me, they wouldn’t have been able to. My doctor still can’t.

In any case I was really glad I hadn’t ported my number from Public to try that service out, because being able to go back to my Public line saved me a lot of trouble.

So yeah, it’s just a mobile service provider, and there are others … but phones can be lifelines and when providers don’t feel like they have any responsibilities to their customers, you can end up in a really bad situation. 

[Gimli007]

interesting the reaction from CCTS is..  (Yoda voice)

are they really seeing for what it is - or just collecting the billable complaints....  time will tell....

this is the way  ( Mandolorian )

[Gimli007]

I got 240gb - expiring soon - i have half a mind to auto dload 1000 linux iso's to use it all up just outa spite.

[Gimli007]

honestly  - not sure how a poll about how current PM customers are intending to react to this move from PM and big daddy Telus  could possibly be deemed as "off topic"  - dont think it  could get any closer to the topic perfectly.  Hey telus  - heres the way your legacy users and potential clients are re-acting... do as you will anyway.

[Gimli007]

enable roaming... especially if you are located in Ontario and everything will work perfectly.  After all - you are technically "roaming" in ontario - your ip will actually resolve to videotron.

[Gimli007]

havent heard ANYTHING official from PM - wonder why - they just dont care.

[Gimli007]

the nationwide - gives you free roaming on other networks in the zone ( province / country) per your plan - so in theory - you should be fine as long as they show the area in question as covered by partner network.

[HALIMACS]

@hTideGnow , I've always wondered why there have been numerous posters in the Get Help section complaining about Freedom's service.   Is it really that bad, nationally?

To be honest, I haven't really given them much thought, until recently.

[hTideGnow]

HI @Alveeto 

that's why I think some people are not make wise choice to decide to move away without realizing that if they choose a plan of same price elsewhere, they are losing 5% from the move, the saving from new rewards system

Some decide to go with Freedom.  With that, the price is definitely cheaper, but many decide to leave shortly after as the network is not solid like Telus, especially for those travel around a lot or not live in big city area.