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

[kb_mv]

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@NoseyNick1 wrote:

I would also note that $9/mo (well OK, 5GBP) gets 5GB/mo in the UK, so 250MB $9/mo is still orders of magnitude worse than common plans in Europe   😞

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@NoseyNick1 The UK has 1.5 ish times the population of Canada (67 million to 40 million) and is about 41 times smaller area than Canada. Economies of scale play a big part.

[NoseyNick1]

In case anyone was wondering... I have at least proved that...

• AFTER using up my 250MB/mo (on the $15/mo plan)
• It will use up my slightly insulting (dis)"Loyalty bonus 5GB" expiring after 150 days
• BEFORE my "holiday giveaway 2GB" from, what, 16mo ago?
• THEN my "2GB one time data bonus" from, I think, the year before that?
• THEN the "1GB Data add-on" which I actually paid for, N years ago

So the slightly insulting "appreciation for your continued loyalty" / apology for the rewards-bait-n-switch isn't COMPLETELY useless, but best guess I'll use less than a quarter of it before it expires, even if I try really hard to stream youtube whilst commuting or whatever. Usually the provided 250MB/mo is plenty for me, occasionally I've been eating into purchased / freebie extra data.

So I'm not interested in $25 X GB plans. I'd rather keep my 250MB $9/mo thanks ($15 minus $3+$2+$1 in loyalty/autopay/referrals). I would also note that $9/mo (well OK, 5GBP) gets 5GB/mo in the UK, so 250MB $9/mo is still orders of magnitude worse than common plans in Europe   😞

[Jim190]

The expiring "special thank you" is useless to me.  The removal of the loyalty recognition and auto pay, a $7 credit per month, is causing a $7 / month increase in my plan cost.  I strongly object to the increase.

[LitlLdy]

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@fixin wrote:

@eyes - Do you know what day it is even??? It is April Fools Day. Also, that IS on topic for the most part. Just a simple joke!

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@fixin , I know what day it is! It’s Easter Monday! 😉

[Nebster]

What do you mean they rejected PM's response?

Do you mind sharing what you wrote and what CCTS wrote?

[ashishg1]

I think this is the main reason why everyone is mad. I have 3 lines and my bill will increase by roughly 300$/year. To "spin" it as giving me more options is so highly insulting. And doing it continuously while people say otherwise just make this extra scummy. Never really expected public mobile to be this bad

[chaitealattes]

Hello, I request that you please reconsider the changes to the old rewards program as it is very disingenuous for Public Mobile as a company to try to spin this as a positive change. The "gift" of extra data is the most pointless gift as most of the users won't be able to use a fraction of the data before it expires.

[Bilnok1]

I live in Winnipeg, my wife and I have been with PM since 2020, and I just wanted to point out the fact that compared to other phone providers, PM was and is not a very popular provider here in Manitoba.
Almost 2 months ago I wanted to add my daughter to the PM family, and I was looking for where to buy a SIM card in a store, but I was so surprised that almost no store sells PM SIM cards, except of one or 2 stores throughout the city!
I know I can get the Sims online, but that's not my point, it's that when I asked the sellers if they sell PM SIM cards, their reaction was like it's the first time they heard about it!
What I mean is the same thing that loyal members have said here on this topic, PM should give a modicum of respect to its loyal members and treat them fairly for their continued support over the past years.
During our old marketing course, we learned that 1 dissatisfied customer would generate 10 future potential dissatisfied customers, by getting the message across. But now, with all the social media platforms and channels, I imagine how many potential customers PM will lose?
And at the same time, do they think about how many customers have joined PM simply because of the help of loyal customers?
In my humble opinion, I think PM should reconsider what he is about to do and he may have a better solution to balance their interests and that of their customers.
PS: I filed a complaint with the CCTS and they made the decision to reject the PM's response.

[fkrauthan]

Any news from public mobile in reversing this decision? I got recently credited the 240GB data add-on which in of itself is a huge insult as

1. I don't need even more data
2. It is only valid for 3 months before it expires

I really hope public mobile takes another look at this and reversed the decision at least for existing customers (they can't be losing out on that much money especially if existing customers keeps referring new customers that would join under the new system anyways).

What I don't get is why this can't be just an optional thing. Or provide a real benefit (even if onetime) for existing customers. Like x months of free services when switching or something along the lines that doesn't piss people off while allowing public mobile to continue to operate without losing money.

[hTideGnow]

to be fair, PM has not taken down posts even people suggest non Telus providers. 

[HALIMACS]

They will not take any posts down that prompts customers to move from here to Telus or Koodo.

They are all under the Telus umbrella of companies. 

[thisisjustaname]

Maybe we need to switch gears and start sharing what other telcom carriers you're considering. 
Koodo had a decent deal for former customers. I called today $29 for 50GB for 24 months then $34 after and only if you were a former customer that left for Rogers, Fido and a 3rd company I cannot remember. 

This post will likely get taken down but hope it helps others find a better deal before it does. 

[hTideGnow]

HI @thisisjustaname 

it really YMMV and depends on the agent.  Some had success so there is still chance

request a new one tomorrow and hope another nicer agent picks up and will help.  Keep trying for couple days

[thisisjustaname]

Just for visibility, customer service agent Francisco basically wrote a basic message saying promo is only for new customers. 

Truly, Public Mobile really doesn't care about loyal customers at all. Maybe we should start a thread about better deals for other carriers. Any suggestions??! 

[fixin]

@eyes - Do you know what day it is even??? It is April Fools Day. Also, that IS on topic for the most part. Just a simple joke!

[hTideGnow]

Hey.. agree or not, I am as serious as all your other posts here

[fixin]

@hTideGnow - Haha! 🤣🤣🤣 I wish!

[hTideGnow]

Breaking News , Just in..

Today, PM is migrating all Public Points members to the better and revamped, improved Legacy Rewards.

Public Points reward will no longer exist as of now.  The improved Legacy rewards will have:

•  $5 for autopay rewards,
• $2 /cycle per year for loyalty rewards with no maximum, ie, 10 years, you will get $20/cycle
• All Friend Referrals will be 2 points for each cycle. 
• Community Rewards will now be $2, $5, $10, $15 and $25
• To celebrate the coming back of the Legacy Rewards system, everyone will get 500 GB non-expiring bonus and $20 one time credit
•  .... and most important part in this change.....  ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️     ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

[ily]

@J_PMYou can come out now and tell us how all of this was just a silly 1-month early April fools joke 🤞

[ily]

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@ily wrote:

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@ily wrote:

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@ily wrote:

Here are the steps I'm taking in response to this horrific announcement:

1. Contact customer service expressing my deep dissatisfaction and asking to opt out of this forced migration. This is basically my attempt to resolve the issue with the provider, as per CCTS guidelines.
2. Mark March 18th on my calendar: if the issue isn't resolved by then, I will file a CCTS complaint.
3. Mark May 1st on my calendar: if I'm forced to the new points system, I will immediately port out!

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Update: CS Agent got back to me saying that there's no way to stay on the legacy rewards program; no surprises there. In other words, the provider wasn't able to resolve the issue. Moving on to step 2. I'll keep y'all posted.

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Update: I submitted a CCTS complaint. Now I'm just gonna sit back and watch closely until end of April. I'll also be doing some research to find my next provider, although I already have a good idea with who I'll likely end up.

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Update: CCTS got back to me 2 weeks ago saying that they accepted my complaint and that they notified PM and asked them to contact me in order to resolve the issue. If the issue isn't resolved after 20 days, they will take further action.

The ball's in your court now PM, and has been for 2 weeks now. Whenever you're ready.

[fixin]

@ily - It will cost PM (Telus) $140 or something like that even if the CCTS denies your complaint.

[ily]

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@fixin wrote:
... Complaining to the CCTS will give Public Mobile (TELUS) $140 per complaint.

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Just to confirm. You mean complaining to the CCTS will cost PM $140 per complaint, not give. Right?

[hTideGnow]

HI @thisisjustaname 

just ask support agent, some were allowed to change upon request

 please submit a ticket with CS Agent using this Chatbot link:  https://widget.telus.tiia.ai/publicmobile/publicmobile.html  Type the question "Submit ticket", Then click the following in order: "Contact Us" ,  "Other",  "Log In".  
If any issue with ticket submission, you can  submit by direct message:  
      https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437        

[thisisjustaname]

Given that your most loyal customers are being treated so badly, why can't we qualify for new customer promotions? There is a $24/month 4GB at 4G speed that would make the most sense to change to but it is only for new customers. Seems unless Public mobile fine to lose us to other carriers, they should allow us to switch to any plan we want at this time. 

Not exactly aligned to what Members of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology have been reviewing lately with TelCom practices. If anyone on this Community decides to start a formal complaint/Member of Parliament letter, please share a link where we can sign.

[Sophia]

Well, I just submitted my first ever complaint to CCTS. I wouldn't have done so if

- PM hadn't brought the news as "good news", it isn't.
- PM had been responding in this thread just once showing some sympathy... but they haven't.
- PM hadn't given us a "gift" of totally useless expiring data - that's not a gift, it's an insult.
- PM had eased their most loyal customers into the new situation, for example increase by $1 each year, just like they gave us the discount by $1 each year. Or had given a few years worth of extra loyalty points. Anything but useless data.
- PM had personally informed me of this increase. I never received any email and had to find out through the grapevine.

So there we have it, complaint filed and let's hope something good comes out of it!

[JennalynnFlesch]

Keep filing your complaints with the CCTS everyone.  This needs to be corrected by Public Mobile.  Here is an article that just came out 22 hours ago regarding the CCTS REJECTING Public Mobile's responses to Rewards Complaints! https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/2024/03/31/ccts-rejecting-public-mobile-responses-rewards-complaints/

[chuckb]

I submitted a complaint and added these comments via email. 

"! am involved in the dispute which you are aware of regarding the Public Mobile customers being removed from the old rewards program. I am presently paying $9 a month as I have been paying $2 a month for auto payment and an annual discount of $1 per month more every year after I signed up several years ago. Once removed from the "old reward program" I will be paying $15 a month for a difference of $6 a month this year, and $7 next year.  Under the new rewards program I would receive far less .

Note that this is not only a broken promise - it is also a competition issue as promises were made resulting  in not accepting other offers at the time. Also since we will be suffering a continued loss every month a one time "gift" of 5 gigs for account users in my category that must be used in a short time is an insult. Since we are losing every month - only a monthly introduction of data would come close to compensation for $6 or $7 a month. I would say a monthly addition of 2 gigs of 4g data to users every month could compensate. 

Charles Beyer

[RustyBuck3ts]

I've been a PM customer for YEARS and have always loved that I know exactly how much my bill will be every month with no surprises, this however was a huge surprise and not a welcome one. Back when PM announced the new rewards program the impression was given that they would allow their loyal customers to continue on the old rewards program indefinitely. I am extremely disappointed with this decision,  and even more disappointed that after all these years the best I get is 240gb of data that I won't ever be able to even touch within the expiration period. I've never had a reason to file CCTS complaint until now, extremely disappointed and frustrated.

[Apars]

This is frustrating as I have built up loyalty and promoted PM for years and to be switched to a points program that reduces my rewards by so much and to get “rewarded” with GBs of data that will never get used, especially before the expiry date, is a joke.

I appreciated that with PM I knew what my phone bill would be each month, and now having to use points, it won’t be those automatic savings that I’ve earned over the years. I would so much rather remain with my current Rewards. There’s a reason so many didn’t choose to switch to Public Points when they were introduced. It’s not the better deal!