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

[Crazyray79]

The "reward" I got is a joke.  Been with public mobile for years, I have 50gb a month data that I never use.  My "reward?" bonus data ill never use

[Cova]

Same here

[Bilnok1]

https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/2024/03/31/ccts-rejecting-public-mobile-responses-rewards-complaints/

[kiu92]

I have been with Public Mobile for 6+ years, it has always been the reward program that kept me as a customer. When Public Mobile first launched and tried to switch me over to their "new" reward program which is much less rewarding, they quickly backtracked and on January 24, 2022; they sent out an email to me, like many others, that "You may have received an earlier email about being switched to
Public Points. Please disregard this email - we apologize for any
confusion this may have caused.
We want to emphasize that joining Public Points
is optional for all existing customers.
If you decide not to join, your current Rewards will remain the same.
You’ll continue to earn in the same ways, and save the same amount."

This clearly is in breach of that promise. Obviously the only reason this change is that Public Mobile wants to eliminate the discounts we have always gotten under the original program, which amounts to $7 per month for a lot of people, myself included. This is unfair and obviously false advertising as one of the main reasons when we first joined Public Mobile it is because of the rewards we are promised by the carrier.

[Markaps]

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/other/public-mobile-continues-to-face-thousands-of-angry-customers-o...

[TaylorG]

As a Loyal public mobile customer for the last, nearly a decade, I think this is the first time I've even looked at other offerings. If this change goes through as planned I will absolutely be taking my business elsewhere. Sad times.

[cc20241]

The new rewards program is crap!!! Data shouldn't expire and they shouldn't be allowed to take away the discount we get for getting people to join. I guess now I will have to work hard to help people find better plans where they are treated with respect. 

[Boki]

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@lowb4ller wrote:

I'm on a 34$/month plan with -5$ for loyalty and -2$ for pre-authorized payments.

Will the points received on that plan have a 7$ value?

---

Ha, ha! Good one!
Welcome to dreamland. No more $7 off for you (nor anybody other LOYAL).

[Camera4617]

It's not useless to you as you almost have no data (250MB is nothing).. For those (including me) who have 50GB in the plan on monthly basis and don't use even half of that, it is useless. 

[MintBerry]

Went through the support ticket process only to be told "Public Mobile has no control over the Points Program change".

Okay...so is it the aliens or reverse vampires behind this because I want to make sure my CCTS complaint mentions the correct party at fault /s

[fkrauthan]

@kb_mvTo be fair this economy of scale argument is kinda xxxxxxxxxxxxxx. If the mobile carriers would really be running a minus or only slight earnings I believe that. But as it stands they report record earnings year over year so it can't be that expensive to maintain service in Canada regardless of size. Also they get heavily subsidized by the government especially for the remote areas.

And its not like that Canada is fully covered by mobile providers anyways. Most of its land mass is not.

[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!

---

@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.....  ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️     ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️