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]

@eyes @fixin1 This is just PC Mobile by another name which unfortunately means no US (or anywhere else) roaming.

[fixin1]

@eyes - No Name mobile was just introduced yesterday:

https://mobilesyrup.com/2024/04/10/no-frills-data-plans-no-name-mobile/

[fixin1]

@EQMO88 - Bell & TELUS share towers - so

Bell = Bell, Virgin, Lucky, PC Mobile, No Name Mobile

TELUS = TELUS, Koodo, Public, DCI Wireless.

Rogers can roam on TELUS / Bell towers but only when there is no Rogers Service.

[EQMO88]

Thanks for the point. I felt the pricing was good, even though I don't need much data. Fwiw, I have found that Telus network (PM's network) has been the most complete in Canada

[fixin1]

@G_Pomzz - I was about to port one of my numbers to Freedom in February until I saw this great deal, while I was in Banff. I was super excited to finally match Freedom until I saw it was new activations - but then it was lifted later on.

My cell service is 4 bars and crystal clear voice and max data speeds.

[EQMO88]

I see. Will you be leaving to a new provider? Any suggestions?

[G_Pomzz]

@zaku     Good Point

Aside from Freedom, (with less coverage than PM) I haven't found any other providers that can match the $34.00, 50GB, Canada wide + free USA roaming plan I currently have. 

For those who do not need that much data, live in a major metropolitan area, never travel to the USA, and just want a bare bones plan, yes there may be better offerings than PM currently has. For myself, although I'm not happy with the reduction in the rewards, it's not a deal breaker for me. 

[JimThorne]

I have been a loyal customer for almost a decade. I was assured when I started that my benefits were guaranteed as long as I remained a customer. I understand changing the plans, not adding any more benefits, and not extending the old benefits to new customers. But the promise I had was that I would not lose those benefits. If that promise is broken, I will be gone. There are other deals out there now. Let me add that giving me temporary data, while I'm not even using the data I pay for, is not helpful. It is insulting.

[zaku]

No name offers $34 for 60GB but no MMS or US roaming. 

Fizz offers $33 for 40GB. 

So for us PM people on $34 50GB plan. Neither are a good replacement?  I guess that's why PM isn't worried. 

[mikasik2]

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@EQMO88 wrote:

Oh wow, what a big difference. Does Community rewards make up for it? We have to be more active then, no?

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Ittl help.  But it may be more competitive after the changes

[EQMO88]

Oh wow, what a big difference. Does Community rewards make up for it? We have to be more active then, no?

[mikasik2]

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@EQMO88 wrote:

Can anyone clarify how much worse this current program is in comparison to the old one? I thought it was good

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Instead of $8 a month (after tax) you get $10 a year

[EQMO88]

Can anyone clarify how much worse this current program is in comparison to the old one? I thought it was good

[mikasik2]

Why are some complaints moving forward with CCTS while others are not?

[SD1234]

I do not want to switch. It cost more with the new system and I don't need the data that's only lasting 6 months.

[fixin1]

@NoseyNick1 - There is some here:

Operated own network:

MVNO is here:

[golfball]

They're giving PM some competition. Their $19 plan is better than PM's $25 plan.

[NoseyNick1]

> > Rogers owns freedom now
> Rogers does not own Freedom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Mobile does talk about "the sale of Freedom Mobile to Québecor, parent of Vidéotron"

Fizz = Videotron too, who are quite tight with Rogers too... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vid%C3%A9otron

I'm confused. Does this mean there's NO actual independent carriers or MVNOs in Canada any more?!?   😮

[pixel_Scott]

That is where I will be going 

[fixin1]

@hkjhkj - Some of us just sit on this platform monitoring / searching the web & then when there is a question it will notify them (Dunno how to do that just yet.)

But most of us that are helping are sometimes happy to get paid a little bit and are doing this as a hobby.

[hTideGnow]

hi @hkjhkj it is just PC mobile in disguise..LoL

[hTideGnow]

hi @IanP

great idea!!

Unfortunately we are not in a position to negotiate a seperation agreement. You choices are just ..take the Points reward deal or leave

  Stop dreaming for bargaining more than that

[hTideGnow]

hi @HALIMACS a lot of them think their action  are urting Telus.  But with a multi billion business, it's always the consumers themselves got hurt. 

[LafferZ]

I thought joining the points reward program was optional, so I'm not happy now that it's made mandatory suddenly.  It's not about the amount of savings but customer trust that is being broken.

[abtest]

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@RetiredGuy1 wrote:

@abtest I didn’t realize that. It seems odd since Fizz is owned by Videotron? Do you still have the same plans available only at a higher cost or are some of those plans not available in QC at all?

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@RetiredGuy1- Seems to be the same plan builder, but with different prices.

[HALIMACS]

@eyes 

Regrettably, some people are reacting emotionally by taking measures they feel are ’getting back’  at Public Mobile, like:

• lowering their plan value, and then complaining when they realize they’ve lost the data bonus (though, if they want to fight another day and weren’t notified, that’s a very legit case to pursue)
• porting out without first exhausting freebies which may be available to them
• deciding to port out thinking they have an option to port back in and retain their referral rewards – I really hope some have not done that.

[RetiredGuy1]

@abtest I didn’t realize that. It seems odd since Fizz is owned by Videotron? Do you still have the same plans available only at a higher cost or are some of those plans not available in QC at all?

[MintBerry]

CCTS officially rejected Public Mobile's objection so now we wait until Apr 26 to see what they come up with as a response.

We examined the customer's complaint and Public Mobile's objection to the complaint.

Section 4.3 of the CCTS Procedural Code states that The Commissioner may not direct or require a Participating Service Provider to change any of their policies or practices. Additionally, pricing of products or services fall outside the Commissioner’s scope. As your complaint pertains to a billing and contractual dispute, the CCTS confirms that your complaint falls within the scope of the CCTS.

The CCTS cannot accept objections that are based on the merits of the complaint, and such objections will be rejected. A “merit-based objection” is an objection in which the PSP asserts that the complaint should not be accepted by the CCTS because the PSP is allowed to do the action that the customer complained about.

Additionally, The CCTS does not consider the following matters as “pricing of products and service”: billing disputes, contract disputes or changes, price changes, additional charges, and removal of promotional discounts.  For this reason, we are rejecting the objection as your complaint meets the requirement set out by the procedural code. 

[abtest]

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@RetiredGuy1 wrote:

Looks like Fizz has become an early mover among the competition to take advantage of PMs self-implosion. They’ve launched new intro prices that stay as long as you keep the plan without any price increase in the future. 

$19 2GB

$21 3GB

$22 6GB

$23 10GB

$25 20GB

$27 30GB

$29 40GB

Fizz uses Freedom’s network so you get out from the clutches of the Big 3. Data rollover (up to 2 months) is a client-focused feature that PM could learn from. They also have data sharing and a rewards program (which is a bit too complex for me to articulate but it exists nonetheless). It should be noted Fizz coverage is currently limited primarily to urban areas in ON and QC and Edm and Cgy (per their coverage map).

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@RetiredGuy1- It seems those prices are not available in Quebec. 😞