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

[ATHENS]

Thanks for pointing this out - so it seems the CS agent was wrong. Anyways I was hoping to downgrade my plan and be allowed to keep some bonus data and obviously it was refused. 

[computergeek541]

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@ATHENS wrote:

On a side note I asked CS agent for an exception to the rule that if one changes plans the compensation data would be deleted. Cut and pasting the reply.

If you change your plan, regardless if it upgrade (higher value) or downgrade (lower value) you will lose the bonus data acorded for the  switch to Public Points program.

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The above isn't correct, and yes, I have changed my plan.  The data bonus is only lost after changing to a lower pirced plan.

[ATHENS]

Well said and practiced by you and most other Oracles- HOWEVER please make sure to remind Softech of the following- most importantly stay respectful between community members. 

[ATHENS]

Ok … reasonable assumptions on my assumptions— ha ha just kidding. 
On a side note I asked CS agent for an exception to the rule that if one changes plans the compensation data would be deleted. Cut and pasting the reply.

If you change your plan, regardless if it upgrade (higher value) or downgrade (lower value) you will lose the bonus data acorded for the  switch to Public Points program.

[ShawnC13]

@Wolfcore , you seem to make a lot of post on how Oracles censor and control this discussion and how we are working overtime in this thread to complete that task.  If that was true every off topic post, or adverisement of other providers would have been removed.  As for working overtime, I don't think that is true as I have only been able to be in the thread at the end of the day to take a look at the daily posts.

I think this thread has provided a lot of information on both sides and I hope it stays that way, but I also want it to stay on topic and most importantly stay respectful between community members

[Wolfcore]

You can find the legal notes at the bottom of the page, "1" for example, states:

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INTRO PRICES (1)
The monthly base price of your plan will remain unchanged unless you change your plan in your account. Applies to the base price of mobile plans identified as such. Excludes Add-ons, Travel Add-ons, out-of-plan charges and taxes.

[Wolfcore]

I wouldn't bother with this user when it comes to this. I've done the same song and dance with them in the past, where they asked me for plans better than PM, and I literally laid them all out one by one, showing how PM's are far worse. They basically didn't respond, and continue to repeat the same lines over and over again. Pretty sure this is practically a copied/pasted response at this point, as I've seen it so many times. It's very similar to the response that the Oracles provide. Clearly disingenuous in my opinion.

[RetiredGuy1]

There are some assumptions and inaccuracies in your post. Vidéotron began beta testing Fizz in 2018 in Quebec and in Ottawa and have since expanded. So, 6 years in existence isn’t new. Yes, they’re still not fully established and their coverage does not rival those of the Big 3 (yet) but agreements are in place to use those partner networks (Fizz EXT) which is explained on their website. PM made a commitment to keep legacy rewards (which they didn’t honour) but not the cost of their plans. Just because PM didn’t keep their word doesn’t necessarily mean Fizz won’t keep theirs. Thats just an assumption without any factual evidence. A user who stated thousands were leaving PM is, at this time, speculation as only PM/Telus insiders would know the numbers. Your statement that “most of us” will stick with PM is also an assumption (and speculation as well).

[fixin1]

@jtennyuk - I already recommended one to No Name Mobile.

[jtennyuk]

I have some friends who need low cost plans, and normally I'd recommend PM, but like you said, they're no longer competitive. Thanks for listing these options, will pass them along!

[eyes]

I'm also definitely not happy with the upcoming change ---HOWEVER I'm going to look at what's best for me and not cut my nose just to spite my face. I checked just about all alternatives and am not impressed . Fizz is a beta new company with super great deals and incentives - but very limited coverage . 

[fixin1]

@EdN - I don't like getting screwed over, and look at PC & No name mobile:

• PC has wifi calling, but 0 roaming
• No name has no wifi calling, MMS, or roaming

Freedom is basically what is keeping us at a steady price. IF NO FREEDOM MOBILE = $65 for 75GB & $50 for 50GB.

[EdN]

Came across this on RFD something to think about 

I've lost referrals in the past 3 weeks due to Public Mobile's "commitment to continuously evolve our products and services".

Evolving doesn't mean better. Notice PM didn't say improving.

If so good why is everyone leaving?

Two answers:

1) People don't like getting screwed over

2) Public Mobile plans are not competitive.

I can no longer recommend Public Mobile to friends and family when there are so many better 3rd tier options out there (looking out for the light data users <$30/month, YMMV)

Fizz

Freedom

Lucky

NoName

PC Mobile

[AtlasAvenger]

The move to this new "improved" rewards program ensures a stable subscriber base looks for alternatives, which contradicts a fundamental marketing principle.

I applaud the efforts of others over the past few weeks who pointed out worthy alternatives.

[eyes]

Thanks will look into it - 

[Wolfcore]

I've looked at all of those, of course. Really just depends what myself and my referrals need. Those yearly plans will work for some of us, but not all. Those Fizz plans on the other hand (especially paired with all of their rewards), are actually great. They have 10GB for $23 (before rewards), which is a pretty sweet price point.

[Wolfcore]

yeah, that's what I was referring to when I said e-sim (should've made that more clear). E-sim data buckets are so cheap, and only getting cheaper. There are sites where you can get 20gb of data for $20cad (US coverage for example). There was another site too (can't remember right now), but they were even cheaper than this. If you can contact people via things like facebook/whatsapp, this is all you really need.

[jimbobs2023]

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@Wolfcore wrote:

...

As for overseas stuff, the best option is still probably to just grab a prepaid sim card/e-sim from those countries, as they're dirt cheap. It actually makes no sense to pay extra money per month for these countries, when you're in Canada for 99% of the year (yet a lot of people do it, and think it's a great deal to have it included in their plan). ...

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Better option IMO for travelling abroad is to use a data-only service like Flexiroam which is sSIM based and has many plans depending on the time you're away or the amount of data you need or the amount of money you want to spend.

[SeniorCitizen]

@Wolfcore 

Keep in mind that Quebecor owns Videotron who owns Fizz AND Freedom Mobile. 
So if you are not a huge data user….look at the $119/yr plan with 1gb+ average of data per month. $9.92/mo. For 4G (not 3G)

In most cases FaceTime will suffice for LD and 800 numbers. Something to solve when needed….but just pointing out. 

[Wolfcore]

Yeah, it's what I plan on moving a lot of my referrals to. I personally don't even use more than 2.5gb per month, it's a reasonable amount of data. Fizz also has great rewards and prices, and will work for most of my referrals, so a bunch will be moving there too.

As for overseas stuff, the best option is still probably to just grab a prepaid sim card/e-sim from those countries, as they're dirt cheap. It actually makes no sense to pay extra money per month for these countries, when you're in Canada for 99% of the year (yet a lot of people do it, and think it's a great deal to have it included in their plan). Unless you're traveling out of country constantly, you'd actually save so much money by only purchasing these services within the country you're visiting.

If you're only calling out, purchasing calling cards from here is also great, those things are dirt cheap and last forever. Almost all of my calling to countries outside of Canada, I actually just use WhatsApp nowadays, as it's free, and almost everybody uses it. Anyway, lots of options out there.

[SeniorCitizen]

@Wolfcore @eyes 

Correct. $12.50 ish per month 4G (not 3G) is reasonable thus no need to get involved with referral plan to reduce cost. 
And the $99 plan at $8.00 ish per month 4G (not 3G) works perfect for my land line. 
So $34 ish meets all of our phone  communication needs and only pay once a year. And no extras. Although LD out of country could be an issue….but haven’t called LD anywhere in the past 3 decades. 
And one of the big carriers charges $30 for a land line that will fail during a power outage. 

[eyes]

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@Wolfcore wrote:

Probably referring to Freedom's $149/year plan. Works out to $12.41 (before taxes) per month, plus 2.5gb per month.

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Now you are being constructive -----Thank you.

[Wolfcore]

Probably referring to Freedom's $149/year plan. Works out to $12.41 (before taxes) per month, plus 2.5gb per month.

[eyes]

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@SeniorCitizen wrote:

Just get there and do some googling….its easy to find. 

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Please give me a hint - I have googled and could not find any plan close to what you described - 

“Right now I can get unlimited in/out Canada wide calling, international texting and 2.5 gb per month for $12.50 on 4G”

[SeniorCitizen]

Just get there and do some googling….its easy to find. 

[Wolfcore]

This is the thing with me too. I have a total network of around 15 referrals, and I "manage" a lot of them. They've already told me that this increase is too much, and asked me to see if there's anything else out there to switch to. I told them that there are a bunch, but logistically moving 15 people will still take some time. So I've just been in the planning stage, and preparing for when the switch officially happens. Been gathering a bunch of sim cards in the meantime.

[Wolfcore]

Just to reiterate, I don't believe that this thread should be closed, as it's still the first place people will look when trying to investigate this decision. They see it here first, and this helps to drive the information off-site. A ton more people will still be showing up soon (once they get their first credit card statement after the increase), and this group may very well represent more people than we've had thus far.

It's important for these people to see/hear what has been said surrounding this ordeal. Them shutting down this thread would only be a worse look for them as well, and that would only attract more attention. At least if they move/edit/delete messages, and quietly ban people, they can control the narrative without appearing like they're shutting down criticism (which is a better move for them). Don't forget, they're still trying to protect their reputation. It's why we see Oracles working overtime in this thread to defend them. 

[Michael6666]

I have control of 3 lines and ported 2 out so far but I had 5 referrals. I've just converted one of them that was on points to come join me. 2 more to go!

I'm voting with my money and my referrals.