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

[dariovitale]

NOTICE.............I have been under the Telus family umbrella including Koodo, PM and when the company was originally called CLEARNET. After almost 20yrs under Koodo and PM this past November '23 under the Telus name they offered a bundle price of $120 a month for home alarm coverage (free system and install) with 5 cell lines. Each cell line has CAN-U.S. Calling, text and 50gb data with roaming included on 5G network. That's $20 a line. How I did that you might ask. Well, I learned that calling Telus, Rogers and Bell directly during November Black Friday deals had a better deal compared to goin online or even at their stores / kiosks cause sometimes all 3 have different deals. How I did it, well at my home I have the alarm system and although my daughter and 3 other close family members live at different addresses their cell phones are registered to my family plan. How do they pay their share, its easy, Telus pulls out the total amount out of my bank monthly and on the same date the family automatically etransfers me their share. Another way they could make payments is by registering the family cell account number in their online bank accounts to pay their share automatically directly into the family cell account..................So that's just a heads up how one could possible get better pricing deals. Cheers. 

[RetiredGuy1]

https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/2024/04/23/quebecor-drops-manitoba-plans-blames-crtc/

Just the latest example of the power an oligopoly wields. And the beat goes on…and the beat goes on…

[RetiredGuy1]

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/public-points

The linked overview states you’ll receive 5 welcome points “up to 4 days since joining Public Points” and to earn them you “need to register for Public Points”. As this is a forced migration by PM, one could presume that PMs action (and the date they take it) will address these criteria.

[BainTrain55]

Thank you for the response, and yes I was wondering because my anniversary date is March so that would just give me even more of incentive to look elsewhere if I have to now wait that long.

[HALIMACS]

Supposed to get the 5 welcome points right away. (though I’ll believe it when I see it)

And the 10 loyalty points for anniversary should occur on your next anniversary, whenever that is.

what is less than clear is if Public Mobile will start everyone’s anniversary from the switchover date – which would be inherently unfair due to the variance of dates.

[BainTrain55]

When we get forced to switch to public points, do we get the 5 welcome points? Also do we get the 10 loyalty points right away or de we have to wait a full year?

[Wolfcore]

I never claimed you were giving an opinion, I was simply commenting on what you had said. Commenting my thoughts on this change PM made.

[kb_mv]

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@Wolfcore wrote:

Yeah, but it still lags in comparison to their competitors:


Freedom = $29/20GB + US Talk/Data/Text
Lucky = $29/35GB (dropped to 25Gb after 2 years)
Fizz = $29/40GB (or 20GB with US included)
PC Mobile = $29/20GB (25GB with autopay)
Chatr = $29/30GB (+500mb with autopay)
No Name Mobile = $29/25GB (30GB with autopay)

According to my calculations, PM is still dead last in terms of the budget brands:

Public Mobile = $29/20GB

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@Wolfcore I made no comment on how good it is compared to others nor did I insinuate it was a good plan at all. I just put it out there that they had changed it. I'll leave it to others to decide what works for them in their circumstances.

[Wolfcore]

Yeah, but it still lags in comparison to their competitors:


Freedom = $29/20GB + US Talk/Data/Text
Lucky = $29/35GB (dropped to 25Gb after 2 years)
Fizz = $29/40GB (or 20GB with US included)
PC Mobile = $29/20GB (25GB with autopay)
Chatr = $29/30GB (+500mb with autopay)
No Name Mobile = $29/25GB (30GB with autopay)

According to my calculations, PM is still dead last, in terms of these budget brands at least:

Public Mobile = $29/20GB

[hTideGnow]

thanks @kb_mv yes, great plan for $29, nice to see it back, and it is for everyone

[kb_mv]

I see the $29 plan is back up to 20GB, 4G.

[HALIMACS]

@bam00 

They will argue that notification was provided, and that this isn’t really a billing change because it relates to their reward program, which is not a regulated part of mobile provider service.

But they know full well it’s the equivalent of a billing increase for their most loyal and long-standing customers.

If you’re unhappy about the way this was handled, and wish to dispute the matter, contact them to express your displeasure, and when they reply that there’s nothing they will do to change it, consider contacting the CCTS and follow their processes for disputing matters relating to your mobile service provider.

To contact a Customer Support Agent, there are 2 methods:

1. Use the ticketing system for a faster response time. Click here and type Customer Support Agent, then select Contact Us, then select Other (or the topic that more closely matches your request).  Click the result which states Click here to submit a ticket and follow the prompts,  or, 
2. Send a private message to the Customer Support Agent by clicking here  You’ll need to be logged into your Community account for the link to work.

Watch for their response in your Community private mailbox which will be indicated by a number on the small envelope icon to the left of your Community avatar.

[bam00]

I never got a notification about the rewards change through email or text, and only knew about this through a pop-up when I checked my account today, and reading through forums. Isn't Public Mobile supposed to notify me about changes to my billing? Or was I just supposed to find out when I check my bank statement since I have autopay? I was also under the impression that the old reward system was not going to change, how is this change allowed??

[HALIMACS]

Not even close,  @WisdomCookie 

As a point in comparison, on the $15 plan, after 5 years on this service you would save $84 a year on Legacy Rewards with auto pay enabled.

With public points you save a grand total of 19 points or the equivalent of $19 annually.

So you've gone from saving $84 a year to $19 a year.

Can you guess whose pocket your lost savings are going into?

Telus executives and cronies. 

Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?

[Dunkman]

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@WisdomCookie wrote:

Are points equivalent to the old program?

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@WisdomCookie 

Unfortunately, the programs are not equivalent.  

With the points program, you will not be receiving monthly $2 autopay or up to $5 loyalty rewards.  

Each month, you will receive points for your friend referrals and 5% back on points on your plan costs.  You will receive 10 loyalty points on your anniversary sign up date (instead of monthly loyalty rewards).  You will also need to cash 15 points to $15 bill credit.  

Here is some additional information:

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/ab/get-help/articles/move-to-public-points

[fixin1]

@WisdomCookie - Not really. For measure you will lose:

• $2 autopay
• $2+ loyalty rewards

But they have an other thing for points:

• 5% back in Public Points every $1 you spend on your plan
• 5 welcome one time points
• 10 annual loyalty points

You will continue to have these to be transferred over:

• $1 per friend referred = 1 point per friend referred
• $1, 2, 5, 10, 15 & 20 rewards = 1, 2 5, 10, 15 & 20 points.

[WisdomCookie]

Are points equivalent to the old program?

[RetiredGuy1]

Two companies approach to make a win-back offer:

Public Mobile: one-time 15 points ($15)

Freedom Mobile: $29 (after digital discount) 50 GB 5G unlimited Canada/US plan with guaranteed price freeze promise (this represents $5 off each month of a currently-featured plan)

[fixin1]

@El_Gato - Bell prepaid does not compare to the tier three of the big three prepaid providers - Public Mobile, Lucky Mobile & Chatr Wireless.

Public has for $40 75GB while bell has it for $60/month (Not including bonus data)

Oh and forgot to say that PM is at 5G 250mbps speeds compared to the 150mbps of the LTE / 4G plan on bell.

[fixin1]

@Dbray43 - I didn't know that at all. No Name's fine print said that no MMS. But their FAQ changed from the $0.50 MMS charge to having no word of that at all.

[EdN]

PUBLIC MOBILE SURVEY: Is there anything else that you would like to share with us about your experience with Public Mobile?

Here's a former customer's response to the survey regarding their departure from Public Mobile 

"Public Mobile thought removing $84 a year worth of legacy rewards was a good idea and replace with only $10. Now, Public Mobile has lost $408 a year from my one account (ported out) and $240 from my other account (lowered plan). Removing $74 worth of credits lost you $648. Was it worth it?"

Page 3

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/public-mobile-winback-get-15-points-coming-back-public-mobile-lol-26...

[EdN]

Good one 👍🏻 TFF 🤣

[eyes]

No … no …. No. Don’t know what I did wrong …… just logged in to my account that’s in stand by mode and  noticed that it is now on the point system  For some some  strange reason additional points have been added to my balance but my bonus data disappeared. I hope that my recent communication with CS wasn’t misunderstood- am contacting them again to hopefully reverse back to rewards.

PS.  Not possible and pointless to go back to the reward system. My account being switched to the point system was my fault in not giving a clear answer to CS  — oh well no more reason to be posting on this thread.  

[eyes]

Hi - is the following the post in question?

I’m just saying to take caution before switching plans. It wouldn’t hurt to just ask and confirm before regretting losing data. 

[RetiredGuy1]

Points: the revised loyalty program. Theses are the experiences of the mothership Telus. Its over-night mission: to expel old accounts; to weed out old clients and old subscriptions; to boldly destroy a subsidiary like no parent company has done before!

Model Citizen (MC) RetiredGuy’s log, Star date 2024.4.21 The unthinkable has happened. We’re days away from the forced migration to the points program with no indication of any compromise in sight.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Oracle: MC RetiredGuy, I’m receiving a signal from Admiral Entwistle from Telus Command

MC RetiredGuy: Put it in the Community Forum

Admiral Entwistle: MC RetiredGuy, we’re receiving reports of an uprising from the legacy rewards faction of the Public Mobilians. Can you confirm?

MC RetiredGuy: Yes Admiral. Some have left the Public Mobile universe, others are threatening to do so, and others are filing formal complaints with the United Federation of Telecoms.

Admiral Entwistle: I see. I assume this is over our Prime Directive to force migration to the points program. What are your recommendations for remedial action?

MC RetiredGuy: Well sir, our intel indicates the impact is too great all at once. Using 5+ year PM subscribers for example, they’re losing $60 a year in loyalty rewards and replaced with only 10 points ($10).  Perhaps a more gradual transition would provide a fairer outcome. If compensation for loyalty was incremently increased for 5 years, why not incrementally decrease it over the same time frame?

Admiral Entwistle: Could you articulate what you mean?

MC RetiredGuy: A 5+ year subscriber would receive 60, 48, 36, 24, and then the currently-proposed 10 points over the next 5 anniversary dates respectively. This would accumulate to a total of 178 points instead of 50 over the next 5 years. While this would cost Telus Command more money, it would also increase the likelihood of retaining customers. Of course, the cost to Telus Command would be less for those currently receiving between $2-$4 in monthly loyalty rewards.

Admiral Entwistle: Thank you MC RetiredGuy. So we still achieve our Prime Directive but with a gradual approach instead. We will take it under consideration. 

[will13am]

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@Handy1 wrote:

I’m voting with wallet first , principle second and thirdly with pride . Pretty sure the grass is greener across the road anyways . Not like I’d have anything else to lose here other then snarky comments

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You still have a ton of referrals or have they already left the building?  Anyway, I will miss you too when you are gone.  

[Dbray43]

Your statements are not totally right on no name.   We switched 2 lines over today and MMS is included.  LTE speeds on all plans.  But you are right.. no wifi calling or roaming which is fine for most people.   

[Dbray43]

With the change in rewards and asking us to accept huge increases monthly due to broken promises, we have moved both of our long term accounts today away from pm to a company using the same tower network at a price very close to what we paid pm before the increase.  Perhaps we will be back again.. but with no loyalty to long term customers, the only thing Telus and pm will understand is a vote via our wallet.   Wish you all the best.   Goodbye!