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

[anotheran]

If your plan had data before that wouldn't change. Customer service isn't changing. Only thing changing is that you'll be paying more. 

[najo905]

So, we lose all the rewards we had? My account switched me to the new points plan and I have no discounts at all amd it looks like no data at all! Will def be searching for a new provider. The whole point of PM was low-cost. Are  they finally going to obe giving us customer service with the rise in fees??? I'd say I know the answer to that.

Edit: upon further checking, I do still have the 250 mb of data...which I will lose if I switch to the new $15 plan. 

[OldBenKenobi]

There are many reasons why people would choose to spend more elsewhere. Like buying locally sourced items or for environmental reasons. 

In this case this is a trivial expense for me so I am absolutely willing to spend more on my families 6 phones as a matter of principal and have already started browsing competitors plans. In fact I'm so annoyed it will feel good giving Telus's competitors more money to help destroy PM's market share.

[Duuidz]

Awesome, I’ll be moving on to a different provider then. It’s all downhill from here folks. They literally just killed the one thing that made them special. I’ll just go to the next provider until they get greedy and then I’ll switch again. No such thing as good service today.

[SeniorCitizen]

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@anotheran wrote:

You get all 9gb at once but that plan is only for new customers

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Has any one tried? If you are in $15 plan, they gotcha as if you go back, you will loose data on the new $15. And you might just leave if they won’t accommodate. Then if they won’t accommodate and you really want it, you can’t port within in PM. And let’s say you port out then port back in (that’ll cost you maybe 25 bucks)  you loose all of your paid for and freebie add ons. 

[anotheran]

You get all 9gb at once but that plan is only for new customers

[SeniorCitizen]

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@rel124c41a wrote:

So my loyalty means nothing now? The only reason I chose Public Mobile was for the loyalty rewards and now all I get is this points crap for spending more money. Will not be referring anyone to Public Mobile again. This is a slap in the face to long time customers. 

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That’s my mandate too, absolutely no more referrals….and I have referred at least 100, but not many left due to high turnover. And with the hassle of converting points to a mandatory $15 bill credit will also drive me away.

Once I see my average monthly rate exceed what I can do elsewhere, 2 accounts for sure will go. I have reviewed what more I need (well not really need, but want), what less I  need (based on last 4 years of history), and what more I need (but less of some options). So far I can make 3 $15 plans at $45 come down to $39. A 6 dollar savings. Some with no data, some with a more than ample amount of 3gb of data, all 4G, all Canada wide, all unlimited inbound and out bound calls, and all with unlimited texted including international texts with attachments. My home work is done. 

[SeniorCitizen]

So the $21 plan ….. but $19 if you do  90 days. 
90 days do you get 3gb each month or all 9 at once?

[SeniorCitizen]

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@Messe wrote:

What a total slap in the face!
After being with Public for years, referring at least 5-6 people, signing up for AutoPay, I am now going to start paying more for my monthly bill and get less? This is how you treat loyal customers? Well this is how you lose loyal customers. I would rather go somewhere else and pay more now that I'm being treated this way. WHAT A BUST!

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Do your homework. I did and can get more or less as needed for less. 

[SeniorCitizen]

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@Pamelasue wrote:

One thing is for sure I will never refer again. I have referred several people to get the extra dollar plus have years of loyalty and now that's essentially being lost. It's a travesty 

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That’s my mandate too, absolutely no more referrals….and I have referred at least 100, but not many left due to high turnover. And with the hassle of converting points to a mandatory $15 bill credit will also drive me away.

Once I see my average monthly rate exceed what I can do elsewhere, 2 accounts for sure will go. I have reviewed what more I need (well not really need, but want), what less I  need (based on last 4 years of history), and what more I need (but less of some options). So far I can make 3 $15 plans at $45 come down to $39. A 6 dollar savings. Some with no data, some with a more than ample amount of 3gb of data, all 4G, all Canada wide, all unlimited inbound and out bound calls, and all with unlimited texted including international texts with attachments. My home work is done. 

[Messe]

That's called the dangling carrot ...

[fixin1]

@Pamelasue - You will continue to earn rewards, once you reach 15 points you can go to redeem a $15 voucher.

Although it is not good system, at least we get a rewards system!

[Pamelasue]

One thing is for sure I will never refer again. I have referred several people to get the extra dollar plus have years of loyalty and now that's essentially being lost. It's a travesty 

[Messe]

It's about principal.
When a company the size of Telus just wants to gauge its customers while pretty much holding a monopoly, I take issue with that. I also take issue with that fact that no one is given better plan options when making these changes to our accounts. They want us to pay more for the same plan you have? That 30gb "loyalty gift" that expires in 3 months is a complete joke and very miss leading to call it "loyalty gift". I don't trust most companies for this very reason and I'm not married to any of them. Someone will get my money, it just won't be Public Mobile.

[dubba91]

OK. Right now I get $7 off. $2 for autopay, $5 for longevity. That's $84 per year. Under the new system I'll get $25/yr including that $10. So, it's an annual increase of $74. You I have to call out bx on your post.

[dubba91]

The new system is bogus. For me it's a 25% increase! Telus is like this in every dealing I have with them. We all need to send a letter to the CRTC and the Pres of Telus objecting.

[wetcoaster]

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@ShawnC13 wrote:

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@Messe wrote:

 I would rather go somewhere else and pay more now that I'm being treated this way. WHAT A BUST!

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I understand being mad about this decision but the above comment is what I don't understand and have read it many times in this thread.  People are willing to pay more elsewhere  (so financially hurt themselves more than just the rewards change) than to stay if the pricing and plan beats what they can find elsewhere?

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You are speaking as a true defender / user of the $30+ plans where the impact of this change is small to minimal. A lot of users don't use 20+ GB of data or need a US roaming plan. They just need a little bit of data here and there. Your statement says, and confirms Public Mobile's new philosophy, that low usage customers don't have a right to reasonable pricing and don't belong here anymore.

Obviously can only speak for myself, but FWIW: Over the past year or so (essentially since they slapped the expiry date on data add-ons) I've put an effort in to make my Public Mobile plan work, hot-spotting at every opportunity to keep data usage to a minimum, not doing WhatsApp calls at opportune times because I was outside of WiFi range, etc. The only reason to do that was that, with $$ rewards, the price was right for what I got. As long as we had non-expiring data add-ons to dip into occasionally, it was perfect. When they took that flexibility away, it became ok-ish. Now it feels just overpriced for what I get on the plan, and the service model and QoS.

Public Mobile has, essentially, doubled my plan cost (what comes out of my bank account - I'd have to accumulate points for a year to get a plan cycle "free"). And, as additional insult, is refusing existing customers to switch to the $21/$19 plan. (yes, I tried, politely to upgrade, and was outright refused)

If I already pay more I might as well go a tiny step further ( = the cost of a coffee a month) and give myself more flexibility and convenience by getting considerably more data. It's PM's own fault that that money won't be going to them anymore.

I've also put several lines I help manage onto plans that are cheaper and offer more... average of $9.98/1.25GB/unlimited talk & text vs $15/ 0.25GB / 100 minutes out / unlimited in /unlimited text.... And yes, for those people, it can be compared directly: Where they use their phones most, Freedom even has the better network reliability than Public Mobile these days.

[Matty1234]

Fortunately it worked out well for my transfer to Fizz but I would 100% have moved even if it was more expensive, i wouldn't stay at a provider that lied and didn't understand that loyalty goes both ways. I had a similar issue st Fido when I first migrated to Canada and won't ever gonback even if they had the cheapest plans, I won't ever go back to Public in the future. 

[ShawnC13]

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@Messe wrote:

 I would rather go somewhere else and pay more now that I'm being treated this way. WHAT A BUST!

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I understand being mad about this decision but the above comment is what I don't understand and have read it many times in this thread.  People are willing to pay more elsewhere  (so financially hurt themselves more than just the rewards change) than to stay if the pricing and plan beats what they can find elsewhere?

[Messe]

What a total slap in the face!
After being with Public for years, referring at least 5-6 people, signing up for AutoPay, I am now going to start paying more for my monthly bill and get less? This is how you treat loyal customers? Well this is how you lose loyal customers. I would rather go somewhere else and pay more now that I'm being treated this way. WHAT A BUST!

[jhhead]

Strange... I submitted a CCTS complaint accepted April 23. It's now been 14 days and I have yet to hear anything from Public Mobile... 

Was hoping to get some kinda resolution or response before my May 15 conversion (30 days after my April 15 text notification of change)

[hTideGnow]

HI @jhhead 

one Oracle has confirmed that PM is moving ahead with the change.  And I saw the change on my accounts too

So, the update is, everyone going to be on Public Points this month 🙂

[jhhead]

So it's now been over 2 months from this initial post. 

When is Public Mobile going to provide an update or more information?

[hTideGnow]

HI @Stonechucker1 

the current $15 plan no longer hvae 250Mb.  Make sure you are aware of it

however, the $21 plan has 3GB and it is down to $19 for a 90 days option

[BainTrain55]

It took 3 days for a CS agent to respond to a inquiry of mine thank god I wasnt getting hacked at the time. This is the service they are providing while now charging me an extra 150% a month. Thanks again PM for giving me more of a reason to leave.

[marcnoel]

It would be very much appreciated if you would show us how you arrived at $ 6.78 a month in increased cost.  Your comment about a 75¢ reward indicates you are on a $ 15.00 plan.  That is $ 1.25 less than the $ 2.00 AutoPay.  If you have been getting $ 60.00 a year for loyalty ($ 5.00/month x 12), and are now getting $ 10.00, that's $ 50.00 less per year, or $ 4.17 a month.  Total is $ 5.42 per month ($ 1.25 + $ 4.17); with taxes, $ 6.07.  Referrals and Community remain the same.

?

[golfball]

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@IzzyK wrote:

How do we close this thread? I still think public Mobile is the best deal for Canada USA plan. 

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It's too early to close this thread. There are still many customers unaware of the changes that may not have seen it yet.

[Upset1]

So with your new program instead of paying $10.17 a month for the same service I will be paying $16.95. The rewards on this amount is 75 cents if I understand. You are taking away my loyalty discount and my discount for automatic pay. I arrived at $10.17 for being with you for many years and receiving a small discount off my bill. I am upset with your company. We were told that you would keep the $2 off for auto payment. Seeing my bill that is not so. Now you want me to pay $6.78 more a month for same service. I am a senior. You should be ashamed of yourselves of the way you treat customers. I will not refer people to you. Community report this to your local politicians and newspapers and file with the Better Business Bureau. We are not going to take this sitting down.