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

[Jaycitos]

Chated with an agent and he told me my bill wasn't raised.... when I specificaly lost my 5 dollars of loyalty wich means i have to buy a different voucher in a different tax bracket he says my bill is the same with rewards and such. But I am now paying more for the same plan of 1gb (with regular add ons) and ntn more.

[Lisa20]

I've been with Public Mobile since it's inception in 2010. I stuck around when they merged with Telus. I stuck around when they made a rather large jump in pricing. I stuck around when they took away my unlimited US calling. I stuck around when they closed all stores. I stuck around when we were forced to come here to address any issues. I stuck around when they charged extra random amounts to my account. I don't know if I feel like sticking around any longer. I understand that loyalty is disappearing in the world. I have long stopped giving referrals for PM. I don't feel they provide actual customer service anymore. I love the community, but the company has no care in the world for any of it's subscribers. Just because something is legal for a company doesn't mean it's ethical or in the interest of it's customers. This is not an opportunity for loyal customers. This is a downgrade yet again. Best of luck to others who are searching for new providers.

[Irina_O]

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@Chiranjiv wrote:

At least with phone companies, we are in control.

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That would have been true if there was any real competition.  The unfortunate truth is that we have an oligopoly of three colluding players who have the CRTC as their lapdog.

[Shafe]

A tad disappointing…but certainly to be expected…that Telus would package a nearly 50% rate increase in a “new rewards” program.  As a senior on a fixed income, I am grateful for a Public’s low rate, but discontinuing a “loyalty” program by covering it as some new rewards program is not only disloyal but also very deceitful. True colors!!!

[MaritimeFlo]

I just did some calculations. My bill has increased by $7 as a result of this change. That's $84 per year. But in each year, I'm only going to earn approximately $20 worth of points.

They can't possibly believe that we wouldn't notice this.

[SeniorCitizen]

I would assume your points will show up a day before or the day of your payment. Just like when your rewards dollars showed up. Thus your May payment will likely be full price. Unless you can squeak in there the day before and convert to cash. Telus will have a huge infusion of funds!

[gweilo]

Its amazing that you made a decision to increase your monthly fees without ensuring the the system is tracking and depositing the points properly.

As of today, I do not have my referral points deposited to my account. 

When will this happen....

[Chiranjiv]

HI:

How many of us stayed at the same job with the same company? We quit and or let go. Others may be miserable at their current jobs. What is loyalty. You spend your whole life working, only to be informed that you are no longer required. At least with phone companies, we are in control. Unlike jobs, there are multiple offers at equivalent and or cheaper prices. Take a moment to indulge in some shopping and trials. Some esims are free and can be installed on the same phone with physical sim. Try out some and post it. Hey guys, who here miss Mobilicity!!

[Chiranjiv]

Hi Guys:

I may be upsetting a lot of you guys by saying that by repeating how we lost rewards in every post is not going to achieve anything. Can we just move on... because ranting about the past when there is no solution is not good for your mental health. PM is prepaid and any increase in your bill is justifiable as per the company. It's their offer and we don't have to take it. If you don't like it, there are other choices.  Market will decide with their wallets. Infact, this is capitalism that we enjoy every day. Please find solutions rather than complaining about things you cannot change. 

[Patrick_PM]

So now that the old rewards program is gone, one of my account's monthly payment has gone up to $16.95 from $10.17.

Yet Public Mobile describes the new Points Reward program as "sweeter". I have not seen how the new Points Reward program can be described as "sweeter".

Well perhaps from Public Mobile and Telus' perspective it may be "sweeter".

[edgarcia]

They are rewarding loyalty customers by removing their benefits, shame on Public Mobile

[jhhead]

Loyalty and commitment to staying with Public is no longer something they want from their customers. 

They want long time customers to pay more in order to increase profits for those who stay. 

[Since2018]

So much for 8 years of loyalty, better subscriptions for new customers than for loyal customers.  So what is the POINT?

[Jaycitos]

You Know we do NOT want this program. It has no benefits especialy for LOYAL clients. You have gotten greedy. And PM will disappear as a result and lack there of Listening to what yur community is saying. You might cash in for a couple of months but then your company will be closed because of your greedy decisions and LIES like the one where you say "THIS IS A GREAT PROGRAM" (paraphrasing). I did not ask to be in this points program if I did I would of done it before. You have lost another loyal client. So in others words you just lost about 30$ to make 5$ more on someone else....great tactic huh?.....

[hTideGnow]

hi @danielj I think they will have some contests for phones

 let's hope they can also let is redeem for gift cards or so like Telus points 

[danielj]

The force to the Points program has come. We are now all stuck on the points program for better or (most cases) worse.

Was promised PM "enhancing our Points program." ... Yet to see them "enhancing our Points program."

[Upset1]

Write to your politicians tell them cell prices going up not down and what PM is doing. I wrote. I haven't received a reply yet. I may not get a reply but now Justin, Ford, and my local councilor know.  I think your idea is good about writing to CCTS.

[Upset1]

Best time to get deals are around Black Friday. I am going to check out other providers then. If I find one that will give me more for what I am paying or charge me less for what I have, I will part ways with PM. I suggest people start looking around now and then. Hope you find a good one let us know.

[Upset1]

I was paying $10.17 now $16.95 difference is $6.78 more. When I signed up got $2 off for auto pay ongoing and $5.00 off for a limited time for new customer. After limited time when $5 ended, each year I got a small percent off my monthly bill as loyalty customer. Can't take off 75 cents that is earned in monthly rewards off monthly payment until $15 is earned in rewards so in 20 months I can redeem $15 off one bill. Each year with old plan, my monthly payment would be less.

[vbs-b]

I don't like the points program. What you had initially was way better, straight forward and respectful. Customers used to see big value in Public Mobile. I am not sure I am seeing the value anymore. I see a significant increase in the price because of the switch to the new program. Having long standing customers is not valued anymore. In fact - you value the new customers but not the ones who stayed with public mobile for many years. The plans are designed to up sale and even when the user purchase a plan - they can't utilize it well. Again - the value is significantly diminished.

[Blueskeyes]

This change was all about the company and nothing about the customer. 
Packaged in a BS way to suggest they are "providing" the customers with more "ways to earn and spend rewards".  What a load.  Anyone with half a brain would recognize it's all about saving Public Mobile $$$. 
My bill jumped $10/month with the stupid rewards change.  And it looks like you can't "pay off" your bill with your rewards until you reach 15 points. 
Prior to the change, I was getting points for Loyalty, AutoPay, and Friend Referrals.  That has been reduced to only Friend Referrals, and my Loyalty and AutoPay points have disappeared.  Instead, they now offer 10 points per 12 months for Loyalty, which essentially equates to $10 off per year - quite the contrast to $10 per month. 
When they first introduced the new "rewards" program, they gave existing customers the option to switch over.  I chose not to, because it was a no-brainer.  I imagine many other customers chose not to as well. 
Therefore, they forced all of their customers to switch over, under the guise of flexibility and improvement. 
With Canada having one of the highest cell phone rates in the world, I guess Telus's billions of dollars in revenue just wasn't enough for them.
Looking for other carrier options now...

[softech]

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@Shey1 wrote:

I'm confused...is my monthly payment going to change? 🤔 

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@Shey1 

With this new system, you pay the full amount first (with the Available Funds on your My Account or via your credit/debit card on the system), and hence you see a higher charge now. 
Then PM will give you the points to your point account after renewal within 48 hours.  Once you collected 15 points, you can redeem $15 bill payment yourself to bring the next payment down.  Or you can also use points to buy add-ons with a discounted price

and it is true, the total earning would be less in this new system.  But you will still have a small savings, just not as much as before

[Shey1]

I'm confused...is my monthly payment going to change? 🤔 

[Chiranjiv]

I think if PM rewarded customers with unique gifts as an incentive to stay, people would not be jumping ships. They could have given reasonable amount of  CAD and  US roaming minutes 1000 minutes and 5 Gigs of roaming data for unlimited expiry date. In addition, PM should reward loyalty customers retroactively in their next year anniversary= points for the years they have been with PM 50 points Credit card authorized should still be rewarded ( 24 points) because that guarantees customer base. People feel left out and it seems a step backward and people feel insulted. Also guys , PM has been rewarding us for so many years and we did save money. We will still be reaping the benefits of past gifts like Ling distance etc. I advise that we stay and downgrade plans by another tier to save 5 dollars. You know you are going to  other provider that are run by the same giant companies. Help keep PM in business.  PM will reward you like it has in the past. You can have phone service for the price of lunch with PM. By the way PM should have kept 15 dollar plan with 259 mb data along with upgrade to unlimited talk and text. Should have kept many people here. It does not cost PM much. I hear iPhone messaging need data and having no data would eliminate that option with 15 dollar plan. Come on PM  make these improvements and we can make many people happy. Upvote this message for PM to notice

[wahito]

People use mobile plans to do work and enjoy apps and media, not to play "points" games and be forced to pay attention or worry about rewards/points/etc. The less you bother or annoy customers the better. So I think this change is a mistake... Rewards were plain and easy to understand and kinda unique, and I saved $7 monthly, +$1 every year. That was great! The loyalty GBs of data gift is worth nothing to me as I am mostly on wifi and do not use much data when no wifi is around - so this "gift" will disappear after some 100 days and I get nothing. Very smart 😉   

[softech]

@TammerKitchener yes, you will for sure earn less

Instead of the $2 Autopay discount, you will get 5% back in points (What plan do you have now?)

The $5 monthly off will be just $10 annually

Luckily, the 3 friend referrals will be the same but awarded in points

Depends on your plan, you can still save an average of $5 a month, definitely not as good as before but still an small savings 

[TammerKitchener]

I have been on the "old " reward system since 2018 and May will be my first experience with the new point system.  With the old reward system, I was getting my monthly bill reduced by $10 ($5 for loyalty, $2 for automatic credit card payment and $3 for referrals).  So over the year I was saving $120 ($10 x 12 months),  I am still trying to figure out if I can save the same amount with this new point system (I don't think so...).  

[Grinch]

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@LitlLdy wrote:

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@Stonechucker1 wrote:

I have an idea why not remove the restriction on getting rewards at the 15-point level and just subtract the point value from my monthly plan directly. So if I'm only getting two reward points that's $2 off. Would make it so much simpler for us regular members now.

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@Stonechucker1 , that’s how many of us feel! It would help if we could use whatever amount of points we have per 30 days instead of having to wait until we have 15 points before we can redeem some. 😞 Every little bit helps to pay towards the 30 day plan.

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@LitlLdy @Stonechucker1 

That’s an excellent hybrid type of a solution for sure. 

or

Be able to continually auto buy, once you establish an amount of points, chosen by you,  (that’s evenly divisible by 15), to auto buy any (meaning more than one add on) of the various “standard” add ons. 

[yvandas]

Fully agree with your suggestion.  This would remove a big irritant.