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

[yvandas]

I am on the $25 / month plan for unlimited Canada wide calling and 1 GB of data.  Before being switched over to  the Points rewards, my monthly bill was $25 - $2 (for auto pay) - $3 (for loyalty) - $7 (for referrals) = $13 + $1.69 (HST) ie a monthly bill of $14.69.  Now that I have been switched to the new Points rewards system, my equivalent monthly bill now looks like this: $25 + $3.25 (HST) - $1.25 (points for auto pay) - $0.83 (points for loyalty) - $7.00 (points for referrals) = $19.17.  So my bill has gone up by $4.48 ($19.17 - $14.69) which is a 30.5% increase.  Not quite what clients would expect when being moved to the Public Points program which is supposed to provide "more ways to earn and spend rewards, with greater flexibility".  PM had a great rewards system going which put them above all competition.  Too bad they had to put an end to it.  A big mistake as far as I am concerned.

[fixin1]

@Yatti4201 - If it is $29 plan and you upgrade it to 40GB like what @Stonechucker1 said, you won't lose your 240GB bonus as it is costing $29/month and you upgraded from 20GB to 40GB.

[Stonechucker1]

@Yatti4201 , it sounds like you've lost your rewards because public mobile has canceled all Legacy plans with those larger dollar values of rewards. If you want 40 GB of data on the 29th dollar plan you can safely schedule your plan change for your next renewal and you will continue to pay the $29 every month.

[Yatti4201]

4g $29 now for 40gb so they are slowly trying to bribe me but I don't want to lose the bonus data etc so am not switching anything from the $29 20gb just offerred (I was previously on a 3 month cycle). I had to pay $16 of the $29 on my last bill even though indicator was I had banked enough previously so there is that possibility that they pulled my rewards dollar early? May 15 was suppose to be my actual transition (not before) date. I am to lazy to check or figure it out. I did leave screenshots previously. Burning data and doing a nice test for Telus before half of us leave.

[Yatti4201]

1 point per month means 15 months before you can redeem if not earning them on other items versus being able to redeem immediately in cash. 

[marcnoel]

Rewards are not impossible to redeem.  You just have to wait until you accumulate 15, then apply them to your account.  My wife has 9.75 currently.  By the time her plan re-news (~85 days), she will have accumulated another 3 - 6.75 points (depending on which plan is chosen at the time, and including referrals).  That will be as much as 16.5 points, which can then be applied to her account toward future payment.

[Yatti4201]

and the rewards are much harder if not impossible to redeem. Versus cash. This reminds me of the TD Basic Savings account years ago (no idea what they name them now). It paid so little that even if you had the maximum allowed (before you qualified into a better savings account/tier) that you would never produce interest in the amount the bank was required to produce a T5 saving them all that time in money. It was a junk holder account. Even today I bet it pays very very little. Fraud/Scam? Maybe not but unethical? Likely. Then again there is "competition" for your cash lol.

[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]

---

@Chiranjiv wrote:

At least with phone companies, we are in control.

---

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...