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

[rogue17a]

Same happened to me, Now paying $28.25. Time to jump ship

[marcnoel]

Good stuff!

[xw007]

same here, I used to have $8 credit on each payment which converts to 7.25 point per payment now. And cannot use the points until it accumulates to 15 points! 

[marcnoel]

I don't think you can compare the two plans, regarding payment amount.

Separately, if you WERE paying $ 5.00 on a $ 15.00 plan, then it seems you had three referrals and/or Community.  Assuming referrals,  they should show up.  Mine did just before my plan re-newed five days ago.  Add into that. 75 Points for 5% back, and .83 Points per month for loyalty, and you have an average of $ 4.58 per month in Points, bringing your plan price down to $ 10.52.  Yes, it's higher than before, but probably cheaper than what else is out there, where you would have to start at the beginning.

[jhhead]

Thanks for sharing. I had replied YES 5 days ago and was waiting for something to show up. Here is screenshots confirming that those on the $15 plan offer to the $21 3GB 4G plan will get the option to change to $57 ($19/month) 90 day plan 😎

 After pressing and confirming the 90 day subscription:

 

[marcnoel]

Thanks.  I didn't mean you to clarify, but PM to clarify that 90 days was an option when sending out the offer, so that a person would know immediately, vs. having to accept the offer, and take a chance that 90 days is available.

[Jenvin1]

Not sure what you want me to clarify.  I received an offer via text for a 3gb 4G plan for $21/month.  There was no  option to chose the 90 days plan at $57 in that text (like it is offered to new customers).  I took a chance and said YES and after 3 days the new plan showed up in my account as upcoming plan with a 90 days plan option and 9gb data.

Like I said before, this offer is perhaps sent out to only existing customers with $15 plans.  PM will never make offer if a plan is a downgrade from your current plan.  Why they would?  It does not make any business sense.

I hope this clarifies your question.

[marcnoel]

I just realized that, if you're on a 90-day plan that gives you all the data up-front, it's kind of like rollover data.  For example, you could get 20 per month, use 3, and lose 17 after 30 days, but, if you have access to the entirety for 90 days, then, after 3 used in the first 30 days, you'd still have 57 left for 60 days.  Granted you lose any remainder when the plan re-news, but still better than losing the balance every month.  Every day that goes by without average expected use means more left over for later.

[Radiant1]

Emphasis on the: “subject to change “….

[marcnoel]

This is what RNk6xib2 posted earlier, the response from CCTS.

[NUY]

Hello, I have two numbers with Public Mobile and my price was $19 and $22, but since March $28.25 for each number.Please do the price adjustment ASAP.Thank you

[G_Pomzz]

You can file a complaint with the CCTS. That's what a lot of us are doing who saw their monthly payment increase.

[Radiant1]

Still waiting to see the referral discounts to show up, since my renewal was May 20. PM charged me full price with no discounts. With this gone, and loyalty bonus gone, there is really nothing holding me back from trying other providers. At least I have the ‘Freedom’ to do this… pardon the double entente. 😉

[AlienRenders]

So I used to be on the $8 plan and was paying $2/month. They removed it and I was grandfathered in. But decided to switch to the $15 plan because I like unlimited text. I was paying $5/month. Now I'm paying $15/month. My bill is now triple what it used to be. WTF? And it's 7.5x what I was paying under the older plan.

[hTideGnow]

HI @Radiant1 

you didn't lose your referrals.  The $7 will show up as 7 points after renewal.  You just need to check Rewards transaction within 1 or 2 days after renewal

[Radiant1]

True, the loyalty credit was 5 dollars a month for me… so it WAS 60 dollars a year. But now with the new and improved point system, you get a whopping 10 points a year. Meaning a net loss of 50 dollars a year. No wonder most did not volunteer to switch. I’ve also lost all my referrals. If you read between PM’s lines: “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” , “continuously evolve” actually means “make more profits from”. 
Time to start shopping around. 

[marcnoel]

You DO get 10 Points on your anniversary date, 5% back from payments, and Referrals/Community remain the same.

[marcnoel]

Great news that you got the $ 57.00/90-day option!  In comparison to the old $ 25.00 1 GB 3G plan, that's a 24% decrease in price, and a 200% increase in data.

It would be appreciated if they would clarify the 90-day option when first offering, so as to alleviate apprehension or anxiety on the customer's part.  This whole switch ordeal has been bad enough.

[Jenvin1]

I was the one who got a text offer of $21/month for 3GB data at 4G and was wondering if I could switch to 90 day plan at $19/month that was available for new customers.  Since the offer said the new plan will be activated at next renewal and I had more than 20 days left in current subscription, I replied YES knowing that I could cancel at any time before renewal date activation.  That was 3 days ago and today to my surprise the new plan showed up on my account as upcoming plan with $19/month for 90 days option to select.  I wasted no time to select that option, so my plan will be renewed at $57 for 90 days.  I am happy with this development though initially I was thinking to port out to Freedom Mobile but was a little hesitant about reliability of their coverage as compared to PM.

I am sure many of existing customers who were on $15 plan and paying half of that amount may have received similar offer but they are not active here in the community forum.  But if you were on a higher plan, you may not get this offer as PM will not want you to downgrade the subscription.

I hope this helps those who have received similar text offer and wondering like me if they would have the option to select 90 days plan.

[RNk6xib2]

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@hTideGnow wrote:

HI @RNk6xib2 

yes, PM has the full right to make the rewards change, hence we don't believe any of these complaints can help to reverse the decision.    So, the result you got back was expected

But you said they have findings and decided to turn down your complain, what findings they have?

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[rogue17a]

When I got the message from PM that they were changing their rewards system I knew it would not be good for us. I was paying $22 now paying $28+ so time to leave PM.  There is cheaper out there with more data. SEE YA!!!!

[Bottomshelf]

Welcome to the new and improved PM reward system.

The points you will have/get are the 5 welcome points and 10 points on your anniversary.  
In lieu of annual $1 reward and the $2 auto pay reward you get 5% of your monthly plan as points.  For example if you have the $25 plan you will get to bank 1.25 points equal to $1.25 or $15 annually.

Once you have accumulated 15 points you can use them to apply towards your monthly bill.  You can also use your points towards add-ons, rewards, contests, etc.

Your referral rewards will remain with you.

[Minnie05]

I have been with public  mobile for so many years, and the loyalty discounts were continue added, but now all of a sudden, i only got 5 points back in return of all the years staying with public mobile? is that correct? 

[Angela96]

yes. It is so disappointed.

[marcnoel]

It is puzzling when a customer has left PM because of the switch, and states that they are now paying less to the new carrier than they were at PM.  If so, why did they stay with PM, if there was a better deal?  Once again, I would like to know where and what these deals are, as I'm sure some others would.

[Shan_Bhai]

Due to the new rewards program, I have decided to cancel my services with Public Mobile. I am very pleased with my new provider and want to thank Public Mobile management for pushing me to switch. Now, I enjoy top-notch service with VoLTE and VoWiFi features. Additionally, I can roam in the USA effortlessly and still pay less than what I used to with Public Mobile.

[hTideGnow]

HI @RNk6xib2 

yes, PM has the full right to make the rewards change, hence we don't believe any of these complaints can help to reverse the decision.    So, the result you got back was expected

But you said they have findings and decided to turn down your complain, what findings they have?

[RNk6xib2]

Well, I Finally got the CCTS to call me, they had a look and it turns out I wasted my time. Below is a bit of the email and the attached findings are that PM is allowed to do whatever they want.

We have completed the investigation of your complaint. Attached is a copy of our Investigation Findings. 

In it, we provide a summary of the issues, our findings, and how we made our determination.  
 
After reviewing the Investigation Findings, please choose one of the following three options that are available to you within this stage of our process: 
 
Option 1: Accept the Investigation Findings 

Option 2: Reject the Investigation Findings 

Option 3: Request a Case Review 

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So, I've ordered a Freedom Sim, going to the $120/year plan. should be here before the 12th so I can port out. until then I'm data only and I'll see how much of this I can use.

[marcnoel]

If a customer has a $ 40.00 plan, the 5% back will be $ 2.00, same as AutoPay, so that leaves only Loyalty, which is a $ 50.00 loss per year (assuming they were at maximum) , or $ 4.17/month.  In comparison, if, by staying, a person is able to get a good enough plan price that it off-sets the $ 4.17, then they might be ahead of the game.  In my own case, I'm now on a $ 75.00/90-day plan with 60 GB up-front, or $ 25.00/30 days and 20 GB.  I still get $ 1.25 in 5% back, 83¢ per month for Loyalty (total $ 2.08), so plan price is $ 22.92 for 20 GB.  Can't get that anywhere else right now.  I also have eight points per month in referrals, but that's a separate issue.

[SeniorCitizen]

@Radiant1 

The real bad news is…..you lost your loyalty credit and your auto pay credit. 
Loyalty is now 10 points a year and the $2 auto pay was replaced with 5% of payment in points.