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

[hTideGnow]

hi @StevenG1 for sure you won't lose $10 in an account. People at most lose $7 without considering the points they earn.  If you consider the points back, people at most lose $5.5, could be less

You said $10, you probably through you will lose 3 friend referrals. But you are keeping the friend referrals rewards, they are just giving in points 

[StevenG1]

Well, now that it's launched, it is really disappointing.  All I can see for sure is that my monthly charge has gone up $10 and my wife's has gone up $7.   After 5 years with Public Mobile on automatic renewals, I now have to do something every month in order to get my price reduction that was automatic before.  The rest of the things available are of no interest to me.

[jhhead]

Crazy part is I have had no official communication back directly from Public Mobile at all 👀

Based on others comments I don't have high hopes however I'll still update any useful details I obtain during this process 😅

[jhhead]

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@jhhead wrote:

Has anyone got an update or anything useful from a CCTS complaint?

I submitted a CCTS complaint accepted April 23 and have yet to hear anything at all from either Public Mobile or CCTS since. 

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Got this update from CCTS today:

Dear <my name> , Public Mobile has informed us that your complaint remains unresolved. The details, as described by Public Mobile: See attached unresolved and supporting documents Your complaint is being moved to the next stage of our process. A Complaints Resolution Officer will be in contact with you to explain the next steps in our process. Sincerely, CCTS Assessment Team

They then included PM supporting documents and their objection writeup. However best part was they provided a file that compares both programs and explains everything... and it has reference to the 1 point / month with PM. I found this amusing and have replied back advising that this was not the case and PM removed this without 30 days notice.

My hope is I can at least get my $59 based on this... we shall see 🤞

[Lbwh]

These rewards suck! The old program is why I stayed for 5 years, good way to lose loyal customers 

[hTideGnow]

hi @marcnoel 

and the terms clearly implies that as long as that rewards system still exists, customers can earn the loyalty rewards. But now the legacy rewards system is dead, gone, no longer exists, then of course they won't earn that rewards.  Many customers just don't understand the legal meanings of all those words.

[marcnoel]

Out of curiosity, I looked to see what had been said in the past about Rewards, and came across this, originally posted on January 2, 2015 :

 

 

Note that the Loyalty image says you will earn a recurring reward as long as you remain an active PM member on that account.  It doesn't say you will continue to earn the denoted amounts in that post, only A reward.

Also note that the end part says PM reserves the right to change all rewards at its sole discretion and without advance notice.

I don't know what the exact wording in past was, as it wasn't important to me, but I'm wondering if those who are upset are thinking that we are supposed to get the last-offered rewards as long as we remained with PM, but it's actually that we will get a referral reward as long as the referral remains with PM.  Not the same thing.

[hTideGnow]

HI @SeniorCitizen 

you wonder why PM not response, but this is not a "Public" hearing but just announcement thread.  PM is here to announce and not asking our advise , at least not in this thread

you know how you can get your voice heard.. just submit a ticket with CS agent

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[SeniorCitizen]

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@LJX wrote:

What would be awesome to have is an auto-redemption feature for the discount redemption that mimics what the old system does. This way we don't have to consciously go to the Awards page, select the type of redemption, then apply it. 

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Good idea. I suggested that weeks ago. On deaf ears? Who knows? This thread is psychologically set up to vent with no reply from PM. I can see the tide turning  a bit towards pro PM. Yes they can make the change, but all of us that built up referrals for both of our benefits, they have broken our trust and faith in PM. This decision is all greed.  Based on my needs and plans at lower costs that exactly meet my needs, I  know what I “might” keep and I know what accounts are going to be ported out. But darn it…..I got an unexpected referral today. Am I going immediately….no……when my PM costs exceed what I can get elsewhere. 

[hTideGnow]

hi @LJX yes, this is really a good suggestion. Hope PM will make this happen 

[LJX]

What would be awesome to have is an auto-redemption feature for the discount redemption that mimics what the old system does. This way we don't have to consciously go to the Awards page, select the type of redemption, then apply it. 

[hTideGnow]

HI @funpig1 

i understand and agree PM didn't do a good job in that area

But thinking back calmly, that is a incentive for voluntarily migration.  Now it gets to a point of force migration, PM really no need to continue offer that 

Anyway, it is what it is, we can't turn back the clock and migrate it again to take advantage.  And there was a post confirmed that rewards is an incentive PM has full control and not like those government body can step in

[marcnoel]

Some food for thought - Anyone that was on Rewards has been around long enough to see plan offerings and prices change significantly. In the past year, PM introduced 5G data plus unlimited throttled, in some cases. Long-term customers perhaps had a smokin' deal (for them), and, therefore, no reason to change (a $ 15.00 plan with enough rewards that their bill was 0, for example). Others may have had a higher-priced plan, and, most likely, switched to better plans over time. For example, switching from a $ 25.00 1 GB plan to a 20 GB plan for the same price. We can assume that, since some people are upset about the loss of some discounts, they are interested in paying less, so they would monitor plans for better deals. So now, PM may have two types of legacy customers - ones that are on the cheapest plans, and paying little-to-nothing, or else those who've continued to pay the same or less while getting more. In both cases, PM is losing out. They get little or nothing from the first bunch, and get less and/or give more to the others. Those aspects, combined with the notion that they bought our loyalty with their cheap prices, has resulted in them getting so little from those customers that it is not worth maintaining the rewards structure. In my business, I tell everyone up-front that there are no extensions if a person misses a workout. If I extend or adjust, my monthly income goes down, but my monthly expenses remain the same. Creditors don't care if I'm making a go of it. They just want their money. Below a certain point, it is no longer worth it to me to train someone. My time has a certain value, and if I can't get it, I'd rather just keep the time open. I'm not going to just give it away. The same applies to PM. Loyalty won't pay the bills if there's not enough revenue.

[marcnoel]

If you've ever heard the saying, "It's easy to love someone because. Real love is in spite of.", a similar thing has happened here. We keep hearing about how PM should have rewarded the loyalty of all those who have stayed with PM. Why did we stay all this time? Because it was such a good deal. In a sense, PM bought our loyalty. Now that it's not as good a deal, we're out the door. Is that loyalty? We didn't stay when things got worse, only if they stayed the same or got better. Is this how we are to look at life?

[Jaesh88]

It doesn’t matter.  Public Mobile tried to bribe everyone to opt out of the program, then told everyone they were being forced later, at which point they decided not to honor their agreement.  Just because the company added some sleezy language to their ever-changing TOS doesn’t make it any better.  I will be leaving the carrier once my prepaid reaches zero and will forever trash the company online and elsewhere, as will many.  If anyone decides to sue or file a complaint, I will also join.

In the chance that Public did cover their ass legally, I can only hope the worst for them going forward.  This was a bull**bleep**, scummy move we rarely see from corporations, and that’s saying a lot.  Everyone should be condemning Public Mobile over this, there is NO good reason to call them justified.

[Lockedoutagain2]

Indeed, and furthermore, in the so-called offer made to me, the reminder that my anniversary payout was in August, I held off thinking I would make until this, my tenth year as a customer and so capitalize on the $120 coming to me, plus whatever else, which at the time totalled $135, which I WAS expecting to receive at this forced acceptance. Talk about bad faith, ambiguous and random. I do not know how many hours of boardroom conniving it took them, but it is certainly costing us collectively. Just for that, I am going to look into this complaint platform, as we all should too.

PS in their streak of unclarity, offering a salad bowl of "free" data, after making you pay for a hearty meal, is the ultimate in bad faith, redundancy and manipulation...

[funpig1]

@hTideGnow  No. I agree that PM has a right terminate the legacy rewards and that that there's no way to get back the lost loyalty reward (ie after 5 years getting $5+$2 per month discount forever as long as you stay as a customer).

What I'm talking about is different.

At one point, PM offered me a lump sum $1 for every month that I had been a customer with PM to voluntarily switch from the legacy rewards to the points rewards. I think at that point I had been a customer for about 48 months and I would have received $48 if I voluntarily switched from legacy rewards to the points rewards. I believed that PM was giving me a choice and that I could continue indefinitely with the legacy rewards if I did not accept the offer to change.

If PM had sent me clear notice,  e.g. an email, saying "if you don't accept our lump sum offer, PM will eventually pull this lump sum offer and unilaterally terminate the legacy rewards program in order to force you to points rewards whether you like it or not", I would have voluntarily switched at that point!

If I were to make a CCTS complaint, which I am not, I would argue that PM acted in bad faith and that I should be entitled to compensation for the $48 (which was taken away by PM without reasonable notice). I would not bother trying to argue for the return of the $7 per month.

[marcnoel]

You, you, you.

You are right, right, right.

(To the tune of The Duke of Earl)

[hTideGnow]

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@funpig1 wrote:

I compare the termination of the legacy awards to wrongful dismissal of employment.

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HI@funpig1 

I am afraid this is not a good comparison.  A wrongful dismissal is something that proved to be employer's fault

in this case, so far, non of those complains got a verdict that PM was wrong in the termination of the legacy rewards.   I do not like losing $7 , but I have to agree that PM has the right to do so.  

[hTideGnow]

HI @Community_QA_ 

Good insights. 

But most people don't care, they still think they are entitled to this saving forever, which they forgot they actually agreed the terms that PM has the right to make change to Rewards system anytime they want

[hTideGnow]

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@marcnoel wrote:

We already got an extra 28 months of extra discounts over new customers. 

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HI@marcnoel 

most won't feel thanksful for the extra savings they have.   It's normal, when you give them someone once, they want it forever 🙂

[marcnoel]

We already got an extra 28 months of extra discounts over new customers.  We are just now moving in-line with them.  If any legacy customers were referring people to PM during those 28 months, then they must have thought PM was a good choice.  Did anyone choose to NOT refer anyone after Points were introduced because new customers would not get the same discount as Rewards?  If not, then why was it okay to refer people to PM, but now it's not good enough for us?  Check around, and you'll see that other carriers either offer less for the same price, or the same offering for more.  As an example again, my current PM plan is $ 25.00/month for 20 GB, minus $ 2.08 for loyalty and 5% back combined, for a pre-referrals price of $ 22.92, $ 14.92 after eight referrals that appear to still be around.  It's not as good a deal as it was, but it's still the best out there, at least for this plan.

If there are 20 gas stations in town, and they all raise their prices to varying extents, we may seek out the cheapest one, which may still be more expensive than before, but cheaper than others currently.  Nothing can be done about what's happened.   Complaining will get one nowhere, as PM was allowed to do it.  Leaving won't hurt them, but will hurt the customer who has to pay more out of spite, even though they just said they can't afford the PM increase.  If that's the case, how can they afford to switch, aside from going to a lower-priced plan?

[danielj]

Hi @hTideGnow 

Yeah, overall gift cards will likely not make a significant difference to me, that will not make me nessarily happy or unhappy with PM but likely undifferent.

I will overall use, take advantage and enjoy what ever points PM gives us and will look forward to what ever enhancement are to come.

But it does not mean I will not call PM out for forcing all clients onto the rewards system that is currently structured to give the majority of clients fewer points and value overall. With the promise of enhancement, that so for has had weak to none existing communication of what those enhancements will be. Overall, the majority of what PM does will not make everybody happy or unhappy, that is true. But this overall situration has made the vast majority of PM's clients unhappy.

I do look forward to hear confirmation of what the enhancements will be and do hope with will include changes that will provide client points closer to the value that we where previously getting.

[DownEast]

That’s a good analogy, but PM followed the contract terms with you and provided more than the requisite notice, so no severance or other compensation is required.

[marcnoel]

You will get 5% in Points back from your payment, and 10 Points on your anniversary date.  If you're on a $ 15.00 plan, you will get .75 Points back per month.  Add to that .83 Points average per month for loyalty, equals $ 1.58 per month.  Subtract that from $ 15.00, and your average plan price is $ 13.42.

[marcnoel]

Assuming $ 15.00 is the lowest-priced plan, maximum loss is $ 5.42/month, averaged over a year.  With taxes, approximately 20¢ a day.  Only way it could be more is if a subscriber loses some referrals because of the switch.

[Ausgirl1]

I started at $15/month and was down to $10 + tax. Just got my first bill and it’s back to $15+tax. So we lose any benefit for being long time customer. Some “deal”. We should have been given an option to keep our old plan.

[funpig1]

I compare the termination of the legacy awards to wrongful dismissal of employment.

In both situations, there is a termination of a relationship. In both cases, there should be reasonable notice given and a form of severance or compensation in lieu of reasonable notice.  The longer the relationship, the longer the notice should be or more compensation in lieu of notice.

PM appeared to recognize this obligation by offering the $1 per month as a severance package for existing legacy reward customers.

PM misled all legacy rewards customers to believe that PM could not or would not terminate the rewards relationship unless the customer willingly chose to accept the severance compensation. Many legacy customers did the math and decided that it would be better to remain in the legacy rewards relationship. 

IMO, PM should have given all existing legacy customers reasonable notice that PM was going to withdraw the $1 per month severance and proceed with the termination of the legacy rewards relationship whether a customer agreed or not. This would have given all existing customers a chance to accept the severance and mutually terminate legacy rewards relationship.

Instead, without any reasonable notice, PM terminated the $1 per month loyalty compensation and abruptly announced that the the legacy rewards relationship would be terminated unilaterally by PM.

Many customers were caught by surprise and are rightfully aggrieved.  At its worse, this was bad faith on the part of PM. At the very least, it was bad marketing.

[nicknamessuck]

I have a prepay phone plan instead of automatic billing and as a result I received a text message from Pubic Mobile that partway through says "Starting in June, the amount you will need to add to your account may vary from previos months. To avoid service disruptions, we recommend visiting My Account online or the app to check your estimated upcoming payment amount and make sure you have enough funds for a successful payment."

Translated from corporate speak to english it means "We are taking away your loyalty discount and since your prepay and not automatic top up your going to notice the price increase immediately and we hope your going to just spend more money and not leave to find a better provider even though we are literally killing off our customer loyalty rewards program."