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

[sman123]

Just found out I lost my loyalty rewards after many years as a customer.   My bill went up about $6 a month now.  Came here and found this thread which explains why.  The points add up to almost nothing for me so completely useless. I guess there is no reason for me to stay with PM anymore.

[dfg]

100%, they couldn't care less. 

[jhhead]

I agree. At least be honest and upfront and don't gaslight us into believing this is a benefit for legacy users. ⛽💡

[Fredthedog1]

What I don’t like is they try to make it sound like the new system is somehow better lol . Just be honest and say we are reducing our legacyrewards but we have increase value of existing plans and overall we still provide the best value vs our competition  (which they currently do).

[Fredthedog1]

Obviously if service with PM is not good there is no reason to stay I wouldn’t . My service is good so then the only issue is price . Let’s examine how good virgin mobile is for price . For 34.99 you get 20 GB of 4 G Canada only calls and data . My plan for $34.99 with PM is 50GB of 5 G data with US Canada calling and data as well of around $65 per year in points discounts . The cheap virgin plan is $19.99 with 100 min limit while PM is 15$ with unlimited calls and an annual discount of at least $20. So if your service is good with PM why would you leave just to pay more for less?

[MrG3D]

Enough is enough.  Dropped calls. Messages to people calling me that my line is out of service.  PM doesn't care about its customers. 

Switched to Virgin.

[Patrick_PM]

How much was your old plan (without data)? If Public Mobile switched to a different plan, it would need to be at the same or better price. 

It may however look like you are paying more because the credits earned in the legacy rewards program was for more superior to the points reward program.

[Patrick_PM]

I came across this article where Public Mobile maintains that the issue falls outside the jurisdiction of the CCTS. The company has requested that the CCTS accept its objection to the complaint and conclude the matter immediately.

https://www.iphoneincanada.ca/2024/06/11/public-mobile-defends-ending-rewards-program-ccts/

[marcnoel]

You will also get 5% back from each bill payment.  With no referrals, you should get 2.85, 2.85, 2.85, 10.00 Loyalty sometime, then redeem 15, and get 2.10 over a year.  That's 10.65 Points for 5% back, plus 10 for Loyalty, totalling 20.65.  You will usually pay $ 57.00 three times per year, and $ 42.00 once.  Once enough Points are accumulated, you will be able to redeem 15 twice in a year.  Anyway, when redeeming once per year, your total annual payment should be $ 213.00 before taxes, which equals $ 17.75/month.

[jhhead]

I'm thankful that with the recent $34 USA plan earlier this year I was able to acquire enough referrals to cover my base plan ... However that means I'm legit going to be losing out on the full $7 monthly discount I would have had (-10 one time anniversary credit).

So this is example of how the total loss of someone from this change is actually $74 for the year. ($7 per month * 12 months = $84 - $10 anniversary credit)

Brutal 😠

[jhhead]

I paid 100% using existing credits + one redemption of the 15 points for $15

"Earn points by paying your bill or purchasing an add-on. Regardless of whether you use a credit card or a voucher, for every dollar you spend, you’ll make 5% of it back in points."

So then I guess the takeaway is you do NOT get points from payments made from points redemptions.

I understand the double dipping aspect however does suck because this 5% back people mention is like the new version of the autopay credit. This new benefit is much worse for NOT getting to have that 5% amount back when the available funds towards your bill is from points redemptions (where before your bill could be paid 100% from rewards credits and you still got the $2 autopay)

😕

[marcnoel]

Did you actually have to pay $ 57.00, or was it less because of any leftover Rewards you already had?  For example, if you had $ 15.00 in your account from before the switch, that would have been deducted from the amount owing, bringing the payment amount down to $ 42.00, which results in 2.10 Points back.  If you had $ 15.00 Reward dollars applied, bringing the total down to $ 42.00 payable, but they gave you 2.85 Points for the $ 57.00 purchase price, you would be getting discounts twice.

[jhhead]

So my first renewal took place for the $57 (19*3) 90 day subscription. I check the rewards info and it showed Points-Back + 2.10 Points

If you are supposed to earn 5% back in points should I not have got 2.85 Points (57*0.05)?

I wonder if others could check and verify if they have the same behavior?

I could see this as another instance of Public Mobile trying to screw over the customers who don't pay attention to their account 🤔

[Boki]

---

@justmeheyok wrote:

My old Public Mobile plan was basic without any Internet data attached. Just plain 'ol cell phone calls.

Suddenly the plan I was with for several years is now up'ed to $15 plustaxes which includes 250MB/month of internet data. I did not up to this plan myself? So what is going on?. Does Public Mobile no longer have the Basic Phone only plan any longer or was this Auto Update by Public Mobile in error?.

---

The only 'forced' upgrade was from $10 to $13 a while ago.

What plan did you have? Current old customers have basic plan for $15 with 250MB of data. And that plan was for last 3 or so years.

I doubt publicm will 'upgrade' you without notification.

[justmeheyok]

My old Public Mobile plan was basic without any Internet data attached. Just plain 'ol cell phone calls.

Suddenly the plan I was with for several years is now up'ed to $15 plustaxes which includes 250MB/month of internet data. I did not up to this plan myself? So what is going on?. Does Public Mobile no longer have the Basic Phone only plan any longer or was this Auto Update by Public Mobile in error?.

[marcnoel]

Those family members must have signed up before January 2022 to get AutoPay and Loyalty Rewards, vs. Points.  Have you referred no-one since January 2022?

[MrPK]

Yup I agree, i was putting up with call drop issues and poor signal strength at most locations.. will try different provider hopefully they are also not crap like PM. Only reason I got my family members to sign up for PM was cause of their loyalty and auto payment discounts etc.

[Ausgirl1]

I’m also a “senior” and don’t spend my life on my cell phone so I just wanted basic service and that’s what I got but navigating PM’s site is a nightmare for the less savvy customers. Why should I have to chase points?

[Lockedoutagain2]

Be careful, the other RED carrier will lure you in, give you credit cards and all the bells and whistles, but ultimately keep you hostage on any rewards or benefits and bonuses...

They're pretty similar in deception and delivery, just a different color

[Lockedoutagain2]

In my late 60's and don't have any one to show me how, have to learn by trial and error pretty much. Bad enough we have to do everything on our own, no singing cowboy when you're on hold...

And of course with the short and mostly ambiguous guidelines, we constantly get dinged because we did not get it right.

Being held hostage was not part of the 'plan' when I joined in 2014. This is the way I am being treated just because I am an older old customer. Being tech savvy, chatting w/bots, and finding my way around the community was not in the requirements to have phone service when I joined. Sad and disappointing 

[Dodger4yu]

Bring back the old rewards !!!!

[Fredthedog1]

Or do what I do and save yourself many headaches . I just do it for them 🙂

[eskar1]

Very disappointed in the move to the new points program which appears to remove the automatic discounts. I moved my elderly parents to public mobile in part for the ease with which they could accumulate discounts. We've been happy customers for years.

Now I will need to teach them to navigate this clunky website in order to apply rewards they have earned... which feels like a step backward in user friendliness. I would appreciate if Public Mobile could devise a way to set up automatic application of the rewards program as before.

[Fredthedog1]

I’m curious what you have found out there that is a better deal price wise . As for service for me bad service is a deal breaker . I wouldn’t  be with PM if I was getting bad service slow data speeds. I would certainly be willing to move on for a better base price .

[marcnoel]

Don't sugar-coat it.  Tell us what you really think.

[MrPK]

Alright Public Mobile I am out of here.. customer for almost 7 years.. had family member join the plan, asking them to ditch it for something better, that actually gives good data/speeds and has proper signal strength in major cities especially. 

CRTC complain will be filling as well, though doubt they would care, PM must have known this switch wouldnt break any legal rules .. but I hope PM loose customers left and right.. horrible service was on it just cause of the discounts with the rewards program they had earlier.. 

[Neil5]

Hi,

The new points system is quite bad compared to the old rewards.  I went form having a $9 discount to a $2 dollar discount each month.

Making it worse is that you can only reduce your monthly bill once you accumulate 15 points.  

Shame on you guys!

-Neil

[marcnoel]

Great attitude.

[Fredthedog1]

The thing is they have not increased your plan price . They have changed their discount scheme and gave us months  of notice and provided the details. It will never feel good to have your total price go up but I’m just keeping in perspective of the value public mobile currently provides me vs what the competition can offer . For me even with the increase in total cost it’s not even close so I’m not moving just to spite them . When I recommend public mobile I let people decide based on the base price . The bonus scheme is just that a bonus that may or may not last .

[Ausgirl1]

I got the email but nowhere did it say that my bill would go back to the original price. I am not complaining about paying $15/month but I think we should have been able to keep the price as it was and start earning points or opt to keep the bill at its current price and opt out of points.