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

[marcnoel]

I agree.  You previously commented that the offer said it would start on your re-newal date, so that tells me you could cancel the change, if necessary.  Please keep us apprised.

[jhhead]

Yeah it's like every week something new. 

Probably gonna stay on this 90 day plan as I really don't need that much data and used to get by with 1GB. However I guess I could always accept and then I have 2.5 months to see if they offer a 90 day option for $20 or something which I probably would do for $1 more double data. 

The more I think of it I almost have nothing to lose by accepting and seeing what happens because the online portal will let you cancel an upcoming change 🤔

[marcnoel]

I wonder if they will offer a discount again for a 90-day option on the $ 22.00/6 GB.  Deal after deal after deal.  At this rate, we'll get everything for nothing.  I'm not going to complain.

[hTideGnow]

hi @jhhead true.. that was not good move 

killing legacy rewards was not a decision over-night..they have enough time to pull it off first (like a month earlier) to allow people to forget the good offer

[jhhead]

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@hTideGnow wrote:

hi @jhhead not bad. ..sim like you keep getting good deals

Rewards might be gone.. but plan price keeps dropping to offset it.. who need to complain when you already get cheaper plans

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Yeah I'm happy with the new offers that somewhat offset the loss of rewards. 

The only thing I'm still not pleased about is the loss of the 1 point/month offer for converting to points that did not have 30 days notice for the change.  😫

[hTideGnow]

hi @jhhead not bad. ..sim like you keep getting good deals

Rewards might be gone.. but plan price keeps dropping to offset it.. who need to complain when you already get cheaper plans

[jhhead]

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@maurelle wrote:

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@jhhead wrote:

So last month got a text for the $21 3GB 4G (turned out I was then able to make it $19/month 90 day option) which I had accepted.

Just now got a NEW offer:

Public Mobile here. We've got a great deal for you. Get 6GB of data at 4G speeds of up to 100mbps for only $22/month.

Reply YES to get this limited time offer added to your account and will take effect on your next renewal date.

Hurry, offer ends June 18, 2024.

Reply STOP if you no longer wish to hear about Public Mobile offers.

 🤔Tempting offer and so much better then my old $25 1GB 3G plan I had at the beginning of the year. Best decision was that I downgraded to the $15 plan before this whole thing happened because I was protesting them not allowing me to switch to one of the "new activation only plan" $24 4GB 4G plan 😅

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Courious about your timeline - has your $57/9GB/90days kicked in yet?

Yes my plan has since renewed. Here is the timeline: 

Got offer for the $21 3GB plan on May 24

Accepted offer May 25

In app noticed and changed to $57/9GB/90day May 30

Plan renewal took effect June 9 for the $57/9GB/90day

Got this new offer $22 6GB June 14

[maurelle]

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@jhhead wrote:

So last month got a text for the $21 3GB 4G (turned out I was then able to make it $19/month 90 day option) which I had accepted.

Just now got a NEW offer:

Public Mobile here. We've got a great deal for you. Get 6GB of data at 4G speeds of up to 100mbps for only $22/month.

Reply YES to get this limited time offer added to your account and will take effect on your next renewal date.

Hurry, offer ends June 18, 2024.

Reply STOP if you no longer wish to hear about Public Mobile offers.

 🤔Tempting offer and so much better then my old $25 1GB 3G plan I had at the beginning of the year. Best decision was that I downgraded to the $15 plan before this whole thing happened because I was protesting them not allowing me to switch to one of the "new activation only plan" $24 4GB 4G plan 😅

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Courious about your timeline - has your $57/9GB/90days kicked in yet?

I have a theory that access to the 90day version, which was only available after the $21/3GB SMS offer was accepted and only in the app, might have been a glitch... $22/6GB is arguably the better deal if one is willing to spend $21 and might max out the 3GB. If your account is still on the $15 plan, even with the scheduled plan change, the $22/6GB might be there to entice you to spend more money again. Obviously, if you are on $57/9GB/90days already, that doesn't really hold water.

[jhhead]

So last month got a text for the $21 3GB 4G (turned out I was then able to make it $19/month 90 day option) which I had accepted.

Just now got a NEW offer:

Public Mobile here. We've got a great deal for you. Get 6GB of data at 4G speeds of up to 100mbps for only $22/month.

Reply YES to get this limited time offer added to your account and will take effect on your next renewal date.

Hurry, offer ends June 18, 2024.

Reply STOP if you no longer wish to hear about Public Mobile offers.

 🤔Tempting offer and so much better then my old $25 1GB 3G plan I had at the beginning of the year. Best decision was that I downgraded to the $15 plan before this whole thing happened because I was protesting them not allowing me to switch to one of the "new activation only plan" $24 4GB 4G plan 😅

[hTideGnow]

hi @PMInfo1 you think you made the difference?? No

with or without the complaints, competitors know what PM does here and they will try to steal the customers with different deals

you thought you took down Telus customer base?? No. I remember there was a post here earlier, couple weeks ago, confirming PM has record breaking new activation 

[PMInfo1]

For those that said complaints to CCTS were pointless, I always disagreed.  The avalanche of complaints spurred competitors to offer $19 plans (good ones) which created a bathtub leak for PM... Enough of a difference for PM to match on new subscribers and even offer (albiet a 1Gb data limited) a $19 plan to legacy customers.

Will / Did this retain the Legacy rewards program...No... but it did take down Telus/PM arrogance that there would be no affect on their subscriber base.

[marcnoel]

That's the bottom line.

[Fredthedog1]

Thanks, I looked at lucky . My PM plan is $34 50 GB 5 G data , Canada /US talk and data and about $65 a usually in points savings. Lucky is $34 55GB , 4 G data , and only Canada talk and data . This plan for me is less for more cost not same for same cost . Lucky might make sense if you have a 4 G plan or lower plan with PM . Fizz is a bit better (can get Canada/US talk and data) but is  4 G data so no go for me personally but may work for non 4 G PM  people.

[sman123]

I will probably give Lucky Mobile a try.  Same price, free activation with eSIM, and I qualify for new activation offers.  They are the Bell equivalent to Telus PM.  Bell and Telus share the same infrastructure so nothing changes other than the billing.  It's the same towers, same everything.  They pretty much match each other on price/features as well. 

They shouldn't even be allowed to pretend they are separate companies.  Using these different brand name services to create the false sense of more competition than there really is, but that's another discussion

[Two-Stepper]

I changed my plan to a less expensive one that offers me more data plus Canada - US calling! So now I’ll  be paying about the same as I was before but getting more for it.

[Fredthedog1]

Let us know if you find something out there that is cheaper than PM. So far I haven’t seen anything . There is absolutely no reason to be loyal to PM or any other provider. I’m loyal to whoever gives the best price for what I need . I’ve lost about 5$ per month but I’m not gonna pay more to go elsewhere just to spite PM.

[sman123]

I am in the same boat as you.  No longer any reason to be loyal now so I guess it's time to kiss PM goodbye.

[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 🤔