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

[Shan_Bhai]

For those who are hesitant and still in disbelief, just take a glance at these two plans. New customers are receiving significantly better offers, while loyal customers are facing discrimination. This serves as an invitation for all loyal customers to consider leaving PM and explore other providers. If dissatisfied, they can return to PM as new customers and take advantage of the $24 plan for eg, which isn't even accessible to "loyal" customers. There's little risk in giving it a try.

[Ybgfl7]

I tried to rectify with PM support but I'm headed to CCTS after going round and round and being offered nothing.

[mikasik2]

I heard a rumor that public points will be tradable on Binance in 2025

[dabr]

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@Joe_Crushy wrote:

So how do you feel about losing your legacy rewards, I'm sure you're in the same situation as myself losing auto pay, anniversary rewards and referrals costing  $14 a month for myself. 

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@Joe_Crushy    You will be out $7/cycle (if getting the max. discount with autopay/loyalty) once the switch to the points system is made.   Your referrals' discount stays although you will need to manually redeem those points once the account accumulates 15 points ($15) to be able to use towards a future bill payment. 

Of course, caveat being some of those referrals may decide to leave once PM implements this change  depending on their particular circumstances which would impact your bill further.

[Shan_Bhai]

The positive aspect is that you don't need to spend extra money to access superior plans elsewhere. Other providers offer better value for your money, including features like reliable customer support, international roaming, VOLTE support, and monthly billing. Since the old points system has been scrapped, there's no motivation to stick with this lower-tier network provider. Hopefully, the management grasps the reality of this situation and reconsiders the sole aspect holding people to this failing business model.

[Matty1234]

I have to agree with @eyes, I would also pay more rather than give Public more money, I don't like being lied to and I don't trust them anymore, loyalty works both ways and Public has shown that they don't have loyalty to their legacy customers. 

Fortunately  I have options with providers under a similar plan that are actually cheaper than Public (even after the new rewards plan discounts) that I don't have to pay more. 

[ShawnC13]

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@Alveeto wrote:

@eyes Even if I have to pay a competitor $5-10 more a month for the equivalent Public Mobile plan, I'll do it. Its the only thing I can do to stick it to Public Mobile and their stupid move to significantly reduce my rewards.

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So you would pay upto $17 more than you are now for the same service to stick it to Public mobile.  That is a A LOT of money over a year.  Losing the $7 alone with this change is bad enough, I wouldn't want to add to that.

[Grinch]

Bringing back lower cost 90 or 360 day plans would be nice. As long as data and out bound calls are allotted monthly. 

[Alveeto]

@eyes Even if I have to pay a competitor $5-10 more a month for the equivalent Public Mobile plan, I'll do it. Its the only thing I can do to stick it to Public Mobile and their stupid move to significantly reduce my rewards.

[Ma17]

Upcoming Changes are crazy wrong for us that grandfathered the old rewards system . A paltry 5 GB loyalty bonus that will expire in 150 days is not advantageous to me. These changes will be for Telus & PM benefits only. 

[mark38]

Its to be teplaced with the 10 points per year only

[G_Pomzz]

So this is just adding to the legitimate load that they already have -------------- Yes I don't think it's fair what PM is doing to us -----but they are within their legal rights and that's that.

Don't be too quick to give up. We have every right to complain about PM's decision to take away our rewards program as it's just a sneaky way to raise prices roughly 10-15%.

File your complaint online with the CCTS, it's easy and takes about 10 mins. Only the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If there are enough registered complaints they may concede and let the long term customers keep their present discount program if they so choose. 

[G_Pomzz]

There are options, Freedom has the same 50 GB, Canada/US plan for $34 per month with $5 off per month for the first 24 months. 

[Public_Cust_17]

@hTideGnow  don't get it twisted.. I'm not trying to help anyone move on. I'm researching what will be the best decision for me and if I can find something better for my particular circumstance then that's what I'm going to go with. Yes, I'm unhappy about PM's decision to cancel something that I patiently waited for 5 years to achieve but I like transparency and accountability and some of the information I'm seeing from PM is, as the kids would say, SUS! 

btw, your paid study I would not be interested in without some sort of knowledge of your testing criteria, your expertise in the matter and at least some customer referrals... because I wasn't born last night!

[RetiredGuy1]

Its $.75 per month (5% on a $15 plan)

[hTideGnow]

HI @Shan_Bhai 

yes, the 30 days cycle is weird.  We lost 5 days a year from that.    I guess that's why they need to have the 5% to try to make it up, it is around 18 days from there.

[Shan_Bhai]

From what I gather, PM stands out as the sole service provider employing a 30-day billing cycle. In contrast, all others adopt a monthly cycle, which offers greater value. It's substantially more worthwhile compared to the 0.5 you currently receive.

[hTideGnow]

HI @golfball  yes, I have to agree the 0.75 points for $15 plan is not sufficient.  Just $0.5 saving per month.  Luckily there is the $10 anniversary rewards.  So, it is pretty much 1 month free for them.

Yes, I wish PM can really improve the point system, or at least up their migration offer.

[golfball]

I think even Koodo or Telus itself are worth a look for such customers. New rewards are not very relevant when you only get 0.75 of a point and need 15 points to redeem.

[hTideGnow]

hi @Public_Cust_17 

nah, it's not an "unsubstantiated claim".  I can understand you are upset I didn't share with you my technical review.  But I am Sorry about that, it is for a customer study and I cannot share it.  But as I said you can contact me and we can arrange a proper paid study with you

But if you want to save some money, you can check with Reddit or RFD on post about this network.  Many shared their experience, some are good , some are bad.  The good are mainly about the cost saving, but the bads are mainly about the network issue.  They are not as well-round study as mine, but you can see why some people find the network unreliable.  

Yes, I know some people pushing in this thread saying that network is so good, some of them are simply FM propaganda.  Couple of those people who tried to "help" other to move on to that network are simply arrogant and apparent to the point that it feels like they are restating the same opinions to people in order to reach the also big secret community rewards threshold.   But let's not suspect people are bad, you and I are both trying help.   You are "helping" others to move on while I have no stance but to help people understand the effect of this rewards change.

Yes, I am like you , we both don't like the Legacy rewards going away

[Chalupa_Batman]

Just wondering if anyone has heard back from the CCTS yet? I have but they want more information to assist. When replying to this message, please either click on the quotes or tag me with the @ symbol. Thank you.

[Public_Cust_17]

@hTideGnow  I notice you keep making an unsubstantiated claim that *that network is not as reliable* and when I called you on it, you gave me some b.s. super secret report answer as to how you came to that conclusion. If you're not willing to back up your words maybe just stop telling everyone your *opinion* because that's all it is!

I personally have not decided one way or the other which way I'll go and have been trying to research it using this community forum (not PM propaganda) as part of that decision. As for 10 members "helping" others to move on this is again your opinion and you have no idea what may happen in May when people get the increases in their bills.  Your bias is quite frankly arrogant and apparent to the point that it feels like you just keep restating the same opinions to people in order to reach the also big secret community rewards threshold where you'll be rewarded for commenting continuously.... yeah I looked into that too and it seems that you have to be on here and at some point the PM gods might benevolently grant a customer a reward... but NOBODY knows how they decide to or not! 

[hTideGnow]

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@Joe_Crushy wrote:

So how do you feel about losing your legacy rewards, I'm sure you're in the same situation as myself losing auto pay, anniversary rewards and referrals costing  $14 a month for myself. 

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HI @Joe_Crushy 

I guess no one likes this .  😞

but depends on the friend referrals people have, it might still be a good saving if you have enough referrals. 

Also, the 5% still can make a difference, especially for $15 or $25 plan which all carriers offer the same plan same price.  Yes, there is the one with an annual subscription, but some people might not like ot lock in for a full year on a network they have no experience with. 

[hTideGnow]

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@eyes wrote:

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Exactly ! ------ most are just venting by making idle threats of leaving --- but obviously ----PM knows that they will not leave -  because it makes sense that ---will not cut their noses to spite their faces . 

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HI @eyes 

that I have to agree.  Many of us will ended up finding the 5% is still better than no savings.  Especially those on $15 plan.  The $7 is a hugh jump, but they know there are no other plans cheaper.   Someone talked about the annual plan, but first, that network is not as reliable, second, they might not want to pay $100+ up front for a year and locked into a network the don't trust

I notice it is more around 10 members here keep "helping" others to move on.  They are more interested into moving on then the majority of posters here

[Robotron2084]

I did the math

i’m currently on a $40/month plan, 60Gb, North America data roaming, etc.  My monthly discounts add up to $8.  With tax, my net monthly bill is $36.80

Under the new points system, my monthly discounts will be $4.20

My net monthly bill will be $41.17

a difference of $4.37 / month or $52 per year

I’m not a huge data user or LD caller, so losing my bonus data and voice isn’t of any consequence to me.

PM is trying to paint their new loyalty plan as a value-add for long-term subscribers, when in fact it’s imply a rate increase. For some it’s a slap in the face.  I get that.  For new subs going forward the points system will just be a way to knock a couple bucks per month off their bill. And life goes on. 

But for me, a retaliatory subscription cancelation doesn’t make sense as the 5G + US data roaming baked-in plan features don’t exist with *any* other providers at the same price point - at least in Atlantic Canada. 

Im staying put - for now anyway. 

[hTideGnow]

HI @liuxinbing 

yes, that network is not as good as it sound.   

[public_999]

Just reread your message and realized you're not in Ajax anymore.  South of GTA is good too.  Having 5 members of my family on FM, they have never had a problem in any part of Ontario.  I regularly travel to London, Ont and no issues.  One of my kids regularly travels to Niagara, no problems either.  Roaming has become pretty seamless

[liuxinbing]

That’s great. I read through bell and Rogers wifi calling agreement and found that they are just useless. 

[public_999]

I live on the Pickering/Scarborough border so am in Ajax a lot (costco) lol.  You'll be good.