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

[Kydd]

Exactly!! Who have have the best deal . Once you have an your own phone that's unlocked I welcome the competition. Let's see if we can get 25$ 50gig 5g plan this upcoming bxing day 🤔

[Way1]

I am so sad,I stay in PM for 5 years as it has reward &autopsy.actually other provider has same plan with PM,my wife using Fido for 1 and half years,plan 6G/m,$35 at begining，after 2 times promotion,now get 90G data/m,pay same. I am thinking do some change.

[Michael6666]

Just do like you did to refer them and find them a better plan elsewhere!

Only thing I'm sad about is being stuck here another few months in the tiny hope that they will reverse their decision.

On another note, I just realized I'm going to have a 30 day period end in the US. I'm going to be sure to use my 290gb total on that day. Hopefully those Gb cost them something

[Wolfcore]

Yeah, on top of everything else, like lying about the rewards program and then getting rid of it, making our add-ons expire, etc, they also make loyal customers have to jump through a loophole of porting out and back in, if they want to take advantage of the objectively better offers that they give to people who haven't even given them a cent yet. Porting in and out isn't even a big task, but the fact that they force us to do this, is quite shameful.

[Bethn1]

Completelly dissappinting. I signed up because of the old rewards system, loved all of the promo and free data/minutes, love the $ off my bill (so nice to have an affordable option) and spent alot of energy bringing people in. Terrible move, feels like I have been tricked, and tricked the people I brought in.

Also, what is with all of the good promos only being for new customers? Dissappointing to the max.

[Wolfcore]

So I finally received the email, and within in the email, they link to a PDF for more information. Within this PDF, they still talk like it's optional 😂

These people aren't sending their best.

[hTideGnow]

hi @Belfour20 I always understand that we only have to be loyal to our wallet. Get the best one and with the best savings, no need to be loyal whe it comes to mobile services 

[Belfour20]

With the elimination of the loyalty and top-up bonuses, outside of people who have a bunch of referral bonuses I see no reason for anyone else to stay loyal to public anymore.  Plans are all matched by other providers (or sometimes even better limited time new customer offers) that typically includes full customer support that public doesn't offer (stores/booths, customer service numbers, etc..).  In my opinion a 5% return in points and a 10 point per year bonus is not enough to make someone blindly loyal and not consider other options like the old reward system did.  

[Chalupa_Batman]

I received their generic response today. This will be added to the CCTS complaint. 

Re: Upcoming Changes to our Old Rewards Program

Hi there,

My name is Maria and thank you so much for reaching us. I hope you are doing excellent today.

I am really sorry to hear about this situation but do not worry, you are in good hands, I will try my best to help you!

All subscribers will be automatically moved to the Public Points rewards program.

We understand that the old Rewards program was enjoyed by many of our loyal subscribers. There are many ways subscribers can get value from the Public Points program:

As part of the move to Public Points, you will receive a bonus thank-you gift of a free data add-on depending on the plan] to thank you for your loyalty and understanding.

The Public Points program still lets you get the most out of your subscription, with new ways to earn such as 5% points back on all purchases and 10 points on your subscription anniversary. You’ll also still get 1 point a month for each referral you’ve made. You’ll also still get 1 point a month for each referral you’ve made.

With 1 point = $1, it’s easy to earn points and redeem for rewards that lower your monthly bill. Points can be redeemed for credits, add-ons, prizes, and more.

With all our subscribers on one program, the Public Mobile team will be focusing on enhancing the Public Points program, with even more ways to earn and spend points in the future

Respectfully,
Maria_G
Public Mobile CS_Agent

NOTE: Do not reply to this email address: community-notifications@publicmobile.ca. Please log in to the Community to reply via Private Message

Please note that this is not a Live Chat. We are handling multiple posts at a time so it might take a while until you receive a response.

[public_999]

For sure a great plan, providing they don't increase the price.  Not so long ago they increased the $10 plan by 30% so precedent has been set.  Teles owned Koodo just recently increased their price of the Black Friday deal too.  

[Chalupa_Batman]

You should find out what the cancellation fee is and see if Rogers will cover it. Never say never.

[PToadstool]

Also hilarious that you are offering people bonus data for the switch, thanks for the bonus data on top of my unlimited data, doesn't really make up for each of my plans suddenly being 60+ dollars more a year

[PToadstool]

Okay, so we are just forcing everyone to switch over to a significantly worse and more time consuming system? The rewards system is the reason that I joined public mobile. Will be switching over my family's accounts when the change starts.

[colleeno]

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@eyes wrote:

Giving their marketing strategy  some credit maybe they calculated the  probability of  the number of favourable outcomes that by far may exceed the negatives.

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I agree. I’m sure most PM subscribers are silent and won’t bother to comment. This thread is nearing 1400 comments but that doesn’t mean 1400 people have something to say; there are many users here who have commented 20+ times. When the changeover in May comes, some customers will stay and some will leave. Telus is betting that most will stay and they’re probably correct. And this change in rewards won’t affect anyone who subscribed after January 2022 so it doesn’t matter to them.

My 5th anniversary with PM is coming up in May. Am I happy with the change in Rewards? NO. Am I going to move to a different provider? NO. My $34/month 50GB Canada-US Plan is perfect for me. 

[Michael6666]

Yeah, it's always hard to calculate these things though.

I still remember when the ad got the 15$ plan was actually 13$ with an asterix for autopay. Talk about a change in marketing! 

[Lucmar]

This is absolutely horrible!! I signed up with PM to obtain the loyalty, referral and autopay rewards and now they are being taken away. Just like a typical corporation always making changes for the worst. I will be filing a complaint with the CRTC today and come May if they change us over I will be finding another provider. I'm really disappointed in you PM! 

[Kydd]

Oh yes my bad I forgot about taxes 

[mikasik2]

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@Canadian_Man wrote:

How do I launch a compliant? 

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https://www.ccts-cprst.ca/for-consumers/complaints/complaint-form/

[mikasik2]

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@Kydd wrote:

So basically $50 less each year for each pm legacy account 🤔 

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Closer to $100 after tax

[Kydd]

So basically $50 less each year for each pm legacy account 🤔 

[Canadian_Man]

How do I launch a compliant? 

[Kydd]

They want to make more money. You'll be surprised how much people still never herd of PM , if they did they think the service is trash .

[ill_will]

I could not agree more!  How do they think it's OK to just strip loyalty rewards with no recognition?!?!

Like many, if I don't see 50 points in my account, I will be seeking a different provider. 

Shame on you, Public Mobile. 

[SeniorCitizen]

The best way to reciprocate is to hit Telus’s wallet. 
Stop getting referrals. 
Think about it. 

[gilnockie1957]

I have been with PM since 2015. They obviously do not understand the basics of finance. Right now I likely pay less per month than they would like and consider that a loss whereas my money “contributes “ to their fixed costs. When I leave, they will be in a worse position than if I stayed. It’s a lot more expensive to get a customer than it is to keep a customer. I I think they would have been better off limiting the discount as opposed to eliminating it. I brought a number of people to PM and expect they will switch to another carrier when I do (in May). Going to start my research today!! 

[Wolfcore]

Exactly this.

I personally don't care about the autopay, because they did not make a promise when it comes to autopay (as far as I've been able to find). But with the loyalty rewards, and the referral rewards, we have written evidence of them promising that these would stick around as long as you remained a customer with PM, so it's a clear example of bait and switch.

As you've said, referrals are basically the same, so that's fine. But the new $10/year "loyalty reward" is nowhere near similar to the old one. 

[RetiredGuy1]

The switch from $2 autopay to 5% of the plan cost is more fair in my opinion. The referral reward is pretty much the same although not automatically applied each month is a step back in terms of customer service. The real impact is losing the loyalty reward of up to $5 a month for long-term customers ($60 a year) to only $10 a year. My question to PM is why the all-or-nothing approach with this forced rewards program change? A compromise would have seen old rewards program customers grandfathered protected for loyalty rewards while the autopay and referrals rewards switched to the newer program.

[Wolfcore]

Well, we know that it's not affecting them very much, considering they just posted one of their highest yearly earnings on record.

[Rikusk]

As soon as they make the change i will be moving away. The sad Bonus data offer that expires is also really hurtful for me in a way I cant even explain. 

[Patrick_PM]

With the point system, Public Mobile is hoping people will forget to redeem the points they have earned.

With the old credit system, this is automatically done for the clients. So all credits earned are actually used.

Mind you, the point system is also less generous with rewards too.