Can someone give me a reason for optimism?

[steveb11]

Hi. I've been a Public Mobile customer for four days and it's been a really lousy experience so far. Signing up was unpleasant. Transferring my phone number was a nightmare. I eventually had to use my investigative skills to find a 1-800 number so I could actually speak to a live human being to help me move my phone number from PC Mobile. Thank God I did find that person because I may never have succeeded in getting my phone number moved over. The instructions I have found online so far haven't been particularly helpful. I now have concerns about data usage and how it's calculated by Public Mobile. It's incredibly difficult to figure out how to submit a message that will be read by an actual person at Public Mobile. And it's impossible to actually speak to a human voice. So far, I've got a better answer to my question from this user community than the answer I received from the Public Mobile moderator. That doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence.

So my question: Can someone give me a reason to be optimistic about Public Mobile? Will this experience get better? Thank you.

[softech]

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@darlicious wrote:

I am now the go-to person in my circle of friends and acquaintances whenever they have a cell phone problem. 

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@darlicious   you are the go-to person to many regulars in this Community, too   🙂

[darlicious]

@steveb11 

LOL...it's that's about the title and more about the learning experience. I knew absolutely nothing about cell phones and technology in general when I first joined public mobile and the community taught me an incredible amount that I am now the go-to person in my circle of friends and acquaintances whenever they have a cell phone problem. And it's that aspect of the public mobile community at least that makes this service priceless!

[steveb11]

It's actually been about 20 months for me with PM - it was a year ago January that I signed up and smooth sailing after a bit of a rocky start.

[softech]

@steveb11   happy to see you being much happier than  back in Jan.

Yes, I have to admit if people never open ticket with PM and got into some urgent issue (like no service ), that is a bit of panic without a phone number to call.  But phone call doesn't mean great support.  I always been on hold for hours before I can talk to someone who knows less than me (LoL).  At least with PM, you opened a ticket, you just need to keep checking the inbox and don't need to listen to the annoying music  🙂

[steveb11]

And you've risen up to become Mayor of PMville.

[darlicious]

@steveb11 

That's great to hear! I had a horrific activation myself but I'm a happy camper since then.

[steveb11]

I am, yes. Thanks for asking. 

Things definitely improved. I haven't had any issues, the price can't be beat, and the community is very helpful. The lack of customer service by phone hasn't really been an issue at all.

All in all, I'm a happy customer. 

[darlicious]

@steveb11 

Are you still on the public mobile train?

[LurganIeUk]

If your service and billing works. As it does for most just hang and you will get used to it. 

@CountyDownIeUk 

[Billy52]

I have struggled as well. It took me some time to understand the communication pathway. PM should make support easier. Your experience should improve. You can follow SIMon's instructions to private message a real person.

[steveb11]

@carlaspapa Thanks again for the tips. 

[carlaspapa]

@steveb11

Make sure you get the $5/500 minutes add on then you don't have to worry about accidentally running out of your plan minutes. I had my first one for 8 months until I had a few too many one night and I forgot that I phoned my friend back and we talked for a couple of hours. The text msg telling me I was almost out of minutes is when I realized the call wasn't the other way around! So I'm now on my second add on and I activated in September of 2019 so you can really stretch them. And I also got the the extra 1000 minutes and the 5gb add-on from the shaw promotion this summer along with all the international minutes from last Christmas and this Christmas so I really don't need to buy any more calling add ons at all and I barely use data so I have plenty of data add ons to last me the rest of my life I think! The free gifts are awesome!

[steveb11]

@carlaspapa Thanks very much for the input. I too am on the $15 plan and the price is impossible to beat. Fingers crossed....

[carlaspapa]

@steveb11 

My roommate basically forced me into switching to public mobile after talking about it for about a month. I was very very loyal to Fido. I don't understand why I was because I could barely afford the $80 per month they were charging me! If I couldn't afford my bill they would cut me off but keep charging me for it!

Well long story short immediately I started saving $65 a month. Really happy on the $15 a month plan. I got $2 off for auto-pay and for the longest time my roommate let me use her card  but I finally found koho and got their Visa debit card to use for my auto-pay. About 5 months ago I got my first loyalty reward for a $1 off for a month. I usually get at least a $1 off for posting in the community and I have one refer a friend reward for $1 off so now most months I only have to pay $10.  My phone plan is $70 cheaper than when I was with Fido!

The only issue I have ever had was when I tried to figure out how to buy the $5/500 minutes add-on and I tried to do it thru 611 but instead I bought the data add-on for $10 so I had to contact the moderators and they fixed me up good. They cancelled the data add-on and credited back $5 to my account and added the calling add-on for me. And it only took a couple of hours from start to finish for the moderators to fix my issue. It's too bad that they're taking so long nowadays I feel bad for anyone needing customer service right now. I certainly won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Why would I my bill just keeps getting cheaper!

[steveb11]

@mitchnet12  Thanks for the response. We'll see what the next few months bring. Here's hoping.....

[mitchnet12]

Hi @steveb11, and welcome to Public Mobile! I wish to echo the sentiments of many of the users that have replied to your post, and say that despite your unfortunate experience with getting your number ported, but thankfully that experience is behind you!

I had once been on Bell and Rogers pay-as-you-go, and switched to Virgin Mobile back in 2012 when they had a more enticing option to have a texting plan with some minutes for phone calls for $25/month. Their plans eventually improved over the years, but I can't say the same about their pricing. I was hesitant to switch to PM, which didn't have a store or support line, but I wish I would have switched sooner! I had remained with their BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) plans until the cost became excessive. I am paying what I used to with Virgin Mobile with unlimited minutes and a modest data allowance. I had been enticed to switch with a bonus data offer, which I had missed out on. After I had switched to PM, Virgin Mobile had contacted me seeing that I was on the Telus network to see if I would switch back if they matched the plan that I was on. I said sure, told them what my cost was, was placed on a long hold, then taken off hold (muted), put back on hold, and eventually they disconnected the call. They just don't want to compete or offer people a reasonable phone plan to people who talk, text, and use very little data.

Since I switched to PM, I did have an auto pay problem back in April last year. It wasn't convenient to wait outside of Wal-Mart to purchase a voucher, but that's what was necessary to get my account re-instated. A moderator was contacted to sort the credit card problem out. Since that time, I have kept ahead with payment vouchers. Canadian Cell Supplies is one source to watch for payment voucher sales. My preferred place to purchase vouchers is at Canadian Tire (when their doors are open).

I am happy to receive monthly bonuses in the form of loyalty ($1/year), auto pay ($2), friend referrals ($1/each), and forum participation. Friends are surprised by how little I pay to call and text! I have received all sorts of data bonuses and long distance calling, which remains with my account until they are completely used up. I couldn't be happier with my overall experience!

Be sure to check out the Lunar New Year offer if you are on a $25+ plan and wish to have an extra allotment of data for a few months!

[steveb11]

@darlicious Thanks for the thorough response. I'm feeling better about my decision to switch to Public Mobile.

[darlicious]

@steveb11 

Public Mobile.....the good, the bad and the ugly.......oh yea and all that free stuff!!

I'll touch on a couple of major points you bring up starting with what you start with activations and porting. These seem to go either exceptionally smooth or terribly, terribly wrong. I've had both ....          occur personally ( I have two accounts) my first I activated in store at london drugs. It went smooth  like butter. I ported my number over from freedom. The whole thing took less than 20 minutes and the port was instantaneous. The only negative ( which I took in stride despite being a bargain hunter) was a mere 36 hours later there was a really good flash sale that I missed out on and I knew no one to get a referral code from nor did I know you could add one after the fact by asking another member for one ......but "C'est la vie." The amount of money I have saved makes that long ago promotion pale in comparison.

My second account I activated nearly a month later.... bolstered by about 10 days of experience posting in the community this technologically challenged person took on the online activation to take advantage of one of the best stand alone (non-holiday)promotions offered....the RBC deal. $10 off per month for 6 months and 5gb of add on data (that I have yet to touch nearly 18 months later.) This was anything but smooth. Between my severe lack of computer skills or even basic computer knowledge ( I learned what secret/ incognito mode was that night!) it took 6 attempts, 5+ hours of waiting out session locks, a bottle of wine and several shots of vodka, the patience and humour of the great oracle @Luddite and the encouragement of @ChuckYeah  to get me thru to the end with another seamless port with my number from telus

I'm happy to report that by my second renewal for that first account I was paying $0 for my service. I have been building credit ever since......my second account was nicely discounted until last july when I finally downgraded to the $15 plan and if you added my rewards together for both of my accounts was technically $0 as well. For now it averages $1 per 30 days as I often have a referral in suspension at my renewal so I have to pay for that missing reward out of my accumulated credit I have built thru other pm "work" credits. So given a building loyalty reward and accumulated credits my accounts are now free for as long as I stay so despite a lot of ups and downs I have experienced with my accounts with pm its hard to complain when they are free.......but of the 10 accounts I manage and 14 I have helped activate there have been no major issues and I have only had to troubleshoot 2 minor glitches.

My two accounts have had a litany of issues except an autopay failure because I always topped up but I did have a highly unusual renewal failure! As such I have dealt with the moderators a lot. When I first joined the wait times were up to 48 hours but the longest I waited was 36 hours. The wait times gradually came down to average 1 to 2 hours until 2021 when they have shot up to 96 hours and currently are averaging 48 to 72 hours. There is a lot of new moderators with very little time to gain knowledge so users are getting some unbelievable answers and some poor customer service of late. Overall though i find the moderators fantastic and very forgiving with customers as we are with them. In this regard I was given some great advice.....if you don't agree with the answer get a second opinion and when you done with your support request always get a review link to provide feedback to pm to improve their customer service.

[steveb11]

@TheGx Thanks for the response and the info. Hopefully this is the start of a long relationship between me and Public Mobile. 

[TheGx]

@steveb11 :I on $15 plan here and never go over the 250MB per month by using apps that use less data and making sure my phone settings in the allow background data usage and the allow cellular data sections only allow cell data usage for what I want. I use WiFi and when not close to WiFi I use about 100MB or less a month. Having free global text and free incoming calls is all I really need to stay within budget. I've uninstalled or disabled many of the apps that were included in the cell phone I use such as all the google apps etc that use more data.

To use less cell data you could try changing those apps you using now because they use more data and invade your privacy more than other apps that are supporting the worldwide privacy movement. For texts and calls that use little data you could try the Signal Private Messenger app, for outgoing calls I use Fongo app it uses less data than other free calling apps - and I rarely need to make outgoing calls because I use the free texts to have others call me. Also the Duck Duck Go web browser uses less than others because it blocks sites tracking you and protects your privacy better too.

With the $15 Public Mobile plan I got it down to $13 with autopay and in five years the loyalty rewards will reduce it to $8 per month and with my referral rewards it'll be down to $0 per month - so having a free cell phone plan with a little work and patience will hopefully give you some reasons for optimism.

[darlicious]

@steveb11 

I will get to you in a moment but before I do I just have to tell you how to tag another member. Just tap on the "@" key and a box will pop up with members names that you can tap on.....or start typing the name you want and different names will appear for you to choose....

@CFPartDeux 

I completely disagree with your fix this time.....timmy's too weak and starbucks is too burnt. I happen to quite enjoy mcd's coffee......I haven't had a chance to try a&w's new offering but there's still the rest of today and tomorrow for a free one. Now i can get back to my essay to steve.....

[CFPartDeux]

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@steveb11 wrote:

Thanks for the support. I don't imagine I'll be going to the U.S. or Europe anytime soon given the state of the world. A big outing these days is getting coffee from McDonald's Tim Horton's or Starbucks. But it's good to know.

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Sad, but true..... that, and I fixed it for you. 😉

[Luddite]

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@softech wrote:

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@Luddite , i am looking at your old thread.. what is giffgaff.com  ?  you can actually use it in Canada?  or you meant you just use it when you are in Europe?

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giffgaff is a UK carrier similar to PM; 100% prepaid, though does have pay as you go as well. It can roam almost worldwide BUT is very expensive; varies by country but typically $1.70/minute calling, $0.50/SMS (incoming free), $170/gb data. Their blocks of calling/data/sms are much cheaper than PM and cover UK & EU.

[softech]

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@Luddite , i am looking at your old thread.. what is giffgaff.com  ?  you can actually use it in Canada?  or you meant you just use it when you are in Europe?

[steveb11]

Thanks for responding and providing your perspective. Fingers crossed, I'm hoping my problems are behind me now.

[Asher2]

Yes there is no number to contact actual humans from the phone.

BUT Public Mobile is owned by Telus. Where Telus is the best and first tier. Koodo is good and second tier. And Public is a third tier provider, so you shouldn’t expect better customer service as Public is a third tier.

You could actually go with Lucky Mobile, as plans are basically the same there. And they have a number to call.

But heres why you should go with Public, first of all, theres better rewards with Public, second Public Mobile seems to give out more, with the FREE 2GB data from Christmas and other places. Third, Public is just good, its a good prepaid service and yea, this is what you should expect.

[steveb11]

Thank. I hope the Public Mobile seas are calmer than the ones in your picture.

[Luddite]

@steveb11  6 years and counting for me, plus 8 accounts I help manage (all on autopay) with nary a glitch. Nevertheless, I always recommend reading one of my old posts because "you never know". https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/BE-PREPARED/td-p/112014

Welcome aboard.

The good ship "PM Adventure".

[steveb11]

Thanks for the support. I don't imagine I'll be going to the U.S. or Europe anytime soon given the state of the world. A big outing these days is getting coffee from McDonald's. But it's good to know.