Can't believe how much people pay!

[Rascal]

I have been telling others about Public Mobile. One friend said that she and her husband pay $150 a month and share 3G of data. Another lady pays $99 for 3G for herself. I said, that's crazy! She has a contract for another 18 months to pay off $700 for her phone. I said it would pay you to just pay it off and switch to a cheaper plan. It's really unbelievable how much people pay without thinking about it. I am very happy to have made the switch to Public. With four referrals and auto pay, I have reduced my monthly bill by $6.00 and I plan to continue referring people. Why not pay less?

[stonechucker]

People who have the money to spend, don't want the hassle of the PM Community forum setup for support.  They will pay more just to be able to talk to someone.  It's that simple.

For those of us who wish to have savings and can learn / research for ourselves, PM is a perfect fit.

[cappaj]

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@will13am wrote:

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@cappaj wrote:

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@Good1 wrote:

I always like to buy my own phone.  Buying a phone from the cell provider makes you feel like you are in a contract. 

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I usually upgrade my phone every two years - so I don't mind being locked in for two years if it means the total cost of my plan + cost of phone over two years is reduced by locking in for 24 months in exchange for a phone that costs hundreds of dollars less than I'd spend on ot outright.

Like, if I stay with Public Mobile ($38/month) and buy a new S9 (about $40/month for 24 months), that's $78/month. If I can go to another provider and pay $60/month and $0 for the phone then I'm coming out ahead after 24 months.

There are variables to consider like rewards from Public Mobile and availability of good offers from other providers, but for me it's not cut and dry to the point where I'd swear off a two year commitment.

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Which provider offers a S9 when it is fresh off the shelf and not a year later when the S10 is available for sale at $60 per month with 4.5GB of data?  I would take the plan, sell the phone and use the proceeds to buy a non carrier brand. 

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That good old, fabled "winback" offer. Or yeah, in a few months if the S9 is cheaper because we're getting closer to the S10 - I'm happy with that. But I wouldn't sell the phone, I like the phone and that's the phone I want and prefer.

[will13am]

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@cappaj wrote:

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@Good1 wrote:

I always like to buy my own phone.  Buying a phone from the cell provider makes you feel like you are in a contract. 

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I usually upgrade my phone every two years - so I don't mind being locked in for two years if it means the total cost of my plan + cost of phone over two years is reduced by locking in for 24 months in exchange for a phone that costs hundreds of dollars less than I'd spend on ot outright.

Like, if I stay with Public Mobile ($38/month) and buy a new S9 (about $40/month for 24 months), that's $78/month. If I can go to another provider and pay $60/month and $0 for the phone then I'm coming out ahead after 24 months.

There are variables to consider like rewards from Public Mobile and availability of good offers from other providers, but for me it's not cut and dry to the point where I'd swear off a two year commitment.

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Which provider offers a S9 when it is fresh off the shelf and not a year later when the S10 is available for sale at $60 per month with 4.5GB of data?  I would take the plan, sell the phone and use the proceeds to buy a non carrier brand. 

[will13am]

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@Salmonlips wrote:

to join in on the conversation, i'm notoriously 'frugal' in my social group but i never see it as frugality so much more as... not paying more than i should have to.

so i feel like i'm the person who gets into the cheaper places to trial out a product before i can recommend it to others.

i think i'm one fo the only people in my group who outright bought their phone (from china, le max 2 and my wife has a xiaomi phone) both those phones come out to so much less than 1 s9 or any iphone.  but we're well provided for with the phones and haven't found much to complain about with them.

i'm new in the parts but i signed up to see if PM is viable for me to get my wife to switch. 

i use dual sim, i got the fido $0 tablet plan right now and grabbed a voice/texting w/ PM, i'm excited!

back to the original story though, sometimes i dont' understand my friends and their reluctance to shop around

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Hey you got youself a LeEco Max 2 as well?  I got one for the wife.  She loves the phone.  It is virtually indestructible.  She is hard on tech.  I have to change the glass screen protector every few months.  The phone is slightly bent but it still works like new.  It is running lineage OS and after 1.5 years, the battery is at 87% capacity and good enough for a long day.

Just recently I got a Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI for a friend.  What a great buy at $250 all in. 

[cappaj]

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@Good1 wrote:

I always like to buy my own phone.  Buying a phone from the cell provider makes you feel like you are in a contract. 

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I usually upgrade my phone every two years - so I don't mind being locked in for two years if it means the total cost of my plan + cost of phone over two years is reduced by locking in for 24 months in exchange for a phone that costs hundreds of dollars less than I'd spend on ot outright.

Like, if I stay with Public Mobile ($38/month) and buy a new S9 (about $40/month for 24 months), that's $78/month. If I can go to another provider and pay $60/month and $0 for the phone then I'm coming out ahead after 24 months.

There are variables to consider like rewards from Public Mobile and availability of good offers from other providers, but for me it's not cut and dry to the point where I'd swear off a two year commitment.

[will13am]

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@cappaj wrote:

Like others have mentioned, the support through forum only is a turn off for a lot of people. And Public Mobile is scary in the first place - not because of a bad reputation or anything, but just because of the lack of a reputation. Before I signed up a few weeks ago I had never heard of Public Mobile - and when I did, my first thought was "are they like Wind or Freedom and have coverage for major cities only?"

That uncertainty about Public Mobile specifically, along with your everyday fear of change, is enough to stop lots of people from switching. It's often easier to keep doing what your doing rather than do what will be an unknown quantity of work (research, budget calculations) in return for an unknown dollar savings + unknown amount of potential hassle and headache that comes with a new provider.

Plus if you want a new flagship phone, you basically have to buy it outright and that cost is a huge surprise when you've only ever gotten discounted or "free" phones through your provider.

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If I were to summarize what you said in less words, I smell a referral opportunity here.  Back when I got the Public Mobile 2016 fall promo, it was one of those chance encounters.  I was sick and tired of Wind Mobile and I needed a change but not one that emptied my wallet.  I saw the $120/9GB/90day plan which was a lot more than $25/5GB, but it was the least expensive option to switch to.  I hopped on board, found it to be perfect and well worth the extra cost.  I started telling others about the service, this novel concept of online/no call center/no stores operating model.  Many could not embrace the paradigm.  I suggested that if they were willing to take the chance and give it a try, I would provide account support to take the scary part ouf of the transition.  It has been a win-win situation. 

[JL9]

Yeah I could never go back to the big 3 flagship brands and being locked in for 2 years paying some bloated bill.

[Good1]

I always like to buy my own phone.  Buying a phone from the cell provider makes you feel like you are in a contract. 

[sheytoon]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Yeah...you tell others about it and it's like a big meh and a shrug. My sister pays over $100 a month. Frig! And she ain't rich.

This part is so true! I've experienced the same thing. Some people just don't care to make a small change to save a lot of money.

[stonechucker]

True story!  Oh, how I love not paying $91/month to Rogers for a plan that Public Mobile offered 2 years ago for $120/90-day cycle.  I had a brief stop in between with Freedom where I got a 'gently used' iPhone 5s as no one had a signal in my apartment, and I required the functionality of Continuity to receive faint signal from my window, forwarded to my iPad.  Once I switched to Public Mobile, I was saving over $50 per month over what Rogers was providing me, and about $30 over Wind.

[Salmonlips]

to join in on the conversation, i'm notoriously 'frugal' in my social group but i never see it as frugality so much more as... not paying more than i should have to.

so i feel like i'm the person who gets into the cheaper places to trial out a product before i can recommend it to others.

i think i'm one fo the only people in my group who outright bought their phone (from china, le max 2 and my wife has a xiaomi phone) both those phones come out to so much less than 1 s9 or any iphone.  but we're well provided for with the phones and haven't found much to complain about with them.

i'm new in the parts but i signed up to see if PM is viable for me to get my wife to switch. 

i use dual sim, i got the fido $0 tablet plan right now and grabbed a voice/texting w/ PM, i'm excited!

back to the original story though, sometimes i dont' understand my friends and their reluctance to shop around

[cappaj]

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@Rascal wrote:

Well, my friend's response to my suggestion that she pay out her phone and save likely $60+ a month for 18 months (a savings of at least $1080) was classic and I think demonstrates why people blindly pay outrageous amounts. She said, "That's only a savings of $300." What??

We decided to minimalize recently. We downsized and started paring down our bills. First off, a $60/month savings on auto insurance, $306 condo fee gone, $40/month on cell phone, LED light bulbs, etc. Lower taxes for buying down, lower heating costs . . . the end result will be much more money to enjoy with little pain.

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If you only recently started saving $40 a month on cell phone - do you know why it took you so long to switch to something cheaper? Maybe whatever was stopping you is stopping others.

If you're out there evangelizing and trying to get people to switch, this could be some knowledge that'll help you settle worries and change minds!

[Anonymous]

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@will13am wrote:

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@Anonymous, at the risk of sounding cruel, you know what they say about a fool and their money.  I am not rich either and like everybody else, I have to work hard to earn money.  Therefore, I must be respectful to my wallet. 

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(Jeez these at-sgns are irritating sometimes.)

And her phone is not the only thing she's foolish about regarding her money.

[cappaj]

Like others have mentioned, the support through forum only is a turn off for a lot of people. And Public Mobile is scary in the first place - not because of a bad reputation or anything, but just because of the lack of a reputation. Before I signed up a few weeks ago I had never heard of Public Mobile - and when I did, my first thought was "are they like Wind or Freedom and have coverage for major cities only?"

That uncertainty about Public Mobile specifically, along with your everyday fear of change, is enough to stop lots of people from switching. It's often easier to keep doing what your doing rather than do what will be an unknown quantity of work (research, budget calculations) in return for an unknown dollar savings + unknown amount of potential hassle and headache that comes with a new provider.

Plus if you want a new flagship phone, you basically have to buy it outright and that cost is a huge surprise when you've only ever gotten discounted or "free" phones through your provider.

[will13am]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Me too! 🙂

My situation changed a couple months ago. I was casting around looking for options to lower the bill. I kinda settled on Koodo liking their roll-over add-ons. But the options I chose still came to (iirc) about 45-50$. I came from Telus. Their loyalty department couldn't get close to that. So I bought a Koodo card in advance of when I would switch. Then I learned about PM that I hadn't known existed. Checked them out and was immediately taken with the low cost. The options I chose came to $35. Less then half what I was paying before. Utterly unbeatable. Ran right out and bought a card at Walmart when I was there.

Yeah...you tell others about it and it's like a big meh and a shrug. My sister pays over $100 a month. Frig! And she ain't rich.

That Koodo prepaid card's still for sale if anyone wants to go over there 🙂

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@Anonymous, at the risk of sounding cruel, you know what they say about a fool and their money.  I am not rich either and like everybody else, I have to work hard to earn money.  Therefore, I must be respectful to my wallet. 

[popping]

It is time for us to give a helping hand to teach our friends on how to use the forum.  Best friend don't let friends to pay high mobile service charged by Big 3.  Most activations are smooth without any problem.  It is in our interest as a referrer to help our friend to resolve any issues.  After the account is setup, it will be in auto-pilot.

[Effort]

A lot of people feel they are getting the best service or product when they are paying a lot for it. It has an extra premium feel. Only when they directly compare one service or product to another will they determine that the differences are quite minimal.

It's quite similar when you're looking at flagship phones as well. You can either go top of the line Apple, Samsung, LG, Google, and etc or you can go a chinese brand such as OnePlus or Xiaomi. It is a significant drop is price and they do things just slightly worse and in some cases better like software.

[Anonymous]

Me too! 🙂

My situation changed a couple months ago. I was casting around looking for options to lower the bill. I kinda settled on Koodo liking their roll-over add-ons. But the options I chose still came to (iirc) about 45-50$. I came from Telus. Their loyalty department couldn't get close to that. So I bought a Koodo card in advance of when I would switch. Then I learned about PM that I hadn't known existed. Checked them out and was immediately taken with the low cost. The options I chose came to $35. Less then half what I was paying before. Utterly unbeatable. Ran right out and bought a card at Walmart when I was there.

Yeah...you tell others about it and it's like a big meh and a shrug. My sister pays over $100 a month. Frig! And she ain't rich.

That Koodo prepaid card's still for sale if anyone wants to go over there 🙂

[Rascal]

You're right. Some people cannot do online anything, so that really limits them. 

[will13am]

Not everybody are good shoppers and are unable to discover how much can be saved on cellular service.  Then there is getting over the fact that this service uses an online model.  Many people are not aware of options for buying phones.  A lot are accustomed to going home with a shiny new iPhone all set up for them with little or no cost up front.  These frills come at great expense.  For those of us who are more respectful of our wallet, we are here.  The challenge is for us to go forth and educate.  The referral reward is the incentive to do so. 

[popping]

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@mimmo wrote:

Also don't forget that some of those costs are for the phone subsidy.   For example i was looking at fido and the same bade plan went from $50/month to 105$/month based on the the subsidy they needed for a phone.

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Big 3 mixed the subsidy with the plan cost is a crime for the non-informed customer.  After 2 years, they continue to charge for phone subsidy.

[kav2001c]

I think most people get suckered in by "free" hardware

But if you have a chose between:

A) $40 per month

B) $75 per month with a "free" $500 phone

Most people get suckered

Heck even look at parent company Telus (same price structure as Bell/Rogers)

C) +$10 per month (Premium plan, you pay $240 EXTRA to get $400 off phone)

D) +$20 per month (Premium Plus plan, you pay $480 EXTRA to get $600 off phone)

Premium is bad enough, but Premium+ you are basically throwing $40 + tax down the toilet just to get the newest phone

[Rascal]

Well, my friend's response to my suggestion that she pay out her phone and save likely $60+ a month for 18 months (a savings of at least $1080) was classic and I think demonstrates why people blindly pay outrageous amounts. She said, "That's only a savings of $300." What??

We decided to minimalize recently. We downsized and started paring down our bills. First off, a $60/month savings on auto insurance, $306 condo fee gone, $40/month on cell phone, LED light bulbs, etc. Lower taxes for buying down, lower heating costs . . . the end result will be much more money to enjoy with little pain.

[mimmo]

Also don't forget that some of those costs are for the phone subsidy.   For example i was looking at fido and the same bade plan went from $50/month to 105$/month based on the the subsidy they needed for a phone.

[pakmode]

Completely agree @Rascal

I've had the same conversation a few times with friends and family and it's mind boggling why some people won't switch over already.

[popping]

Some people don't like the fact that they cannot pickup the phone to talk to someone.  They are paying for the service.  It does not take long to learn on how we do things at PM.

[Mary_M]

I totally agree @Rascal, why not pay less and save more? Thank you so much for sharing, we're glad that you made the switch 🙂

Welcome to Public Mobile!

Cheers,

Mary