Concerns About the New Rewards Program (ALL REFERRALS GONE)

[pogk3v]

Hello Public Mobile Community,

I've been a loyal Public Mobile customer for about 4-5 years and have made a significant number of referrals during that time. However, with the new rewards program, I'm confused and a bit frustrated by how the referral points are being handled.

From my understanding, the new system expects me to start from 0 referrals, which doesn't seem fair given my history. When I spoke to an agent, I was told that 1 referral equals 1 point. However, I was also informed that my referrals would roll over. Despite this, I only have 5 points now. Does this mean I'm only eligible for 1 point per year?

To add to my frustration, I was offered a Loyalty Bonus of 240GB of bonus data for 150 days. While I appreciate the gesture, I don't use that much data and would much prefer to have my referrals recognized properly.

This new rewards program doesn't feel like an incentive if this is how long-time customers are treated. Can anyone else relate to this experience or provide further clarification?

Thank you for your time and support.

[softech]

@Radiant1 

your referrals are still there, just that it is not showing like before

After moving to Public Points, the referrals were notnlodtz they are just no longer be showing in a list like before. There is no way on the Rewards portal to confirm how many you currently have and who are they anymore.   

Instead, you can only tell how many referrals you have when PM deposits the referrals points into your Rewards account after your renewal (within 48 hours).  

[computergeek541]

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@hTideGnow wrote:

i believe the My Referrals chart on My Account site is just about new referrals you have in the last 12 months.  It is not a total count of referrals.  So, you can have 10 referrals that you got from years ago but nothing in the past year and the chart would show zero

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The above is correct.  The informaiton in the points portal is not an indication of the total running count of referrals on the account.  It only shows the number of new referrals during those time periods.  I'll says this again, so that there's no doubt remaining:  The points portal showing zero referrals does not mean that referrals have been lost.  Referrals that customers got on the old rewards program have been converted over to the points system (each being worth 1 point per 30 days).

[Radiant1]

Hi computergeek541 :

Your response is somewhat perplexing. I lost all my referral rewards... and yet you say nobody has lost all referral rewards. I see some divergence between my experience and your assertion. A quick search in the discussion fora will also show that I am not the only one with this experience. 😕 This particular discussion was initiated by someone else @pogk3v who lost rewards. These are the facts that I can see.

I for one, would love to be wrong and get all my referral rewards back. As I previously mentioned: I asked PM directly to restore my referral rewards... they essentially replied "no" because my rewards are from the old reward system. Their response is very clear to me. I will paste the reply again for reference below. If someone could take the time to review the PM response I received (see below) and explain where my interpretations are incorrect... I would welcome that!

If indeed it is correct that nobody lost all their rewards... could someone perhaps intervene on my behalf and ask PM to restore my referral rewards? That would be great if an advocate could do that!  I tried by submitting a ticket and failed. 

PM response (Bold mine):

"Hello Radiant1,

Thanks for reaching out to us. My name is Tony and I'll be glad to assist you today.

Starting May 1st all customers who were on the previous rewards system were automatically switched to the Public Points rewards. You can find more details about the new reward system here: https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/rewards

You will accumulate 1 Public Point/month for each active referred friend. Your can redeem 15 Public Points towards a $15 credit towards your next monthly plan renewal.

The rewards on the previous reward system will no longer be applied. Please note that this is not something that we can cancel or reverse.

Let me know if you have other questions."

[computergeek541]

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@Radiant1 wrote:

Referrals have been removed for users that had the old reward system. Please see response below from PM (bold is mine):

"Hello Radiant1,

Thanks for reaching out to us. My name is Tony and I'll be glad to assist you today.

Starting May 1st all customers who were on the previous rewards system were automatically switched to the Public Points rewards. You can find more details about the new reward system here: https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/rewards

You will accumulate 1 Public Point/month for each active referred friend. Your can redeem 15 Public Points towards a $15 credit towards your next monthly plan renewal.

The rewards on the previous reward system will no longer be applied. Please note that this is not something that we can cancel or reverse.

Let me know if you have other questions."

---

Sorry, but your statement is incorrect.  Nobody has lost all referrals due to the change to points.  This isn't speculation or a guess.  All existing eferrals are still be honored after the change to points.  It's just being paid out as 1 pont now instead of $1.

[Radiant1]

I am glad that your experience has been sweet. However, I think this is more the exception than the rule. This has not been my experience, and not the experience I have observed for other users across the discussion fora (just search for the key word "rewards" in the discussions). 

I do agree that the new point system will allow me to gain new points for any new referrals after May 1, 2024 (when I unwillingly joined the new reward program). However, any old rewards that I earned under the previous reward system have effectively been wiped out, and will not be reinstated. Gone... finito. This fact is very clear in PM's own response.

Please allow me to me close this discussion with PM's own words:

"The rewards on the previous reward system will no longer be applied. Please note that this is not something that we can cancel or reverse."

[hTideGnow]

hi @Radiant1 

no need to disagree

wait till your next renewal, check your My Rewards after 48 hours and you will see them

of course, if you have 1 or 2 referrals, there is a chance they left PM and then you wont get the referrals

(I gone through renewals with multiple accounts and everyone has all  the referrals rewards )

[Radiant1]

I disagree. The response from PM I received is that my legacy rewards are all gone. When did you go through the renewal program? If you opted to do it earlier than May 1st 2024, then it is plausible that your experience was different. For those of us who did not opt-in to the new points program, the experience has been disappointing when the May 1st bulk transfer occurred. 

Extracting from the response I received from PM (bolding and underlining mine): 

"The rewards on the previous reward system will no longer be applied. Please note that this is not something that we can cancel or reverse."

Interpretation:

"No longer applied":  All rewards from the previous reward system have been wiped out.

"Not something that we can cancel or reverse": Like it or lump it.

[hTideGnow]

HI @Radiant1 

no, what it means is your don't earn the same way as on the old system.  For friend referrals, you earn $1 per friend every 30 days, now becomes 1 point per friend

on this new rewards, you will earn the referrals after the renewal

I have gone through the renewal and I can confirm.   So, no worries, you didn't lose any referrals

[Radiant1]

Referrals have been removed for users that had the old reward system. Please see response below from PM (bold is mine):

"Hello Radiant1,

Thanks for reaching out to us. My name is Tony and I'll be glad to assist you today.

Starting May 1st all customers who were on the previous rewards system were automatically switched to the Public Points rewards. You can find more details about the new reward system here: https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/rewards

You will accumulate 1 Public Point/month for each active referred friend. Your can redeem 15 Public Points towards a $15 credit towards your next monthly plan renewal.

The rewards on the previous reward system will no longer be applied. Please note that this is not something that we can cancel or reverse.

Let me know if you have other questions."

[Radiant1]

I submitted a ticket to resolve the disappearance of all my referral points, auto-pay, loyalty.  Below is a copy/paste of the response (in italics). Emphasis to the font (bold, blue font) is mine:

"Hello Radiant1, 

Thanks for reaching out to us. My name is Tony and I'll be glad to assist you today.

Starting May 1st all customers who were on the previous rewards system were automatically switched to the Public Points rewards. You can find more details about the new reward system here: https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/rewards

You will accumulate 1 Public Point/month for each active referred friend. Your can redeem 15 Public Points towards a $15 credit towards your next monthly plan renewal.

The rewards on the previous reward system will no longer be applied. Please note that this is not something that we can cancel or reverse.

Let me know if you have other questions."

[Radiant1]

Thank you for your suggestion. I tried that, and the portal only shows the 5 point tip for being a good compliant customer and nothing else…  as for the 15 point bill credit, it says: “You do not have enough points.” makes sense, because all I have now is the aforementioned 5 point treat. 
Still waiting for a response on the ticket I submitted. I will update if anything changes. 

[softech]

@Radiant1 

Go to My Rewards portal (https://myrewards.publicmobile.ca/en/), go to the Catalogue page  ( https://myrewards.publicmobile.ca/en/on/catalogue ), Look for the $15 bill credit , click Redeem and PM will add the $15 bill credit within 48 hours

Or you can also check the Rewards Catalogue to redeem for other add-on 

[Radiant1]

How can I then redeem the points?

[Radiant1]

How does that work then if they charged me full price for my subscription? How can I redeem any points if they are invisible?

[computergeek541]

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@Radiant1 wrote:

I feel like the "please wait 48 hours" is somewhat akin to the sign in front of the store front that says "Back in 15 minutes". I got the same 48 hour reply. I have waited beyond 48 hours - three weeks even. I have submitted two tickets (the first one PM cancelled).  It looks like PM has wiped out everyone's rewards (mine are all gone)... if this is the case - Just make that statement, please.

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Referrals have not been removed.  The points portal simply doesn't tell anyone how many referrals are on the account.

[Radiant1]

I feel like the "please wait 48 hours" is somewhat akin to the sign in front of the store front that says "Back in 15 minutes". I got the same 48 hour reply. I have waited beyond 48 hours - three weeks even. I have submitted two tickets (the first one PM cancelled).  It looks like PM has wiped out everyone's rewards (mine are all gone)... if this is the case - Just make that statement, please.

[computergeek541]

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@Radiant1 wrote:

I doubt very much that PM will put a high priority on finding a solution... this 'glitch' has clawed back all of my referral points as well. Why fix something that increases the profit margin? It all feels like a bait and switch scenario... all approved by the CRTC, of course. I am not going to bother with referrals anymore... I am looking at other options, since I have lost all of my discounts. This is what happens when there is an oligopoly.

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Public Mobile has not taken away referrals from customers.  The rewards/points portal no longer gives any  indication of how many referrals are loaded on the account.  This is is contrast to the older rewards system that showed customers and estimate of how many reward dollars to expect.  The newer system does not give any information.

[Radiant1]

I doubt very much that PM will put a high priority on finding a solution... this 'glitch' has clawed back all of my referral points as well. Why fix something that increases the profit margin? It all feels like a bait and switch scenario... all approved by the CRTC, of course. I am not going to bother with referrals anymore... I am looking at other options, since I have lost all of my discounts. This is what happens when there is an oligopoly.

[hTideGnow]

HI @KZ1964 

i believe the My Referrals chart on My Account site is just about new referrals you have in the last 12 months.  It is not a total count of referrals.  So, you can have 10 referrals that you got from years ago but nothing in the past year and the chart would show zero

[will13am]

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@KZ1964 wrote:

If I go into my account and then where it says Dashboard, if I hit that it shows the # of points and also the # of referrals.  

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@pogk3v , that function is non functional unfortunately.  The only way to determine your referral count is to wait for a renewal and check the points awarded.  Undoubtedly the rewards program change will lead to legacy customer churn, it is unlikely that your referral count will go to zero.  On the brighter side, the currently offered plans are less expensive the legacy plans.  The best we can do mitigate the effect of rewards reduction is to switch to a cheaper plan.  

[KZ1964]

If I go into my account and then where it says Dashboard, if I hit that it shows the # of points and also the # of referrals.  

[softech]

@pogk3v 

support can usually help to give you back the old community id.  Please message them directly here: 
       https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437
**Monitor your Community inbox (envelope icon on the top right) after ticket submitted, CS Agent will reply to you there           

[pogk3v]

Hello @softech

Thanks for the info.

It's good to know my referrals are still there, but the lack of visibility is frustrating. I hope Public Mobile can fix this soon.

I also had to create a new profile 'Pogk3v' because my old one 'PogKev' was discontinued. Here's the link to my old profile: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/104176.

Any idea how to get my old profile back?

Thanks for your help!

[softech]

@pogk3v 

your referrals are still there, just that it is not showing like before

After moving to Public Points, the referrals will no longer be showing in a list like before.  There is no way on the Rewards portal to confirm how many you currently have and who are they anymore.   
Instead, you can only tell how many referrals you have when PM deposits the referrals points into your Rewards account after your renewal (within 48 hours).  

PM is aware the demand to see the full list like before when subscribers were on the legacy system and they are working on a solution.   But there is no ETA at the moment.

[hTideGnow]

hi @pogk3v 

not from 0 referrals.  Your referrals would not change.  But now , they don't have the list to show the exact referrals you have.  But after each renewal, withi 48 hours, you will see PM add Friend referrals points to your account and you will see them there.