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DEAD DEAL: Save 10% (plus get AirMiles) when paying for Public Mobile via Shell/Mastercard til Dec30

CalgaryBen
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

Update: This promotion has ended early (October 😎 and is no longer available.

 

This might appeal to anybody who has a Mastercard and a nearby Shell gas station, and more so if you collect Air Miles.

 

Right now, Shell has a promo with Mastercard, where you get back 10% of purchases over $50. And, most Shell stations that sell gift cards also has Public Mobile top-up vouchers.

 

Here's the play:

  • Go to http://shell.ca/fuelupforless and register your Mastercard number
  • Go to a Shell station (avoid those with a Circle K or Mac's or other non-Shell convenience store), and optionally grab a Public Mobile prepaid/reload card from their Gift Card rack (not actually necessary, since the card doesn't have a barcode, and the attendant needs to find/scan a barcode from their binder).  At the Shell I went to, it looks like this:
    PM_Reload.jpg
  • Specify that you want a $48 or $60 (or maybe even $100) Public Mobile top-up.
  • The attendant will scan the appropriate barcode and activate a 12-digit code ("voucher") for you, and charge you tax on top of the selected amount. This will cost at least $50, meeting the requirements of Shell's promo.
  • Have attendant scan Air Miles (if you collect them)... right now there's a promo so you'll get $10 + $1 for every $10 spent (up to $100 I think?), so the $48 top-up ($50+ including taxes) would get you 15 Air Miles.
  • Pay using your registered Mastercard.
  • Wait a few days (~7 days), and your MC will be credited 10% of the amount paid including taxes.  For example, a $60 reload will cost $63 in Alberta, so you'll get a $6.30 credit back onto your Mastercard within a few days after the transaction posts (but only if the transaction shows up on your CC as SHELL and not something else).

Shell has a $100 PM barcode in their binder (at the location I went to), but the attendant refused to try scanning it because this denomination isn't on the card shown above. But you might want to aim for that (and rinse/repeat) to maximize the offer on fewer vouchers, and pre-pay for several months. I'm not sure if there's an upper limit to the amount you can pre-load into your PM account.

 

As with all things, YMMV, but this is a valid promo that goes beyond just fuel purchases.

 

If you've never used a top-up voucher before, simply dial *611 and follow prompts, or log into your Self-Serve account, and then navigate Payment --> Make a Payment --> One Time Payment --> and then specify Payment method = Payment Voucher, and then enter your 12-digit Payment Voucher Number, printed at the top of the Activation Receipt.

 

By the way, no worries if you're registered for Autopay... you'll continue to enjoy the $2 discount every 30 days if you don't disable Autopay.  The system will just draw from your available funds instead of hitting your credit card, until the balance is depleted and it needs to supplement from your CC or Visa/MC debit.

22 REPLIES 22

CalgaryBen
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@darlicious wrote:
I'm a little bummed out about this I was going to go get a couple of vouchers today. I find it interesting that the terms and conditions clearly stated that the registration of your credit card could end at anytime. It did not state that shell or MasterCard could end this offer at anytime.  I wonder if that runs afoul of false advertising or competition  legislation.....

Yeah, I'm disappointed as well, since I was going to get a couple more vouchers to load up additional PM phones I have.  I guess all good things come to an end!  I did get the rebates on previous PM vouchers I had bought ($60 + $100).

 

I guess it's in their right to pull the promo, especially if they're losing money.  It's unfortunate that it got abused (RFD effect), but since they didn't exempt things like lottery tickets, gift cards, tobacco, etc. that many promos exclude, they kind of set themselves up for this.  I was actually going to fuel up at Shell for the next 3 months, but with the promo gone, I'll go back to my former habits.

 

It did teach me that Shell is a good place to get prepaid PM vouchers though!  For people who collect Air Miles (I don't really... I use a friend's AM number), there's that small perk as well.


@popping wrote:

Thanks for the update.

 

At least we know that Shell gas station does not charge convenience fee and no waiting up to couple of days before using the topup voucher.

 

Reminder:  PM is month-to-month prepaid service.  There is no refund of the available fund in your account if you cancel.  The 10% off is gone now.  There is no point to add too much fund in your account to create a virtual contract and lock yourself to PM for long time.


@CalgaryBen @popping  I'm a little bummed out about this I was going to go get a couple of vouchers today. I find it interesting that the terms and conditions clearly stated that the registration of your credit card could end at anytime. It did not state that shell or MasterCard could end this offer at anytime.  I wonder if that runs afoul of false advertising or competition  legislation.....

I think that if anything since I did not benefit from the promotion I want my credit card number back.

popping
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

Thanks for the update.

 

At least we know that Shell gas station does not charge convenience fee and no waiting up to couple of days before using the topup voucher.

 

Reminder:  PM is month-to-month prepaid service.  There is no refund of the available fund in your account if you cancel.  The 10% off is gone now.  There is no point to add too much fund in your account to create a virtual contract and lock yourself to PM for long time.

CalgaryBen
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

Please note that this promotion has abruptly ended as of Oct 8 (instead of running through until Dec 30):

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION

This promotion has ended. As of October 8, 2019 at 10am EST, no new card enrolments or statement credits for new purchases will be processed. Please visit shell.ca for other available promotions.

 

I guess too many people (from RFD) were exploiting it.

edwincanada
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Never mind. I searched a bit more in the forums, there is no double taxation.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Paying-for-your-service/Vouchers-and-tax/m-p/298642#M...

 

So the 10% discount does save money in ON. 🙂

 

edwincanada
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to save money in Ontario at 13% Tax.

My math was wrong. See my other post.

Public Mobile Voucher: $ 60

13% tax :                       $  7.80

- Promo Rebate:         -  $ 6.78

Total:                              $ 61.02

So you pay $61.02 for $60 Public Mobile. 

@CalgaryBen  Even though the oil and gas industry has taken a downturn while we wait for that pipeline to be built there is still a fair amount of maritimers working in the industry who go home on a regular basis. Their savings of 10% on the provincial portion of the hst would add up nicely.

popping
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

To get the saving, all you need is a friend or relative living in AB to email you the voucher number.

CalgaryBen
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@darlicious wrote:

Wow if you really want to save money and you live close to the border of Alberta or the Territories you could save up to 20% by getting the mastercard 10% rebate and saving the provincial sales tax on the vouchers.


Being Albertan does have its advantages.  I'm not sure it's quite a 20% savings, but I guess it's all relative to where you normally reside and what your area code is.

 

Adjacent provinces visiting AB would save an additional 7% (BC) or 6% (SK), so it'd be a net savings of 16-17% with this promo.

 

Definitely worthwhile for fellow Canadians coming through AB to buy their PM vouchers from here, at the lower tax rate!

@CalgaryBen  Wow if you really want to save money and you live close to the border of Alberta or the Territories you could save up to 20% by getting the mastercard 10% rebate and saving the provincial sales tax on the vouchers. Or if you have a trip planned there you could stock up on a few vouchers or friends or family willing to pass the savings on to you.....on a $50 plan that's a savings of up to $120 per year.

CalgaryBen
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@popping wrote:

Is there any delay/wait time before you can add the voucher to  PM account?

If no, it is better to buy voucher at Shell station than drug stores.


I decided to get another (to-be-rebated) voucher to generate a couple more data points.

 

This time I asked the attendant for a $100 PM voucher, so he scanned the appropriate barcode from his binder, no problem!  It rang up at $105 (5% GST in AB).  I paid with my MC which I've registered for the promo.  Should get $10.50 back by next week (if my last test was any indication, it could show up as early as Oct 7).

 

I then walked back to my car, and dialed *611 on my PM phone.  Pressed 1 to top-up, and 1 to use voucher.  Entered 12-digit voucher PIN as instructed.  Immediately got an SMS from shortcode 100 indicating payment successfully added, and at the same time, interactive voice response system told me I successfully added $100 to my balance.  So, it was virtually available to use as soon as the attendant handed it to me (plus the time it took to walk to my car and call -- all occurred in under a minute).

@CalgaryBen  Thanks for the heads up. Just registered my card. Please note MasterCard reserves the right to end registration at any time. Here are the terms and conditions:

GET 10% cash back at Shell

Now through December 30th, get 10% discount as a statement credit on any purchase of $50 or more.

Terms & Conditions

This offer is non-transferable and available to eligible Canadian Mastercard cardholders who have successfully registered their Mastercard card number on the fuelupforless.com (redirected from Shell.ca/fuelupforless) website. This offer is valid for a limited time and eligible purchases must be made on or before December 30th, 2019 after the card has been successfully registered on the fuelupforless.com (redirected from Shell.ca/fuelupforless) website. Once credit card is registered, all purchases at a Shell location made with the registered credit card over $50 and within the offer time window will receive 10% back in the form of a statement credit rebate. The credit is applied to your Mastercard Account and will appear on your statement as a rebate. The credit will appear no later than your next statement (and typically between 3-5 business days) after the transaction from Shell is posted to your Account statement.

Advertising pertaining to cents off per litre of fuel language is an approximation based on current fuel prices. Actual conversion of cents per litre will depend on the fuel price at time of purchase and an assumption that fuel was purchased during the qualifying purchase. For example, in some regions if fuel is priced at $1.70 per litre, the actual cents per litre discount will be 17 cents per litre, conversely other regions have fuel prices closer to $1.20 per litre and the actual cents per litre discount will be 12 cents per litre.

By registering your credit card in connection to this offer, you authorize Mastercard to monitor transactions made with your registered credit card in order to: a) identify Shell transactions that you have made during the offer window, b) determine whether the conditions for a rebate to be credited to your registered credit card have been met, and c) enable the credit of the rebate on your registered credit card. The transaction data monitored will be used solely for the purpose of enabling participation in the offer, enable to processing of the rebate, and to assess results of the offer program. Offer is limited and Mastercard has the right to end card registrations for offer before offer end date.

 

CalgaryBen
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@cellphoneuser1 wrote:

I wouldn't too many vouchers at once. Gift cards can be used for gas or snacks. Do you think they will allow Public vouchers to be bought with a Shell gift card?


Oh, I see what you're saying, I think... you want to buy Shell gift cards, and then later use them to buy stuff like vouchers and what-not.  I honestly would be just guessing if I were to answer; you'd have to read the terms and conditions on the Shell gift cards.  I imagine that's doable and that they'd be redeemable on anything at Shell.


@CalgaryBen wrote:

@cellphoneuser1 wrote:

Do gift cards qualify for 10% and will they give hassle if you use gift cards to buy vouchers?


Yes, all purchases (including non-fuel) qualify:Shell3Steps.jpg

 

Many people are using this to get 10% off Amazon.ca gift cards, as well as other GCs carried by Shell.  I'm not sure what you mean about being hassled "if you use gift cards to buy vouchers" -- this thread suggests using a Mastercard to buy PM vouchers (or gift cards of your choosing, really).


I wouldn't want too many vouchers at once. Gift cards can be used for gas or snacks. Do you think they will allow Public vouchers to be bought with a Shell gift card?

CalgaryBen
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@cellphoneuser1 wrote:

Do gift cards qualify for 10% and will they give hassle if you use gift cards to buy vouchers?


Yes, all purchases (including non-fuel) qualify:Shell3Steps.jpg

 

Many people are using this to get 10% off Amazon.ca gift cards, as well as other GCs carried by Shell.  I'm not sure what you mean about being hassled "if you use gift cards to buy vouchers" -- this thread suggests using a Mastercard to buy PM vouchers (or gift cards of your choosing, really).


@CalgaryBen wrote:

@popping wrote:

Is there any delay/wait time before you can add the voucher to  PM account?

If no, it is better to buy voucher at Shell station than drug stores.


Well, I bought a voucher from Shell today, walked back to work, and was able to apply the funds to my account right away (maybe 10 minutes had elapsed by then?).  So virtually no delay as far as I can tell!


Do gift cards qualify for 10% and will they give hassle if you use gift cards to buy vouchers?

CalgaryBen
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@popping wrote:

Is there any delay/wait time before you can add the voucher to  PM account?

If no, it is better to buy voucher at Shell station than drug stores.


Well, I bought a voucher from Shell today, walked back to work, and was able to apply the funds to my account right away (maybe 10 minutes had elapsed by then?).  So virtually no delay as far as I can tell!

popping
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@CalgaryBen wrote:

@popping wrote:

Is Shell charge convenience fee for buying PM topup voucher?

I know Canadian Tire charge convenience fee for buying PM topup voucher.

 

BTW, this promo expires on December 30, 2019.


No convenience fees, at least at Shell stations I went to in Calgary -- I asked for $60, and was charged $63 (5% GST).  I applied to voucher into my PM account and now have $60 of available funds (will effectively have paid $54+tax after cash back).


Correct, promo expires December 30 per OP title (but it gets truncated on replies because the "Re:" prefix).  But you can buy a few $100 vouchers (effectively paying $90+tax) and load up your account, and be set for several months, well beyond this year!


Is there any delay/wait time before you can add the voucher to  PM account?

If no, it is better to buy voucher at Shell station than drug stores.

CalgaryBen
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@popping wrote:

Is Shell charge convenience fee for buying PM topup voucher?

I know Canadian Tire charge convenience fee for buying PM topup voucher.

 

BTW, this promo expires on December 30, 2019.


No convenience fees, at least at Shell stations I went to in Calgary -- I asked for $60, and was charged $63 (5% GST).  I applied to voucher into my PM account and now have $60 of available funds (will effectively have paid $54+tax after cash back).


Correct, promo expires December 30 per OP title (but it gets truncated on replies because the "Re:" prefix).  But you can buy a few $100 vouchers (effectively paying $90+tax) and load up your account, and be set for several months, well beyond this year!

popping
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@CalgaryBen 

Is Shell charge convenience fee for buying PM topup voucher?

I know Canadian Tire charge convenience fee for buying PM topup voucher.

 

BTW, this promo expires on December 30, 2019.

CalgaryBen
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@totalUser wrote:

Does it work with any master card


It probably has to be a bank-issued Mastercard credit card, and not a pre-paid MC.  But I'm not 100% sure.  The main thing is to register the number on the site provided, first, as they will drive the 10% credit going back to your card.

totalUser
Mayor / Maire

Nice

Thanks @CalgaryBen for spreading it

Does it work with any master card

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