Friend referral code activation impossibility (a cautionary tale)

[Chieflief]

I wish Public Mobile would stop sending me info on 'special deals' to refer a friend, when it is impossible to use the referral code.  Has anyone else had this problem?

I 'referred a friend' before the October 31st deadline to hopefully take advantage of a 'special deal' at one of two shops in my town that provide SIM cards for Public Mobile... but my friend could only get a Koodo SIM card (and as a result was unable to use my referral code).  "No problem", I thought, since the employee told us that Koodo and Public Mobile are merging (the parent company being Telus), "I will go to the Telus store to retroactively have my referral code honoured".  My friend had her Koodo SIM card activated at the first store, and then we headed to the second store, a Telus store.  There, the Telus employee told us, "Oh, no, we don't deal with Public Mobile.  We don't even have Public Mobile SIM cards available."

So there it is.  Be aware that Public Mobile's 'special deal' teasers may get you nowhere.

[DDM69]

There are no problems with the Public Mobile referrals. The problem is when you involve or listen to other dealers. You just have to try not to expose yourself to it.  Don’t believe everything you hear.

[darlicious]

@Chieflief 

Wow. Koodo lives up to its reputation that they will do or say anything to make a sale. Did your friend activate a prepaid account or a postpaid account? Postpaid would be easier to return to the store and return the Sim card saying the service recieved is not what was promised and ask for a refund as per your rights as a customer set out in the WCC that you have 15 days to change your mind and recieve a full refund.

You can do the same with a prepaid account but you can easily be refused as per the terms of service. You would need to file a complaint with the CCTS based on the misrepresentation of the product being sold. A complaint to the Competition Board of Canada would have merit as well. Informing the manager of your intentions including complaining to telus about the actions of the koodo employee may get you a refund but it's very YMMV.

This still does not help you get a pm Sim card in time to activate by 11:59:59pm on the 31st. If you have an Amazon prime account you may get overnight delivery. Tell us hour location and maybe there is a community member near you that can help you out with a Sim card. Plan ahead by purchasing a couple of pm Sim cards online so you always have them on hand for these kind of situations. Last time I looked they were still BOGO free from pm online 

[gpixel]

@Chieflief 

maybe you should purchase some now from Amazon. Christmas promotions will be coming up maybe you can get your friend to switch from Koodo to PM on the next promo

[dust2dust]

Lying clerks and the mistaken notion that one can go to a store and activate with Public.

What was the exact text of the "special deal"?

Sim's can only be bought from some corporate Telus or Koodo stores now and no stores will activate. Sims can be bought online from Public or Amazon. Public only activates online now.

If the sim had been bought somewhere somehow then it would then need to be activated online and then the referral code could be used.