How easy is it to switch from Telus to Public Mobile? Non-techie user here...

[AlisonB]

Truthfully, I'm not at all tech-savvy, so the DIY nature of Public Mobile freaks me out a bit.  I see alot of grumbling in the forums about challenges with customer service, difficulty porting, features not working, prepay renewal issues, etc...  so I feel a bit daunted.  (The public mobile site looks straightforward enough, I have a iphone 6plus with Telus mobility (2 year contract just ended :))  I'd love some honest opinions on your experiences, pitfalls, ease of the process. 

Also, do I need to "turn off" my Telus account before I switch?  

Thanks in advance!!!

[Acekiller]

It could be very easy, or it could be very difficult depends on your luck.

[Michael77]

The community/moderators are here to help you if you decide to port and can't figure something out. So you're not alone. 😉

[xCameron94x]

@Wafik to add to your point. Yes the mods are quick. But if there is a hot promo and most people experience a porting issue, then a backlog is created and some people are without service for a few days. Which could be a deal breaker for some

[Wafik]

Welcome @AlisonB, I just want to piggyback @Luddite's comment about the fact that you were able to post a message in the correct forum.  Should you have any problems that you are unable to solve or any questions, just find the right forum and post the same way you just did.  That is literally all you need to know to have your issues taken care of.  The community is active and friendly and almost overly helpful.  You will probably get a reply faster than when you call Telus customer support.

If you require something beyond what people on the forum can do, it is as simple as messaging someone on the Moderator team.  To do this, there are directions all over the forums, but even if you forget all you have to do is ask and you will probably get five people providing you with direct links to click.

I had zero issue porting my number but ran into problems porting over my wife's number and the community quickly told me what to do and the Moderators were able to quickly resolve my issue.  The "striped down" model at PM is probably my favourite customer service experience I have ever had with one company and I could not be happier, which I feel has got to be rare with cell phone companies.

[will13am]

While the Public Mobile self serve portal is far from perfect, it is not as bad as the community forum posts indicate.  A lot of successes are not mentioned, while practically all the failures are.  I equate the set up process to cutting a piece of wood; measure twice, cut once.  So, before clicking the button of no return at the bottom, double check all the entries to make sure everything is in order and the process should be virtually trouble free.  I helped a friend do a new activation with port earlier today.  It took maybe 5 minutes to navigate all the screens. 

[Luddite]

DO NOT close your Telus account. If you wish to keep your phone number, the Telus account must remain active until that is completed. Your Telus account will close automatically once the transfer is finished and they will issue a refund for any advanced payments you have made.

I have personally transferred 3 Telus numbers to PM without issue. 

As you have posted a question properly here you already have sufficient DIY knowhow to manage here. While there is no tech support you may call, this forum is quite active and responsive. Some have claimed it is actually better than waiting for on the phone for support.

I recommend you read this https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/quot-Risk-Free-quot-Activation-costs-...

and ask all the questions that occur to you BEFORE activating and porting your Telus number. 

[xCameron94x]

Telus owns public mobile. So its essentially the same service, just a different model. I haven't experienced any real issues yet where I require a mod. Infact ever since I've owned a phone I have had no issues with any provider that I have.

PM is all prepaid, not sure if you are on Telus post paid or not. So you'll pay in advance for everything. If you run out of data, you need to buy more. One real major pitfall is if your account goes into suspension, a mod will have to reactivate it for you after you add funds.

You do not need to cancel or turn off your Telus account. That's all done when your number gets ported. Also if your port fails you'll need a mod to help with that too

[koimr1]

I am willing to bet the vast majority of customers did not and do not have any problems or you'd see tens of thousands of messages here daily. 🙂

I had issues transferring from Freedom but the mods sorted things out pretty quickly and I've had no problems since (in fact, couldn't be happier).

I couldn't tell you what you'll experience differently from Telus but be aware that PM actually is owned by Telus and uses the same towers so coverage and speed should be similar if not the same.

I don't know what features your Telus plan has so make sure you research what you'd be getting with PM.

As for "turning off" your Telus account - if you are going to port your number to PM then NO do NOT do so - during the porting process PM will take care of closing your Telus account.

If you do decide to switch and no one corrects what I've written here 🙂 then keep in mind that if there's any problems just contact a moderator with your phone number, sim #, email address and a brief description of the issue via a PRIVATE message (don't post your personal info publically).

Best of luck!

[SD08]

Here's a guide for switching to Public Mobile:
https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/BE-PREPARED/m-p/112014#M20827
I encourage you to read it thoroughly.

Important: If you are transferring from Telus prepaid service to PM, use a different e-mail address for PM than the one you use with Telus.

It is highly recommended to separate the activation from the port to minimize the risk of an activation/porting error.  First activate the SIM by taking a new number from PM, verify the service works (incoming & outgoing calls/text/data), then port the number from Telus through your self-serve account.  

DO NOT cancel your Telus account before the porting is complete, or your port will fail and you'll lose the phone number.  When the port is complete, your Telus account will automatically be cancelled.

The majority of activations and transfers experience no problems. Once you have everything set up, I'm quite sure you'll enjoy PM's reliable natioinal coverage at competitive prices.