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Is Public Even Worth It Anymore?

Bobby73
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Usually, I take the good with the bad. Aside from these random inexplicable occurances that plague this network everyday (dropped calls, no texts, data usage  or data availability, etc) have you really noticed the new rewards program and structure? Like how is that incentive to stay? I've been with Public going on 5 years now and aside from the 1 number I simply couldnt use anymore because it was being used on the DarkWeb and I was getting so much spam through every channel that it became unusable. So i got another number and couldnt trasfer any of the perks or addon's I had amassed up that point. Nothing was done, Public never even entertained the notion of some type of compensation for my loss. But the rewards program, it sucks to say the least. For 5mb of data as an addon, is 5 points, for every 12 months of loyalty to Public as a customer, they grace you with 12 points. And for every $1 your spend on your bill, you get 5% back. 

Well just now, as I was scolling through it, I just did the quick math and realized it is hardly incentive to stay? If you pay $25 month for your plan, you get a whopping 1.25 points.  200mb of data is 5 pts. We all know how quickly 200 mb of data gets eaten. Especially on this network. So if you were restricted to a tight monthly budget, which alot of people are these days, then you would need to wait 5 months just to be able to redeem your 200mb data addon with your points. I mean the best redemption item there is the $15 bill deduction. But under the new reward program, you need 1.5 years of 5% money back points just to get that. And even so, you can't even apply that until your 'next' billing cycle. It's not even instant. Which in my opinion, in this day and age, everything should be and can be instant. All I know, is that right now, there is another service provider in Canada, who is offering unlimited talk and text and 25GB of data for the same price. But the best part, I think is the option to speak with an actual person (through voice or online chat support) when you need real help from a real person. 

12 REPLIES 12

coleeeeee17
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

  I also miss the past bill cycle of every 90 days, and I like a - off my bill better than the sound of points!

 

Cheers, have a good afternoon .

coleeeeee17
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Personally I like not dealing with a sales person on the phone trying to sell you a deal when you want to leave. I also have found reception really good compared to others without a contract. I like that I can change things on my own will without being annoyed by a representative behind the phone when I want changes. 


@Bobby73 wrote:

1 point per referral is a low ball, hardly worth referring at all discount. Think about what your saying. When it comes to quality of service, customer resolution and satisfaction, Public is hardly noticable. Most people in Canada still, have never heard of Public mobile. A referral at the very least should be an equal amount applicable to your account. 1 point is a measly 5% of their pending $25 monthly bill. 5% for bringing another monthly $25 invoice to Public seems hardly thankful at all. I mean referrals are more about people going out of their way to bring more business to the company. But here it seems like Public sees it as them doing you a favour just by letting you refer someone to them. Even if it was possible to transfer add-on's and unused mins and data from one account to another, then even that would be so helpful. But even that is asking or wanting to much. Human interaction goes further and speaks more volumes than you may think. The fact that getting real human support is like looking for water in the sahara desert here says alot. It like they couldn't be bothered with real issues that require real assistance in real time. Look at how many people here have left posts of account issues that seemingly never get resolved or addressed. In a communication company, communication should be front and center. You see it as 'Well, it could be worse" kinda situation. That itself might or could be grounds for a .....re-election? 😉  Just sayin.


I will agree that the current points system is a step backwards compared to the old reward system.  It speaks somewhat to how rich the old system was for customers.  That said, the recurring rewards are quite rewarding, no pun intended.  If you refer someone who likes this service and stays for the long haul the reward becomes perpetual and all for a tiny bit of effort.  The outcome is symbiotic, beneficial to the service provider and the customer.  As good shoppers we are fully cognizant of the support model Public Mobile uses when we sign up for the service.  As a result, we would not end up doing something like looking for water in a desert.  No service provider can be the right choice for every customer.  If you make a mistake, move on and find something better.  As for this forum airing all of Public Mobile's dirty laundry, we should expect nothing else considering this is a help forum.    

Pawprints1986
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

You have me curious which carrier you're referring to with the similar plan, is it a higher price plan? 

dust2dust
Mayor / Maire

I interpreted this whole darkweb bit from the OP as using the hollywood generic term thinking that his number is being used by nefarious entities and getting all the spam. I did not interpret the mention as that he participates in these kinds of activities.

While some incorrect facts or assumptions were stated, I also took the OP as a commentary on the place.

@Bobby73 

I'm so confused.. you activated a new SIM and number and you're trying to add those perks to your new SIM? or did you change the number on your current sim and you lost your rewards and add-ons? 

 

I rarely need customer support. I've never contacted customer support for service issues. when you learn how to do that you'll like the service 

You mentioned your number being used on the DarkWeb...sorta sounded like you voluntarily had an account there.

You've been with PM for around 5 years and in all that time, you musta had some satisfactory experience. You knew that PM only had Community Forum crowd sourced suggestions to answer questions not account related.

If you were getting too many scam type calls you can change your number without losing your Rewards. I'm assuming you didn't opt out of Rewards in favour of Points. BTW...we all know Points suck !!

You do get real human support here...looks like only minutes after your last post and someone will help you.

I'd suggest you stick it out for awhile...a cooling off period, shall we say.

esjliv
Mayor / Maire

Public Mobile is an online customer support model @Bobby73 . Support is either here on the Community with other customers and member like you, or contacting Public Mobile Customer Support (CSA) through the ticketing system/private message.

Yes, it is a phone company without a phone number to call for customer service/support. 🙂

 

You have been here nearly 5 years and converted to points? Well, the Public Points rewards are better than nothing I suppose. But I agree with you (as I am sure many others would) the old Reward program is a more attractive program to many.

 

The "inexplicable occurances" are not great to hear though. This has been happening for nearly 5 years? What trouble shooting have you tried to help with network issues?

Bobby73
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

I never had a darkweb account. Or what do you mean? And I did ask. All I got was, " No, transfers of add-on's are not possible" 

Bobby73
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

1 point per referral is a low ball, hardly worth referring at all discount. Think about what your saying. When it comes to quality of service, customer resolution and satisfaction, Public is hardly noticable. Most people in Canada still, have never heard of Public mobile. A referral at the very least should be an equal amount applicable to your account. 1 point is a measly 5% of their pending $25 monthly bill. 5% for bringing another monthly $25 invoice to Public seems hardly thankful at all. I mean referrals are more about people going out of their way to bring more business to the company. But here it seems like Public sees it as them doing you a favour just by letting you refer someone to them. Even if it was possible to transfer add-on's and unused mins and data from one account to another, then even that would be so helpful. But even that is asking or wanting to much. Human interaction goes further and speaks more volumes than you may think. The fact that getting real human support is like looking for water in the sahara desert here says alot. It like they couldn't be bothered with real issues that require real assistance in real time. Look at how many people here have left posts of account issues that seemingly never get resolved or addressed. In a communication company, communication should be front and center. You see it as 'Well, it could be worse" kinda situation. That itself might or could be grounds for a .....re-election? 😉  Just sayin.

softech
Oracle
Oracle

@Bobby73   the new Point system is definitely not as attractive

 

But if you are on $25 or $15 plan , your choice is only between Chatr, Lucky.  (Maybe Freedom as well, but Freedom is a different kind of game)  With Chatr, Lucky, PM, the plan are pretty much identical, and PM still have a slight edge in terms of discount from the points reward.  Some discount is still better than no discount.   And, if you can bring in your friends, 1 Point per referral per cycle is still very decent discount on a $15 or $25 plan

 

But for $40 plan and above? you likely get better deals elsewhere and you can look into Tier 2 providers with Postpaid plan.  

popping
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

Did you close your dark web account?

If not, change the phone number of the dark web account with the old reward system and close the new account with the points system. 

 

If you ask first, this is the answer you will get just by change the phone number and get rid of most of the spams.  But you still get spam depending on the previous owner of the new number on how s/he was using the number.

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