Know What You're Signing Up For

[jigginsmcgee]

I've seen a significant amount of frustration on the forums from people who really didn't know what they were signing up for. People blinded by a good deal that weren't really understanding what "no call centres or stores" really means for them.

I know Public Mobile doesn't want to advertise something negative (like delayed response times for customer support questions) but it might relieve some frustration by making it a little clearer during signup (granted, I haven't done this process recently and I'm not sure what the current language looks like).

I'd also like to take this moment as an opportunity to thank the moderators (who I won't tag here in an effort to keep that inbox cleaner ). This recent promotion has likely flooded them and I'm sure they are finishing each day still with messages to answer which is always an awful feeling.

I've been loving being a PM customer and enjoy the community aspect to it all. Fingers crossed that things settle down after the promotion ends and we can get back to happier messages!

[Rockdaddy22]

@jwestacott the mods can fix those issues in minutes it's no problem. Its just because of this promo, people not knowing how to enter their info correctly and system bugs that has caused a backlog. Normally there is no backlog and plan changes are made in minutes by our amazing mods. Plus we have 2 more mods than we had just a few months ago.

[Watoko]

Excellent points, and this is where we would hope that Public Mobile has learned their lesson and has gained more resources from this promo period to get more representatives, and/or to get a software team going to fix potential issues before we get to that point.

[jwestacott]

I hope so too but my gorwing concern is (as mentioend above) what happens in 90 days when all these new customers start experiencing issues with auto renewal?

[jwestacott]

I would agree that its not all doom and gloom. My husband was able to activate his sim and port his number over without issue. We awere also able to signup for a new number for my son. The issue is that when something does go wrong (which there seems to be a significant percentage that do) it feels like you are being held hostage where you are now paying for two accounts and your number and services are caught somewhere in the middle with no other option but to sit and wait. That might be fine for some that just use mobile as "nice to have" but for others that rely on it for your day to day communication with the outside world a week before you are even acknowledged is not acceptable. 

Also my bigger concern is what happens in 90 days when all these new customers start experiencing issues with autopay not working correctly or the promo dorpping off their account? Are we right back in the same place? Is this the new norm now that PMs customer base has exploded? Would be nice to have these concerns officially addressed.

I would also agree that not urgent issues like not getting referral bonuses etc should take a back seat at the moment to users who are without service.

[UDP7]

I understand your points and in no way saying that justifies the slow process of getting people service when they already have your money. Public Mobile was simply not prepared and I hope they can make it up to their customers that waited and to the customers that couldn't get on this great promotion in time because they encountered so many errors during the process of registration. We'll just have to wait and see once they sort things out.

[mimmo]

Not sure how the queue is being porcessed, but am sure there must be some sort of system. 🙂 Hopefully it isn't the most vocal get served first.  There is a thread for successful ports as well http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Discussions/Successful-Ports-Thread/m-p/85720#M22727 , so it isn't all negative.  as mentioned its usually the negative issues that get most air time.  Hopefully these customers once their problems have been solved will enjoy the PM service and help in the community. 

I think we can all help our team of mods, by not tagging them needlessly, reading the previous posts and solutions, and leaving some  non emergency  issues till after the promo has settled (like refferal rewards), so they can deal with the big issues. 

[jigginsmcgee]

If it was then how does PM explain that some users are having their issue addressed within 24 hours and others are going close to a week without their messages even being read????

That sucks. You'll find no argument from me here. It's frustrating, tiring, and not a good first impression. I think it's important to remember that we're dealing with a small team that was not prepared for the onslaught that the promotion brought. That's condemnable for sure (and on PM to fix) but we should remember that the people that are here, the ones we're interacting with, are human and humans are prone to error.

[jwestacott]

The issue is that in some of our cases even though you may have done your research and understand that there may be an outside chance of running into some issues and having to wait for help that doesn't really make up for your issue not even being acknowledged for up to a week while others are addressed within 24 hours. PM advertises all over the forum that PM messages go into a queue and are addressed in order to be fair to all but when you go through the forum that is clearly not the case. If it was then how does PM explain that some users are having their issue addressed within 24 hours and others are going close to a week without their messages even being read????

[Watoko]

Yeah, it's like banking services like Tangarine and President's Choice. It's not for everybody because they don't have any physical locations (like branches) or tellers, but for those who don't mind managing things online and using only bank machines, going with these banks will have their perks such as no monthly account fees and free cheques. And the only way these companies are able to bring about these perks is by focusing traditional services elsewhere. This is the basis of Public Mobile, and is the way of the future!

[UDP7]

Before I even ordered my SIM, I was browsing through the forums and doing my research. I knew there could be a possibility of wait time. I understand their frustration that they paid PM already and are getting the service they asked for and I do hope PM does something in return once this figure this whole mess out, but wish these customers that are complaining did their own research about what PM is about before they dove in.