London Drugs dropped Public Mobile?

[michaelcwei]

Why did London Drugs tell me that they don't activate Public Mobile sim cards? They said they would rather promote Koodoo than Public Mobile?

Where else can I activate Public Mobile sim cards other than your website?

The salesman at LD said Public Mobile is too simple to use?

Thanks.

[ShawnC13]

Oh look. PM going back to their roots. Online only and 4G plans. Will we see 90 day plans or build your own. I doubt it but you never know

[ShawnC13]

@darlicious easy there I read your post did you read mine where SIM cards are still available from Telus and Koodo Stores I know they aren't everywhere but that is how it looks PM is choosing to sell their SIM cards?  

People are making this sound like the world is ending.  If you are that concerned about needing a sim card I would order one now and keep it in a safe spot.  In the 30 or so years I have had a cell phone I have never had where a SIM has failed on me.  I have lost a phone once (that was a night of many stories) and that took a few days to get resolved just as it would now.

[softech]

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@darlicious wrote:

@softech 

Looks like the pm sim card is going the way of "the sponge". I will have to amp up my hoarding!

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@darlicious   waiting to you see setup your Amazon store for PM SIM, make sure Prime shipping is available.  LoL

[darlicious]

@softech 

Looks like the pm sim card is going the way of "the sponge". I will have to amp up my hoarding!

[darlicious]

@ShawnC13 

Did you even read my post? Being tech savvy has nothing to do with accessibility. Please don't patronize me or every customer that had been frustrated beyond belief because their sim card takes 3 weeks to arrive if at all?!!

And what is the most common solution to a failed sim card that cannot be reprovisioned, invalid sim card error message of a brand new sim card, defective sim cards, sim card fraud, lost or stolen sim cards, failed ports due to the sim card being tossed by salesperson or the customer, CPO phones delivered without the included sim card etc.....?

Everyone including customer support recommends purchasing a new sim card from a local retailer that may or may not be reimbursed by pm. Almost every community has access to a walmart or a loblaws chain store or that one cellular small business that handles all the technology needs of that community the same cannot be said of koodo or telus.

[softech]

@darlicious  , I think you should include Jade in your post.  But I agree 100% with what you said. 

Yes, taking PM away from retailers save couple bucks from commission, but it also lack the publicity needed.  

SIM cards is the basic requirement for activation.  Many people are just impulse buyers, someone promotes PM (sales do that for extra commission, existing members do it for extra bonus )  and they want to join immediately. 

But now, you have to go online and wait for PM to ship the sim cards.  We saw so many posts about people losing faith with PM because they expect sim to arrive in couple days but have been couple weeks with no update.  Also, people learned the "hard" way that PM has no traditional support for simple question like  "Where is my Sim card".    Even there is no delay in shipping and they got the sim in a week, they might already lost the interest with PM or another friend had successfully swung them into another provider

Lucky Mobile has a successful channel for selling sim card,  Dollarama for $4.  Cheap, easy and you see them clearly on the shelf (free promotion).  Price is fixed, there is no chance for those "honest" Authorized Koodo dealers to inflate the price.

So, no more signs at retailers, hard (almost impossible) to get sim card quickly, a different kind of support model, I don't know how many people still know what Public Mobile is an year from now.

OK, maybe I worried too much, probably Jade will give us some great news next week that we will see PM SIM on Walmart's shelf for $2.  There are always hopes

[ShawnC13]

@darlicious PM survived before retail and they will after.  Whenever I have ordered SIM cards I have gotten them within 3 days most from time of order usually 2 days.  With PM leaving the retail market maybe that is because they don't want to attract that group of business and are looking once again to a more tech savy customer base that for the most part can navigate themselves through issues that may arise.  Just because PM is a third tier doesn't mean they have to give their service away or even be available to all they can target the client base that they wish to.

[darlicious]

@ShawnC13 @computergeek541 

I can understand the elimination of retail activations but limiting the availibility of sim cards is incredibly short sighted. There were plenty joyous announcements on the convenience of being able to purchase a pm sim card at yet another national or large regional retailer.....Walmart, TMS at Superstore, London Drugs or online with guaranteed shipping times at conglomerates like Amazon or hard working small businesses like Canadian Cell Supplies.

What's next pm vouchers? What's the incentive for retailers to continue to sell them? There is still a good profit margin in selling sim cards. Whats the profit margin in selling vouchers? Pennies on the dollar? Or are we going to see the rise of surcharges on vouchers further exploiting "vulnerable" customers for their lack of credit?

The widespread availibility of sim cards at the retail level is not only vital to attracting new customers but retaining them too. There are plenty of customers who have had their phone lost or stolen limiting their ability to quickly replace their sim card and continue to use their service while dealing with the traumatic loss of their "whole world" and with stolen phones especially thwart possible fraud.

I will never recommend purchasing anything from koodo given the track record of some of their unscrupulous employees and penchant to charge up to double the MSRP of a pm sim card. Telus retail customer service when you are not a telus customer or even when you are can be less than desirable. And we all know how reliable public mobile's shipping times are.....if it arrives at all?!!

[ShawnC13]

@darlicious well PM did survive the online only business model before it tried entering the retail market and is now going back to its roots

[computergeek541]

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@hairbag1 wrote:

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It's actually pretty easy to activate your sim.

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Yes, it is relatively easy for most people to perform activations themselves.  People who were relying on salespeople to do the activation led to cases of some customers who weren't comfortable with navigating a Self Serve system.  

[computergeek541]

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@darlicious wrote:

@ShawnC13 

Well I think thats plain stupid....so when in desperation to swap sim cards pm customers either need to live close to a telus or a koodo store or rely on public mobile's notoriously unreliable shipping? Sounds more like the beginning of the end to me.....

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I believe that Public Mobile's entry into retail was a msitake and that it caused problems that outweighed the convenience of having more options.  Going back to strictly online is about  Public Mobile going back to what it does well and about differentiating itself from Koodo's prepaid offerings.  No brand can be the best at everything for everyone.  

[darlicious]

@ShawnC13 

Well I think thats plain stupid....so when in desperation to swap sim cards pm customers either need to live close to a telus or a koodo store or rely on public mobile's notoriously unreliable shipping? Sounds more like the beginning of the end to me.....

[ShawnC13]

@softech I only emphansized CORPORATE as that is the info I have.  It won't be stores that carry different carriers services as well.  I guess what has changed is that they aren't going to be selling them with outside retailers so they are selling them through their own retail locations

[softech]

@ShawnC13   What are the Corporate stores?  Aren't most , almost all of them we see,  only Authorized dealers?

And Telus, they used to not carry PM sim card, they changed?

[ShawnC13]

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@darlicious wrote:

@dust2dust 

Where are you getting this info that pm sim cards will no longer be available for purchase from retailers? Public mobile can kiss their business good bye if they are going to rely on their unreliable online ordering service of pm sim cards.

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@darlicious PM SIMs can still be purchased at Telus and Koodo CORPORATE stores

[dust2dust]

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@darlicious wrote:

....among other things like changes to my plan price increasing by 30%!!

I used to ❤ public mobile....now not so much. Its just kind of meh!

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They didn't raise the price. They forcefully dumped the old plan and changed your plan to a new plan that just happens to have the same limited features of the old plan but costs 30% more than the old plan. All executed illegally. But no one cares.

[LeePublic]

@dust2dust @darlicious @CountyDownIeUk Maybe this is preparation for new features like VoLTE, WiFi Calling, and possibly unlimited data? Maybe they're cooking up some benefits while going online only.

[dust2dust]

@darlicious- A logical conclusion from a business perspective. Why sell something that you get almost nothing out of rendering it not worth your while? Why take up the shelf space for a physical sim?

I kinda tend to think they ARE kissing this place goodbye.

[JL9]

Yeah not just LD, pretty much everywhere now, but you can just click on the activate link on the PM website and walks you through it pretty easily.

[darlicious]

@michaelcwei 

I dont understand why they would end retail partnerships....changes are afoot and pm doesnt feel like sharing as our info is second hand at best. You would think they would announce this important information to the community and potential new customers. I blame Darren Entwistle and his corporate greed.

Activations are relatively simple and we can walk you thru the process if needed.

Personally I hate koodo almost as much as fido and the entire rogers family.

@dust2dust 

Where are you getting this info that pm sim cards will no longer be available for purchase from retailers? Public mobile can kiss their business good bye if they are going to rely on their unreliable online ordering service of pm sim cards.

[CountyDownIeUk]

The complete version of activation was revised and easier to complete. 

If you went to a retailer to activate......either activation option new or old....you still had to complete yourself.....correct? So why not do it all?  But I must admit I had a referral and tried to help the guy in my same age group......he was slow, lost, confused and hopeless....and ported out before a month of service. There are still some people 50 and up that just can’t deal with the logic of online processes. I guess they should go to a full service supplier. 

[dust2dust]

1. Because Public has decided to do everything online now.

2. Because Koodo would give them a commission for activating. Follow the money.

3. Nowhere.

4. Too simple? And that's a bad thing?

These stores will eventually sell out of their sims due to no longer activating them. Why would they?

Use a different device or use a different browser or use incognito or clear cache and cookies.

Then click on the big Activate button up top and have a credit card or voucher handy and step through the process. It's not hard. Read everything. Other than transferring from Koodo prepaid, everything is explained. Maybe in small print.

[hairbag1]

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@michaelcwei wrote:

Why did London Drugs tell me that they don't activate Public Mobile sim cards? They said they would rather promote Koodoo than Public Mobile?

Where else can I activate Public Mobile sim cards other than your website?

The salesman at LD said Public Mobile is too simple to use?

Thanks.

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It's actually pretty easy to activate your sim. If I can do it, anyone can. The trick is to get a 7 year old child to give you guidance if you do run into a quandary.

Good luck and welcome to PM.

added...

https://publicmobile.ca/en/on/portal/activation

[LeePublic · Accepted solution]

Seems like they just moved activation to Online only. DIY from now on..... 

[MrSpock]

@michaelcwei  activations will be done online from now on,you will need to do it yourself go figure🤔