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Public Mobile SIM purchasing experience, very frustrating

drsiha
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

I just want to share the experience about buying a SIM card this morning. I expected it to be a smooth and quick process which ended up taking me more than 2 hours.

 

WALMART - I went there first. Arrived at 10:20 but no one showed up at the wireless service counter. Waited 30~40 min then talked to the manager-on-duty. She called on a internal line and finally someone very rude mysteriously came out from somewhere. I don't want such ppl make money from me so I left.

 

The Mobile Shop - My second stop. I talked to that guy and he said yes but he was activating a postpaid service for someone and asked me to wait 30 min??? This is very ridiculous. He could use another vacant computer at the side and spend less than 1 minute to make the sale!!! His brain must have been smashed somewhere!

 

WOW Mobile - The guy said I must activate with them??? I doubt he is just greedy about the commission and made up such rules. Since I was running late for my work so I didn't argue with him.

 

Koodo Mobile - Finally got the SIM card.

 

So, Public Mobile, why not just make your SIM cards as a general merchandise and sell at grocery stores and allow everyone to grab and pay at SELF-CHECKOUT and avoid greedy &stupid sales person?

7 REPLIES 7

@drsiha 

Unfortunately Wal-Mart is well known in the community to be difficult to purchase an unactivated SIM card from even when it's only needed for a sim swap and cannot be activated. Although they can be more reasonable in smaller communities with limited options to purchase SIM cards.

 

I am disappointed in your experience with both TMS and WowMobile as they have had generally good reviews. I am usually very wary of koodo so I am happy to hear your experience purchasing a sim card from them was uneventful.

 

In western Canada London Drugs is pretty good despite a few less than satisfactory activations of late my numerous interactions with their mobile department for pm products has been very good. Some locations are better than others.....sim cards can be found at select best buy locations, 7/11, Shell, Husky and Mobil stations. Some loblaws, provigo and no frills also carry them in the east.

 

More commonly they are often found at small businesses that deal with some aspect of technology, computers, device repair etc will sell pm sim cards, vouchers and may also do activations. Independent authorized Apple dealers often sell them, the cellphone repair kiosk at the local mall is another good source.

 

Online there is pm but their shipping times range from 3 days to 3 weeks. Amazon often has them on sale and with prime shipping is free. It's a bit buyer beware on eBay. Canadian Cell Supplies (CSS) has become a very reliable online source for many members who can't make it to their retail store in North York or their pick up location in Mississauga. They ship via Canada Post usually within 5 business days across the country.(Free w/a discounted activation bundle or $5 or less.)

 

They can often be found discounted or for free(when using their referral code) on Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, kijiji and other resale sites. While they are not offered openly here on the community many of the "regulars" have extra SIM cards at home who once private messaged will help out someone in their local community having difficulty obtaining a sim card in time to activate with a flash sale promotion.

 

Using the store locator link at the bottom of community page will show all the retail locations in your community that sell various pm products on a map and list their addresses and contact info.

@Nicknox123  a week is definitely reasonable.  Many reported that they didn't get the SIM from PM after 3 weeks

 

Did they send you via Canada Post regular mail?

 

Nicknox123
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@softech I didn't find it took too long, maybe a week or two, but I suppose it depends how quickly you want to make the change! 

gpixel
Mayor / Maire

they also charge you a ridiculous amount($20) for the sim card if you choose not to activate with them. 

esjliv
Mayor / Maire

Hello @drsiha ,

 

Not a good experience, agreed. 😣

 

Share your feedback for these locations here, not sure if it results to anything, but you never know:

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/providing-feedback-on-stores

 

 

Hopefully, from this point on, things will be smoother sailing.

LeePublic
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

A quick way to obtain a SIM without hassle is the gas station, some gas stations like Shell carry Public Mobile SIM cards.

softech
Oracle
Oracle

@drsiha  Yes, some stores would like to save their SIM for activation so they get more commission, I guess

 

From what I know, not all Koodo store carries PM SIM.   

 

I think someone said Telus store might sell PM SIM, too.  But I checked couple Telus stores myself and they said they don't carry it.

 

In future, you might want to buy from Amazon if you have Prime Membership.

 

.. but definitely not from PM online, takes too long for delivery.

 

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