Public Mobile is a phone company. And it can't make phone calls

[rwarren777]

It took me 4 hours to get a very basic problem resolved, via a series of back-and-forth online messages, needing to wait for replies every time after sending a response. If we were on a live phone call it would have been resolved in 5 minutes. I spent all afternoon checking my computer for responses from the CSR. 4 hours of my entire day wasted for a simple issue that would have been 5 minutes if .... get this .... IF THE PHONE COMPANY WAS ABLE TO USE A PHONE. But Public Mobile... a phone company... is not able to make phone calls. Triple Derp. Do people shop at bakeries where the staff can not bake? Do people go to car dealerships owned by companies that can not manufacture cars? Do people engage the services of an accountant who can not process tax returns? Sigh. I'm new to Public Mobile and regretting it already but I don't have the time or patience to go through the process of switching to another provider so for now I'll put up with it and move elsewhere in the future.

[rwarren777]

@barndoor  I agree 100% and what you said is good insight. For me however I don't have time or interest in putting more time into it (thus the 'resolved' acceptance on my part) because over the years in my personal experience I have invested... *ahem* wasted an astronomical amount of time offering my opinion or ideas on various companies' service and noticed a gazillion other people doing the same. And here we are decades later and the *ahem* service provided by the vast majority - close to all - companies has plummeted to dismal levels that would have sparked a revolt 25 years ago. Today it is actually normal to wait 20, 30, 60 minutes to get "service" if we can call it that, not to mention fighting with bots that don't understand anything and just point you to 'help' articles that rarely help, we have to dance through a frustrating maze of "press one for... blah blah..." and we have to listen to literally 2 minutes of info and disclaimers before trying to get to the right department, we sit on hold for 10 minutes... 40 minutes... 2 hours.. actually for real, we have to wait not minutes but hours and in some cases days to get replies. If this occurred 25 years ago it would be national news, politicians would be getting lambasted for letting our companies decline to absurd "service" levels and company execs would be getting enough daily hate mail to bury an elephant. And now the consumer rolls over and takes the punishment, and then sends referrals to get some kind of rewards, points, or tiny discounts.

OK, do I sound bitter? hahahaha. I'm actually not bitter. I just see it for what it is and my experience with PM does not come as a surprise. It's just another step in the ever-increasing spiral downwards of horrific delays, hoops to jump through, and all other manner of obstacles to get an issue resolved. You know it was just 15 years ago where some companies would answer their phone with a human voice, say 'hello' and start on your issue, and just 25 years ago where that was common. Now users send in service tickets and get bot replies saying it could take 24-48 hours to get an email response... which then often triggers a painful series of back-and-forth messaging.

Let's ban the internet and go back to type-writers and analogue phones! hahaha.

Oh well. I'm done with it, moving on.

[barndoor]

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@rwarren777 wrote:

This issue will not truly have a solution until Public Mobile comes forward and makes a service commitment to process requests in a timely manner and quite possibly offers an additional method for users to communicate, such as a call back method or live chat, etc.

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@rwarren777 :By marking Darlicious's post as a "solution"  have you not just sent the message to PM management  that status quo is acceptable  because that is what she suggested. 

I think this discussion is only now getting to what the problem really is  but hey if we are going in circles I have better things to do  ...  more shopping  in fact ... I see there are a lot more plans out there(just in the last week or so) very competitively priced with the plan I am on here ... 😉

[rwarren777]

Hey barndoor,

I accepted it as a solution partly because it is useful info to get a start on troubleshooting should it be needed in the future and also because this thread is starting to go around in circles with some people randomly tossing in their opinion about what method is the best for a company to provide service and various comments about what is and what is not acceptable. I have replied to most comments enough to make a few key points very clear, mainly that a very long turnaround time is not acceptable and that Public Mobile needs to offer a method for people to get a fast resolution when they are in an urgent situation and need to get their service back up and running. Since my main points are very clear I don't see much more utility to this thread apart from more people tossing in their opinion. This issue will not truly have a solution until Public Mobile comes forward and makes a service commitment to process requests in a timely manner and quite possibly offers an additional method for users to communicate, such as a call back method or live chat, etc. As for what you said about us as customers needing to have the info with us in case it is needed, yeah I did exactly that; I copied the info to my notes app. It should not be required to have to keep notes on how to communicate. I think PM should put a "Talk now" button for service so we can go right to a live agent via phone or live chat and be able to avoid waiting for a message reply to get things solved. But who knows if that will ever happen.

A polite note to anyone who wants to toss in their views as to whether that will happen or not or if you like it or not, please don't post anything that has already been stated above in this thread; it is indeed starting to go around in circles so please only post if you have something new to add; please read above before posting. Thanks to all and let's leave this in management's hands to see if they can come up with improved service.

[barndoor]

@rwarren777   ...just curious why you accepted @darlicious 's post as the solution  when as per your original post accessing a CSR was not the problem  it was the information exchange process.   Yes Darlicious suggested  you send all that info ahead of time(assuming you even had it at the the bank) but does that not beg the question ...why did the PM employee not make the same suggestion to resolve your issue in a timely manner ?  While this system seems to work well to keep the price down for a few customers that participate here it certainly doesn't seem to help in the big picture . 

I guess if nothing else...maybe what this does highlight is that maybe as customers we need to write this info down and carry it on our person at all times because you never know when you are going to need it .Maybe tape it on the back of the phone so it is handy .🤣

[darlicious · Accepted solution]

@rwarren777 

Here is the solution to your issue since you have quite clearly stated the original issue was a quick fix on the part of the CSA. On a regular basis when I have a simple issue that needs the help of a CSA to fix on the account side it is normally resolved in 10 minutes from the time I send a private message. Of course you would not have known this if you did not consult the community first and provided you with my particular method of resolving an issue by using private messaging.

FYI....to tag a member so members know who you are replying to....tap the "@" key for pop up box to appear with usernames or keep typing til the username does finally appear for you to tap on....

Spoiler

Send a private message...   Contact the CSA's (formerly moderators) by sending a private message and leave a detailed message explaining your issue and the info to verify your account by including the following information:  

1. Full name and address on pm account. ( Or province and postal code for newer accounts.)
2. Email, phone # and pin #.

If  you cannot remember your pin # include at least three ( if they apply)of the following:

1.  Date of birth (n/a on newer accounts.)
2. Last payment, date, amount, type and last 4 digits.
3. Alternate phone number if any.
4. Security question and answer.
5. Plan amount, any add ons or promos on account.
6. Last 4 digits of sim card.
7. Any rewards in your account.
8. Autopay y/n?
9. Account #.
10. Frequently called/texted phone numbers in the last 30 days.  

The average wait time is 2 to 4 hours but be prepared to wait up to 48 hours for non urgent requests. Current wait times are about one hour and are probably even less as I have had some very quick responses in the past several months.

Keep an eye on your private message box the envelope icon next to your avatar for a little number to pop indicating a message from the CSA's (formerly moderators.) Responding promptly will speed up service times.

 Do not post any of this info in the community only in your private messages when communicating or contacting the Moderator_Team/CSA's.

  To send a private message to the CSA's (formerly moderators) click below
: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

[barndoor]

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@Korth wrote:

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Disagree.

There is signup, activation, configuring your device (APN settings, etc) ... it all takes the same amount of time whether you do it yourself or you stand around watching somebody else do it for you. It's also all one-time stuff, you don't have to do it again.

All the instructions you need are presented every step of the way. Just follow instructions and 99% of the time there won't be any further issues or delays.

Anyone who thinks a quick call will fix things in 5 minutes is deluded. It takes them twice as long to just collect your information, lol. So yes, Public Mobile is not for impatient people who want instant results ... but no other phone provider is going to please them either.

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@Korth  ...Hard to remain patient when the combine breaks and you go to use your phone to call for parts  and you can't because PM comes on and says you have no minutes left  .... except that you have 98 minutes left . It is time consuming to have to get someone elses  phone to make the call  .  And it is disconcerting to come here and be told  you need to switch the phone to airplane mode , or reset the sim , or oh it's just a glitch that happens sometimes ,give it an hour and it will be fine . 

I don't feel I'm deluded to think that a five minute call would fix my issue ....because until I joined PM I never had this issue . Oh and btw from what I understand from experienced customers here I shouldn't be surprised if there is a repeat performance.

The only reassuring bit to this is that since no sim is needed I would assume that I could still call 911 if  I needed to and my phone would still work .

[rwarren777]

What you said does not apply to the situation I encountered. The problem was on their end and it was indeed a quick fix. The reason it took 4 hours is because the CSR literally asked one question at a time, which I replied to and then had to wait a long time for the next single statement or single question. The entire discussion would have been done and buttoned up within minutes if it was a live phone call. As for your message, it was unnecessarily insulting. I am certainly not deluded, as the CSR informed me of what the fix was so I know it indeed was a simple solution, as for 'following instructions', the error was on their side, not mine, and as for 'impatient people who want instant results', I am actually a very patient person but can objectively assess that a 4 hour turnaround time is too long. If you read my prior posts you will see that I was stuck waiting at a bank with a CSR and a bank manager waiting and lost an entire afternoon. That's simple objective facts, not being impatient.

[Korth]

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@barndoor wrote:

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@rwarren777 wrote:

 Especially considering there are situations where people are really in a jam and can't wait an hour... or 4 hours... to get their service up and running when it's just a 5 minute fix.

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The way I'm seeing things working around here the people you are referring to should likely consider a different provider . 

 Service here is cheaper outlay ...but you'll pay the difference in time spent . 

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Disagree.

There is signup, activation, configuring your device (APN settings, etc) ... it all takes the same amount of time whether you do it yourself or you stand around watching somebody else do it for you. It's also all one-time stuff, you don't have to do it again.

All the instructions you need are presented every step of the way. Just follow instructions and 99% of the time there won't be any further issues or delays.

Anyone who thinks a quick call will fix things in 5 minutes is deluded. It takes them twice as long to just collect your information, lol. So yes, Public Mobile is not for impatient people who want instant results ... but no other phone provider is going to please them either.

[t_p]

Anyway, PM is not the only company to adopt this business model, and I doubt it'll be the last.

Contact us | Fizz

[AE_Collector]

I think it is likely normal to figure a little provider may have great customer service but things like their network could be lacking. In this case the network is great other than limits placed on the product such as “3G like speeds” and increasingly relevant will be the lack of VoLTE but the service level is sort of forced to be lower than expectation to keep all Telus customers from switching to the low cost provider.

AE_Collector

[softech]

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@Yummy wrote:

Every new customer should do proper due diligence research before signing up with any service (not only phone) in order Not to be later 'disappointed'.

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Agree.. but usually people just look at the price only  ... 

[Yummy]

Every new customer should do proper due diligence research before signing up with any service (not only phone) in order Not to be later 'disappointed'.

PM being no frills mobile/budget service provider has particular business model where NO live support is offered.

Most PM can live with that as outstanding Community support is able to resolve 99% of issues. CSA has to be contacted only for account issues.

[AE_Collector]

@rwarren777 

One aspect of Public Mobile is that things would very likely be much different if it were a small company trying to take on the big guys. Things can be so much easier to change in a small company compared to a huge company.

But that isn’t the scenario here. They are the lowest tier from Telus to provide a lowest cost service. Telus has the middle and upper tier that people can move to if they want “better anything” from their cell provider and that is how they run PM. It is a bit unfortunate but at least we have some price/service options unlike in the past. It comes down to what our time is worth to us and how much we are willing to pay for our cell service.

Customer Service speed certainly isn’t the only thing that could easily work much better around here!

AE_Collector

[Dtack]

@rwarren777  - ouch - not a good start with PM, but hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here.  While you might think a phone call would be a quick solution...these days between being put on hold, transferred to an incorrect area and then being disconnected or not having a call returned, I'm not sure your solution may have been any quicker by a phone call.  I would absolutely come to the Community first for suggestions before anything else.  I have loved PM and the savings, so fingers crossed before long you will as well!

[esjliv]

@rwarren777 

Sorry to hear you had a rough start with PM services. Hope you have much smoother sailing from here on out.

If you just ported over to Public Mobile, then needed a text to be received to your phone from a bank, this could likely be one issue...since some short codes may not work for a few days on your new service/activation.

Not being able to make calls is either a phone (certain trouble-shooting is recommended often here on the Community for this), or account issue (CSAs need to be involved). 

I understand not being able to talk to someone when you have a question/issue can be something to get used to. But, if you know how to research here on the Community, and in the Help articles, and how to ask a question here, then you are already a big step in the right direction!

Best of luck to you going forward - onward and upward, I say!

[rwarren777]

I agreed with your disclaimer idea. In my case I signed up in person through a reseller. He did a good job overall and took care of a few glitches in the activation process so I'm quite happy with him. He reviewed the way the plans work overall but I can not remember how much detail he went into, if any at all, regarding whether service was or was not available via a phone call. He may have mentioned online support but I don't remember if he said that it was the only option. I actually liked signing up through a reseller because I like supporting people who have the ingenuity and courage to create their own income and he was legitimately very friendly and helpful. I like your idea of Public Mobile putting a disclaimer on their front page but when I think about marketing and a company's need to attract customers I don't think the management team and especially those in charge of marketing would want to mention anything that is limiting or negative in their front-and-centre messages. But it should be certainly highlight more; not just that they have online service but making it clear that talking on the phone with a CSR is not an option.

[rwarren777]

If you read my responses above you'd see that my assessment is indeed fair. To your specific comment, in some situations a person would not need to actively wait 4 hours, they could bounce back-and-forth; that is inefficient and annoying but it could be done. In my situation I was at a bank with a bank CSR and a bank manager waiting for me to finalize a transaction. I made the best of it but there was not much I could do, so it was essentially a waste of an entire afternoon. A great option Public Mobile should consider is the call back; the user would not have to wait to get through to a CSR and if it was a routine service issue like mine turned out to be it would be resolved on a subsequent phone call.

[barndoor]

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@softech wrote:

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I think one thing you are unfair.. You have waited 4 hours.. but you don't have to actively waiting for the full 4 hours.  You likely only need to check your inbox message every 15 mins for an update.    Also, usually you don't have to reply immediately, you have 24 hours to reply in case you are busy or  you are not in  a rush to resolve your issue. 

@softech  ...spoken like a true PM minion  .😀

PM should post that disclaimer with their front page notice about how all service is on line .😄

[BKNS27]

@rwarren777 

I tell friends that are planning to switch to PM if they are not confident with computers or not have patience to go to a PM retailer and have staff activate the SIM for them.

Places like London Drugs, WOW, Canadian Cell Supplies etc.

[softech]

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@rwarren777 wrote:

 but in today's modern world even discount companies should be able to resolve simple requests in 10-15 minutes. And what about solving them within an hour... 

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I think one thing you are unfair.. You have waited 4 hours.. but you don't have to actively waiting for the full 4 hours.  You likely only need to check your inbox message every 15 mins for an update.    Also, usually you don't have to reply immediately, you have 24 hours to reply in case you are busy or  you are not in  a rush to resolve your issue. 

Sometimes it's a bias that phone support is far superior.    I called Rogers, Bell, Fido and more different phone or internet providers.  It is not uncommon to wait on the calls for 30 to 60 mins to talk to the correct person.   Sometimes, you started the conversation, then found out it's wrong person or it needs escalation and it will be another 10 mins wait and you need to repeat the story a 2nd time.   So, the full call could easily be 60+ mins. 

Remember on the phone, you have to very pay attention to the calls.  So many times I thought I could put down the phone for a minute, go to another room and grab something quick, the customer support finally picked  up and I wasn't there.  They hung up and I have to call back

Same with live chat, chat windows opened and I am in queue.  I opened another windows and doing something.  Couple minutes later, I remember the chat window, come back and found out I missed my turn and  the agent is gone already

I am not saying 4 hours turnaround is good.  I guess I want to say PM is a different support model.  Afterall, how often you need to call your provider and try to sort out stuff?  Once a year? Twice a year?   

PM's fully online model is not the best.  It definitely not for everyone.  But for people who think they can manage their wireless issue most the time, who want to save a bit every month, who likely need to contact mobile provider support no more than 3 or 4 times a year, I think PM model is fair.  Again, not the best.  

BTW  @rwarren777   , what issue were you trying to fix in this incident?

[barndoor]

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@rwarren777 wrote:

 Especially considering there are situations where people are really in a jam and can't wait an hour... or 4 hours... to get their service up and running when it's just a 5 minute fix.

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The way I'm seeing things working around here the people you are referring to should likely consider a different provider . 

 Service here is cheaper outlay ...but you'll pay the difference in time spent . 

[rwarren777]

Your thoughts are valid - even though debatable - but still going back to what my primary point is, it should not take 4 hours to resolve a routine service request regardless of what method is used. Even live chat would be a much superior option. Everyone has their theories about what is best to save the company money and what is more efficient etc, but in today's modern world even discount companies should be able to resolve simple requests in 10-15 minutes. And what about solving them within an hour... that is horrible but still severely better than the 4 hours that I experienced. 4 hours to solve a basic problem is so far outside of any reasonable service levels, regardless of whether it is by phone, live chat, messaging, sending smoke signals or carrier pigeon. Regardless of what method is used 4 hours is terrible, 1 hour is still extremely poor - including for companies operating in the discount space. And think about it... it's a phone company. And it can't make phone calls. Yeah it's how they say they operate, but isn't that ironic after all? Especially considering there are situations where people are really in a jam and can't wait an hour... or 4 hours... to get their service up and running when it's just a 5 minute fix.

[AE_Collector]

All I can add is that you said you are quite new here thus you must not have done a lot of research first as it is very clearly spelled out that support is all done online. Online support does save a considerable expense as it is more conducive to flattening out the high versus low demand times of the day. When someone is waiting listening to music a higher level of staffing is required. Online support is likely better with employees who aren't trained as thoroughly as well. Just my thoughts on the subject.

AE_Collector

[rwarren777]

Bad start, yes. But I'm not closed to letting them win me over. As I mentioned in my previous posts I'll stick around and who knows, maybe I'll learn to like them. That does not mean that 4 hours is an OK turnaround time for a simple support request; never in any universe will that be even remotely close to acceptable. But we live in a time when service everywhere seems to be quite horrible and for us as consumers it often comes down to what kind and what amount of pain we can put up with and we deal with that company. For now, as long as my phone service works, that will have to do.

[dabr]

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@rwarren777 wrote:

No I did not run it through the community. I was in a situation where I had to get a text message to complete a financial transaction and the financial institution that sent it said the code in the text message expires in 15 minutes so I sent an urgent message to Public Mobile informing them that it was very urgent and that I had a bank CSR and a bank manager with me waiting for me to complete a required transaction, which required the code sent by text... which I could not get. The problem was not resolved until 4 hours later. 

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@rwarren777    Agree that it can be very frustrating when you need an issue resolved quickly and PM's service model sometimes takes much longer because of the back and forth messaging requirements.  Looks like you got off to a bad start with PM, which is unfortunate.

[rwarren777]

I agree with that. For now the service is working and it took a bit of time and effort to switch from my old carrier so I'll let it stay as is for now and see if there are other tech problems or not and also how the service is; hopefully I won't need tech support again and if not then it won't really matter. But my point remains in summary that it is poor, very poor, to result in 4 hours to resolve an inquiry, at any price level, especially when we live in a time when people use 2FA on their phones, many of which have time expiring codes; that can leave a person in a bind quite easily as I experienced recently. Regardless of price, any company, ANY company should be able to resolve simple support requests in 5-15 minutes.

[softech]

@rwarren777 glad issue is resolved and hope you don't need PM support a lot.

Remember,  if you have issue again or if you need to clear up something, post a message here and we will ll try to help. Most thr time, you will likely get many answers within 10 mins.   🙂

[Korth]

I prefer online support vs waiting on hold and telling my story again and again while being passed from agent to agent, or driving around to wait in line at some shop while the smiling sales people keep bumping me to the backburner while they rush towards every new phone-buying wallet who walks in the door.

Yes, there can be some back-and-forth delays with private messages or emails. But these can be minimized by providing all the information they need (or you think they might need) right up front. And, more importantly, I can do other stuff while I wait ... I don't have to be pinned in place while waiting. It might take half a day to get your phone working regardless of their business model, so I might as well do something productive or enjoyable until everything gets resolved.

I've said it before: Public Mobile's service model isn't the best for everyone. But for me it works out quite fine. And I certainly don't mind paying less for the privilege of avoiding malls and salespeople.

[Anonymous]

@rwarren777 

Public Mobile only support by Private Messages to customer

if you have any issue Contact Customer Support Agent by CS_Agent , or post your issue in community site some other member they can help you with your issue and you don't need to contact to CSA, all other member in community site they are a customer like me and you but they are have a nice information for technology maybe you will getting a help for that..

For Public Mobile is a tier 3 brand. It will be the last to receive anything. That is the design of the brand. You get what you pay for. For those of us seeking value over features, this is the place to be Less for Less...

[rwarren777]

No I did not run it through the community. I was in a situation where I had to get a text message to complete a financial transaction and the financial institution that sent it said the code in the text message expires in 15 minutes so I sent an urgent message to Public Mobile informing them that it was very urgent and that I had a bank CSR and a bank manager with me waiting for me to complete a required transaction, which required the code sent by text... which I could not get. The problem was not resolved until 4 hours later.