Struggling to understand why I would stay with PM

[mikowilson]

I was paying for, and enjoying the 6gb/3 month plan I had going for 8 months. Now, that option is gone, and to get the same data/month I literally have to pay double as much.
Why in the world would someone remain with an offbrand "cheap" service provider when they are no longer cheap?
I chose PM because I buy my own phones, and the big three don't really compensate for that; but now PM is just as bad as them, if not worse.
Why butcher your brand like this? It boggles the mind. Suffice to say, I'm looking elsewear after PM charged me 176 dollars (raising my rate by at least 78 bucks) without even notifying me!

[srlawren]

@garby ah yes, then in your situation it makes more sense to move on, unfortunately.  Without a current talk plan, you're unable to add long distance via add-on purchases, so that's not even an option.  Essentially you'd be forced into choosing one of the current in-market offerings, and none are likely to be more appealing than those plans you found.  😞

[garby]

I am currently on Data only, 3GB 90 day plan $75 for 90 days, and using voip for all calls. Unfortunatly the voip over lte just hasn't been reliable enough so need to add national voice. I use about 400 minutes a month mixture of provincial and national.

[srlawren]

@garby what plan are you on today right now with PM?  Prov-wide calling, texting, and how much data?  And what are you paying for it?

[garby]

Both Koodo and PC Mobile are offering 500 nation wide minutes (unlimited evenings and weekends), national text and 1GB LTE for $40.00 a month. Or PC mobile unlimited nation wide, national text and 1GB LTE for $50.00 a month. Comparitable on Public mobile is $60/month or $55 on 90 day plan. I don't need unlimited but I do need nation wide, so PC Mobile $40 a month will save me $15 to $20 a month.

[srlawren]

Thanks for the nod, @Wafik.  On the other hand though, we should never assume that just because you don't need a lot of out of province minutes that nobody else does either.  We don't know what @garby's needs are, but it's definitely worth bringing up as an option to consider.

@garby here's what I'd suggest.  Have a look at the competitor's plans and see if any of them would meet your needs.  Then figure out how much extra (if any) that other provider's plan will cost you per month vs. what you are paying today on your province-wide plan.  Then do this calculation:

(cost at new provider  per month - current of current PM plan per month) / $15.  Take that number and multiply it by 400, to see up to how many long distance add-on minutes you could optionally purchase instead and stay with your current plan at Public Mobile.  If the number of minutes you wind up with sounds like it will on average meet your monthly out of province needs, then it's probably in your financial interest to stay with Public Mobile.  Also remember that any unused minutes stay on your account until you use them or your account is closed, whichever comes first.  

For example, if the price per month of the plan that best meets your needs elsewhere is $15 more per month than your current plan, then you could buy up to 400 mins, and that's your threshhold for leaving PM.  If you plan to on average use more than 400 mins, then go, and otherwise, stay.  If the difference is $30 per month, then you're up to 800 mins.  If it's $20/month then you're looking at ($20/$15 * 400) = 533 mins per month as your threshhold, and so on.

[Wafik]

@garby I'm also curious how much out of province calling you do?  Why not just do what @srlawren suggests?  

Does anyone still talk anywhere close to 200 minutes a month to people out of province?  Even if you did 100 minutes a month, that $8 charge basically becomes $4 a month making switching make less sense.

[srlawren]

@garby out of curiosity, where do you plan to move to and to which plan?  I'm just curious.

Do you need to do a lot of nationwide calling?   For casual use, the long-distance add-ons may still be cheaper at 200 for $8 ($0.04/min) or 400 for $15 (0.0375/min).

[garby]

Was planning on changing plans at the end of my cycle (adding national talk), but with the price changes I am leaving PM. Better deals found elsewhere. I expect I won't be the only one.

[jeffster1970]

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@mikowilson wrote:

I was paying for, and enjoying the 6gb/3 month plan I had going for 8 months. Now, that option is gone, and to get the same data/month I literally have to pay double as much.
Why in the world would someone remain with an offbrand "cheap" service provider when they are no longer cheap?
I chose PM because I buy my own phones, and the big three don't really compensate for that; but now PM is just as bad as them, if not worse.
Why butcher your brand like this? It boggles the mind. Suffice to say, I'm looking elsewear after PM charged me 176 dollars (raising my rate by at least 78 bucks) without even notifying me!

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Please let us know the outcome.  If you see the post immediately below yours, can we assum that you didn't let the account expire?

BTW: If the mods can't fix it, yeah, look elsewhere, but it seems you are stuck with this for 90 days, so perhaps just wait to see if they have a back to school special, or black friday, who knows. 

[srlawren]

@mikowilson that should not have happened unless you explicity chose a new plan.  Please see @ShawnC13's reply, it contains a link to contact the community moderator (public mobile support staff).  If you haven't already, please use that link to contact them for assistance.

[mimmo]

If its past 90 days then the account is closed and the subscriber needs a new sim.  So i don't think that was the issue.  

As for the public lab well i'm not even sure PM actually reads/acts on  the comments in there.  I personally would like to see it cleaned up /threads merged and possibly even topics marked thinking about it, not for us etc.

[shawnie_boy]

Agree with everyone else here. Rates do not change unless you let account expire past 90 days or manually change plan. If plans just changed PM would be out of business right now.

[Mana]

@mikowilson as @ShawnC13 explained all plans before the new pricing and plans structure have been grandfathered for the old price and plan features. 

If you have autopay enabled, it should just renew at the same old price keeping thr same old plan. 

If you don't have autopay enabled, you can just manually top up your account and renew/reactivate at the same old price and plan (as long as it is done within 90 days of renewal date).

so please log in to self serve and check your account status. If for any reason, you have been charged more or if your plan has automatically changed then please follow @ShawnC13 suggestion and contact the @CS_Agent. 

Thank you. 

[will13am]

Now that the new plans are totally different, having this expired label in the self serve portal for legacy plans has taken on a whole new level of confusion.  I wonder how many will do a plan change and pay more or port out and leave the service altogether.  There's a labs suggestion to do away with the label, but it's gone nowhere.  I wonder if it's intentional to get customers to lose their grandfathered status.

[ShawnC13]

@mikowilson, your plan has not changed or the amount you pay.  It is grandfathered so as long as you continue to keep your plan active you will retain the plan and pricing.

ETA: You are saying they ahve already raised your price?  Your account was suspended for over 90 days was it?  If you have seen an increase in your renewal price

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