Switching to PM - Honest feedback

[MomsLife]

Hey there, I am a Chatr customer currently, but looking for a new provider. I have purchased my SIM cards from PM (one for me, one for my daughter), but still hesitant to switch. Money wise, PM is the BEST way to go...right now I'm on 3G plan with Chatr, if I were to upgrade to 4G, its $40 for 2.5g data/month.

Then PC Mobile is my next choice with  $40 for 4g data/month.

Clearly, PM wins hands down in the value department. Needless to say, after reading some reviews online and comments here in the community, I am little skeptical/nervous about switching to PM.

What I am looking for are some honest feedback on the actual service of PM and your experiences.

How is the service areas (we camp alot), any dropped calls, those who have used it in the US, etc. Even when dealing with trying to resolve an issue (I know people complain about customer support being online, but is that a HUGE issue?). Is PM a good cell phone service overall to switch to?

Thanks for your help!

[alicehung93]

Been with Public Mobile for the last 6 years. I never had an issues with services. I like to go out the city and been camping as well; and had no service issues at all!

[maximum_gato]

@gancanny 

I can't disagree with your website experience.....even when public mobile tries to improve things its one step forward, two steps back. Mind you I don't experience the login and caching issues that others seem to have so much trouble with....? But the limitations on managing our services from within our self serve accounts grew exponentially once the new self serve accounts were rolled out.

Submitting a ticket via SIMon I have had that problem both times I tried....I find the entire interaction with SIMon an exceptionally frustrating experience that usually leads to yelling expletives at my tablet, considerable restraint so that I don't kill another tablet, followed by a cooling off period that usually involves a stiff drink. I happily fully ignore the existence of SIMon and contact customer support via private message only.

As far as international roaming goes while pm doesn't have it using a local Sim in nearly every other country will be considerably less than even your pm plan comparatively. $10 to $20 (cdn) will get you a Sim card, texting, calling and mobile data ranging from 5gb to 50gb on average for 30 days.

Just set up a voip provider like textnow with a Canadian phone number and call forward you pm number to it before you leave Canada (for the US remove your Sim card so you don't connect to a US tower). Now with a local Sim card you have the basics of a roaming plan....if you need your pm texts forwarded check out MightyText and the need to keep your pm Sim card in a phone in Canada.

A little pre-planning and a bit of inconvenience is a small price to pay considering the $15/$16 per day "Roam like Home" services from the big three? They do cap the roaming charges at $320/month on top of your plan amount for your convenience. Pay-per-use rates a frighteningly high at $0.75/text, $2/minute and $5/mb....that's $500/100mb or $5120/1gb?!! (telus)

I actively manage 12 accounts for friends and family. I don't find separate logins that big of a deal. But that's just me.

[softech]

@gancanny just an advise when you choose new provider.   I think all Tier 3 providers are set with 1 email 1 account, no family acciunt  And Lucky does not provide roaming all all

 So, if single login for account management and roaming everwhere is important to you, you might want to check with Tier 2 providers like Koodo or Fido instead 

[gancanny]

I'm ready to quit PM. Value for money it's great, as I'm grandfathered in to the old 3G plans. The service is very reliable in terms of calls and texts, it's when you need to do something on the website. Like many others I can't log in and see my account without problems. There's lots of advice given like clearing your browser cache etc., all of which should be unnecessary. I tried raising a ticket the other day and I could validate myself, so couldn't submit the ticket. I think my biggest gripe is that I pay for and maintain my family's phone plans (3 of us), but PM won't let you consolidate these into a single account. Therefore I have to use 3 different emails of mine. The web experience has always been second rate and after the re-design it's even worse for me.

PM only supports roaming in the US and now we're traveling again I'm finding that very limiting. I do like the bonus gifts of long distance calling and extra data. If PM spent some money improving the web experience then I'd be inclined to stick with them.

[MomsLife]

Thank you!

[popping]

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@MomsLife wrote:

You guys are awesome! 

Question, after i activate my account, and give it a test run first, can i add my daughters to MY account after or do i have to add a new account for her number, and i just control it (can i use the same email address as mine if i have to do two separate accounts?)

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PM does not have family plan.  You need to have a separate email to activate a separate account for your daughter.

Update 1:

You can refer your daughter from your account.

[maximum_gato]

@Milk 

I always activate with a temporary number first to make sure the pm Sim card has all of its services working first then if needed port the number in thru self serve. Of course I also have other reasons for doing it this way....

1. By choosing an Alberta phone number I save the pst for my referral. That's a 7% savings in bc but up to 10% depending on the province.
2. It allows me to disable 2FA verification on the account for easy access if it's an account I will need to help manage or port the phone # into.
3. Once I am able to access the account I can replace my credit card used to activate with a $0 gift credit card and I can safely turnover the Sim card and account to my referral. They can change the password and 4 digit account PIN # if they intend to manage their own account.

[MomsLife]

You guys are awesome! 

Question, after i activate my account, and give it a test run first, can i add my daughters to MY account after or do i have to add a new account for her number, and i just control it (can i use the same email address as mine if i have to do two separate accounts?)

[popping]

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@Milk wrote:

Noooooo temp number ------ they need to port their existing numbers!

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During activation, you have too options:

1. get a PM phone number OR

2.  port your phone number  from other provider.

Always get a PM to test the service first before porting your phone number to PM.

[Milk]

Noooooo temp number ------ they need to port their existing numbers!

[popping]

@MomsLife 

You need to understand that PM does not have call center or online chat support.  PM uses this community forum to support subscribers issues.  This the reason why that you find the PM problems and lots of angry posts on this forum.

It is a good thing that you ask question and find out how PM system before activation.  The angry post are from people did not find out how PM system before activation.  PM uses a member-help-member DIY system.  You are not alone with this DIY system.  Just ask if anything you do not understand.

I was with Chatr for 10 months after Rogers took over Mobilicity.  Since then, I switched to Cityfone/Zoomer and now with PM for almost 5 years.  I also switched 7 family members account to PM too.

[maximum_gato]

@MomsLife 

I also prefer to activate with a temporary phone # in case your Sim card does not provision correctly during activation. This way you will still have access to your chatr services while you get customer support to fix your Sim card. It doesn't happen all that often (never for me) but just in case....plus if you pick an Alberta phone number to activate you will only pay gst on your plan at activation. Then port in afterwards thru your self serve.

When you can be an active participant in the community. You will learn all of the ins and outs of public mobile and how to manage your service and accounts. Knowledge is power and hanging out here can also earn you community (give back) point rewards which you can later be redeemed for discounted add ons like US Roaming, $15 bill credits or even 1 or 2 point entries into the lucky draw for new phones or gift cards etc...

[DDM69]

If you have basic computer/internet skills, you will have no problem. It may take some patience to get your issue resolved but the savings and perks  are well worth it. 😊

[Kristowhy]

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@benfatto wrote:

@MomsLife  Been aboard for several years. PM is quirky but service and coverage are as stable as its parent Telus.

Even though you can transfer your chatr numbers during activation it's slightly safer to activate with a new number and do the transfer once your service is up and running. 
For coverage in your various locations check: https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/coverage

If uninterrupted service is a particular concern read: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/100-SERVICE/m-p/183753#M33693

Activate the lines sequentially and use the referral code from your activated account for your daughter's line. 

---

This advise is bang on!  I also would do a single activation with a new number for a period of time before porting a number over/in and bringing over multiple accounts.  Definitely utilize the referral codes as outlined by @benfatto 

[HALIMACS]

@MomsLife 

When you finally do take the plunge, make sure to get a friend or family members referral code who are currently with public mobile for the first activation (better if yours)

And then after your account is created, use your own referral code to provide for your second account being created for your daughter.

This way you personally benefit from the referral from within as opposed to giving the benefit of both activations to someone else.

People who refer others save the equivalent of a dollar off their bill each 30-day cycle.

The person who is newly activating with someone else's referral code saves $10 off their first renewal.

[kahull]

You’re right, I looked at a lot of providers too before deciding and this is hands down the best deal.  I was with Bell and paying way too much for almost the same thing.  So far, everything has been great for me and zI love the fact that there are ways to collect points and lower your bill!!!  It’s going to save my spouse and I a lot of money!

[MomsLife]

Wow, thanks everyone! Your making my decision much easier lol...seems like a good choice, and lots of advice!

Lovin' this community already 🙂

[MomsLife]

Thanks! especially for that activation tip...will definitely do that! i forgot you could port your line at a different time

[Milk]

PM is no better or worse the other plan providers - PM and Bell share towers so reception is as good as Bell. Price wise and flexibility are better than other providers. You can start with a cheap $15 3G plan to try it out and if required you can self upgrade or downgrade plans at will. I for example am mostly on the cheap $15 plan that gives me unlimited texting - some data and voice ---and when needed, (if for example I travel etc,)  I just upgrade to a more suitable plan - such as the now $40 with 4G 15GB of data and then switch back to the $15 plan. Hope this helps.

Also a benefit of switching - such as in our case - once you switch accounts your old account company will miraculously offer you much better pricing if you go back to them. 

Also as far as customer service - I personally prefer the PM system of directly communicating with a Customer Service rep by messaging as opposed to waiting in line for a long time to be only connected to an overseas call centre rep.  Don't pay attention to all the negatives posted on this forum - people post mostly because they can.

[BKNS27]

@MomsLife 

I am a PM (Telus) customer for over 2 years and happy with the service. I was previously with Mobilicity until Chatr (Rogers) purchased Mobility. After the takeover, they slowly started to raise their fees with a very small notice on my bill indicating the increase…finally I had enough and switch to PM. No regrets. I helped 6 friends to switch over to PM and no complaints so far.

Keep in mind that PM is an online service so you need a little computer knowledge but we are here help if needed. Whereas, Chatr have live customer support.

I have had 2 issues with my service and the CS_Agent took care of my problem with a couple of hours so patience is need when dealing online.

Right now there is a promo for $40 for 15gb at 4G/LTE.

[benfatto]

@MomsLife  Been aboard for several years. PM is quirky but service and coverage are as stable as its parent Telus.

Even though you can transfer your chatr numbers during activation it's slightly safer to activate with a new number and do the transfer once your service is up and running. 
For coverage in your various locations check: https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/coverage

If uninterrupted service is a particular concern read: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/100-SERVICE/m-p/183753#M33693

Activate the lines sequentially and use the referral code from your activated account for your daughter's line. 

[Meow]

Even though PM does not have 'live' support I find current level of support outstanding.

Community is always here to assist you and if issue is related to your account then agents through ticketing systems and personal mail Always reply in a timely manner and are VERY helpful. Never had a bad experience with both types of support.

Value is more than great. For me service was always working. As for coverage - it is Telus coverage so it does cover a vast area. As for service in the sticks it might depend on where cell towers are. Only experience will confirm if it is working for you. US coverage is kind of spotty; some people get service with US add-on some do not.

You have nothing tolose but only to gain. This is pre-paid service so you pay for a month, you can pick cheapest plan, and if it works for you upgrade it to plan you need/want. If it does not work for you keep looking for 'perfect' provider.

[MomsLife]

wow, did not realize they have been around that long! Thats also good to know. Thank you!

[will13am]

I have been a customer since 2016.  During this time, I have not found reason to switch allegiance to a different brand.  Generally customers come to Public Mobile because of price and the value proposition continues to be very strong.  I started off getting 4GB data, province wide calling for $40 and now for the same money 15GB and canada wide calling.  That is very good considering the inflation over the past 7 years.  What I see as causing a lot of friction for customers is the 100% online service and support.  Not to blame customers but it seems like many are caught off guard with this format.  To me it is the way of the future as other brands are becoming more online centric like Public Mobile.  The ticketing system has some rough edges but for the most part, it works.  I look after 6 accounts and I have not had an outright service disruption attributed to the online support model.  I would shamelessly suggest Public Mobile.  

[MomsLife]

Thank you! 🙂

[MomsLife]

Thanks for your feedback! always good hear how long you have been with a provider, thats a positive sign 

[kaytus]

@MomsLife welcome aboard.

[HALIMACS]

@MomsLife 

I’ve been a customer here for 2+ years with 4 accounts I help manage.

I know several others who also use this service.

When you have a question & don’t know the answer, ask away, and I almost guarantee you we will have an option for you to try.

 ADDING:  I love it here, and would never switch. All in all, I’ve had way less issues here than with my other mobile providers.  The online help is almost instant and other community members are not bound to ‘tow the company line’ when dealing with you.