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[joesugarman27]

Just wondering if anybody else got a text from PM saying to switch to Koodo? Why do they want us to switch so bad??

[srlawren]

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@vanessapage wrote:

I didn't receive the offer, but ... didn't PM used to promise to never increase the rate? Does the Koodo offer also promise to keep rates the same forever? Not worth the switch, imho.

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No, you have no rate assurance with either provider.  Either can raise rates with 30 days notice.  PM has done this a few times already, and tried one other time with the hugely popular 2016 Fall Promo plan, but got massive backlash and cancelled the increase (for now).  Actually to be hoenst, the only way to get price protection on your base rate plan is to go onto a contract, so Koodo may ironically offer you better rate protection should you decide to pick up a phone on tab under a 24 month contract, you will have rate assurance for the 24 months of the contract at least.

[vanessapage]

I didn't receive the offer, but ... didn't PM used to promise to never increase the rate? Does the Koodo offer also promise to keep rates the same forever? Not worth the switch, imho.

[srlawren]

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@will13am wrote:

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I included US roaming based on discussions with a colleague who goes down to the US for short trips all the time.  He was on the ubiquitious 2016 fall promo until the glitter of 6GBs for about the same cost moved him over to Koodo.  While he acknowledges the convenince of paying $7 per day for roaming on Koodo, the dollars add up quickly for trips longer than a long weekend.  The convenience results in spending beyond the basic necessities which consist of a bit of data to run some map queries and instant messages.  Overall, he prefers Public Mobile for US roaming.

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@will13am indeed--thus reinforcing my "it depends" assertion.  I don't think it's fair to lay down a blanket binary "better value" for US Roaming to either, since everybody's needs are different.  If I'm going for a day trip or an overnight, I'd rather pay the $7/$14 and have access to all my regular services.  With PM, to do that, I'd have to spend a minimum of $20 for the 10 day US Roaming talk+text+250MB data add-on.  If I only wanted data I'd still have to spend at least $10 for the 250mb on it's own.  I still think the Easy Roam is likely better for many people on trips of 1-3 days.  This may be uncommon for some people, but for those of us within an easy drive of the border and a major city not far away (e.g. Vancouver-area -> Bellingham or Seattle), this is not an uncommon excursion. I myself tend to go on several a year.  Just sayin'.  🙂

[will13am]

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@srlawren wrote:

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@will13am wrote:

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Add also cost advantage for Public Mobile for US roaming, International calls and call forwarding is included in all calling plans.

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@will13am well, sort of.  As usual, what's best can be answered with "it depends".

For US Roaming, yes PM has a cost advantage but only if you're in need of only one service (e.g. texting only, talk only, or a small amount of data only), and/or for a trip of about 3-10 days.  For day trips or weekend trips you could argue Easy Roam at $7 for access to all 3 services like you were at home in Canada may well be the better value.

For international calls, yes PM's rates are good--but again provided the country you want to call is one of the 18 included countries.  If it's not, you just can't call them.  [Okay, you can, by using a calling card, but then you could use the same calling card at Koodo for the same cost per minute, so that's a draw--but at least with Koodo you *could* call additional countries as long as you're willing to pay the rate; and there are some international long-distance saver add-ons that bring the rates down too.]

Call forwarding I will grant you is nicely included with PM and is either pay-per-use at a ridicuous 60c per forwarded minute OR unlimited for $3 add-on per month at Koodo.  Now, whether this is a big deal for people or not is questionable.  Back in the day of limited minutes, I'd routinely forward my cell to my desk phone while at work or home phone while at home.  But now most of us have unlimited minutes, and many of us have no home phone (myself included), and some of us are even mobile-only for work (myself included), so have limited need/use for forwarding.  Full disclosure: I have added the $3 add on myself so that I can use it to forward to a Fongo number while overseas later this summer to avoid paying the $12/day Easy Roam and will instead use a local data-only SIM card.  However, I will remove the add-on again after my trip.  That's about my only remaining use case for it, so I can hanlde a few dollars a year to work around this Koodo negative.

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I included US roaming based on discussions with a colleague who goes down to the US for short trips all the time.  He was on the ubiquitious 2016 fall promo until the glitter of 6GBs for about the same cost moved him over to Koodo.  While he acknowledges the convenince of paying $7 per day for roaming on Koodo, the dollars add up quickly for trips longer than a long weekend.  The convenience results in spending beyond the basic necessities which consist of a bit of data to run some map queries and instant messages.  Overall, he prefers Public Mobile for US roaming.

[srlawren]

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@will13am wrote:

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Add also cost advantage for Public Mobile for US roaming, International calls and call forwarding is included in all calling plans.

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@will13am well, sort of.  As usual, what's best can be answered with "it depends".

For US Roaming, yes PM has a cost advantage but only if you're in need of only one service (e.g. texting only, talk only, or a small amount of data only), and/or for a trip of about 3-10 days.  For day trips or weekend trips you could argue Easy Roam at $7 for access to all 3 services like you were at home in Canada may well be the better value.

For international calls, yes PM's rates are good--but again provided the country you want to call is one of the 18 included countries.  If it's not, you just can't call them.  [Okay, you can, by using a calling card, but then you could use the same calling card at Koodo for the same cost per minute, so that's a draw--but at least with Koodo you *could* call additional countries as long as you're willing to pay the rate; and there are some international long-distance saver add-ons that bring the rates down too.]

Call forwarding I will grant you is nicely included with PM and is either pay-per-use at a ridicuous 60c per forwarded minute OR unlimited for $3 add-on per month at Koodo.  Now, whether this is a big deal for people or not is questionable.  Back in the day of limited minutes, I'd routinely forward my cell to my desk phone while at work or home phone while at home.  But now most of us have unlimited minutes, and many of us have no home phone (myself included), and some of us are even mobile-only for work (myself included), so have limited need/use for forwarding.  Full disclosure: I have added the $3 add on myself so that I can use it to forward to a Fongo number while overseas later this summer to avoid paying the $12/day Easy Roam and will instead use a local data-only SIM card.  However, I will remove the add-on again after my trip.  That's about my only remaining use case for it, so I can hanlde a few dollars a year to work around this Koodo negative.

[will13am]

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@srlawren wrote:

@joesugarman27 try searching the community, there have been several of these over the past few months.  

The offers vary based on what plan you currently have at Public Mobile, but in a nutshell:

Possible advantages of moving to Koodo:

- offer usually includes ability to buy a phone on tab should you decide to

- usually includes either more data and/or faster data (if you're on a 3G plan) and/or Canada-wide calling upgrade (if you're currenly on a province-wide talk plan)

- ability to roam globally instead of just in the USA

- access to other support channels such as phone call centre, facebook messenger, etc--though there can be long hold times.

Possible disadvantages of moving to Koodo:

- post-paid plan means you could potentially get a bill for data overages (though the "shock-free" data set up helps)

- post-paid plan means you need to pass a credit check (which may or may not be an issue)

- no rewards like PM, which may make the plan relatively more expensive even if the base plan is the same price

There are other nuances too but if you list what your current plan is and what you pay for it, and the details of the offer, we can give you more targetted advice.

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Add also cost advantage for Public Mobile for US roaming, International calls and call forwarding is included in all calling plans.

[srlawren]

@joesugarman27 try searching the community, there have been several of these over the past few months.  

The offers vary based on what plan you currently have at Public Mobile, but in a nutshell:

Possible advantages of moving to Koodo:

- offer usually includes ability to buy a phone on tab should you decide to

- usually includes either more data and/or faster data (if you're on a 3G plan) and/or Canada-wide calling upgrade (if you're currenly on a province-wide talk plan)

- ability to roam globally instead of just in the USA

- access to other support channels such as phone call centre, facebook messenger, etc--though there can be long hold times.

Possible disadvantages of moving to Koodo:

- post-paid plan means you could potentially get a bill for data overages (though the "shock-free" data set up helps)

- post-paid plan means you need to pass a credit check (which may or may not be an issue)

- no rewards like PM, which may make the plan relatively more expensive even if the base plan is the same price

There are other nuances too but if you list what your current plan is and what you pay for it, and the details of the offer, we can give you more targetted advice.  There is also no shock free protection for anything else other than data. 

[torontokris]

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@joesugarman27 wrote:

Just wondering if anybody else got a text from PM saying to switch to Koodo? Why do they want us to switch so bad??

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CEO has stated to try and move people to pay after services. More revenue per person and more chance for additional services / fees / $$

If the offer works for you switch. If it doesn’t then stay with PM. Lots of people wish beg ask t gets these text offer so so enjoy it

[Anonymous]

@joesugarman27, it's because they want to move people to the post-paid sister company, where there is greater potential to get more of your money.