The guy tried to 'warn' me about PM & wouldn't activate my SIM (WOW! mobile in Kingsway, Edmonton)

[Danneyland]

I walked up to the kiosk and told the guy that myself and my sister wanted two SIM cards. I had already looked through all areas of PM's website and through the community forum and done all that research. He tried to 'warn' me that PM does not have a call centre, so if I had problems with activation I wouldn't be able to call a centre for help, and they wouldn't accept returns for SIM cards. I was less than impressed with his warning--the only purpose it served was to freak my sister out (she has anxiety issues).

He also told me that he couldn't activate my SIM card while I was there. He told me that the only location that could do it was the City Centre location (where his buddy worked). I remember reading that the SIM should be free when activated in person, but I wasn't going to drive across the city, so I ended up doing it at home myself instead.

So, all in all, I wasn't super impressed by the guy at this kiosk. At least I got the SIM card, though (even if it wasn't free as advertised).

(On a side note... the activation went extremely smoothly. My phone # transferred immediately. So kudos to that.)

[jonfirlotte]

That's unfortunate! Hopefully PM can reach out to the employee and teach them a thing or two. Ill admit I was a little standoff-ish when I learned that there's wasn't a number to call but once I learned how it all worked I was hooked

[Revelry]

Honestly I've never had a issue with the service I know others have. I had experienced a SIM card failing when I was with a different provider before I was with public mobile. They charged new sim card. I did have a public mobile sim card stop working once and from my past experience I knew I just needed to replace my sim card. If you like managing your phone on an online platform and don't like waiting for call centers everything should be fine. 

[computergeek541]

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@Shaidah wrote:

I am not 100% sure, but I bought a sim card for my sister from a mall kiosk, I think it was Wow mobile.  They tried to get me to sign on with another provider instead.  But as a PM user, I could not be swayed!

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Public Mobile does have some customer service and account related issues that need to be worked on.  It is possible that the salesperson does know some people who haven't been happy with Public Mobile's services, but the other brands are probably offering a much higher monetary incentive for that person to get the new customer to join.

[iliketotalk]

@Shaidah lol why not, go for it!!

[Shaidah]

@iliketotalk Definitely, beware!  Most would think that way when buying a car, but people needing a commission will try to sell to you!  Can't blame them, I have been trying to "sell" public mobile to everyone because I want a commision through the referral.  Every dollar/month counts!

[iliketotalk]

@Shaidah beware of salesmen on commision lol !!!!

[Shaidah]

I am not 100% sure, but I bought a sim card for my sister from a mall kiosk, I think it was Wow mobile.  They tried to get me to sign on with another provider instead.  But as a PM user, I could not be swayed!

[stonechucker]

Great to see two new subscribers come to the service.  Glad your activation went well.

Bonus points for you researching the heck out of this before coming.  I did the same thing and was I ever glad I did.  I had a hick-up when I first joined but got thru it with the community's support.  

[Dogbert]

He just provided you a word of advice (warning).

He just didn't want you to come back and give him grief if activation/setup fails.  I want a refund for my SIM!

Unfortunately all these mobile sales people live off commision and cannot spare the time to help out all those whom have issues activating with PM.  As you can see from these forums, many do need/want the call center # and some feel entitled to receive tech support from the place that sold them the SIM.

Welcome to the PM family!  Now you're part of the PM family and as family, I need your help with my PM bill this month.  JK........ 

[will13am]

@Danneyland, some of what the agent said has merit, but there needs to be context around the warning.  It is undeniable that this service has no call center and the moderator team response times do not compare to making a call on most days.  That said, the need for customer service is infrequent, less so for those who are very comfortable with handling a service built on a self serve model.  Anyway, always nice to see a success story among the general doom and gloom in this forum.  Welcome to Public Mobile.

[geopublic]

@Danneyland  Welcome to Public Mobile! 

[Anonymous]

 @Danneyland 

Glad it all worked for you in the end.

I was also warned but thought oh come on how bad could it be. Zero.

Some stores will have their own internal deals where they offer the SIM for free if you activate it there in store. Sometimes there are promos from here.

Not sure why he told you to go elsewhere to activate.

I suggest you go into the locations service to give a comment on this store. Too bad the comments aren't made public though.

[smp99]

Thanks for the story - Nice to hear how others are getting on board