WARNING! KOODO USERS BEWARE OF PUBLIC MOBILE!

[angrypmcustomer]

Alright. So aside from the $5.75 (SIM card) and the time I've wasted, combined with my contacts not being able to contact me since this morning and having to find an alternative way to deal with them, I cannot advise anyone in their right mind to use Public Mobile.

Public Mobile charged me $120 when they didn't even port my number, or offer any support. I took it upon myself to sign up here since it was the only option. I'm still quite frustrated at the complete lack of customer support. They cancelled my Koodo account, and even though my port failed there was nobody there to reach out and assist me.

Long story short, avoid Public Mobile at all costs. Sure,  you can maybe save $20-40 a month depending on your plan but the lack of customer support is not worth it. I've never had to spend this much time troubleshooting something that should just work. I mean its a cell phone. 

What's nice about this company is the helpful community, but ultimately it all comes down to 2-3 mods (aka support agents) who can actually assist you. 

By the time @Shazia_K got back to me, it was after stalking her and seeing when she was replying and trying to intercept her so I can get some attention. Her reply to me was that porting my number will take another 72 hours due to an unspecified error. In the mean time I'm pretty much SOL. How's this going to help me out? Some of us rely on our phones for business. 

I've requested a cancellation with PM, and a refund of the $120 they charged me. I'm going to double check that this happens within the next 24 hours and if not I'll call my CC provider and request a charge back. 

I'm also on the phone with Koodo now requesting to get my phone and plan back. What's **bleep**ty is that I lost about $120 in Koodo Bucks that I had accumulated over the years. 

This entire experience has been a huge waste of time, caused me to be frustrated, and I cannot stress how ridiculous this company and their support model is. 

So lesson learned, don't use Public Mobile. 

[angrypmcustomer]

Ok that's fine. I appreciate that. Maybe if during the sign in process, or somewhere they say HEY. WE HAVE NO SUPPORT NUMBER FYI. IF YOU NEED SUPPORT YOU NEED TO ASK INTERNET STRANGERS AND THEN ENGAGE IN A CIRCLE UNTIL SOMEONE NOTICES YOU AND HELPS - I would've thought twice about signing up. The fact that they don't disclose this once you log into their website and start looking at their services is a red flag that Public Mobile is engaging inTrust me the banks notice when everyone is requesting refunds and chargebacks. 

[angrypmcustomer]

I think I have the right to post my opinions on things - as consumers we have a right to be warned prior to doing business. I've never taken a community forum for a telco seriously but it's clear that PM expects its customers to utilize this as their primary support mechanism so if that's the case then they have a right to hear it.

I mean you can always ban me but then I'll happily go sign up and post on RFD, Reddit, and anywhere else since I'm actually quite frustrated at how poorly I was treated by Public Mobile and I'd prefer other Ontarians know prior to signing up.

You're a business, you exist to make profit, you can't take a collective dump on your customers and allow your own forum members to accuse them of being inept, not doing their due dilligence, and being impatient when they have a right to demand service once their money is handed over.

[jairolevi]

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@angrypmcustomer wrote:

I'd prefer to give my hard earned bucks to companies which can do the same.

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Exactly, PM is mostly community supported, with no instant support, as I said before if you need instant support PM is not for you.

Same way I dont fly in cheap discounted airlines, they are not for me.  I feel PM is just not for you.

Happy to hear that at least you could get the phone number back.

JL

[Rockdaddy22]

You work in IT and make all kinds of money, you don't need PM. I work a minimum wage factory job and honestly can barely work a PC, and I signed up many people from Koodo. I'm a penny pincher from RFD not a tech guy. Could take up to 72 hours.

I'll I'm saying is people should do their due diligence before joining PM, it's a no frills carrier for people who like to do things themselves to save a bit of money. I think you'd agree with that, wouldn't. Or should people jump right in without doing their due diligence?

[Shazia_K]

Hello @angrypmcustomer, 

Every case is different, I was trying my best to resolve the issue within 24 hours as the port was midway complete but you ported your number out before it does complete. 

We fulfilled your request as you wished and everything is done now, please do not post any negativity or start any arguments with our members who are just trying to help you. 

Again, we are sorry for the ordeal.

Thanks,

Shazia

[dood]

@angrypmcustomer

You have to understand PM is not for everyone. If you are using this for business and expect the level of direct support, your probably better off with Koodo and Telus. There is a reason for the different brands of phone service and pricing. This might not be your target market and the right amount of support you may need. 

I think you're expecting a no frills kind of pricing for a Telus level of service. I agree with the fact PM was suppose to be self-serve and easy setup, however, during the promotional period the glitches started to show as more people tried to switch over. I know the Mods are working hard to resolving the issues as fast as they can.

The decision is always yours to join or not!

I hope everything gets resolved soon. Good luck.

[wshrews]

As somebody who does quality assurance at a much less valuable software company, I have to agree that the registration process leaves a lot to desire.

[angrypmcustomer]

So it's my fault I didn't do my "due diligence"? How delusional are you?

I'm just another guy who's trying to sign up to use Public Mobile. You're blaming me like it's my fault and Public Mobile has the most perfect system that is idiot proof. The reality is there's no mention of any of those points regarding using another email, not porting immediately, etc, etc. 

I work in IT, I make over 6-figures, I'm not an idiot. You seem to think I am. I took everything at face value, assuming this company has their **bleep** together and can guide someone through activation and porting without problems. Maybe if they want to throw some consulting dollars my way I'll come in and fix their broken system. 

So after I sign up, I get two messages in the same page saying your activation is successful, as well that is has failed. I get a Text from PM with a PIN, I also get charged $120 on my CC. Ok... weird.. 

Fast forward to this morning, Koodo emails me to tell me my phone is disconnected, and niether my koodo nor PM sim's are working

I scour the forums, I send PM's to many mods, and finally @Shazia_K notices me and messages me. It's been over an hour now by the time I've messaged her. So she gets back to me and tells me my port is going to take 72 hours, and my SIM showing as invalid is also some other problem and I should just reboot my phone in an hour to fix it.

Haha, laughable. I don't blame @Shazia_K I blame the folks who work and orchestrated this mess they call a telco. Complete waste of time. 

I was referred to Public Mobile by a friend who said he saved a lot of money on it, but I've gone back and advised hiim along with all of my other friends/associates not to bother with this service.

Your self-righteous messages only enforce how delusional some of you forum members are. I come on here looking for help, and then when things go south and I try to warn others, I get mud thrown at me and called silly for not doing my due diligence. Well that's fine, enjoy your cheap little mobile phone number. At the end of the day I've ran businesses and I know how to provide support, and I'd prefer to give my hard earned bucks to companies which can do the same.

[mimmo]

Support typically has been quite fast and will return so after teh promo. There was a huge influx of new customers and with that new problems.  I think taht just show how fed up people are spending an extra $20-$40 more for service.

I heard a great explanation once:

Telus is Level 1: stores and contacts every where

Koodo Level 2 :kiosks in the occasional mall

PM Level 3:  online support only, hence lower costs

Another example when flying you can choose,  1st class, economy or you can choose the discount carrier.  they all get you there, and yes when thing go well its great, when there are issues well one will be faster at resolving it than the other, but in the end you will get where you are going. 

When I switched over I read the forums and saw/understood  what I had to do and what I was getting.  There are many posts explaining how to minimize service interruptions.  If this number was critical one of the most suggested options was to activate a text only plan for 10 days,future date the promo plan  wait for customer service to return to normal and then do the port.    yes you wouls spend an exta $11, but your customer service responce time would be increased.

 Also saving $40/month may not be much to some but it is lots to others, and that is likley why many people have switched over.

[Rockdaddy22]

Shaz was ready to help him today, I still don't see why you gave up, I was looking forward to the resolution.

[angrypmcustomer]

You can put it towards a new phone at some point. 

[Rockdaddy22]

A warning to due your due diligence? I agree if that's what you mean.

[shrimpdude]

I switched over from Koodo just fine.

Also...why would you accumulate $120 in Koodo bucks when you can spend those at any time with the service? (At least in their prepaid service.)

[angrypmcustomer]

No worries dude, I appreciate you trying to help me out. You should really consider applying to their support team since they could really use some more hands on deck! 

[Luddite]

In the situation, I completely agree with @angrypmcustomer. There is really no excuse for cutting all services. If terminating he Koodo account is necessary for the port-in then the procedure should have been: first activate a new account for the customer with a temporary number, notify the customer of the change, and ONLY THEN close the Koodo account.

Also, I think port-in should NOT BE ALLOWED during activation. With a self-serve system this has been, and is, a recipe for unnecessary pain. 

[angrypmcustomer]

Great community discussion here. Somehow blame me for Public Mobile's broken system. 

And no, mods don't take 30 minutes to message me back. I've had to harangue mods over the last day just to get a reply, and my email tickets and mod messages from Nov 11 are still unanswered.

I'm already back on Koodo, my phone number is back, and I'm happy I can return to normal.

Cheers gentleman 🙂 I only post this as a warning to other folks considering moving over to PM.

[wshrews]

Seriously? Because it's not mentioned during the sign-up process I don't know why anyone would think it's reasonable to expect newcomers to scour the forums to see if it's okay to use your email if it was used on Koodo before. That's not even a logical thing to have to consider.

[jairolevi]

Exactly,

I would give you 10 bravos if I could!

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@Rockdaddy22 wrote:
It's funny how people's phones are so important to them yet they don't due their due diligence. Many people I know have ported successfully from Koodo and are very happy 😊

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I call it BS when people say "required for business asap, bla bla bla" and they are looking for a no-frills mobile phone company.  If it was really business critical they would pay a business plan with SLA's agreements.

Just saying....

[Rockdaddy22]

I thought everyone knew about the email thing by now.

[jairolevi]

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I'm also on the phone with Koodo now requesting to get my phone and plan back. What's **bleep**ty is that I lost about $120 in Koodo Bucks that I had accumulated over the years. 

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What do you think it would happen when porting your number out from koodo? That you would automagically have the same number with 2 providers???

Dude, if you dont read how a porting works its your own fault.

Also, if the phone number is business critical you should NOT be messing around with portings, I remember in the old days porting could take WEEKS, so feel fortunate that now a days it just take a couple of hours and issues are generally resolved in matter of a couple of days.

Anyways, I know its frustrating and that you are PO'd, but you know **bleep** can happen when doing this kind of change...

[Rockdaddy22]

It's funny how people's phones are so important to them yet they don't due their due diligence. Many people I know have ported successfully from Koodo and are very happy 😊

[wshrews]

I didn't port a number, but my account has the same issues. I think because my email was also used on koodo according to the list of things to avoid posted in this thread. I agree it would be nice if all the information was presented during the sign-up process - although it is kinda janky if I really can't use my personal email since I was a koodo customer.

Guess we'll see what the mods say when I hear back!

[Rockdaddy22]

You couldn't give Shaz a chance to fix you up, shame 😞 I'm sure she would've hooked you up good. Oh well, we'll never know I guess. Sad to see you go before you came 😞

[jairolevi]

Dude Chill!

Mods are great, they usually reply within 20 - 30 minutes.  This promo is so great that a lot of people are signing up, they are swamped with request from newbies who dont read the forum first.

They will fix it, just patience... **bleep** can happen when porting a number

If you need instant support then PM is not for you... sorry.

JL.

[angrypmcustomer]

No I didn't, and today is the first time I've seen this list. Why don't they throw that list somewhere on their registration before someone signs up? Anyways I'm not interested in dealing with Public Mobile anymore. 

[wdpm94]

yikes! did you try all of the following tips for koodo users? 

- do not use the same email address for Kood and Public Mobile

- do not request the port-in during activation; take a temporary number, log out, confirm all services are active, log back into your account and select Transfer Number under Change Phone Number

- do not use any identifier except your Koodo account number; it is always the best item for any port-in request

- do not make any errors in the Authourized User; this must be exactly as it appears on your Koodo bill

- do not use the person's Koodo number as the Alternate Number; use someone else's

- do not forget to click "I am authourized ...." BEFORE you entering your Koodo number (courtesy imm1304)