Walmart won't sell a SIM card without activation

[Mackbulldog57]

On April 6, 2019 I was checking at Walmart in London, ON for a flip phone and SIM card to set up for a friend that only needs to make calls, no text, no data.  They sell an Alcatel GoFlip which works on Telus and will therefore work on PM.  I wanted to purchase and set it up myself so I could choose a "build your own plan" and be sure to enter referral info so the new client would get their credit and I would be sure to get mine.

(this phone was on sale at Walmart for $59. and Telus wants $100.)

Walmart or more accurately Walmart Wireless will not sell phones or SIMs without activation. I can only assume they are on commission and must prove their worth based on activations. 

This should be corrected or made very clear on the PM site.

I did not want to wait for a SIM to be mailed and was not sure if they would send it by mail or by courier (whci requires being home or having it stolen).

[mik101]

Please post your Walmart location in this thread. There are lots of misinformed Walmart employees that either need to be retrained or reprimanded for attempting to mislead customers. They have to sell you an unactivated sim card if you request it. That's the whole point of public mobile that you can activate and manage your account yourself and reap the savings.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Retail/Bad-Service-at-Walmart/td-p/302848/page/4

[computergeek541]

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@slash407 wrote:

the self-serve kiosks cant come any sooner, bummer

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What self-serve kiosks are you speaking of?

The new kiosks will be staffed and will only assist with activations.  Any additonal support will still need to be done online.

[SLOPES]

This is actually true and false. 2/3 Walmarts I have purchased sims from will sell without activation (as they should) the other needs to be reported to the mods so they can look into it.

The walmart not selling it to you is only becuase the guy behind the counter wants his commission and will force you into it. Tel him hes wrong, tell him you are reporting his store to PM and move on.

[JaimeLaPizza]

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@RobertQc wrote:

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@Mackbulldog57 wrote:

On April 6, 2019 I was checking at Walmart in London, ON for a flip phone and SIM card to set up for a friend that only needs to make calls, no text, no data.  They sell an Alcatel GoFlip which works on Telus and will therefore work on PM.  I wanted to purchase and set it up myself so I could choose a "build your own plan" and be sure to enter referral info so the new client would get their credit and I would be sure to get mine.

(this phone was on sale at Walmart for $59. and Telus wants $100.)

Walmart or more accurately Walmart Wireless will not sell phones or SIMs without activation. I can only assume they are on commission and must prove their worth based on activations. 

This should be corrected or made very clear on the PM site.

I did not want to wait for a SIM to be mailed and was not sure if they would send it by mail or by courier (whci requires being home or having it stolen).

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@Mackbulldog57  The retailers are supposed to be allowing the purchase of unactivated SIMs.  Brooke has mentioned here that you can let her or the PM moderators know of any issues with retailers selling SIMs.

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The flip side of buying and activating the SIM card at Walmart (which I initially did not want to do but they really would not just sell it to me without activating) is that they have a phone number they can call and actually talk to someone from Public Mobile.  It is so useful when something does not go exactly as planned (which happened to me).  I wanted my PC Mobile to be ported and for some reason it got complicated even for the knowledgeable Walmart guy.  So he called and... it seemed to be a bit complicated for the Public Mobile person as well.  In the end I was quite happy they were there to help.  I have seen the menus they go through when activating the account and yes they will ask if you have been refered by a friend.  I guess you can also choose a custom plan, but that I cannot confirm.  And... the SIM card was free, do not know if it's always the case at Walmart.

[RobertQc]

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@Mackbulldog57 wrote:

On April 6, 2019 I was checking at Walmart in London, ON for a flip phone and SIM card to set up for a friend that only needs to make calls, no text, no data.  They sell an Alcatel GoFlip which works on Telus and will therefore work on PM.  I wanted to purchase and set it up myself so I could choose a "build your own plan" and be sure to enter referral info so the new client would get their credit and I would be sure to get mine.

(this phone was on sale at Walmart for $59. and Telus wants $100.)

Walmart or more accurately Walmart Wireless will not sell phones or SIMs without activation. I can only assume they are on commission and must prove their worth based on activations. 

This should be corrected or made very clear on the PM site.

I did not want to wait for a SIM to be mailed and was not sure if they would send it by mail or by courier (whci requires being home or having it stolen).

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@Mackbulldog57  The retailers are supposed to be allowing the purchase of unactivated SIMs.  Brooke has mentioned here that you can let her or the PM moderators know of any issues with retailers selling SIMs.