What is so good about Public Mobile plans ($50+ plans)?

[JackL]

Back in the days, where 2nd provider like Virgin, Koodo, Fido etc. were providing $40 for 2GB data, PM seems like a good option, $40 for 4.5GB with 3G speed. This was 2.25x data allowance for internet surfing.

Nowdays, the $50 plan offers 10GB data with 3G speed. By comparing this with 2nd level providers, it is not as good as it used to be, it is only 1.25x from 8GB allowance and as a customer, we lose so much.

1. Still capped to 3G

Yea, 10GB vs 8GB LTE, 8GB LTE seems to be a much better option. When 2nd level provider supports 5G network, would PM still locks their users to 3G speed? Do PM even have a change to get 5G signal? If you look at the $70 plan, it is 15.5 3G speed with PM vs 15GB LTE (Virgin, Fido, did not bother to check Koodo)

2. No roaming from PM beside US

For people who travel outside of CA & US with PM, there won't be signal with PM. Whereas 2nd provider, without paying any roaming fee, at least there is signal to receive text message for free. The is important because these days, Paypal, Google etc. would send you a verification to your mobile for suspicious logins (Well, since logging in from a different country, it is suspicious). You might get locked out just because you can't receive the text message while abroad. This is not a big deal for now as people can't travel much, but once travel return, PM sucks

3. No direct customer support

Can't call PM for issues, but have to send DM to mod, or the new support agent and wait for awhile probably days to get an answer.

4. Many LTE/5G features are disabled on PM. For example, no VoLTE (aka Wifi calling) with PM. Helpful if you living in an area that signal sucks, but do have a good wifi connection available around.

5. No official billing statement

For people that needs official statement from PM it really sucks, and the payment history only last for 12 months, which is too short.

6. I still remember, PM tried to increase what they have promised, but failed, haha

Reference: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Announcements/A-letter-from-Dave-on-the-infamous-40-f... Looks bad on you PM!

The gain:

1. More data, well 2GB more data for $50, and 500MB more for $70... Fido has $41 for 4GB plan, does not seems like 3G capped too. Does it worth it to stay with 3G speed but 500MB to 2GB more data?

2. Loyalty discount, if a user stays with PM more than 5 years, $5 off a month, this seems to be good. Referral is not as competitive as others. Consider some companies gives a user as much as $50 off or credit per referral, unless the user stays with PM for 2 years, otherwise $1 off won't give you any benefit over other providers. Plus it is tough to get referrals these day. Once people know that PM is 3G speed, no roaming, no customer service, people are not gonna take it.

3. US & Canada unlimited LD ($50+ plans), I guess this is a good one for people have many friends in US and still willing to communicate through calling. Not for me.

4. Occasionally promotions. PM promotions used to be available to everyone, including old users. Nowdays they are mostly for new users only. Sucks! Also free addon promotion used to be auto added to everyone's plan, now the user have to manually activate it and have to stay tuned on the community form.

I am considering if I would like to stay PM or move else where, this is just a think-out-loud post. What do you think? Am I missing any import facts about PM?

[darlicious]

@barndoor 

Nipping yes but you will not find a better $15 plan than pm's ($8 w/max no effort rewards), non-expiring add ons, no overages, no credit card pre-authorization, no extra billing or hidden charges and an engaged, friendly and informative community (currently featuring a friendly neighbourhood antagonist!😉😃!!)

[barndoor]

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@LeePublic wrote:

If you count the new customer promotions, it makes it more attractive to new customers, but I would like to see a promo for the $15 and $25 plans, like permanent Bonus 250 MB for $15 plan for total of 500 MB with auto pay or Bonus 500 MB with $25 plan for total of 1.5 GB with auto pay. That would encourage light users to sign up with PM.

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They need to ad something ... I've been shopping around because not interested in dealing with glitch crap here if it continues and the competition is nipping at PM's heels with what they are offering .

[LeePublic]

If you count the new customer promotions, it makes it more attractive to new customers, but I would like to see a promo for the $15 and $25 plans, like permanent Bonus 250 MB for $15 plan for total of 500 MB with auto pay or Bonus 500 MB with $25 plan for total of 1.5 GB with auto pay. That would encourage light users to sign up with PM.

[barndoor]

The addons should you need them tend to be more consumer friendly here ... can use the whole amount over time as opposed to expiring in 30 days . 

[JackL]

Thanks guys for your input, I went through all your replies.

I did miss that PM is a prepaid service, no credit check. I did miss this, because I did not care much for a credit check. I wanted to stay with a provider that is good, so I do not have to jump from one provider to another all the time to just get that discount. Of course, good is hard to define, and it has different meaning to different people.

PM's plan is very good for certain type of people according to your comments. Here is what I have organized:

1. No credit check (pre-paid service)

2. Not possible to overuse, no surprise billing, can leave roaming on all

3. Unlimited calling to US and cheap roaming to US

4. People who got lot of referrals on their account

5. I do love the community, all you friendly people!

Initially, I switched to PM, because of savings. Back in the days, $40 4GB LTE data with prov wide call was a good deal of plan, and it is still a good deal, plus years of savings. However as pandemic arrived, I am mostly working from home, so I switch off to 1GB data plan, with the understanding that I will not be able to switch back to the previous LTE plan. However, I am actively looking for phone plans for relatives and friends. Then I realized PM plan is no longer as good as it used to be. Do I really want to go back to jumping from provider to provider again? Or should I continue to stay with PM. I think I will make the final decision when the pandemic is "gone" (at least life return to normal, or when I have to go out a lot again). Hopefully PM will get better.

Oracle, you guys are great! I know you guys do not work for PM, but your dedicated support to general PM customer are crucial to make this community great! (PM should give you guys more incentives)

[darlicious]

@ShawnC13 

Thank you for your comments and correction (freedom of expression). Giving the community feedback on your role as an Oracle helps clear up misconceptions held by community members (including my own).

At times I do see when Oracle's influence has effected change by pm be it with the services offered or within the community like the removal of the bravo leaderboard. Which in my opinion did not lead to the desired result but rather may have led to a lack of accountability that is open to abuse.

Although nothing has been mentioned about the "abyssment" of the top contributors announcement a move I have suggested and for once actually support its lounge worthiness as I have long complained that the meaningless bravos within cheapen the hard work of communuty members who care only about helping out others within the community. A well deserved bravo for that move!

While I fully understand that the role of Oracle is voluntary and you do not directly represent pm or telus team members do represent the community and should be held to the same terms and conditions. Previous to the past year this has not always been the case and in general pm has not lived up to its promises to consistently apply the ToS fairly and be clear and concise when administering sanctions or consequences when those "rules" are broken.

But it is my impression that despite personal and work commitments that not all of the Oracle Team put in a minimum effort that the average community member would expect from an Oracle. Of course there are team members that put in far more effort then expected and I commend those who do even if I don't agree with some of their efforts personally.....lol....that I'm sure is well known among team members to be my own crusade and while critical of policy it is not meant to be a direct personal criticism.

To be clear my opinion is not meant to be disrespectful of the Oracle Team and I will apologise ahead if time if any member thinks it is.....as I do appreciate the role and the difficult position it is to hold.

[ShawnC13]

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@darlicious wrote:

On a personal note I find it sad that one of pm's own oracles (albeit the hardest working one) is so highly critical of public mobile....the brand he is supposed to represent. I myself have never aspired to oracledom for the simple fact that I can retain my right to free speech be it complimentary or highly critical of public mobile. I expect a little more from the Oracle Team but alas I have learned that pm itself expects very little from its individual oracles in the past and actually demands and holds its community membership at large to a higher standard then it does its own Oracle team. That is not to say that members of that team are exemplary examples of what an Oracle should be and do get my up most respect and deservedly so.....🤔😉😃!!           .....just not all of them. JMHO!

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As Oracles we are not representatives of PM or Telus, we are still just customers with some extra perks.  If you feared you wouldn't be able to retain your free speech (which Canada does not have we have Freedom of Expression) comments made by Oracles that criticize PM should show you that we do still have freedom in expressing our thoughts on how things are with PM.  I am not sure what you meant by you expected more from the Oracle Team?  Does this mean you want the Oracles to agree with everything PM does?  Sitting in on the Quarterly Oracle Connects I can assure you that we give and are expected to give honest and open comments good or bad.

I believe the Oracle team pushes very hard for improvements of the service and provides the information that we collect from the community to PM.  Pushing for improvements with PM will be beneficial to the customer who will then feel comfortable referring people to PM again and therefore it is beneficial to PM as well.

It is unfortunate I think there is a huge misconception that Oracles work for PM and will only give praise to them.  We actually bring the real-life experiences of their customers to them good or bad.

[softech]

I agree that if plans $40 and above are not competitive at all.  If you need them, you should look elsewhere.  There are a lot of weekends deals, holiday deals that give you lots of data at LTE speed for even $35  and up.  

However, you might still stick with PM for :

1. you like the idea of prepaid.  PM is true no surprise billing provider

2. you cannot get a postpaid plan due to credit checking

3. you don't have a credit card

4. you have lots of rewards like Friends referral and loyalty

5.... finally and most importantly, you love all of us in the Public Community  🙂

[darlicious]

@JackL 

You have made an interesting assessment of what public mobile offers but let's not compare apples and oranges. Many of your points pertain to what other providers offer their post paid customers not their prepaid customers who are still limited to 4G LTE data throttled to 3mbps. While some customers really do need the increased data speed for their work or recreational needs (ie.gamers) most do not. I for one see very little difference between the two speeds having 2/3 accounts with full speed 4G LTE service.

I would agree that pm no longer leads the third tier providers with innovative promotions, data vs cost savings and has walked backwards limiting all current market plans to throttled 3mbps service and 5G service is simply pie in the sky thinking.....this is not pm's marketing niche. That will never happen at pm.

Public mobile's limited roaming options (US roaming only) may be inconvenient for a few customers but what they do offer is extremely competitive cost wise. No other provider offers such low cost roaming options. Most other providers roaming price per average $10 per day for the US and $14 per day internationally capped between $120 and $180 per billing month using for the most part the customers own monthly data buckets. That's a lot to pay for convenience.

No one else offered the limited time $60 Canada/US roaming monthly plan that included 8GB of data at home and 2GB US data, unlimited US/Canada long distance and texting. Those customers that still have that plan know how lucky they were to have scooped up that plan offered for a few months in 2019 and have continued to pay for it during this long restricted travel time due to the pandemic. I firmly believe that it's sudden cancellation with a mere 12 hours notice came straight from the top with telus seeing a mass exodus of its premium paying customers to pm to snap up this innovative industry leading plan.

No there is no call centre customer service with public mobile but pm has worked hard at recruiting more CSA's/moderators to vastly improve customer support wait times. While occasional back logs creep up from time to time the average wait time is well under one hour and personally my wait times are about 10 minutes. One customer recently reported receiving a CSA reply in less than one minute. If you really require phone call support then pm is not the provider for you.

To be clear voLTE calling is not wifi calling. It is voice service using the 4G LTE network vs the 3G network. With the decommissioning of the 3G network in favour of 5G voLTE calling will eventually come to pm and sooner than telus originally planned. While initial planning held it to about 5 years from now new guesstimates due to changes in Manitoba for example put pm at receiving VOLTE service in 18 months to 2 years. But it's still wait and see.....and just forget mentioning 5G service its for suckers anyways with most practical applications meant for big business....and the Jones's.

I agree getting an official billing statement from pm takes a lot of extra work on the part of both the customer and pm it is possible. There are some workarounds developed by @LurganIeUk for personal recordkeeping and if you are diligent like myself in taking screenshots of my account its really only inconvenient to a very small percentage of total customers requiring an official statement for employer reimbursement or for tax purposes. (It is.....because I've done the research previously on the number of inquiries on this subject asked of the community in the last 5 years.)

The pm rewards program is still industry leading and lucrative for those willing to work at it to earn extra rewards over and above autopay and loyalty rewards. While it's a little harder to sell pm to others because the cost savings are no longer as vast as they once were the improvements in customer support wait times make the loudest complaint in the past irrevelant. I am still referring 2 or 3 customers per year and I have no complaints in regard to my free accounts.

I agree that the lack of bonus referral credits for referrers have practically disappeared with the exception of the odd one time targeted texted offer. Other providers referral credits are meted out at $5 per month with strict terms that if they are not met means the credit is rescinded. Not much of an incentive in my opinion.

Yes public mobile also bungled the roll out of provincial only calling plans his spring causing a loss of customers and quite the uproar among the community membership. It's too bad it took them 7 weeks to finally cancel the whole entirely bad idea but in doing so they increased the data allotments of the $35 and $50 plan and later introduced the over priced $70/15.5gb plan but at least they are still listening to its vocal customer base and implementing changes that take those voices into account.

Requiring customers to log into their self serve accounts to load freebie gifts in a snooze or lose manner is just smart marketing and good for the bottom line. If it saves pm enough money from those who are not tuned into the community or ignore pm marketing measures to announce these kind of promotional bonuses that allows pm to continue to offer these gifts year after year I am all for It! More freebies for me and others that care enough about their provider to stay in tune with its community and marketing.

Should you stay or should you go? Ultimately that decision rests with you and you alone. I know I am not going anywhere....ever....unless pm disappears altogether.

On a personal note I find it sad that one of pm's own oracles (albeit the hardest working one) is so highly critical of public mobile....the brand he is supposed to represent. I myself have never aspired to oracledom for the simple fact that I can retain my right to free speech be it complimentary or highly critical of public mobile. I expect a little more from the Oracle Team but alas I have learned that pm itself expects very little from its individual oracles in the past and actually demands and holds its community membership at large to a higher standard then it does its own Oracle team. That is not to say that members of that team are exemplary examples of what an Oracle should be and do get my up most respect and deservedly so.....🤔😉😃!!           .....just not all of them. JMHO!

[computergeek541]

@JackL 

You're not going to get any argument from me.  My opinion is that many of Public Mobile's plans are essentially junk.  I have many of the same reservations that you do such as the data being too slow comapred to what others are offering for the about the same price points, not enough data is offered, and Public Mobile lacks what I consider to now be basic features such as VoLTE and the ability for customers to use eSIMs.  The only thing that Public Mobile has had going for them for a couple of years is the fact that customers can get large discounts via the rewards program.  Take the rewards program away and there's not much reason to be a Public Mobile customer.  While I will say that the rewards can bring great savings, those take time to accumulate, and for the potential new customer comparing offerings, Public Mobile's offers often aren't very good.