What's the catch?

[hasmith99]

The next cheapest phone plan is like $15-20 more expensive. How does Public manage to be so cheap? How's the service, consistency, etc? I've already seen a posts about calls dropping out or not being able to call at all, overpaying, not even getting service, etc. Of course I know that's what this forum is here for and shouldn't at all be representative of the service as a whole, but I still have to question.

What's your guy's experiences with it, for those who have been with Public for a while?

[Pawprints1986]

The only downside I've come across, and it would only matter once every like 4 or 5 years if that for me, is no international roaming add on available... But as far as every day I haven't found a down side yet! Had some rough calls at first but found out after that all networks were overloaded/choppy due to covid, that is all networks not just PM

So far I'm supposed to only pay 21$ for the 25$ plan, 2$ autopay and $2 community rewards at least for this past round, but without community 23$. "Loyalty" offered  me the same for 35$ at koodo... Got peeved and switched

Don't cancel your old plan! Keep the number active to be able to port it 🙂

[Ardene18]

I'm currently on $15 plan and I never encountered any single problem with PM since I joined last December of 2019. 
The reception from Call/txt/ 3g data is absolutely perfect so far. 

[Korth]

The "catch" is the other side of no stores, no call centers, etc.

If/when PM customers have some kind of problem which needs to be resolved then they must somehow figure it out themselves (or hope their question can be answered by people in this PM Community), or they must send a Private Message to the Moderator Team or they must request a support ticket from the SIMon autobot. All of these approaches can require a day or two (or longer) to obtain results.

Issues involving phone-side problems can often be solved by PM Community (customers).

Issues involving account-side problems can only be solved by PM Moderators (employees).

The most common problems occur with new accounts (failed activation, stuck number port, etc) or with broken AutoPay (can work fine month after month, until the day it doesn't). The complaints are often angry because typically the customer has no phone service or suspended account - and has offered a valid payment method - and wants/needs it fixed immediately.

I don't know how this really compares vs other carriers. But I'm guessing their customers experience all the same sorts of issues, except their support methods are handled internally while PM's methods are openly broadcast across public internet.

And, of course, other carriers have physical point-of-sale locations where customers can walk in and deal face-to-face, somewhere "real" their customers can go to get things fixed, wait around a while, walk away with problem solved - which is exactly why they cost more.

PM operates on the Telus network (actually the shared Telus+Bell+SaskTel network), it supports Wideband/HD Voice, SMS/MMS, "3G" data (4G/LTE data throttled to 3Mbps), E911, and Telus "Wireless Video Optimization". It is exactly the same quality and coverage as any other Telus/Koodo or Bell/Virgin/Lucky or SaskTel customer receives, no preference is made between them at the technical level (although service provisions are allocated based on account details, you don't get long distance or data or whatever unless your plan allows it).

PM does not support commoditized "premium" features like VoLTE, 4G (on most PM plans, anyhow), "unlimited" data, eSIMs, some kind of mobile app, etc. People who want/need those features often complain about PM (and argue that PM's third-tier competitors do support some of these features).

[ShawnC13]

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@hasmith99 wrote:

The next cheapest phone plan is like $15-20 more expensive. How does Public manage to be so cheap? How's the service, consistency, etc? I've already seen a posts about calls dropping out or not being able to call at all, overpaying, not even getting service, etc. Of course I know that's what this forum is here for and shouldn't at all be representative of the service as a whole, but I still have to question.

What's your guy's experiences with it, for those who have been with Public for a while?

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3.5 years of Rock Solid service for me saving over $1000 in that time.  

[popping]

@hasmith99 

PM does not have call center. PM uses this forum to provide support.  What you read on this forum are the issues with PM.  Other providers with call center may have the similar issues which we do not know.

I activated my first plan almost 2 years ago.  Since then, I switched my family members to PM.  I am managing 8 PM accounts for me and my family members.  I did not experience any major issues with my accounts.

Have a better and better days!

[brettster99 · Accepted solution]

Having been a member since 2018 I can tell you the ONLY problem I had was when I dialed a correct number and it said the call could not be completed but that is very rare. Other then that service has been great for me.

The reason PM is cheaper is that there are no call centers. No physical locations. No salaried employees that you can access on-demand. The data is cheaper because it is slower (even though it is faster then my home internet at all times when it's not working even at the slower 3G speeds) 

Also because like I said earlier that there is no physical stores there is also no phones to actually sell or be put on a contract with. You need to BYO phone to use PM which is another reason why it is cheaper 

[Princesseplume]

I had a friend move from Europe to Canada a few years ago and she couldn't believe how expensive it was around here. She expected to pay a bit more than she was used to but never this much she said. 

[Naepalm]

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@hasmith99 wrote:

The next cheapest phone plan is like $15-20 more expensive. How does Public manage to be so cheap? How's the service, consistency, etc? I've already seen a posts about calls dropping out or not being able to call at all, overpaying, not even getting service, etc. Of course I know that's what this forum is here for and shouldn't at all be representative of the service as a whole, but I still have to question.

What's your guy's experiences with it, for those who have been with Public for a while?

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Their ability to be a discounted carrier is a product of many factors. One of them is the fact that they don't have a call centre, they have moderators and a community that is here to answer your questions. Having no brick and mortar stores is very helpful. Running on 3G service will also be less expensive than running 4GLTE. (edit)Public Mobile is still running on the 4G network and there throttled speed is LTE at 3G speeds. It would be like running DSL internet instead of FIBE. The ability for them to have rewards for people to support their service also comes into play with the rates.

I would caution against using the complaints you see here to support or deter your decision. Same with Facebook. If you have an inside look at all the calls, rogers and Bell got on a daily basis you would run for your life. LOL

I hope you enjoy Public and the Community! 

[oglat]

@hasmith99 

We are getting skinned alive - abroad people pay 20 Euros for 100 gigs and unlimited talk to North America and their telecoms make money.

[totalUser]

Happy user here too

I believe I'm getting more than I pay for, I don't think even really stinky stick could chase me away.

I also love the community here too.

Hope you like it here, great service

Give it a try, call your local store see it they are open and if they give free sim with in-store activation. Don't worry you can use your friend's referral code in store too (don't take no for an answer if they insist they can't) also sign up for autopay. You will end up paying 13+tax (23+tax at most) with the possibility of saving that much monthly

[P-Ran]

I have been a customer since Dec. 2019 and have had no issue. I send and receive text messages without issue and no dropped calls. Things like that may be due to coverage in your area, I don't know. I cut my phone bill almost in half with more features by joining PM. I never had data on my last plan, by another supplier, and paid more for just text messaging and a limit of 500 minutes a month with evenings and weekends free. Now I get unlimited calling, unlimited text messaging & pictures plus 1 GB of data for $25. Great deal if you ask me! Only issue would be if you prefer to pay each month for a phone, then you would have to look elsewhere since PM does not offer that, so you would have to bring your own phone.

[kselmak]

Biggest catch is not having 611 that connects to a human being, you have to talk to us and if we can't help you have to take to moderators (employees) where singers you have to wait for hours. If you can live with that you can save some money with public mobile.

All the other issues you will have with other providers. You will never overpay here or be charged extra, you must authorize every charger, if you see those issues is usually us pressing'ok' few times, usually it's ok as those funds will be used for the next cycle.

You will also see people buying service then walking away without cancelling autopay, well if you authorise something like that you must cancel it.

If it happens that you didn't get service you paid for that will credit it one way or the other.

Loss of signal and down time is really shared with Bell and Telus as pm is on their Network .

Major difference is volte, it's simply not offered by pm so test your calling before deciding make sure you are not on LTE only zone.

My personal experience is very good actually, I experience less or same down time than with my previous providers and pay way less. The only provider that came close to price and service to pm was freedom which was a true competitor while I lived in the area that has great coverage, since I moved out I spent a year with the service only while on the highway. Koodo was very good too, but much pricier, I believe only because of live support on demand and phones, both of those are pretty expensive.

Don't take me wrong, here we do have live support, but beyond community it's not on demand, I believe it's at optional capacity.

Welcome to public mobile

[BearFBI]

@hasmith99 There is to catch. Public Mobile is great. It is owed and operated by TELUS and it uses BELL/TELUS towers. PM dosent have call centers. Support is all online making costs cheaper. PM also dosent offer phone contracts. And its data speed is throttled to 3MB LTE. If you dont care about this then PM is the best choice for you. Ive had no problems. Its basicaly TELUS service without the unnecessary costs we have to pay for. You also save with autopay and rewards. Im on the 25$ plan and Im going to pay 15$ a month with rewards Soon. Im switching to the 15$ Plan soon making my total cost 0$ Not quite at 15$ rewards yet but im getting a few friends on Public soon so their referrals with autopay and community would get me to 15$

[Triguy]

PM uses the same cell towers as Bell and Telus but throttles  the data speeds to 3G.  All plans are prepaid so there are no overages so when you reach your limit for data then it stops.  One difference is the support is online through the online community forum and for more support then a ticket needs to be submitted to a moderator.

[Shutdown]

They keep prices low by having no physical locations or call center. So basically their only employees are probably the moderators vs having to buy for rent/employees which is very expensive in canada. As for the network it's identical to telus cause it is on telus network.

[gblackma]

@hasmith99  Personally, I have had no problems. My calls and texts go through. You give up data speed for cheaper plans. PM's data is 4g LTE throttled to 3mbts. Stay safe.  

[geopublic]

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@hasmith99 wrote:

The next cheapest phone plan is like $15-20 more expensive. How does Public manage to be so cheap? How's the service, consistency, etc? I've already seen a posts about calls dropping out or not being able to call at all, overpaying, not even getting service, etc. Of course I know that's what this forum is here for and shouldn't at all be representative of the service as a whole, but I still have to question.

What's your guy's experiences with it, for those who have been with Public for a while?

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@hasmith99  No catch. Why not activate on the $15 plan ($13 with Auto-Pay) select a temporary number  try it out for 30 days and be your own judge. If you are happy with the then port in your number from your current provider.