Why is it that people who activate instore get a free SIM but those who activate online pay 10$?

[Poogzley]

Why is it that people who activate instore (Walmart/PM Kiosk) get a free SIM but those who activate online have to pay 10$?

Mini rant:
It seems like it should be the other way around... stores have a larger overhead besides they have to pay employee to be there. Meanwhile those who order a Sim online pay an extra 10$, this does not make sense to me I think it should be the other way around. Isn't Public Mobile's all about self-service but then they give you a better deal if you actually depend on in-store service? This does not make sense to me as it seems to go against the companies general philosophy. Even Koodo (Telus's other MVNO) gives free Sims when you activate online not in-store. Furthermore every time I have gone to one of Public Mobiles retail partners like Walmart the sales person has always pushed me to go with Bell or Rogers instead (I assume they have a higher commission rate). I even had one employee who completely refused to sell a PM Sim, I ended up going to a different location... All this to say that the whole system seems counter intuitive meaning that Public Mobile are missing out on potential clients and most importantly the consumers are the ones losing out as not everyone is near a retail partner.
 
My proposal: If PM still wants to sell the SIMs online for 10$ they could give a 10$ credit to those how activate online essentially making the cost of the SIM 0$. Alternatively they could just send you the SIM for free after you complete the resgistration process and then you could complete the activation and start your billing cycle once you receive it.
 
I really like Public Mobile and want to see them succeed, this is just something that has been bothering me for a while and just wanted to put it out there.

I would love to get feedback form one of the @CS_Agent  if they are willing to reach out for comment.

[Montrealpost]

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@NDesai wrote:

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Sounds great for customers, but not for Public Mobile as they are the ones paying to ship it to you. 

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Bell3+U both have a good point on shipping cost.  How about increase online order by $1 or $2 to cover shipping, then refund $10 for activations that paid for SIM (from online/kiosk/reseller)?  But this would increase PM administration costs.  Any creative/productive suggestion?  

[NDesai]

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@Montrealpost wrote:

I think u are making a great suggestion, thanks @Poogzley !

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Sounds great for customers, but not for Public Mobile as they are the ones paying to ship it to you. 

[Montrealpost]

I think u are making a great suggestion, thanks @Poogzley !

[Bell3]

You have raised a very interesting point and this subject has multiple sides. Big 3 mobile providers have long term contracts and they will be able to recover the SIM cost during the long term contract period but that is not the case with PM. By the way, I am not a big fan of Walmart, since it is impossible to buy PM SIM card without activation at the store.

[NDesai]

@Poogzley No one controls in store promotions for sim cards. It's up to the store if they decide to offer free sim cards or anything else. PM do their own promos. A few weeks ago, they did a free sim promo. They can't afford to do it all the time as they have to pay for shipping cost. When you get the sim from store, there is no shipping cost, so retail stores can afford to sell sim cards for $0 with a condition that you must activate there (involves commission). 

[bhavpate4]

retail location are not free . you have to pay $10 for sim card. only time you dont pay when they have free sim promotion.

[Poogzley]

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@ShawnC13 wrote: If you use a referal number you do get a $10 credit and the sims at retail locations aren't always free, could be an in-store promo or a PM driven promo.

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The 10$ referral can be used in store and online. if you pair it with a free sim (in-store) you still get the 10$ refferal actually makeing it an effective savings of 20$ if you count the SIM cost you would have paid online, mean while if you pay for the SIM you just break even.

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@ShawnC13 wrote: Sims used to be free but they found only about 30% were being activated

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I am aware of this, thats why I made the following suggestions:

@Poogzley  Wrote: My proposal: If PM still wants to sell the SIMs online for 10$ they could give a 10$ credit to those how activate online essentially making the cost of the SIM 0$. Alternatively they could just send you the SIM for free after you complete the registration process and then you could complete the activation and start your billing cycle once you receive it.

[ShawnC13]

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@Poogzley wrote:

Why is it that people who activate instore (Walmart/PM Kiosk) get a free SIM but those who activate online have to pay 10$?

Mini rant:
It seems like it should be the other way around... stores have a larger overhead besides they have to pay employee to be there. Meanwhile those who order a Sim online pay an extra 10$, this does not make sense to me I think it should be the other way around. Isn't Public Mobile's all about self-service but then they give you a better deal if you actually depend on in-store service? This does not make sense to me as it seems to go against the companies general philosophy. Even Koodo (Telus's other MVNO) gives free Sims when you activate online not in-store. Furthermore every time I have gone to one of Public Mobiles retail partners like Walmart the sales person has always pushed me to go with Bell or Rogers instead (I assume they have a higher commission rate). I even had one employee who completely refused to sell a PM Sim, I ended up going to a different location... All this to say that the whole system seems counter intuitive meaning that Public Mobile are missing out on potential clients and most importantly the consumers are the ones losing out as not everyone is near a retail partner.
 
My proposal: If PM still wants to sell the SIMs online for 10$ they could give a 10$ credit to those how activate online essentially making the cost of the SIM 0$. Alternatively they could just send you the SIM for free after you complete the resgistration process and then you could complete the activation and start your billing cycle once you receive it.
 
I really like Public Mobile and want to see them succeed, this is just something that has been bothering me for a while and just wanted to put it out there.

I would love to get feedback form one of the @CS_Agent  if they are willing to reach out for comment.

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If you use a referal number you do get a $10 credit and the sims at retail locations aren't always free, could be an in-store promo or a PM driven promo.  Sims used to be free but they found only about 30% were being activated