missing referral and poor customer service.

[jasgod]

I just wanted to let the community know that there seems to be some sort of glitch or error that can cause a referral to go missing when it shouldn't.  This could be particularly concerning for people who do not know their referrals in person as you would not know if your actually left public mobile or not.

In October I noticed that the text I normally receive from Public was missing one of my referral credits.  In this case I was overcharged by $3 for the 3month period.  I checked my rewards page and my Wife's phone number was missing.  This referral had been active for 6 years.  My Wife's account is maintained and paid by me so it is certainly not on hold and all paid up.  I contacted the CS agent and was told that the referral code on my Wife's account did not match mine and that they would open a ticket with the rewards department. 

A couple weeks later I contacted CS agent again to find out whats going on.  This time the Agent confirmed that my Wife's account had "disappeared" from my referral list.  She then credited me $3 for the over payment and then opened a ticket with the technical services department with a time frame of 5 business days and to follow up after as there would be a note on my account with a response. 

A week and a half later I got around to checking and the referral is still missing so I contact Pubic mobile CS again and this time after explaining things again the agent wants the phone numbers from all my referrals and their PIN numbers?!?!?!  I told Him I will not provide PIN numbers for other peoples accounts as it sounds like a big security issue and to please read the previous correspondence.  I have now been ghosted for 2 days.

So anyway I have opened a CCTS complaint and I will see how that goes.

Keep an eye on your referrals and good luck if you have a legitimate one disappear.

[hTideGnow]

HI@jasgod , glad it is sorted out with good result.

Yes, sometimes we need to escalate to get things cleared up, unfortunately

[jasgod]

Final update:

An escalation agent did get back to me after my last post and also confirmed that my wife's phone number showed a different referral other than mine.  It was told this was escalated again to the technical services team.  I was then given follow up messages to say that they have not heard anything back from the technical services team.  The last message I received from public mobile regarding this was sent Dec14th and then I heard nothing. 

I then heard from Telus CCTS agent last week and she she told me two referral's were showing in my account when she checked.  I said I hadn't heard anything so she said she would contact public mobile to find out.  After that phone call I checked my rewards page and the missing referral had re-appeared with the last 4 digits of my wife's account.  The CCTS agent called me today and confirmed the rewards credit had been fixed.

So that's It I guess,  It has been fixed as far as I can tell.  Nothing from Public Mobile telling me it was fixed, why it went missing in the first place or what they did to fix it.

My take: 

1. Public Mobile customer service is a hot steaming pile of garbage.

2. Make a CCTS complaint, don't hesitate or waste too much time dealing with CS_agents.

3. When you loose referrals the person you referred may not have left Public Mobile. Things can happen to make legitimate referrals disappear.  If you don't know your referrals you probably will never know if this happened to you.

jasgod

[darlicious]

@jasgod 

Yes something did light a fire.....?😁

Oh yes I see now where something may have been mixed up as your phone number was used for the referral. Maybe behind the scenes they have been associating phone numbers with referral codes and somehow an error was made with your phone number/referral code on your wife's account if pm was replacing the phone number with the referral code? Hopefully this all gets resolved by the supervisor.

[jasgod]

Hi @hTideGnow

No, my wife used my phone number originally to sign up as this was before referral codes.  I have been collecting a referral credit for her phone number for 6 years before it disappeared from my list in October.  Two different CS agents have now claimed that there is a referral code attached to her account but does not match mine.  I can only speculate why this might happen? Glitch? Error? Hacker stealing referrals? inside job? Human error? I don't know?  One can only presume that if a different referral code is there someone else is collecting the credit.

NEW update:

The CS agent now claims I should hear from a supervisor within 48-72 hours.

Something seems to have lit a fire under there butts....

[hTideGnow]

HI @jasgod  oh, your wife used someone's else code? 🤔

I guess at this point, it will be good.  just wait for the good news

[jasgod]

Just an update.

The CS agent that I replied to Thursday messaged me asking for the phone numbers of the referrals (which I have already provided).  He told me my wife's phone number has a different referral code than mine.  I was also told the same thing several weeks ago.  He is no longer asking for PINs so maybe they read this post?  

I also informed him I made the CCTS complaint.

[dianneplaza]

i recently joied Public Mobile and boy am I rregretting my decision. Its 5 days and I cant use my phone and the person who referred me did not get the credit. Why do people stay with public mobile?

[jasgod]

My wife's plan has been on the old $40/12gig/3month plan since the start.  I have scheduled it to change in Jan. but that was after the referral went missing.

The most recent interaction was a weekday.

My referrals are easy to keep track of because they are family members.  In this case I only have two.  I can just log in to get the one for my wife.  The other would require a phone call although it would be completely rediculous to provide a pin for an account where the referral still works.

The other thing is these PIN's are a means of security and are private information and I don't think I should have access to other people pins anyway.  When the CS agent requested these I became concerned for this reason and replied with only the two phone numbers but not the PINs.  I told him I would not provide PINs for security reasons.  I never received a reply.  

It actually seemed very scetchy that I was asked for the PINs and was questioning whether I was chatting to a real agent.

[Patchio]

@jasgod 

The CS agent requesting the phone number and PIN number for all your referrals is not intersted in helping you.

This is a common tactic some of the CS agents now employ when they want to deny your claim about missing referral credits. They know full well that you are unlikely to provide all the phone numbers, let alone all the PIN'S for other people's accounts.

There are other ways for them to check whether an account is active, and the reason they insist on using the phone number/PIN method is because it's much easier for them to deny the claim and close the ticket when the customer is unable to provide the information. 

The person who referred me to PM ran into this problem when they contacted CS agents about missing referral credits from the Refer-a-Friend bonus promotion back in August/September. They told him they wouldn't be able to check unless he could provide them with my phone number and PIN. Fortunately for me, he didn't ask for my PIN, and he submitted a new ticket afterwards that was handled by a different CS agent, and the issue was resolved without needing me to supply my PIN. 

Filing a CCTS complaint is appropriate, because PM is unlikely to resolve this potentially recurring issue unless they are forced to admit a screw-up on their end. Since you are on the old Rewards program, you can at least provide documentation to show that your wife's number is missing from your list of referrals. Customers on Public Points don't have that luxury. 

I do have two questions out of curiosity.

1 - Did your wife's plan happen to change before your account renewal back in October?  

2 - Did your most recent interaction with the CS agent happen on the weekend, while your initial contact with them happen on a weekday? 

Good luck with your CCTS complaint, and please keep the Community updated on your issue. 

[gpixel]

I thought Alan_T was a senior member

[darlicious]

@jasgod 

Unfortunately customer service has become YMMV at pm. If you get some of the newer agents who are poorly trained and without the appropriate knowledge your interaction with them can be the polar opposite of a senior agent. It doesn't seem like pm is interested in weeding out the poorly performing agents.

@Yummy 

The points rewards account basically gives you no information except the amount of points earned on your renewal.

[CountyDownIeUk]

Oh. 

[Yummy]

---

@hTideGnow wrote:

Hi @Yummy new rewards system does not show phone number. And for some reasons, they update the new amount later on the new system too

---

Ahhhh. So since I am on old rewards I can see phone numbers but 'pointers' cannot?

[hTideGnow]

Hi @Yummy new rewards system does not show phone number. And for some reasons, they update the new amount later on the new system too

[CountyDownIeUk]

---

@Yummy wrote:

---

@CountyDownIeUk wrote:

Good point @hTideGnow 

Old system has the numbers .... new system.....no numbers.....favours PM. 

---

This is not correct.

New system does show last 4 digits of referral phone.

---

New system as in revised website?

New system as in new Rewards system?

From what I have been advised the new points Rewards System does NOT show the phone numbers. 

[Yummy]

---

@CountyDownIeUk wrote:

Good point @hTideGnow 

Old system has the numbers .... new system.....no numbers.....favours PM. 

---

This is not correct.

New system does show last 4 digits of referral phone.

[jasgod]

I'm not sure how things currently are but I made a CCTS complaint in 2018 regarding my account being double billed.  CS agents kept promising a refund but never came.  A credit card charge back worked in that case but the CCTS complaint also resulted in a phone call from a KOODO rep who provided credits to my account for the trouble.

Its sad to see customer service has not improved though

[darlicious]

@jasgod 

This is very unusual as I have never had a referral inexplicably disappear....but I suppose it's advantageous that it's your wife and not a less well known referral. Aside from the recent idiot from customer support you dealt with has there been no progress from your ticket with the tech department? The solution seems simple to me....have them add your referral code back to your wife's account. If they really want to be picky they take the $10 bonus referral credit back as a "system issue". Did you tell pm that your intent was to file a complaint with the CCTS? That alone will usually resolve the issue without having to follow thru.....I'm not so sure how much success you will have with them as "rewards" may not be covered under their scope.

Please keep us informed of your progress though as it does affect us all!

[jasgod]

I have chatted with 5 different agents over the last month or so and none of them end with "o"

[CountyDownIeUk]

Oh. 

[jasgod]

Here is the question with the CS name

"The PIN number i have asked is not for your line, is for the ones you have referred so as to thoroughly check in order to find the best solution.

As you know, it's important that all the ones that you referred to still have active accounts.

If you can assist me with the phone numbers that you have referred, i would be more than grateful and for sure it would ease the time until we find a solid solution.

Kind regards,

Alan_T

CS_Agent"

[walker1]

@CountyDownIeUk 

I thought all CSA names end with o.  Shouldn't that one in your list be Alexo?

[JK8]

@jasgod 

I think @darlicious has had referral rewards go missing. She may want to give some advice on her experience.

[CountyDownIeUk]

That is outrageous and immoral  to ask for a Pin number other than yours. And you should not have to supply a full number.....not to mention numbers do get changed. 

What is the name of the CSA?

Angelo?

Alex?

Osvaldo?

Rodrigo?

My referrals fluctuate often. I verify them every 30 days. 

Good point @hTideGnow 

Old system has the numbers .... new system.....no numbers.....favours PM. 

[hTideGnow]

hi @jasgod glad that you found out and it is resolved

It is true that it is hard to keep track.  If you are on old system, it is not as bad, at least you will see the last 4 digits of the phone number