thinking of signing up.

[GoStampsGo]

Hey everyone, I have been with Chatr since 2011, but I was thinking of switching over to Public. How is the service compared to Chatr? I don't like how Chatr has "Chatr Zones" do you find Public has those? I live in Calgary, but I spend a lot of time out in Okatoks and service is not so good. What are some of the drawbacks you have found with Public?

[XSpursJ]

@GoStampsGo

I used Rogers (Chatr's mother company) in the past and switched to Koodo for better reception as I was in the same situation as you are. Eventually, I left Koodo and joined PM because of the same good coverage but a lower price. I definitely recommend PM.

[Michael77]

@GoStampsGo,

Welcome to Public Mobile! 🙂

[GoStampsGo]

I would like to thank everyone for their feedback. In nearly 7 years I think I used Chatr help line twice, so I'm OK with there not being a callcentre. Seems to me biggest concern is problems making payments, I hope it's not a huge problem. I have a Acer Liquid Z410, the compatability checker saids it's good to go so I hope so. If I don't like PM after a month or two, I will just go back to Chatr.

[Michael77]

Moderator Team to the rescue. 🙂

[MarieHelene_L]

Hey @nursemaned, 

My colleague just replied to your private message a few minutes ago, please take a look at your inbox! We'll be happy to look into the issue with you 🙂

Cheers, 

Marie

[nursemaned]

it not a question of which model works... Its clearly a lack of service. Automatic billing has nothing to do with me... I "ve been waiting ALL MORNING for a reply from a moderator. This is crazy

[will13am]

@nursemaned, sorry to hear your negative experience with this service.  The self serve model is not for everyone.  If it works for you, it's a great way to get good service at rock bottom price.  

[nursemaned]

  I have nothing but headaches!!! from day one. I'm trying to change my minimum service to just a txt plan so I can take my number back and port it elsewhere. Can't change the **bleep** plan. Please help me.       In two months I have had 1.5 gb go missing on my acount and athe moderator didn't give a **bleep**.  Diff. paying for a travel add on to the US... web site was down most of the day... had to sit at the border and keep trying on my phone until I got it. Problems with Public taking my autopay. That was just my account.      My daughters account... they took the $2 referal  from my account Sent me a confirmation that the account was active. Never activated it. Just tired of the lack of service on thier end. Considering making a complaint to the CRTC

[MEU_21]

---

@GoStampsGo wrote:

Hey everyone, I have been with Chatr since 2011, but I was thinking of switching over to Public. How is the service compared to Chatr? I don't like how Chatr has "Chatr Zones" do you find Public has those? I live in Calgary, but I spend a lot of time out in Okatoks and service is not so good. What are some of the drawbacks you have found with Public?

---

I used to be with Chatr (Rogers). I found the coverage to be equal. Overal though, PM had a better plan for my needs, and hence a better value. I also liked the fact that you can have various add-ons with PM that YOU control, instead of surcharges from Chatr after the fact.

Some advantages of PM:

-prepaid add-ons

-PM has promos every once in a while, whereas Chatr never has any.

-PM does not have zones, but if you are at a provincial or national boundary, it is annoying and possibly isn't worth it.

-Better Rewards program - the $1/m/year alone is a built-in inflation protection for your plan

[will13am]

@GoStampsGo, enough had been said about the solid service offered by Public Mobile, self serve portal excepted.  Before signing up, you gotta look at your needs, how much data, minutes, long distance.  One of the disappointing things with Public Mobile is zero participation in black Friday promotions.  If this is a sign of things to come, expect no better than lumps of coal for boxing week.  There may be other options that offer the same coverage at better pricing.  This is not a shopping forum and it's not proper etiquette to go over details of promos offered by other carriers.  If you'd like, send me a private message and I will try to help you the best I can with choosing the most wallet friendly option.  

[passiveegg]

So since, Public uses Telus' towers, you get coverage all over Canada. I can say from my own experiences while going on a road trip till Prince Edward Islands, i had lte coverage everywhere. Hope you switch over 

[Michael77]

I find the PM (Telus) reception and coverage to be really good. The moderators (PM employees) are great but you can't call them if you have an issue. You have to send them a private message and they will get back to you. The one drawback for me is that there is no call centre, however, there are some people who are ok with this. There's also some glitches in their system that need to be fixed. Overall though, I've been happy with PM and I personnally have not had that many issues.

[mimmo]

What phone do you have?  If an older phone it might not be compatable with pm.

Great to see you doing some research.  If you read through the forums you will see some general/common issues with pm,. Mainly to do with buggy portal (activation, payment issues), porting issues etc.  But with a little patience most of those are handled my moderators pretty quick.

Rewards are unique to pm which can bring your monthly  fee lower.

[Taekgun]

@GoStampsGo

I haven't used Chatr myself but was with Rogers so I would have had similar coverage to you with Chatr being a sub-brand of Rogers.

I have found the coverage with PM is great, better than that I experienced in the more rural areas like Okotoks with Rogers.  There are no "zones" like with Chatr, if there's service then you're good to go and in my opinion the rural coverage is excellent.

The one drawback for some people is the model of service here.  There's no PM phone number to call if things aren't working and all your support is through this forum.  With that said, the people and moderators (PM Employees) on this forum are knowledgeable, very active and willing to help you out with any issue if one where to arise.

Have a read of the following thread to ensure a smooth transition to PM if you decide to come.  I'm glad that I made the switch 

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/Start-Guide-Setup-Activation-Port-Dat...