WHOSE EXCITED TO BECOME A NEW CUSTOMERS WITH PUBLIC MOBILE JUST STAY AWAY

[Kevde]

Hi everyone,

just ill share my experience with the public mobile service

i registered before months with the cheapest plan that public mobile had it , the line is barely used and my father use this line in urgent cases in case we want to be in touch with him

but the problem with public mobile is that on every other month their is some deactivation to my line or to my account and always they tag the cause to the unsuccessful due amount payment , despite that the auto payment feature enabled since the first day of registration 

here is a screenshot for my last correspondance https://prnt.sc/oi7vd4 with the forum support team before 2-3 months ago and now i have the same problem https://prnt.sc/oi82uf

i beleive helping customers through forum etc is a ridiculous idea and what is the benefit to get a response 2-3 days aftter your message with thousands of apologizes words or blablablas and at the problem time you cant find someone to help you or solve your problem 

so my message to the new customers to stay away from public mobile because supporting customers via forums, email or bots etc i consider it as a joke ,but you can try your luck with them but this is my experience with public mobile  

Thanks

[GinYVR]

@stonechuckerThat's known as churn in subscribers. I guess that's why they keep having these flash sales. I only recommend Public Mobile to people that I know who has the problem solving acumen and patience (not very many people).. Public Mobile should monitor their referral system, if especially people who have a trend of referrals, they should get free SIMs so they can give away.

[geopublic]

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@funpig wrote:

I activated two new accounts a few weeks back and it appears the account numbers are issued sequentially.  The latest account number was 1000000176xxxx.  Unless PM has over 10 trillion accounts, I am guessing they have about 1.76 million accounts.  I don't know how many are active.

edit:  Wikipedia states PM had about 200k active subscribers at the end of 2012.  There were no other published figures.

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End of 2013 Telus reported having a total of 7,807,005 total subscribers and they were the 2nd largest provider in Canada at the time. The breakdown that Telus reported was a 1,000,000 subscribers were Koodo subscribers Public Mobile was omitted from the numbers but they had reported 222,000 Public Mobile subscribers at that time.

[stonechucker]

@GinYVR, I don't know, but I do know a lot of subscribers made use of Koodo migration offers in 2017 and early 2018 (these seem to have stopped).  A number of extremely frustrated members leave soon after discovering it's too many squeaky wheels running this place.

I've referred a total of 8 customers that have used my phone number for a referral credit, and I know of 2 that have left.  I've also told people about Public all the time, and most are hooked on 'it's just easier to stay with my provider'.

[Kevde]

Lol even i tried to pay manually guess whats now

[GinYVR]

@stonechucker @funpig Last time I looked at it a few months ago, it was around the 2 million mark. It is rough but it can infer the information from Telus' fiancials, the break down between prepaid and postpaid subscribers. Public Mobile / Telus is also one of the lowest brands who had complaints with CCTS (from their annual report).

[stonechucker]

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@funpig wrote:

I activated two new accounts a few weeks back and it appears the account numbers are issued sequentially.  The latest account number was 1000000176xxxx.  Unless PM has over 10 trillion accounts, I am guessing they have about 1.76 million accounts.  I don't know how many are active.

edit:  Wikipedia states PM had about 200k active subscribers at the end of 2012.  There were no other published figures.

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My first few digits are 1000000089xxxx. That was June/July 2016.  My May 2019 account is 1000000169xxxx.

I'm sure not all the numbers between are still active accounts, but a great many most likely are.

Between the number referenced on by @funpig and my date of 2016, that's an increase of almost 800 thousand activations.  Whether all 800 thousand are still active I'm sure they're not, but I'd say it's reasonable to estimate about 500-600 thousand. 

[funpig]

I activated two new accounts a few weeks back and it appears the account numbers are issued sequentially.  The latest account number was 1000000176xxxx.  Unless PM has over 10 trillion accounts, I am guessing they have about 1.76 million accounts.  I don't know how many are active.

edit:  Wikipedia states PM had about 200k active subscribers at the end of 2012.  There were no other published figures.

[Anonymous]

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@geopublic wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Kevde wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 @JackQuint 

I agreed with the OP. But we always need to remember that there are thousands of customers going on with their lives without a thought to any problems with the service. It just works. We see the few here that have a problem.

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I believe if they fix the software and the helping system and not to be through a forum etc because now we are begging  someone to reply us ,ill be 1 of thousand of happy customers as you said 

One more thing ill try to search around the forum to see if other customers with big plans have had the same problems otherwise i consider PM is doing by intention for less price plans

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Again...you'll find people having problems. There would be the far greater number that don't and that wouldn't be indicated here. Very few people bother to come in and say hey it all works and I'm happy to save money. Some do and it's nice to see. But it's rare.

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Agreed but their is also an "unknown" number of customer that directly message the moderator team for account issues that do not post here so you can't assume that all issues are visible/indicated here.

What that number is only Public Mobile knows.

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Agreed. Fair enough. Nor do we know how many current active customers there are to get a rough percentage of a complaint ratio.

[hairbag1]

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@funpig wrote:

I have been a PM customer less than a month.  So far, there has been no problems other than occassional slow access to the account website.  Reading about the payment/renewal problems in the community does make me nervous and I am waiting to see what happens on the first renewal in August. When I was dealing with retentions dept at Telus, they always bragged that they had better service than koodo, PM etc.  I thought they meant network service.  I guess they meant admin and account service.  One bright note, my house was always a dead zone for Telus cellular signal and I suffered from dropped calls and lost signal unless i made a call from the second floor... while standing... facing southeast.  So far, i have had no issues with PM. Same network, go figure.

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In 2 years, I've not had any autopay problems to deal with but I've read about a few who have though. Now I manually add my plan equivelent $$ to my Available Funds a day or two ahead of renewal, from the cc I have on file. The renewal process has gone without a hitch...so far.

Good luck and welcome to Public Mobile.

[geopublic]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Kevde wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 @JackQuint 

I agreed with the OP. But we always need to remember that there are thousands of customers going on with their lives without a thought to any problems with the service. It just works. We see the few here that have a problem.

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I believe if they fix the software and the helping system and not to be through a forum etc because now we are begging  someone to reply us ,ill be 1 of thousand of happy customers as you said 

One more thing ill try to search around the forum to see if other customers with big plans have had the same problems otherwise i consider PM is doing by intention for less price plans

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Again...you'll find people having problems. There would be the far greater number that don't and that wouldn't be indicated here. Very few people bother to come in and say hey it all works and I'm happy to save money. Some do and it's nice to see. But it's rare.

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Agreed but their is also an "unknown" number of customer that directly message the moderator team for account issues that do not post here so you can't assume that all issues are visible/indicated here.

What that number is only Public Mobile knows.

[Anonymous]

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@Kevde wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 @JackQuint 

I agreed with the OP. But we always need to remember that there are thousands of customers going on with their lives without a thought to any problems with the service. It just works. We see the few here that have a problem.

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I believe if they fix the software and the helping system and not to be through a forum etc because now we are begging  someone to reply us ,ill be 1 of thousand of happy customers as you said 

One more thing ill try to search around the forum to see if other customers with big plans have had the same problems otherwise i consider PM is doing by intention for less price plans

---

Again...you'll find people having problems. There would be the far greater number that don't and that wouldn't be indicated here. Very few people bother to come in and say hey it all works and I'm happy to save money. Some do and it's nice to see. But it's rare.

[Kevde]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 @JackQuint 

I agreed with the OP. But we always need to remember that there are thousands of customers going on with their lives without a thought to any problems with the service. It just works. We see the few here that have a problem.

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I believe if they fix the software and the helping system and not to be through a forum etc because now we are begging  someone to reply us ,ill be 1 of thousand of happy customers as you said 

One more thing ill try to search around the forum to see if other customers with big plans have had the same problems otherwise i consider PM is doing by intention for less price plans

[Anonymous]

 @JackQuint 

I agreed with the OP. But we always need to remember that there are thousands of customers going on with their lives without a thought to any problems with the service. It just works. We see the few here that have a problem.

[stonechucker]

I came here just before the now not available Fall 2016 Promo was offered.  I'm still on this plan (Grandfathered).  I have had very little need for assistance with service.

Since 2016, I've seen this problem of moderator response times vary from under 1 hour (back pre-promo) and 12 weeks (during 2016 promo).  Myself, the other Oracles, and many regular everyday customers have continually challenged Public Mobile and Telus to fix the glaringly obvious deficiencies.  Strangely, the marketing department is the group running this place, and don't have the IT knowledge (or enough) to make things happen quickly... If at all.

I personally love this carrier.  My next 90-day plan is $113 off, due to the rewards I earn here.  That means I'm going to have 90-days of service for $7.

When things are good here, they're really good.  Just get through the hiccups, and start saving.

[JackQuint]

This thread is kind of baffling. The OP had a legitimate point, PM's systems are dysfunctional and they have no customer service whatsoever (by design). Why anyone would jump to PM's defence on this is mind-boggling.

You get what you pay for. The minute a better option for your needs exist, every one of us should be out of here because PM only deserves our business if they are the best value proposition for a specific use case. 

They've obviously done the metrics and believe they retain just enough customers and drive enough of the others to Koodo vs Fido/Chatr/Virgin/Lucky/Freedom to make this the most viable approach. Fair enough ... don't understand the mentaity that congratualtes them for this. They haven't earned it.

[funpig]

I have been a PM customer less than a month.  So far, there has been no problems other than occassional slow access to the account website.  Reading about the payment/renewal problems in the community does make me nervous and I am waiting to see what happens on the first renewal in August. When I was dealing with retentions dept at Telus, they always bragged that they had better service than koodo, PM etc.  I thought they meant network service.  I guess they meant admin and account service.  One bright note, my house was always a dead zone for Telus cellular signal and I suffered from dropped calls and lost signal unless i made a call from the second floor... while standing... facing southeast.  So far, i have had no issues with PM. Same network, go figure.

[Kevde]

Still i didnt get any response from a moderator since yesterday , is that much time needed to get some support ,im ok and i can wait them months if they want ,already my parent have another spare number with the speakout 7-11 ,now im happy that i havent signed up with PM with their big plans, i cant imagine how the new customers want to buy a plan for 50-60$ with zero% support

[Lar]

I've been a PM member since Feb. and signed up for autopay which has always worked but mostly the reward has never been credited unless I message the moderators. Every so often I message them and within the same day it's all corrected. I knew PM was all done online before I signed up and I'm fine with that. If a person is running a business or must have the phone to work without fail then maybe PM is not the provider for that person. For me the savings from Bell will pay for my new phone in 8 months or less.  Cheers

[RossN]

@Kevde I agree with your points  a customer shouldn't have to navigate some of the b.s. around here it should be a lot more seemless people don't have time or the patience for some of the simple things like autopay and vouchers that don't work through no fault of their own (I know I have experienced both) it should have been fixed a long time ago come on PM get with the program!!

[stonechucker]

I've been here for 3 years, and have 2 AutoPay issues at the start.  Once switching a plan on my first renewal didn't change properly, but service continued.  Contacting the moderators resolved the failed plan change.

The second issue was a delayed AutoPay due to system maintenance overnight, service was not working when I woke up, but I saw AutoPay was still processing.  I waited, it resolved, and the phone was again active, after a reboot.

I'm on a 90-day cycle, as a result, I have fewer autopay sessions, only 17 or 18 since the summer of 2016.  Sometimes I will pay in advance if notified of system maintenance planned, other times just to ensure funds are available.

The service level for me is dang close to 100%.  Keep sending support requests to the Moderator_Team if you're continuing to have issues.

[Kevde]

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@liuxinbing wrote:

I've been with koodo prepaid for three years. Koodo prepaid has 10% off with autopay, and they don't have such "suspended while processing" problem. Same IT contractors, same system, hiring same person to get rid of this glitch would easier and cheaper than hiring some new one.

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exactly as any humble customer we like to use a service like drinking a bottled water ,open the cap and drink it ,because its not our interest to go further with the details ,i beleive no one will ask from which mountain this water is coming who is doing the bottling etc .. and the same here too , i thought theyve fixed the auto payment because it considered an easy process for any IT company , anyway good day everyone

[liuxinbing]

I've been with koodo prepaid for three years. Koodo prepaid has 10% off with autopay, and they don't have such "suspended while processing" problem. Same IT contractors, same system, hiring same person to get rid of this glitch would easier and cheaper than hiring some new one.

[Kevde]

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@will13am wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Kevde wrote:

it seems here many mayor distributing bravos to each others, beleive me i dont want to argue more about public mobile service because isnt that much important for me except if im looking to get some bravos

my first post was my opinion regarding the public mobile service and i consider it useless 

thanks

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Everybody has an opinion. Yours happens to be in the minority. I've been here just over a year and have had zero problems. I've been getting basically free service for several months now due to rewards. NO other provider offers that.

Cheers

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Perhaps so.  We should try to see beyond the opinion.  There are facts in this case.  Telling someone struggling with this service that you get free service is of no value.  It is an envious way to ensure anything broken with the auto payment system would never affect you. Apart from that, you run that risk of being called a shill.

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good morning all , will13am interpret exactly my thought , i used to have phone accounts with almost every phone providers except virgin mobile and koodo. even 7-11 have a good account managing system, and we know public mobile backed by tellus have a good coverage etc ..but reaching out for any help through only a forum is become a problem or with me the auto payment failure every other month it become inconvenient ,thus any customer sooner or later will look around to find another providers and i consider failuring this simple feature "auto payment" every time its weird because its a software things and fixing it doesnt require that much effort ,already it considered not that big complex feature and the concept exist over 10 years ago.

[Pulk]

I guess it speaks true to say that people tend to complain more than praise good services, so I will vouch for Public Mobile.

I switched not too long ago, and have no regrets. I was overpaying for my plan, and PM's plans were so good at first I thought it was a scam! How can I get the exact same plan AND save $15/month or more!? I was awestruck,  so of course I did my research but I bit the bullet and went for it, no looking back.

It does make sense though, you get a cheaper price due to no physical locations or phone line support, but I get a response faster in these forums than I do waiting 30 minutes on hold. If anyone happens to see this message, ignore the negativity of this poster, I have NO REGRETS with switching :).

[liuxinbing]

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@RobertQc wrote:

Are you sure auto-pay is on? .

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Nothing to do with autopay or sufficient fund in the account. It is the time it takes to process the fund and renew the plan. While it takes only few seconds for any other businesses including carrieers, it takes PM 12+hours. 

The account even says "ignore this message if you have autopay or enough fund in your account". Come on, the system knows exactly whether there is enough fund or not in less than one second. Why show this meaningless message when you already knew this isn't the case?

This does nothing but confusing your customers, PM. Such a glitch is a easy fix, just hire two new graduates from CS.

I am a very happy PM customer except this annoying message. I want PM to be a better operator in the market.

[Anonymous]

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@will13am wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Kevde wrote:

it seems here many mayor distributing bravos to each others, beleive me i dont want to argue more about public mobile service because isnt that much important for me except if im looking to get some bravos

my first post was my opinion regarding the public mobile service and i consider it useless 

thanks

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Everybody has an opinion. Yours happens to be in the minority. I've been here just over a year and have had zero problems. I've been getting basically free service for several months now due to rewards. NO other provider offers that.

Cheers

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Perhaps so.  We should try to see beyond the opinion.  There are facts in this case.  Telling someone struggling with this service that you get free service is of no value.  It is an envious way to ensure anything broken with the auto payment system would never affect you. Apart from that, you run that risk of being called a shill.

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Thank you for your ever-honest observations. I should check myself more.

I get a little overly protective when people think that their problem is a problem of the whole place when it's simply not true. Far more people are blissfully carrying on with their service without a care in the world. We just see the problems here.

[will13am]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Kevde wrote:

it seems here many mayor distributing bravos to each others, beleive me i dont want to argue more about public mobile service because isnt that much important for me except if im looking to get some bravos

my first post was my opinion regarding the public mobile service and i consider it useless 

thanks

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Everybody has an opinion. Yours happens to be in the minority. I've been here just over a year and have had zero problems. I've been getting basically free service for several months now due to rewards. NO other provider offers that.

Cheers

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Perhaps so.  We should try to see beyond the opinion.  There are facts in this case.  Telling someone struggling with this service that you get free service is of no value.  It is an envious way to ensure anything broken with the auto payment system would never affect you. Apart from that, you run that risk of being called a shill.

[will13am]

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@Kevde wrote:

lol, you said public mobile is a do-it-yourself service i guess on the next coming months probably they will ask us to fix some antennas here and there to get the signals etc

auto payment means system should withdraw the fund it need so your interpretation that we should sometimes do manually considered a contradiction 

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Your first post was of great substance, this one not so much.  In fact, if reduced the value of the first one.  In your criticism of this service, you touch on a very important point and that is the apparent tolerance for long standing issues.  Customers who have failed auto payment should not experience repeat failures as whatever the cause should be rectified upon first occurrence.  I assume the issue is not with a bad payment card which is a responsibility of the customer to deal with.  My advice is always to do a single $1 top up after a new payment card is added to ensure everything is working.  

[geopublic]

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@Kevde wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Kevde wrote:

it seems here many mayor distributing bravos to each others, beleive me i dont want to argue more about public mobile service because isnt that much important for me except if im looking to get some bravos

my first post was my opinion regarding the public mobile service and i consider it useless 

thanks

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Everybody has an opinion. Yours happens to be in the minority. I've been here just over a year and have had zero problems. I've been getting basically free service for several months now due to rewards. NO other provider offers that.

Cheers

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your positive review was based on the rewards that you got from public mobile and my bad review was based on the service that i got ,and regarding minority majority etc.. without any statistical evidence someone can say anything ,anyway good luck to everyone and have a good night 

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@Kevde Take care! You are correct to be upset with AutoPay. The truth is that it has alot of shortcomings. Most customers I know have it enabled just to collect the reward. The truth is that if you need a plan for your dad the only way to make sure the renewal will get processed correctly would be to make manual payments to the account a couple of days before renewal. That means you would have to manage that for him. Otherwise best to go with another provider that has a better AutoPay system.

[Anonymous]

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@Kevde wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Kevde wrote:

it seems here many mayor distributing bravos to each others, beleive me i dont want to argue more about public mobile service because isnt that much important for me except if im looking to get some bravos

my first post was my opinion regarding the public mobile service and i consider it useless 

thanks

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Everybody has an opinion. Yours happens to be in the minority. I've been here just over a year and have had zero problems. I've been getting basically free service for several months now due to rewards. NO other provider offers that.

Cheers

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your positive review was based on the rewards that you got from public mobile and my bad review was based on the service that i got ,and regarding minority majority etc.. without any statistical evidence someone can say anything ,anyway good luck to everyone and have a good night 

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No. My comments are based on an uninterrupted, unblemished experience. The rewards are just icing.

Many thousands of customers do the same. For future readers of your very negative "review"...this one "review" is not indicative of the service as a whole.