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Bad Service at Walmart

Em-735
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

So just another post complaining about Walmart’s terrible service. A few weeks ago I made the decision to switch to Public Mobile, partially motivated by $25 refer a friend deal. I had heard some of the issues with buying SIM cards from Walmart, but thought I would give it a try because of the postal strike. 

 

So I asked the person at the cell phone counter for a public mobile SIM card, he initially tried to talk me out of Public Mobile, trying to convince me to go with another brand with similarly priced plans, and told me that I would wouldn’t like the service at all because there was no helpline I could call, only the online chat board. All in all this interaction was super patronizing, I came into the store already knowing what I wanted and he kept trying to talk me out of it and saying it was a bad decision.

 

When I tell him that I want to go with Public Mobile because of the deal, he says he will activate it in store but is not able to sell the SIM card. I tell him that I need to sign up online to get the deal, and anyways I don’t have all of my information on me so I can’t sign up on the spot, he tells me their system is the same as the online website so I’d get the same reward (does anyone know if this is true, based on the way the deal was worded it looks like it has to be done strictly online, and this guy was intentionally lying to me, but I'm not sure), and that I should just go into my contacts or message my friend to get their cell number, very pushy.

 

Anyways, I just told him I had to confirm my friend’s number and left the store to order the SIM card online instead.

38 REPLIES 38


@Pandher84 wrote:

Same thing happened with me today. BUt finally i was able to push through and get the SIM only at Walmart at Square One Missisauga


It's not good that people are having trouble getting sim. They shouldn't force you to run around trying to find place to buy.

Pandher84
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Same thing happened with me today. BUt finally i was able to push through and get the SIM only at Walmart at Square One Missisauga

diyariyan
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Guys, 

AginCount, Scarborough Walmart Reps also have limited/no knowledge on promotions and offers for Public Mobile. If you want new activaction with offers, prepare your self and explain what you are eligible for. Else forget about it.

Cheers!

WoozyPolarBear
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

I've seen nothing but complaints about the service regarding Public Mobile at Wal-Marts. I think Public Mobile should completely reconsider their partnership with Wal-Mart and consider pulling out of those stores. Either that, or force Wal-Mart to sell SIM cards without activations and have the SIM cards hanging on a rack without needing store associate assistance.

 

I'm wondering if something more shady is happening with Wal-Mart employees, using their own numbers to gain personal referrals from customer activations or something along those lines. Or maybe even selling the number to spam/telemarketers. Makes one wonder....

chrisbasm
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Just to add to the list of Walmart locations that refuse to sell PM SIM cards:

 

Walmart in Ste. Dorothee, Laval, QC

 

Plus, when I mentioned why I wanted to activate myself (in order to get the referral bons 2 x $25), the rep indicated that I would get the same promos - which I knew I wouldn't.

 

Went to Wow Mobile...

franchesca
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Ditto at Walmart at uptown in Victoria. Would not sell me a sim card without signing up. What a crock. I went to London Drugs-NO problem. I think public mobile should go after Walmart for their bad practice. Nowhere on the website does it say you must sign up to get card at retailer. I think its  WALMART scam.

Rob_K
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

At the Walmart I went to they tried to sell me Lucky Mobile when I asked about buying a SIM card and they said they needed to activate it, that was a few days ago.  Came back today and the two guys tried to get me to sign up for Koodo instead because it "was only a few dollars more, better service, and lots more data".  It was annoying to have to decline more than once.  

Sanityisunrated
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

That's Walmart for ya 😄

tehowennathe
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

I guess it depends on location. Not all locations give trouble with vouchers or sim cards. I been going to the same Saint-Constant QC location for a while and never an issue. Guess i'm just one of the few to be near a good Walmart location.

Mary_M
Retraité / Retired
Retraité / Retired

thank you ! @countonalex

** Please do not post private info such as: phone number, account number, pin etc.. This is a public forum. **


@CS_Agent wrote:

Hey @countonalex,

 

thank you so much for flagging this! I'm sorry to hear that you weren't able to buy a sim card through Wal-Mart as well. This is not a policy that PM has put into place, and I'll be adding this location to our store tracker for coaching purposes.

 

In the meantime, you can try buying a sim at London Drugs, WoW Mobile, K Mobile or other independent retailers.

 

Can you just confirm which location (city and address) of this specific Wal Mart?

 

Thakn you,

 

 


After all these issues with Walmart, I went to the Walmart In st Albert, AB and asked why this is happening. The Electronics manager informed me that it was a Walmart policy for them with all carriers to only supply activated sims. Of course as we have learned on here that is not always the case! 

countonalex
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@CS_Agent wrote:

Hey @countonalex,

 

thank you so much for flagging this! I'm sorry to hear that you weren't able to buy a sim card through Wal-Mart as well. This is not a policy that PM has put into place, and I'll be adding this location to our store tracker for coaching purposes.

 

In the meantime, you can try buying a sim at London Drugs, WoW Mobile, K Mobile or other independent retailers.

 

Can you just confirm which location (city and address) of this specific Wal Mart?

 

Thakn you,

 

 


100 City Centre Dr, Mississauga, ON L5B 2G7

nicholascanning
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

It’s a great time to activate your account online with a referral code and receive the $25 credit for your account and your referrals account.  The promotion is on right now until mid March! More details can be found online here at publicmobile.ca. 

Jethro
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

I've had no issues purchasing the SIM card @ the Walmart in STC.  Was simple and quick, the employee asked if I wanted to activate it, I said no, and I just had to pay for it.

sandpublic
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

@countonalex wrote:

Had issues trying to buy a sim card at Walmart Square One last night...

 

me: can i get a PM sim card please?

rep: sure, which plan do you want?

me: i'll activate it myself.. thanks

rep: then i can't sell you one

me: why not?

rep: store policy

me: that's a bit stupid dont you think?

rep: nope.

 

walmart lost out on a sale because he wanted commission/stat on an activation. WOWmobile was more than happy to sell me one. 


I guess WalMart should be avoided. If one is looking to purchase a SIM the best choice would be via Public Mobile online or another retailer. Thanks!

CS_Agent
Customer Support Agent

Hey @countonalex,

 

thank you so much for flagging this! I'm sorry to hear that you weren't able to buy a sim card through Wal-Mart as well. This is not a policy that PM has put into place, and I'll be adding this location to our store tracker for coaching purposes.

 

In the meantime, you can try buying a sim at London Drugs, WoW Mobile, K Mobile or other independent retailers.

 

Can you just confirm which location (city and address) of this specific Wal Mart?

 

Thakn you,

 

 

countonalex
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Had issues trying to buy a sim card at Walmart Square One last night...

 

me: can i get a PM sim card please?

rep: sure, which plan do you want?

me: i'll activate it myself.. thanks

rep: then i can't sell you one

me: why not?

rep: store policy

me: that's a bit stupid dont you think?

rep: nope.

 

walmart lost out on a sale because he wanted commission/stat on an activation. WOWmobile was more than happy to sell me one. 

mik101
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

@JeanetteO 

We had no issues buying just the sim card at the Walmart in Dartmouth Crossing (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) but they did give a bit of a speal about some folks having a hard time signing up and wanted to do it there. We just politely refused and took care of it at home to get the referral deal.

 

We also got the same patronizing call from Bell yesterday saying that we wont be happy with PMs service/speed and wanting us to come back with $60/mo 5GB+unlimited calling and texting. While I will miss the LTE speeds of Bell, I won't miss their terrible service and business practices. Our plan had balooned by nearly $50 over the couple of years that we weren't under contract. His attitude wasn't going to win us back, that is for sure.

avalon
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

Was also able to buy just the SIM at the WOW boutique in Bayshore mall


@chenmi wrote:

It seems like this problem is still happening. I was at Walmart located at 500 Earl Grey Dr yesterday around 7:45 pm. The rep even sent me to Best Buy, saying that they sell SIM cards. What should I do? I was trying to time this so I'm not going to be paying two different phone bills next month. I kind of have to go out of my way after work hours, and I don't want to waste my time again. @CS_Agent 


Best Buy doesn't sell Public sims.


@cappaj wrote:

I had the same problem at that Walmart - the south Kanata Walmart will tell you the same thing. I had no trouble buying a SIM card on its own at the WOW mobile boutique in Bayshore Mall, you could try there. Or maybe The Mobile Shop inside the Superstore? No matter what, I definitely recommend calling ahead to confirm they'll sell you just the SIM, without requiring you to activate in store - you could save yourself a bunch of hassle and driving around with just a phone call or two first.


It's too bad retailers are giving customers a hard time.   Why not just order online?  Only reason not to would be because you're in a hutr to get the sim.  You can then activate at home, don't have to wait in line and then wait for person to activate if they force it and don't to argue or convince person to sell.

cappaj
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

I had the same problem at that Walmart - the south Kanata Walmart will tell you the same thing. I had no trouble buying a SIM card on its own at the WOW mobile boutique in Bayshore Mall, you could try there. Or maybe The Mobile Shop inside the Superstore? No matter what, I definitely recommend calling ahead to confirm they'll sell you just the SIM, without requiring you to activate in store - you could save yourself a bunch of hassle and driving around with just a phone call or two first.

Hello @chenmi sorry for you too give the information to the moderator @Mary_M she has already a list of walmart like that....

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

And no best buy don't sell any public mobile simcard..yet... but...

wowwalmart

chenmi
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

It seems like this problem is still happening. I was at Walmart located at 500 Earl Grey Dr yesterday around 7:45 pm. The rep even sent me to Best Buy, saying that they sell SIM cards. What should I do? I was trying to time this so I'm not going to be paying two different phone bills next month. I kind of have to go out of my way after work hours, and I don't want to waste my time again. @CS_Agent 

tehowennathe
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@mimmo wrote:

@tehowennathe  agreed there are some locations that allow purchases of sim cards, but it is more often than not we hear of bad stories.  (I have encountered the negative from both my local walmarts, one of them even at one point put up a sign saying we do not sell sim cards without activation or something similar). 

 

it could be that being a forum we hear more of the negative than positive interactions.


Seems only the bad experiences are posted. I try to post the positive to let people know it's not all that bad. I had family members buy at 2 different locations and it was fine. Maybe its a provincal thing .

mimmo
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@tehowennathe  agreed there are some locations that allow purchases of sim cards, but it is more often than not we hear of bad stories.  (I have encountered the negative from both my local walmarts, one of them even at one point put up a sign saying we do not sell sim cards without activation or something similar). 

 

it could be that being a forum we hear more of the negative than positive interactions.

tehowennathe
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@slash407 wrote:

im not suprised he was patronizing, again. Reps wanna make a sale ona contract. 

 

I find that weird that he wouldnt sell u the card outright, I remember someone else having this problem, walmart doesnt allow u too buy the sim outright, thats messed. 


Wal-Mart sure does allow you to buy sim out right. I brought 4 family members and they always bought it outright and activated at home. 

tehowennathe
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@JeanetteO wrote:

I actually had the exact opposite experience at Walmart.  I expected them to try to convince me to go with a more expensive plan, etc. but the guy set me up with a free sim card, put all my info in online and put the sim card in the phone for me.    Not once did he try to sell me anything.    Funny enough, when I left Bell they asked me where I was going and when I told them they said "sorry to hear that" and I just kind of said yeaa and he said "no really, I am sorry to hear that, you won't like the service"    Anyway, I haven't been a customer for long but so far, the talk, text and data are working perfectly, my bill has been credited as expected and the only complaint I have is that I didn't hear about PM sooner!! 


I guess it really depends on the person working . Maybe they never tried PM and just say that because  of what they read online . The walmart in St Constant Quebec is always more then happy to help with sim cards and payment vouchers. My mom just bought a Sim from them and they said we are more then happy to help you activate or if you rather do it at home and have a quick question we are happy to answer.

Carld123
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

@JeanetteO

Good to hear someone say they are happy for a change.welcome to PM..the biggest complaint against Wal-Mart is they generally refuse to sell a sim card only...and as lots of PM deals require online activation by the customer people either get miss informed or in most cases dont read the full terms of a promotion..something to keep in mind for the future incase you decide to bring another friend or family member on board and take advantage of referral bonuses etc...

JeanetteO
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

I actually had the exact opposite experience at Walmart.  I expected them to try to convince me to go with a more expensive plan, etc. but the guy set me up with a free sim card, put all my info in online and put the sim card in the phone for me.    Not once did he try to sell me anything.    Funny enough, when I left Bell they asked me where I was going and when I told them they said "sorry to hear that" and I just kind of said yeaa and he said "no really, I am sorry to hear that, you won't like the service"    Anyway, I haven't been a customer for long but so far, the talk, text and data are working perfectly, my bill has been credited as expected and the only complaint I have is that I didn't hear about PM sooner!! 

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