Upcoming Changes to our Old Rewards Program

[J_PM]

Hey Community,

We have an important announcement to share with our subscribers who are currently enrolled in our old Rewards program.

We’re making changes to our rewards program and are sharing how these changes impact some of our subscribers. Starting in May, we’ll be retiring our old Rewards program and moving all subscribers to our Public Points™ program. 

We launched the Public Points™ program in January 2022 to provide our subscribers with more ways to earn and spend rewards, with greater flexibility. As part of our commitment to continuously evolve our products and services, it's time to retire our old Rewards program and shift our focus on enhancing our Points program.

To show our appreciation for your continued loyalty, subscribers on our old Rewards program will receive a special thank you. We'll send you a text message when it has been added to your account by March 31st. 

We’re excited to continue providing you, our valued subscribers, more opportunities to earn and spend rewards with Public Points™ moving forward.

To learn more about your move to Public Points, check out our FAQ here.

The Public Mobile Team

[ninjastar]

If I lose my 6 years of rewards, I'll just move my 4 accounts elsewhere. Brutal decision. Adios. 

[pmbc]

I think all of us on the old plan knew this would come one day but it's still shocking when it gets announced.  Unfortunately PM/Telus is a large company and just look at the bottom line/share price.  They make a calculation of how much more revenue they'll generate when they take away the old awards plan vs make a projection of how many customers will leave.  Obviously they felt this was the right time and the lost customers will be offset by the additional revenue from discontinuing the old rewards program.

In my opinion this transition could have been handled much better.  Rather than giving us all a useless block of data that 99% won't use and that expires, they could have easily offered a replacement of the old rewards program with giving us a higher percentage of points than new customers.  That would have been a token gesture but I think we would have felt better about this transition.  It would have cost them less than the old rewards program and could have used the new points system with a bit of a coding change.  But alas, it was easier to just cancel the old rewards program and give us the expiring block of data.

So fortunately for us, this makes moving providers much less sticky.  Whenever a competitor had a good plan come up, I really had to think that I was getting a bit of a discount with the old rewards and I'd lose that by porting out.  Now when black friday comes, I'll be taking a closer look at all providers to see who will offer the best plan for me and my family.  Maybe it will be PM, but if it's not, it'll be a lot easier to port out now.

[golfball]

Honestly, this is freeing. Now I have nothing to lose by leaving.

[Benfica71]

That's ok.  Word will get around and the ex community will get together to help each other find better options.

[ShawnC13]

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@Benfica71 wrote:

We all have 2 months to find another provider.  I suggest everyone start posting best options to change to.  If anyone has a referral program let everyone know.  

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@Benfica71 THat won't be allowed here.  We are not RFD that is the place for that type of discussion.

[Benfica71]

PM should think about giving loyal customers more options to change to.  They did have a $24 10/gb plan a few weeks ago that would have been a nice option.

[wavid]

That's...brutal. I just upgraded to a more expensive plan based on my loyalty discount, but I suppose loyalty goes both ways. 

And a 150 expiry date on the atonement gift of data is backhanded. The only people your fooling are yourselves.

Now the downsides of Public (limited support, no WiFi calling, no SMS outside of North America) feel a little more prominent. Time to shop around.

[Benfica71]

We all have 2 months to find another provider.  I suggest everyone start posting best options to change to.  If anyone has a referral program let everyone know.  

[ShawnC13]

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@Salvo1 wrote:

Public mobile !  re thing about  scrapping out the old loyalty rewards 

You have lots of un happy customers !!!

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@Salvo1 I don't see them rolling this decision back.  It was inevitable that this was going to happen just wish it went on a little longer.  The removal of the 1 point for every 30 day cycle that was there Sunday night and gone on Monday was just salt in the wound.

[Cdnninja1]

This is extremely disappointing.  Looks like better alternatives exist in the market.    I stayed because the price was right.   This no longer binds me to this. 

[Salvo1]

Does public mobile even read our post ? 

Or we just wasting our time ?    With a company that does not care about loyal customers and removing discounts we have 

[Salvo1]

Public mobile !  re thing about  scrapping out the old loyalty rewards 

You have lots of un happy customers !!!

[Salvo1]

Public mobile !  dont do this to your loyal customers that have been with you for years.      This is a bad move 

[Camera4617]

I wouldn't be so sure that you'll keep it forever.. They will come up with something even better.. 🙂

[r6r1der]

Wow what a scumbag move. I'll be leaving if you go through with this. 

[Sushi_Combo]

I would have at least expected a permanent Data add-on package for those legacy customers still on the old reward plan. Hopefully they listen to the feedback and adjust accordingly. 

[jono_logan]

Based on what I've read here, my entire family will have our bills raised by approximately $7 a month each. Even if Public Mobile backtracks on this decision or adjusts the points plan to compensate, they've lost our trust and loyalty. Unbelievable decision. 

[EdN]

Ah yes, the Public Mobile bone us data.

[Zahir_h]

Thanks for nothing.   This change in reward will end up with me losing $10/m in value.   I recently upgraded my plan and paid more thinking it would still be affordable as I'd be keeping my rewards.  But now you blindsided everyone to take advantage.   Way to be scummy  tHELLus.  I will be filing a CCTS complaint which I know I will not get sided on, but it will be great to have you pay the fees to them to start a case  which I believe is a couple hundred dollars out of your bottom line for each complaint filed, and is rightful a deserving loss of revenue for you (and I hope others who read this too will do the same - if you play stupid games, you will win stupid prizes). 

I will also be porting to freedom mobile (they have issued a price guarantee that they will NOT change prices on their client) 

And you bonus data - that's a slap in the face to is all.   Having it expire when you know that majority of the people won't even use their alloted data.  

[Chrissyrioux12]

Wow what a way to lose customers of years 

[Camera4617]

You get 10 points once a year instead of years_with_pm * 1$ every month. Why are you justifying this move?

[ily]

This is totally backwards! How about you thank me for my continued loyalty by honoring what you offered me when I signed up and not push me to your points system, instead of throwing more data in my face? I barely use 20% of my monthly data allowance. More data has no value to me whatsoever!

@J_PMPlease consider reversing this decision.

[Camera4617]

Time to switch providers, 5 lines that I have with PM.  Will be shopping around. 

[RedeemThis]

Love the email about how I "already got 0.00 Public Points"

I've been with PM for a decade. Loyalty goes both ways and there's no reason for me to stay now. I'll be shopping around first thing tomorrow.

And really. Spending points in contests to try your luck? As someone who has worked with gambling addicts, that's actually kind of gross.

[mojorising]

The rewards system was always the enticing part of PM  and what made them different than everyone else. Now they are just like everyone else.

[computergeek541]

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@Bryan316 wrote:

My reason to stay with PM is being removed, sadly.

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I would argue that entire reason for customers to join Public Mobile was largely for the rewards.  The referral offering remains untouched, but the not sure that 5% points back is enough to attract new customers. I can only hope that Public Mobile is aware of that and will continue to improve the price plans.

[Chalonso]

Been with pm 5 yrs , give a reason why I have to stay with pm . Its about time to move

[Bananacat89]

That stinks!  My bill will increase by 50 % unless I log in and play silly forum games. Even then it will still increase... First no christmas bonus and now this ?

Ya know, We were loyal. You guys are so backwards since the Eversafe change that many can't even add my credit cards to autopay. I sucked it up because the deal was still worth it. 

This is the straw that will break my back. I see no reason why I should stay with Public mobile. Others offer cheaper rates, More data, less hassle and better customer service.  As is I can find 2 different companies offering me cheaper fee's with better plans. 

Give me one good reason to stay with Public Mobile? The one time stress of switching to another company seems a lot less of a hassle then logging in every month and scratching me head about points. 

Not cool bro's .. Not cool at all. Not what I signed up for years ago. You had one job. Keep PM Worth it.. 

[ridgeline]

I have the following questions to items raised in the Moving to Public Points FAQ referenced in the original post by J_PM.  It would be great to see a posted response from Public Mobile Team.

"...it’s time we focus on enhancing our points program further for our subscribers".  What enhancements are there over the legacy rewards program?

"the exciting features of the Public Points™ program". What are these exciting features and why is this better than the legacy rewards program?

"this move will offer you more flexibility and new ways to earn and use your points, bringing a more rewarding experience to our subscribers".  How is this a more rewarding experience for legacy subscribers?

[__c]

Others have said it better than I can, but baiting customers into paying more for plan upgrades, and then essentially surprise-hiking those prices up an extra $7, is just plain scummy.

I was paying $9 before PM pulled this chicanery, and would be paying $24 if I were to stay, almost 3x what I was already content with in 2023. I don't see myself staying with PM.

I will be making a complaint to CRTC, and suggest others to do the same if they feel like they've been deceived.