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back to article Democratic phone network turns dictatorial

A mobile network billed as being "run by you" is bowing to commercial pressure, adopting the more-dictatorial tone common to its competitors. Giffgaff is a virtual network owned by Telefonica. While it runs in Telefonica's infrastructure, it promises cheaper costs though peer-support (instead of call centres), and tariffs …

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  1. Dr. Mouse

    I must say...

    ... the main thing I would be upset about would be if I had "sold" giffgaff to a friend on the back of the £30 goodybag.

    I have recently switched to giffgaff, and I never really thought it was run by us. They save costs by having the community provide support and sales/advertising, and they do canvas opinion on the forums, but ultimately they will make the decisions.

    I am perfectly happy with them. They save me a lot of money, and just a small amount of time spent helping people in the forums can make you a fair amount of money in "payback". And, as it's pay as you go, there's no contract. If you find a better deal, you can switch at any time.

    I must add that, AFAIK, the free data you are refering to which will end soon is free for everyone, and isn't unlimited. They will still be including free unlimitted data in "goodybags" (bundles) over £10. (This is what I have been told. If I'm wrong, I'll be jumping ship when it does... my Android phone gobbles data, unless you disable it... but whats the point of a Droid phone without data connection?)

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  2. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Grenade

    Something good on a Telefonica network

    Who's honestly surprised that that's come to an end? They're trying to bill the companies running the websites that their customers connect to.

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  3. Ian Yates

    Free data

    FYI: The "unlimited free data" you're referring to as ending in four months is for the PAYG-only customers.

    They've made it clear that the bundles (goodybags) will always have unlimited data included.

    I'm a recent giffgaff convert, and so far I think they're on a par with other telco's (unless you get support from yours often).

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    giffgaff have bigger problems than pissing of their cult like users

    There are 2 big problems with giffgaff

    1: the forums are infested by freeloaders and delusional users that read far too much into their place in the deal. giffgaff make enough mistakes to trigger this herd into loud wailing on a regular basis. giffgaff's often misleading PR attracts a whole class of users that want to believe anything but the truth, that they're just customers. Doesn't take much reading of the community support pages to realise most of the posters see gold in them thar posts and post any old rubbish, with little regard to whether they're helping or misleading others.

    2: giffgaff as a service provider are totally incompetent.

    Cant keep their website running properly, really great for an exclusively online company.

    The data is free because they cant get the charging software to work, as a consequence you cant have roaming data (probably an advantage with the price of roaming).

    Cant get the card payment system to work reliably.

    Cant even get the registration system to work all the time.

    They offer a smartphone friendly tariff but the SIMs dont work in smartphones without tedious manual configuration

    Running of O2 means lots of other stuff is broken as well and coverage is pathetic.

    giffgaff must have seemed like a great wheeze, marketing guy goes to Web2.0 workshop, thinks 'I can herd hapless users for a good milking' and starts an extended self pleasuring session. But forgets to actually build a mobile phone company to go with the wet tissues. 12 months on it still a shambles and the growth rate of rival MVNOs leaves them looking pathetic.

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  5. Andy Hards
    Happy

    Only heard about GiffGaff recently

    and was interested to find out more. I now get 2gb a month from 3, since they stopped their pointless 'unlimited' claim and was looking for something really unlimited. Is that not the case then? Thanks AC, I'm glad you posted.

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  6. bumspinach
    Thumb Up

    To Andy ^^^

    You may be getting mixed messages regarding the unlimited data/calls claim. The story is referring to the highest bundle (goodybags as giffgaff call them) with unlimited calls, texts & data being removed. for all of the other goodybags the data is unlimited, truly actually no FUP properly unlimited. All the other telcos could do with reading up on what 'unlimited' actually means. All giffgaff have done is remove the highest £30 bundle (goodybag). That's it. Simple as. No biggie. All of the other bundles are still in place. Move along, nothing to see y'know! I've saved a bloody fortune since being with them since in joined in January. Free giffgaff to giffgaff calls, unlimited data, dirt cheap call/text bundles, job done. Happy customer.

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  7. Heather Taylor

    Thanks you for your feedback

    I'm Heather and I work as the social media manager at giffgaff. We take all feedback very seriously so it's great to hear your thoughts. We do have commitment to consultation and this is one of the guiding principles of our business. Yesterday the gaffer posted a new blog post explaining the £30 goodybag decision further as well as asking the community what they would like as an alternative. If you want to add your voice to the conversation, we'd love to have you. The post is here: http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Blog/30-goodybag-closer-look/ba-p/157451

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  8. Andy Hards
    Thumb Up

    Thanks

    for clearing that up. As I'm looking for something truly unlimited and I am usually in prtty good coverage areas.

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