giffgaff mobile network

Zack1

I quit my £35 a month o2 contract to move to £10 a month GiffGaff, even told CS that (although one guy didn't really have a clue what GG were) - How is that o2 being clever!? They (well Telefonica) are getting £25 less a month from me - Obviously the whole £35/10 wouldn't go to them, but my net spend on services provided from them via their companies has been slashed, so what they get has also been....

Mezzo

It's clever because Telefonica have retained you as a customer. OK you're spending less but at least it's still with them, and they've done it without cheapening their main UK brand.
There's another way of looking at this too...
Is it really fair that loyal O2 customers have seen their terms and allowances eroded over the past few years while their bills have shot up, to effectively subsidise giffgaff?

Zack1

That's a good point - unfortunately I would've been forced to stay with o2 anyway as it's the only signal I get at uni - so it's O2, GiffGaff or Tesco/Lyca mobile, both of which give shocking deals. I guess myself and the people I've got to switch to Giffgaff at uni (previously on expensive o2 contracts too, and would've stayed had GG not existed) are the exception to the rule though!

It's not really "fair" that o2 bills have shot up - but I was an o2 customer and they attempted to give me shocking bills. They either have to accept it or move - for those people lucky enough to live in areas with more than 1 decent phone mast (which seems to be the majority) there is some flexibility.

If a lot of o2 customers moved from O2 to GG then wouldn't that just create problems for both companies? And when GG subsequently increase their prices, people that are able to move again will do so, possibly away from Telefonica for good?

JJ_Egan

Its a bit like supermarkets and their prices rises price drops 3 for one offers etc . You need your wits about even buying an 85p item in poundland . Its up to the customer to buy what they want or walk away and that goes for PAYG Contracts etc .The information is on the web for most products as are all the complaints .
Why pay more for a service than you need to ??.
If network XX charge me £35 and GiffGaff £8- should i go to the most expensive just because a few serial wingers don't like the cheaper service .

jje

Mezzo

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Why pay more for a service than you need to ??.
If network XX charge me £35 and GiffGaff £8- should i go to the most expensive just because a few serial wingers don't like the cheaper service .

jje

Of course you should shop around to get the best possible deal and if that's with giffgaff, fair enough. I've moved networks several times myself... brand loyalty counts for nothing.
The problem I do have with giffgaff is them pretending that they're some sort of consumer champion ('we're not like those big mobile companies') while their own parent is busy screwing it's customers.

O2: 'Unlimited data is not sustainable, that'll be £6 for 500mb thank you'
Giffgaff: 'Sure, have as much data as you like. We'll call it a tenner'

shifty27

Mezzo wrote: »

Of course you should shop around to get the best possible deal and if that's with giffgaff, fair enough. I've moved networks several times myself... brand loyalty counts for nothing.
The problem I do have with giffgaff is them pretending that they're some sort of consumer champion ('we're not like those big mobile companies') while their own parent is busy screwing it's customers.

O2: 'Unlimited data is not sustainable, that'll be £6 for 500mb thank you'
Giffgaff: 'Sure, have as much data as you like. We'll call it a tenner'

This made me laugh,

The reason GiffGaff can do this is simple....

- No O2 stores
- No Customer Call Centres
- No maintenance on equipment (towers etc) - i'm not 100% sure
- No cost to manufacturers (they don't offer phones)
- No overheads

All they probably do is pay o2 for the network rental (meaning o2 maintain it still) and they pay their agents in india and england a small amount.

So this is a tiny percentage of what it cost O2 to maintain its network.

Therefore they can offer more in terms of minutes, texts, internet than O2 with only have to hand out a sim (probs cost them 30p if that per sim).

Although I can see the unlimited internet being capped in the future if the customer base grows a lot, which I suspect it will. Probs get caps like 5gb, 8gb, 10gb etc when the goodybag value rises.

JJ_Egan

{The problem I do have with giffgaff is them pretending that they're some sort of consumer champion }
Dont know where that comes from i never got that impression and it took me seven months before signing up with theme .Bit like this forum prtending its a consumer champion i would have thought .

One has only to look at this forum and the multiple complaints against the major networks including their sales pitch . That seems ok but hey Giffgaff trying a new formula that may help change the market for the better or it may just fade away is subject to an amost hate campaign from some posters . That really defeats the object of this forum that stated out to save people money .

jje

blondi1

can i just ask a question.. i am looking at the £5 goody bag - is that £5 credit with the bonuses or do i pay £5 FOR the bonuses e.g. could i use the internet for 20p a day and have that taken from the £5 or would i need to top-up more?... hope that makes sense lol

xx

Stompa

blondi1 wrote: »

can i just ask a question.. i am looking at the £5 goody bag - is that £5 credit with the bonuses or do i pay £5 FOR the bonuses e.g. could i use the internet for 20p a day and have that taken from the £5 or would i need to top-up more?... hope that makes sense lol

There's no compulsion to have a goody bag at all. You could just top up (£10 minimum) and get the internet for 20p per day (up to 20MB per day), obviously only paying for those days where you actually make use of the internet.

JJ_Egan

blondi1 wrote: »

can i just ask a question.. i am looking at the £5 goody bag - is that £5 credit with the bonuses or do i pay £5 FOR the bonuses e.g. could i use the internet for 20p a day and have that taken from the £5 or would i need to top-up more?... hope that makes sense lol

xx

I am running GiffGaff as pure PAYG as i am a light user no Goodybags
Data is 20p up to 20MB per day .

Referral from a current Giffgaff member gets you an extra £5 credit on your first top up .

In fairness the network is having some current data problems something to with the switch over from no fee to paid internet data.
Not been a problem for me .
Signal wise its O2 network used .

jje