giffgaff mobile network

simax

It's a shame their data network is so slow..... one of the reasons I left O2 and went to Vodafone.

william_Fraser

I have been using giffgaff services from past 3 months and it really rocks. I have also used their goodybag which really helps in saving your money. You can go for it...

neil40

Apart from the lack of 3g coverage,giffgaff are hard to beat for value for money!.

simone73

I just bought a HTC on T-Mobile and it came with 6 months free internet (1g a month). After that £20 will get another 6 months internet!! Bargain!!

mavisangelica

I got the whole family on Giff Gaff (Got one sim through referral and then referred the rest of the family to get the extra £5). which means free calls and texts between us. None of us have bought a goody bag yet as we are all relatively low users. I have never topped up yet in 4 months and 20p (I think) daily charge for data on the PAYG is more than enough for my 16 year old son and for me. The other good thing is that at the end of the month, they recommend the best option/goodybag for you based on your previous month's usage.

spadge_2356

Hi All,

I always trust the sound judgement of the people on these forums and once again I'd like to ask for oppinions on a product before I fully comit.

I am interested in GiffGaff's ethical policy, but the content on their site doesnt go into details except that the group is controlled by input by its "members".

I would like to know what weighting is put against members suggestions to change things in the company, just exactly how much control does a giffgaff member have to control the network?

I know their prices are good but I would like to have the confidence to know that I am paying money into a company with an ethical policy. Unfortunately the co-operative doesnt have a mobile network, and this is the closest thing I can find.

Does anyone have any input into this subject? I'm not interested in how good the value is, or how great the tariffs are. The things I want to know before I commit to being with this network is:

• Am I paying money into the fat-cats pockets
• How much effort is put into helping charities
• Is the customer service excellent
• To what degree can members control the network

Thanks all,
SPADGE_2356

JJ_Egan

GiffGaff is O2 and ultimately controlled by Telefonica group .

• Am I paying money into the fat-cats pockets

Yes but less than using a normal network .Referells get a kickback to new customer and Giffgaffer who refers .

• Is the customer service excellent

No no customer service is excellent in the mobile world . Customer service is from the members .

• To what degree can members control the network

None i hope though they can certainly have more input that with other networks .

jje

Stuart_W

spadge_2356 wrote: »

Unfortunately the co-operative doesnt have a mobile network, and this is the closest thing I can find.

You are right that The Co-operative Group do not have a mobile network.

However, The Phone Co-op, the UK's only telecoms consumer co-operative is probably what you are looking for to meet your particular ethical criteria.

From your initial post, you seem to be enquiring about member-ownership and control, in which case I think you need to think about using a member controlled co-operative.

http://www.thephone.coop

This video might help you decide if they are the mobile phone company for you.

spadge_2356

StuartW thanks for your suggestion, I've been reading abit about them already and there's one thing that seems to stand out.

In several forums I have noticed that people have commented that GiffGaff is part of the 02 network (telefonica) if this is the case why is this not stated on GiffGaff's website? There is no mention or connection to 02 mentioned, not even in the GiffGaff forums! However it does state that it USES the '02 signal'.
In the case of the phone co-op it says that it uses the 'orange network'

Therefore my next question is; what is the difference between using another company's signal/network and being owned by the network as a subsidiary (EG I know Tesco uses the 02 network but does that mean the are owned by 02?). Does using the networks signal mean the company is owned by the network it uses?

I'm slightly confused.

Thanks,
SPADGE_2356

ivinsp

giffgaff customers do not physically run the network but they can submit ideas and feedback on the forums, many have been implemented for new services and features.

giffgaff rewards customers that offer help and support on the forums with paypack, this can be taken as credit, cash or paid to charity (the charity is selected via a poll which the members vote on every 6 months).

Billing and account issues are handled by a small team of agents employed by giffgaff.

Giffgaff's ethics are about being open and transparent.