Looking at switching from 3 to Giffgaff

Malc_44

Hi folks,
I am currently on 3 and my contract expires in a month or so. I have been looking at what is available out there and I have recently discovered Giffgaff. On my current deal I always vastly underuse my allowance every month, so that is why I was considering getting the £7.50 per month Giffgaff tariff and buying a Google Nexus 4 handset outright. That tariff is closer to my actual usage, so the wastage I would incur every month would be at a minimum (which would please me greatly). I was originally wanting a Galaxy S3, but I saw a Nexus 4 the other day and I am sold on that handset. I do know that you have to pay for it upfront, but I can do that. The handset is £270 and if I go for the £7.50 per month tarrif then the total cost over 24 months is £450 or £18.75 per month.
Originally I had seen the T Mobile basic internet contract with a free S3 handset at £21 per month. Obviously you are tied in to this one as it is an actual contract.
Since discovering Giffgaff, I like the flexibility of it. Being able to increase or decrease things depending on what you may need on a given month is very good. Plus the fact that I am a light user anyway. Well I will be getting a call from 3 retentions soon. Don't think they will be able to come close to what I have seen, so more than likely I will be asking for my pac code.
Yes they are in business to make money, but it is my business to save money and keep it in my pocket.

Herongull

Going PAYG is generally the right move. As well as saving money, you avoid the stress, hassle and risk of contracts - eg if your phone is lost or stolen.

There are cheaper PAYG options than giffgaff.

With Ovivo you get 150 minutes, 200 texts and 500mb free each month - yep £0 per month.

If you need more they have an Ibis bundle at £7.50 per month 250 minutes, 400 texts and 750mb.

The cheapest giffgaff bundle is £10 (not £7.50) per month 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 1Gb.

Out of bundle calls are cheaper with Ovivo (8p compare with 10p).

Both companies have unlimited free calls and texts within network.

sillygoose

Herongull wrote: »

Going PAYG is generally the right move. As well as saving money, you avoid the stress, hassle and risk of contracts - eg if your phone is lost or stolen.

There are cheaper PAYG options than giffgaff.

With Ovivo you get 150 minutes, 200 texts and 500mb free each month - yep £0 per month.

If you need more they have an Ibis bundle at £7.50 per month 250 minutes, 400 texts and 750mb.

The cheapest giffgaff bundle is £10 (not £7.50) per month 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 1Gb.

Out of bundle calls are cheaper with Ovivo (8p compare with 10p).

Both companies have unlimited free calls and texts within network.

Actually there is now a £7.50 Goodybag..

http://giffgaff.com/goodybags

200 UK minutes
Unlimited UK texts
250MB internet
Free to giffgaff

Not too bad, for a light chatter, mainly emails collecting and lots of texting type person.

sillygoose

Malc_44 wrote: »

Hi folks,
I am currently on 3 and my contract expires in a month or so. I have been looking at what is available out there and I have recently discovered Giffgaff. On my current deal I always vastly underuse my allowance every month, so that is why I was considering getting the £7.50 per month Giffgaff tariff and buying a Google Nexus 4 handset outright. That tariff is closer to my actual usage, so the wastage I would incur every month would be at a minimum (which would please me greatly). I was originally wanting a Galaxy S3, but I saw a Nexus 4 the other day and I am sold on that handset. I do know that you have to pay for it upfront, but I can do that. The handset is £270 and if I go for the £7.50 per month tarrif then the total cost over 24 months is £450 or £18.75 per month.
Originally I had seen the T Mobile basic internet contract with a free S3 handset at £21 per month. Obviously you are tied in to this one as it is an actual contract.
Since discovering Giffgaff, I like the flexibility of it. Being able to increase or decrease things depending on what you may need on a given month is very good. Plus the fact that I am a light user anyway. Well I will be getting a call from 3 retentions soon. Don't think they will be able to come close to what I have seen, so more than likely I will be asking for my pac code.
Yes they are in business to make money, but it is my business to save money and keep it in my pocket.

You will hear plenty of stories for or against Giffgaff, but there is little pain in trying them for a while as its PAYG.

Personally I have had great service with them, would it be better if it didn't run on the decrepit O2 network? quite possibly! but thats what it is.

I know several entire families on Giffgaff a long time, they only have the £5 deals and make the most of the free calls between each other as thats what they need most. They are all fine with it.

Herongull

Thanks - I hadn't spotted that one - if you look on the offer page you just see the more expensive ones. http://giffgaff.com/index/offer

This means that between Ovivo and Giffgaff there is a PAYG package to suit virtually all user types (other than people who use lots of everything who would probably better on a sim only contract) for a tenner or less per month.

To summarise:

Ovivo freedom £0 per month
150minutes, 200 texts and 500mb

Ovivo Ibis £7.50
250 minutes, 400 texts and 750mb

Giffgaff £7.50
200 minutes, unlimited texts and 250mb

Giffgaff £10.00
250 minutes, unlimited texts and 1Gb

Both Ovivo and Giffgaff have unlimited free calls and texts within network.

Malc_44

Yeah I had heard about Ovivo as well, but I hadn't looked into them too much.
Thanks for the heads-up. I'll have a look at them as well.

rwalton159

Another vote for GG here.

chris1973

Both the Ovivo and Giff Gaff deals are good, but it's only good IF YOU CAN USE IT. so its important that you check the signal coverage before you pay out - especially with Ovivo where you pony up £15 in advance before you even get the sim (and test the signal!)

Ovivo use Vodaphone and Giff Gaff use O2, neither of which are especially strong or rapidly expanding networks outside of main City Centres. So if you live on the outskirts of a City, in a small town, or a rural village its even more important to check this before you buy.

Don't rely on the online coverage checkers either, as they are bad at predicting 'local' issues, and more especially indoor coverage and interference. Better to get a free (or 99p) PAYG sim on the carrier networks (o2, Vodaphone) first, to put in the phone in the locations where you generally use it the most, so you can see the signal strength on the phone before you pay anything. It could save you wasting £15 upfront with Ovivo if you happen to have the same coverage as me, or should I say, lack of coverage!.

Its a shame that both Voda and O2 seem to have essentially given up investing in additional masts and increasing their coverage, personally I only get 2G coverage and GPRS data from both networks at home and place of work, which are 10 miles apart which shows just how patchy they are. In comparison I get DC-HSDPA speeds from '3' of upto 7 mbps at home and 12 mbps at work in the same locations, so its not like i'm on an island , stuck in 1999 (although I don't think O2 or Vodaphone have built any masts around here since 1999)