It is very disappointing that so many people seem to be having problems with activation and/or initial goodybag purchases at the moment. First impressions count, so this is one area where giffgaff really ought to be making sure they get it right - for everyone! This is especially important for a new company like giffgaff, because many new customers may be unsure as to what to expect from them and be a bit wary of whether they will be up to the job - and falling at the first hurdle gives out the worst possible message, and it is compounded when you cannot even use the Ask an agent feature until your SIM is activated (why is this restriction even there?!).
Although I enjoy a pretty much faultless service myself, It makes me wary to recommend giffgaff to others if I think there's a good chance they will run into problems at even the first stage.
I'm another person who has been let down by my the first impressions of the giffgaff service. Everything was fine until I activated the SIM. As things stand I've handed over money and received nothing in the way of service yet today.
It would be very helpful if the people behind this venture could temporarily emerge from the ether and confirm what the problem is and what they're doing to resolve it. The silence is deafening.
baronempire wrote:
So your considering on signing up to giffgaff. This has been my experience so far. I plan on updating it for 2 weeks so that new customers can have a good idea of what they should expect. My experience may not be the average user experience, it is personal to me and I cannot vouch how others have faired. Last thursday I ordered a sim card online and it had reached my door by monday. I was impressed with the speed at which this was sent out. It came in simple packaging with clear instructions on how to set up the sim online. 'Online', this is important to realise. giffgaff has no telephone support and no live online chat. Your only means to customer service or support is via email. If you like to be able to speak to an operator at your own whim then giffgaff is not for you. Having followed the simple instructions online, I activated the sim without any hassle and added a 35 pound goody bag (now only 17.50) to my account. That was yesterday morning at 11.14AM. Now over 24 hours later, I still do not have a working sim card or any credit on my account. My line is dead. Here is where the forum kicks in, I ran a few searches and found other posts with activation and or goody bag problems. None of them had a solution. However, I have seen that most issues have been resolved in 4 days (some longer). I tried to contact support, but that function of the site was down. After some googling I found the email for customer support and sent off my query. Still no response. Frustrated, I created a thread, I got many lobbyists praising giffgaff and offering advice (some of which was patronising), but no one had any real answers. Eventually a giffgaff staffer responded that support was looking into it. No time frame and that I had to be patient and that they are swamped with new customers. Its now well over 24 hours that I have signed up and have no service and no response from support. So far, customer service has been dismal and the fact that you cant speak to someone is very frustrating. It would not be as bad if responses were swift or there was a LIVE CHAT. I would be interested to know how many giffgaff paid staff handle the emails and what the ratio is to customer numbers. As I get the feeling they are under staffed to save costs. I scheduled a port in number transfer for July 22nd so I will let you know how that goes. Although, since my line is not active yet I am not sure what will happen with that.
kudos for all that typing.
