Problem: Last month I got a new TomTom, its brilliant and has a tethering option to enhance its features for traffic and mobile speed cameras, all of which I have tried through my work phone. It uses a very modest 10mb a month or there abouts so the data quantity is not really a issue but the fact that I dont have tethering at all is! Problem is as I'm an unlimited data customer with GiffGaff I cant use it with my personal phone out of work hours. iFail.
Most people now seem to be in the 1gb+ usage wherever a smartphone is a part of life. Last month is less than normal usage for me and I used around 1.5Gb, a little youtubing on the loo, a little audiobook downloading on the train, emails, FB, and a few app downloads and before you know it your over your 1Gb allowance. Not usually a problem for me as I am on the unlimited tarriff. However this month I thought I would like to use the tethering option so I upgraded iOS7 (over Wifi), jailbroken, tetherme installed and the tarriff changed to a tarriff with tethering. Then giffgaff kindly email my usage and I see that 1Gb isnt going to cut it so Im back on unlimited again with no option of me using my TomTom or any other tethering for that matter.
So what do I do???
If I was to tether I have to go £10 1Gb limit which I will certainly go over and be left with no data well before the end of the month, and if I was to go £12 unlimited or higher I cant tether.
So what do I do??? It looks like my option is to move networks, not what I want.
Suggestion: A new goodybag package including tethering with a data allowance of 2-4Gb should me made, preferrably towards the hgher end of the data allowance suggested. This would allow moderate access to tethering which shouldnt be unreasonably expensive but will give a more sensible ceiling amount of data for the modern smartphone user. It should be priced between £10 and £15 and should offer similar value to the first unlimited data package but exchange the unlimited element with a finite amount of data with tethering which should balance out any risk for GiffGaff
Alternatively, the 1gb thresholds on the tarrifs including finite data allowance should be increased to a more usable amount considering the trend of smartphones/OSs which naturally use larger amounts of data.
How this helps: People who are trapped in a data corner who want or require tethering will be able to remain on GiffGaff and will not be forced to compare the market for tarriffs (possibly dearer) just to allow them to have it all. This will presumably attract more new customers too, attracting customers from older smartphone tarriffs away from the big networks and increasing the customer base at GiffGaff. As networks like o2, virgin and no doubt others are coming into GiffGaffs market and trying to draw away customers in the "value network" sector it will defend GiffGaffs position with greater appeal to a modern smartphone user (>63% of the market from the statistics I have seen).
In general its better to be at the front of the market innovating and driving forward, not the copycat firm at the back of the market just reacting to other companies marketing movements. This is a forward thinking manouver, placing GiffGaff where the market will go inevitably in the near future and securing that position early and the market share that goes with it.
But most imporantly of all.... it will make me happy and as a valued customer, promoter of GiffGaff and general good guy I think that carries some weight. 
OK another tethering idea but one that should now be possible due to the new tethering detection and the existing system that already monitors/handles data allowances and charging on the existing limited internet goodybags.
Problem
- Many members are caught in the dilemma of wanting to mix some tethering and normal mobile internet but find the limited allowance tetherable goodybags (1Gb max) too restrictive.
- Others are caught out by not understanding the restriction on tethering on the unlimited goodybags and simply can't use the internet in the way they expected.
- This is losing giffgaff customers who would like to stay but need more flexibility.
Solution
- Include a small amount of free tethering allowance (I suggest 500Mb) with all of the unlimited goodybags and then charge (I suggest 1p) for each tethered Mb over this allowance from airtime balance.
- The price of the existing unlimited internet goodybags and other allowances to remain the same so this is just an additional benefit.
- The system would need to warn the member they were using their tethering allowance at the start of the tethering internet session so instead of the existing detection system simply cutting off the internet with a warning, change to just a warning message. The warning message should include the remaining tethering allowance or the charge rate and remaining airtime credit if allowance has been exceeded.
- Subsequent tethering data used will be deducted from the allowance (or charged from credit if allowance has been exceeded). Note: this is much the same process as for the limited internet goodybags so most of this has already been designed and implemented before.
- Include a further tethering allowance indicator on the My giffgaff goodybag display.
- Include a switch to allow members to opt out of tethering charges, this to be ON by default. (prompted by lnb1996's input).
Benefits
- Provides tethering options for those wanting the benefits of both unlimited internet and tethering.
- Small amounts of tethering would be allowed at no extra cost (great for checking emails etc on trains with laptops).
- No need to worry about deciding on the need for tethering up front and so true flexibility. No add ons, no special tethering goodybags, no changing to an additional SIM, no need to regret not getting a different package.
- Much of the processing logic is already there so this should be the simplest flexible method of including tethering on the unlimited internet goodybags and therefore I really do think it will be looked at seriously by giffgaff.
- Attract new members and retain existing ones. I don't think any other providers offer anything like this
Make sense to me and hopefully to you but please do add your comments (and support as always welcomed )
Edit: apologies to those that have already voted but I have changed the OP to increase the initial allowance having done some further maths.
My idea is simple. When a member takes there payback as credit instead of been given the standard 3 months of free GG-GG allowances that they should be given 6 months.
The first time I got payback I took £120 as credit to cover the next 6 months worth of goodybags but had to top up a tenner 3 months in just to keep my free GG-GG allowances even though I still had plenty of credit.
Now when I put this in 'contribute' various suggestions we're made as to how much. For instance if you was only getting £10 then you shouldn't get the 6 months so it may need some tweaking and I don't even know if GG's systems would allow this but I just think if a member is willing to take there payback as credit, this way keeping the funds with gg, then they should at least be rewarded with the 6 months worth of free GG-GG allowances.
Feel free to add your comments and ideas on how to make this idea a reality and if you like it then show your support. I believe it's a good idea as it benefits both GG and the customer
Edited:
I just to add thanks to everyone for your support so far. We've managed to get it to the 'under consideration' which is great but please still show your support for the idea and let's get this implemented as it's much needed!
Feel free to add your ideas as to what kind of amount of payback you take as credit to get the whole 6 months free gg-gg so we can maybe get some structure to the idea. Or should it just be 6 months for everyone who elects credit?
So thoughts please?
Edited:
only me again. . . . .
I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported this idea but I also want to stress that the more support we get here the better chance of giffgaff implementing it.
It's been under consideration for quite a while now so I'm hoping this means GG are really thinking about it!
And we could really do with getting a bit of a debate going about how much the minimum amount should be but I've added the reason I think it should be free for any amount on page 5 of this thread so have a read and have your say!
Ok I thought about this idea a while ago trying to work it out but after much thinking I've decided to keep it simple and if people like it then maybe they can suggest how to go about implementing it or we can leave the tech up to giffgaff.
The link shows some support when I researched the idea in contribute.
So the idea. Well it's the ability to be able to have a goodybag that is brought by one person but it can be shared between multiple sims, say from two and up to four or maybe even more depending on how great a need if the idea took off.
Say for instance you could buy a £20 goodybag but split it between four different sims, say for a family of four. Each sim would get 500 minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited data and the usual stuff.
For two people the goodybag would be split, 1000 mins each ect.
Now obviously giffgaff need to get something out of it if we are so i suggest a higher price for these 'familybags' maybe £30 for the one with four sims on and £25 for the one with two sims on?
You see a lot of people asking if they can have more than one sim per account so there's obviously a demand for it and after doing a bit of research on the subject see it's something the Americans do quite successfully!
At the same time maybe there could be a way to have an account with two sims on so one is for a goodybag and the other to control a gigabag from as this is something else you often see asked about in the community.
The obvious benefits of this are giffgaff get a whole different market interested with family's been able to share and couples ect plus we get it a little cheaper buy clubbing together.
So comments please?
Edited: Grammar
EDITED : *** UPDATE*** Just to quickly say giffgaff have responded "not for us" on this particular idea but the thing is people are still awarding Kudo and support for it on a daily basis. Giffgaffs reasoning is there's not enough demand for it but there clearly are people that want this kind of service. Also lots of people want multiple sims from one account mainly so one person can control the whole family's phone costs. This idea almost guarantees that if one member of a family joins giffgaff and these kind of goodybags are available that the rest of there family are more likely to join so I do think giffgaff have been a bit hasty on this one! I say this is one way of killing two birds with one stone so I'm turning this more into a kind of petition now so let's try and change giffgaffs mind by showing your support for this idea. Kudo are great as that's what makes gg take notice but comments are appreciated too! So let's see if we can get 'the mobile run by us' to change there mind?
I was thinking of a way of promoting both the use of data saving methods and rewarding those that use under a certain amount of data on their unlimited goodybags.
Data costs money, therefore the less data used, the cheaper the costs. The members that use less could be rewarded in a giffgaff mutual giving style.
For a bit of background on the discussion of this idea in contribute, here you go
Proposal:
For those on unlimited internet goodybags, if the data usage is less than say 1Gb for the term of the goodybag then a 'thank you' reward of 50/100 payback points is credited to the account.
This is effectively a 50p/£1 rebate on initial cost of the unlimited internet goodybag payable at the expiry of the goodybag.
Put up a blog about how to make the best use of wifi etc just before implementing this idea and include details of the potential reward and a link to the blog in the goodybag usage email.
Benefits:
Obviously the members should like this as they get a small reward for lower data usage but still have the option of having the full unlimited internet for peace of mind. It might encourage some members to upgrade to the unlimited options for this reason.
The benefit for giffgaff is that it may encourage members to look into data saving measures such as wifi and cut data usage on a more permanent basis (wifi is often quicker than 3G).
Encourage loyalty to qualify for payback.
It's a bit quirky and might bring some new customers who like fresh thinking.
Potential Risks:
The benefits to giffgaff might not be enough to offset the rewards, so I'm suggesting a trial run on this first and then a further review.
Costs to develop:
A lot of the processing is already done for the goodybag emails which are sent out 2 days before expiry so this could be amended to add points to the account if they qualify. Changing the criteria used would be easy enough to do.
So if you wish to support or comment then this is always appreciated and thanks for reading.
