How many complaints about "Always On" before ...

extreme_one

How many complaints about "Always On" goodybags will giffgaff be willing to brush off, before doing something about it?

There must be dozens of complaints every month about this offering.

It's a seriously flawed product, poorly marketed, poorly priced and poorly executed.

Isn't it about time giffgaff addressed this issue?

exmember-9854373

@extreme_one it's not a particularly bizarre product - "unlimited data" tariffs with so many GBs at full speed and the rest at seriously cut down speeds exist all over the world. In fact, good on giffgaff for not marketing this as "unlimited data", other websites and reviews do refer to this goodybag as "unlimited" but they should know better, can't blame giffgaff for that.

What I am strongly angry about is the "we ban you, we ban you not" lottery that giffgaff subjects their Always On goodybag users to. Despite of many overly loyal giffgaff customers defending this and copypasting the T&Cs like there's no tomorrow, there's nothing in these T&Cs that could be understood as a clear set of rules on what to do (or not to do) in order not to get banned. Nothing.

giffgaff telling users to reconsider their usage or face a ban is like a cop stopping you as you walk past and telling you reconsider your behavior or face jail without telling you what was exactly that you've done wrong.

With such an approach the Always On goodybag is not only "not-Unlimited" but isn't Always On either.

freedmaniac

@extreme_one

We see complaints about pretty much everything including that product e.g. EU Roaming, paying for int. calls

I consider this to be more a linked to people's misunderstanding rather than a fault with the product.

I will concede that perhaps it should be pointed out clearly that it is not an unlimited data product.

gizzblue

The alleged 'flawed'product as you call it has always been the most popular goodybag on gg ....even before the extra 11 gb ....it's not really a problem to most, those who actually bothered to read the t&c's before purchasing said product ...just the usual type suspects who then moan and whinge .....

I never read the terms but it's everyone else's fault . .

They won't change it anytime soon and rightly so too..for the needs of the many outweigh the moans of the few .

extreme_one

Blaming the complaints solely on the customer's misunderstanding is a cop out.

Surely any business wants as few complaints as possible..

If there's a noticeable trend, where lots of people are misunderstanding the product they've bought, surely the onus is on the business to ensure they're communicating as clearly as possible.

I think giffgaff have a responsibility to it's customers and future customers to address any issues which result in multiple repeat complaints.

Or we could just bury or heads in the sand and blame the customer for not reading the T&C's.

shabazmoqsud

@extreme_one wrote:

Blaming the complaints solely on the customer's misunderstanding is a cop out.

Surely any business wants as few complaints as possible..

If there's a noticeable trend, where lots of people are misunderstanding the product they've bought, surely the onus is on the business to ensure they're communicating as clearly as possible.

I think giffgaff have a responsibility to it's customers and future customers to address any issues which result in multiple repeat complaints.

Or we could just bury or heads in the sand and blame the customer for not reading the T&C's.

@extreme_one you are right giffgaff need to address the issue and provide a better product in the always on goodybag in terms of data and price, will they? Nope as only recently did the up the data and most importantly jack up the price.

figment_uk

We do not know how many members are quite happily buying the "Always on" goodybag month after month without issue. For all we know the complains aired on the community could make up less than 0.001% of the total number of members buying the product.

05hudsond

having purchased the always on a few days ago for the first time and burning through my 20gb i expect a ban and to be told im not allowed always on next month , the problem with this is i asked what the limit was and noone could answer it ,ive used 27 gb so far with 25 days left , im not to fussed about getting a ban as im only using this while my broadband is being switched but it would be nice to know the limit to avvoid a ban , i usuually use the £10 goodybag so will be going back to that next month, to me always is on is advertised as 20gb non throttled data with 48 kybtes throttle from 8am untill 12am then unlimited unthrottled data at 12am untill 8am with tethering allowed , ive read the terms and conditions and cant understand how people can be banned esp when during the day i highley doubt continuas use at 48kbytes can affect anyone but them selves

05hudsond

@gizzblue

"it's not really a problem to most, those who actually bothered to read the t&c's before purchasing said product ...just the usual type suspects who then moan and whinge .....

I never read the terms but it's everyone else's fault . ."

can you explain this in more detail please

who are the usual suspects .....suspect means suspicion so what are suspected of doing

what part of the terms and conditions cause a ban it doesnt say you cant use 40gb a month at night infact it says do downloads and stuff out side of peak times witch people do and get banned

moaning and winge ?? wouldnt you moan and winge if you got banned even though you did nothing wrong as you wasnt told the limit

how much data do you use can i ask

extreme_one

@figment_uk wrote:

We do not know how many members are quite happily buying the "Always on" goodybag month after month without issue. For all we know the complains aired on the community could make up less than 0.001% of the total number of members buying the product.

Indeed we don't know the percentages @figment_uk but we do know there are dozens of complaints a month, stemming from misunderstandings around the "Always On" package.

Any business that receives dozens of complaints a month, over one issue really should look into ways of solving it.

tradertall

that goodybag is a bad product.

gizzblue

@extreme_one ...but it's exactly the same story every time ....." Why has my speed been reduced on my 'unlimited' goodybag...."

"giffgaff unlimited is a rip off "

Etc etc...rinse repeat...

And the answer 9 times out of ten is the same ....there is no 'unlimited' goodybag you obvs neglected the t&c's..

If your in doubt go back over the moaning posts you will see its always the blooming same thing .

Everyone wants unlimited for £20 -£25 quid ....

Your other point ' it's a large portion of complaints' also falls flat, in reality the amount of people on the community and the small number who have issue with this product is only a very small section of

giffgaff 's overall users .

It's not burrying heads in the slightest ....unfortunately it's virtually impossible to idiot proof such a product unless everyone is forced to read the t&c'sbefore any actual purchase ....which again 9-10 users don't bother and just click the box and move on .... but that is then everyone else's fault

when they dont know what it entails . .

It's not just giffgaff who suffer this either .. search other mvno forums it's a pretty much networks wide problem ...all have tarrifs with limits that are not percieved before purchase ...it's a little known fact that every network has certain traffic flow policies too ....and wether you think the always on bag is poorly advertised managed or priced ...you should have a really good look at the others outhere...unlimited on a phone is a myth traffic flow applies everywhere .

https://kenstechtips.com/index.php/uk-mobile-traffic-management-throttling

extreme_one

@gizzblue wrote:

@extreme_one ...but it's exactly the same story every time ....." Why has my speed been reduced on my 'unlimited' goodybag...."
"giffgaff unlimited is a rip off "
Etc etc...rinse repeat...
And the answer 9 times out of ten is the same ....there is no 'unlimited' goodybag you obvs neglected the t&c's..

If your in doubt go back over the moaning posts you will see its always the blooming same thing .
Everyone wants unlimited for £20 -£25 quid ....
Your other point ' it's a large portion of complaints' also falls flat, in reality the amount of people on the community and the small number who have issue with this product is only a very small section of
giffgaff 's overall users .
It's not burrying heads in the slightest ....unfortunately it's virtually impossible to idiot proof such a product unless everyone is forced to read the t&c'sbefore any actual purchase ....which again 9-10 users don't bother and just click the box and move on .... but that is then everyone else's fault
when they dont know what it entails . .
It's not just giffgaff who suffer this either .. search other mvno forums it's a pretty much networks wide problem ...all have tarrifs with limits that are not percieved before purchase ...it's a little known fact that every network has certain traffic flow policies too ....and wether you think the always on bag is poorly advertised managed or priced ...you should have a really good look at the others outhere...unlimited on a phone is a myth traffic flow applies everywhere .

https://kenstechtips.com/index.php/uk-mobile-traffic-management-throttling

@gizzblue I know what the problem is.

The communication is poor. People end up with the wrong expectations and feel they've been mislead.

It's up to giffgaff to better communicate in order to manage people's expectations.

Otherwise you get dozens of complaints every single month ...

05hudsond

the peak times are to long i mean 8am untill 12 am is to long

the throttled speed is to low for most stuff even websites

the limit is not not known

people get banned for reaching the unknown limit

moorhen

It seems to me that this is a marketing or customer expectation problem rather than a technical one. Perhaps they should change the name of the GoddyBag from "Always On" to "20GB+". The + would show that this is really a 20GB GoodyBag with safety net if you go over the 20GB.

gizzblue

But

@extreme_one

We will still end up with the same scenario ....."my 25 quid unlimited goody bag has been reduced in speed " type of moan.

No matter how well they idiot proof it .... (it already has extra info which is obviously largely ignored) it will still be the same few unlimited internet hunters who miss the whole description. ..no matter how well it's advertised and or explained .

notherefornothing

No matter how well they idiot proof it ....

This reminds me of the old phrase: "nothing is idiot proof if you have a sufficiently determined fool."

However, there must be a way of further reducing the number of customers that don't realise what they are buying, in the same way that we need to re-present the information for new users about not using up their airtime credit before buying goody bags (and all of the other similar newbie issues).

gizzblue

@notherefornothing ..exactly this ...the determined fool will always be the anomaly .

The extra information 'should' in reality be enough ...but we still get them.