What's the point of giffgaff since they are no longer price competitive?

wotsitman

giffgaff have been my only mobile provider since I first got a mobile phone. They were uniquely positioned as cheap PAYG without a contract which suited my low use, and that's what their reputation was founded on. With the upcoming price hikes, they are no longer the smart option for PAYG and I'm wondering what I should do.

For a moment I did consider the £6 Goodybag. I don't use mobile internet, but perhaps if I enabled it, I'd find it useful out and about when I have a decent data allowance. However, checking alternatives, they offer far better value. 1pmobile and Three's 321 PAYG plan offer 1mb per penny. At 2p a text, £6 would cover me for 500 mb data plus 50 texts (far more than I need). But importantly, if I use less than 500 MB data (very likely), I'll save money.

And even then, if I wanted unlimited texts, unlimited calls, and data, there are numerous operators like Talkmobile offering 1 GB data for £5.

Given giffgaff are no longer the cheapest, nor even competitively priced, what exactly is their position in the market?

c_lockett

wotsitman I think it's all swings and roundabouts with the phone providers anyway. I definitely wouldn't consider pay as you go. I have the £8 goodybag though I use very little on data, calls or texts anyway. I like the fact that it's there to use if I need it. I could probably get away with the £6 as there's usually free WiFi when I'm out anyway. But I can't really see the point in moving to another provider to get more of something I can't use anyway. So there's definitely a point to giffgaff for me. As the saying goes If it ain't broke dont fix it.

isabel1066

wotsitman they offer far better value. 1pmobile and Three's 321 PAYG plan offer 1mb per penny. At 2p a text,

If all you use is credit for calls and texts then you would be better of moving.

mcilwraith

wotsitman giffgaff just dont seem to want low paygo customers
as you say there are plenty of deals out there for the low users

garybo

wotsitman as it's going up and maybe for you just try a new network

pw6049

wotsitman good luck on the new network if this is what you are thinking of doing

pete2009

wotsitman
Hi,
Only you can decide weather to leave or not. I can understand what you think about the price.
One thing to remember is you can always come back if it doesn't work out on another network.
Cheers

allan1954

wotsitman looks like 1p mobile would be good for you.

peterdbsc

wotsitman

I chose giffgaff after checking Which Magazine (to which I contribute).
giffgaff come top (87% customer score), Tesco mobile 79%, iD 70%, O2 62% - these are just a few examples.
As well as that, I found I could get as good a signal in my house as I could with my previous provider (Vodafone) - I checked that by getting a giffgaff SIM and trying it in an old phone for a week or so before signing up.
Vodafone gave me a lot more data and minutes (even on their cheapest deal), which I didn't need and never used, and changing to giffgaff saved me about £5 per month.
Plus I really liked the idea of being able to change Goodybags from month to month, especially as I was really sick of having to renegotiate my contract with Vfone every year when they would try to hike what they charged me.
Like you, I am a low data user (about 300 Mb per month) and also low on calls and texts, so the £6 Goodybag suits me most of the time.
So far, I have been very pleased with the service.
I can understand your anger at the increased PAYG increases. Unless the £6 Goodybag would suit you, I guess your only option is to go to some other provider but please do your research carefully beforehand re signal, service etc.
Good luck.

georgecooksey24

wotsitman the prices aren’t competitive for anything under £15. They really need to address this.

pmaine

wotsitman sorry to see you go

peterhall0012

wotsitman who is better than giffgaff for you

cemor32

wotsitman I have been on several networks and moved to giffgaff and will be staying put. For me, the big deal with giffgaff is that I can choose the plan I want, when I want.

Other networks do come up with good plans but you can't change month to month.

Also, networks can change their prices at any time, and often do
Not good for you if you have 18 months left on your contract. The ability to earn points on here is also something that I like.

It's personal choice but for me a £10 goody bag with 6GB, plus the fact I have WiFi at home, plus the ability to earn points by helping other members, is what makes me a firm supporter of giffgaff

jasesmith16

wotsitman Given giffgaff are no longer the cheapest, nor even competitively priced, what exactly is their position in the market?

Must be a good position as they’re reeling in new customers constantly and still operating as a business with good profit margin.

richybhoy36

wotsitman Hi there it seems that they want every1 to go down the route of using goody bags instead of using PAYG credit .

jklou93

wotsitman I have never used a phone network that pays you , even if I make enough to cover half my top up I am happy

davidvarley

c_lockett
I think the £6 goody bag is great value compared to what it used to be.
With the unlimited mins and texts.

scrupps

giffgaff isn’t really the best place for low users- but then you have to weigh up the hassle of moving and the possibility that your signal may not be as good! Personally I think it’s a shame that giffgaff have increased their Payg prices so much and don’t believe it was a good business decision.

wotsitman

scrupps : Staying with the devil you know is a primary reason to want to stick, but then I feel I'm just being held to ransom! And these days, it should just be a case of getting a PAC code and transferring one's number over. Keeping the number is pretty vital as that's used for two-step authentication with so many things and I wouldn't want to have to update them all.

wagstaffes

wotsitman why not just get a SIM and try it out for a few days before you commit to transferring your number? It's so easy to switch these days anyway. I know that 1pMobile will refund you if you can't get a decent signal, so, I assume the others will too. If an O2 signal is important to you you could always try the Tesco Mobile lite tariff, or, see if you can pick up an O2 Classic PAYG SIM on eBay.
https://community.giffgaff.com/d/33065250-giffgaff-to-increase-payg-rates-from-26th-february-2020-alternatives-available

wedgington

wotsitman no contract though so not really held to ransom and your number can go with you. Just have to decide whether the money saved is worth it.

rickvigorous

Yeah, the payg price hike is too bad. I only use 4-6 goodybags per year. If it wasn't for payback I would be gone, but for now I am making money off giffgaff, so for me it's easy to stay put.

adburgess

davidvarley

It's great value compared to what it used to be perhaps, but not any better than rivals using the same O2 network who can offer slightly more for less money. Meanwhile everyone on PAYG who doesn't use mobile internet much gets shafted to be blunt, or suggested they might want to look elsewhere to say it more diplomatically.

I'm hardly ever away from a WiFi connection for example. It makes no sense for me to take up the £6 Goodybag. And even if I was in need of mobile internet it would be cheaper to move my number over to another provider/O2 reseller.

I suspect if they didn't have payback for PAYG customers then they could make PAYG work just fine and for less than they currently charge - nevermind for what the new charges being introduced are. I can get through 6 months on £5 payback credit no problem due to my circumstances and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Those have to be difficult numbers to make balance out. I think they've realised they've painted themselves into a corner where PAYG customers are concerned and rather than be upfront in dealing with it they've taken the low road of trying to run us off the service or convince us to pay up for a Goodybag many simply don't need.

Honestly, I'd rather they were just upfront and a fairer solution was found. giffgaff used to be the perfect balance between low priced PAYG and decent Goodybag options for when required. Now the market is overtaking them on value and they are only compounding earlier poor decisions by making themselves even less competitive over all.

jesi23

davidvarley With the unlimited mins and texts

From 26 February 2020 ~ need to wait until then to purchase the next goodybag! _{_🤡}

wotsitman

davidvarley :

I think the £6 goody bag is great value compared to what it used to be.
With the unlimited mins and texts.

Definitely, although I doubt many people used more than the previous limited amounts. However, it's still not the best value versus other providers.

jlovie

adburgess

Given the way they've shafted their PAYG customers I fully expect them to slash payback next.
I can't recommend giffgaff to anyone nowadays as I'm embarrassed at what I've led some PAYG users into.