Auto-buy the next goodybag when current one is exhausted?

lucywd

More of a labs idea but understand that is currently inactive at the moment. I’m quite a heavy 4G data user and buy multiple goodbags each month. It would be great if I could set it so the next goodbag autobuys rather than having to go in my account and manually buy one. I presume a spending limit would need to be added (i.e. only allow X number of auto buys per month etc) to avoid any nasty surprises when checking the bank account.
Is there any possibility of giffgaff adding this feature?

persco

lucywd out of interest which goodybag are buying that frequently to need this feature?

jaymailsays

lucywd
Are you recurring your goodybag?

wagstaffes

lucywd you’re spending a lot. If the Three signal is any good where you are, and, your phone is unlocked, have you had a look at Smarty? Their unlimited plan is currently only £18 per month for a year, price after 12 months is £20 per month.

endorphin

lucywd Is there any possibility of giffgaff adding this feature?

IIRC when giffgaff first implemented the facility to start your next goodybag early they deliberately made it a user self serve operation rather than an automatic one. The reason being that they did not want to assume that just because one allowance ran out the user was happy to start a brand new goodybag and thus lose any remaining allowances in the old goodybag.

watch73

sounds like a good idea to me…no idea if they would add the feature

lucywd

I do have my goody bags to renew (I buy the £20/80GB data one), however this only renews after 30 days rather than when run out.. My usage varies but I can sometimes end up buying 3 or 4 a month. I love the flexibility giffgaff gives me to buy just when needed but it would be even better if I could set this to auto buy during the same month.

davidevans0000

lucywd this only renews after 30 days rather than when run out

you can buy a new goodybag when the one you have has 100mb or less of data

figment_uk

lucywd

Rather than going into your account when you want to start your next goodybag, do it from your phone by dialling 43430, option 2 when you have under 100MB remaining.

z201205

lucywd My usage varies but I can sometimes end up buying 3 or 4 a month

£60-£80 a month? Goodness. I’d be tempted to go with an unlimited plan with a different network to save money. Even O2 has an unlimited SIM for £33 a month albeit on an 18 month contract.

isabel1066

lucywd . My usage varies but I can sometimes end up buying 3 or 4 a month.

Have you not tried giffgaffs always on for £25 per month

lucywd

z201205 I am using it in a 4g mobile router that I use at home and when out hence the heavy usage!. Unfortunately my house only gets O2 4g coverage, and while I probably would do a contract I believe O2 on their unlimited deals have restrictions on you using it in a 4g router (I think it has to be a phone). I originally was using O2 PAYG sim which was £30 for 20GB of data so giffgaff is working out much cheaper ….but still is a hit!

lucywd

isabel1066 I prefer having full speed access where as the £25 one drops to I think it was 2Mbps. While a larger goodybag might be good (i.e. if there was a truly unlimited package), This said I dont mind paying as I go just would be great to be able to set an auto renew, especially as you cant queue these up, as you lose all existing data when you active the next goodybag.

jaymailsays

lucywd would be great to be able to set an auto renew, especially as you cant queue these up, as you lose all existing data when you active the next goodybag.

Is there a reason you can’t take out a home WiFi contract?

If you are spending between £60-£80 a month that might be the way to go.

You can definitively queue a goodybag but you would need to switch off the recur option first.
https://www.giffgaff.com/profile/payment

Once you get down to the last 100MB of data you can start the stored, queued goodybag and then buy and queue the next goodybag immediately in readiness for your expiry of 81GB of mobile data.

z201205

lucywd https://www.4g.co.uk/news/unlimited-data/#O2_Unlimited_Data says that you can use it in a personal hotspot. Obviously, you would need to check with O2 themselves.

z201205

lucywd Tesco mobile do a 12 month unlimited contract for £30 a month. Again you would need to check with them to make sure it fits your requirements.

lucywd

endorphin It does make sense to me why it was designed so, but it would be great to have the option to choose to autobuy as described.

z201205 Thanks for ther pointers on the other deals. As mentioned unfortunately I only have coverage on the O2 network which limits, and the O2 deal you flagged is the one that does allow tethering but has the restriction in the T&C on the device type (has to operate unplugged and I think limits the tethering to 20…I have to admit its a been a few months since I checked so could be a little out if they have been updated).The Tesco one might be a possibility, however as this is giffgaff focused it would be great if the system allowed the autobuy originally described as it would make my live easier 😄

thanks for all the replies

z201205

endorphin The reason being that they did not want to assume that just because one allowance ran out the user was happy to start a brand new goodybag and thus lose any remaining allowances in the old goodybag.

That reason is now obsolete as all goodybags now have unlimited minutes and texts.

endorphin

z201205 That reason is now obsolete as all goodybags now have unlimited minutes and texts.

It’s still applies if people are happy to continue using their goodybag even if it has run out of data, eg parents who are restricting their children’s data usage.

z201205

endorphin an option would sort that out. Most of us aren’t children 😂

endorphin

z201205 an option would sort that out.
lucywd it would be great to have the option

True but there has been little demand for such an option, only a handful have asked for this AFAIK.

z201205 Most of us aren’t children

But some of us are parents!