goodybags, Mobile Internet pricing and our new website announced!

vincent

Hello everyone!

Ah yes, it's finally here 🙂

I just know you're going to be happy with the prices I am going to be announcing here, because we've spend so much time talking about it.

We have looked into all of the feedback you have been giving us and created what we think is the best possible solution with our prices for everyone and still managed to keep the price plan simple!

Let’s look at a few things we looked at when we came up with the prices and structure we're putting in place:

When we talked about maybe introducing bundles, a lot of you liked the idea of bundles a lot, but were worried about getting stung as soon as you went outside of your bundle. Some of you were mainly interested in internet bundles, whereas others were more interested in a set amount of calls. And then there were also some suggestions from parents for a bundle with unlimited texts as apparently the kids use these quite a lot.

A few members who were instrumental in giving feedback about the bundles and receive a special giffgaff thanks are zeus456, bigfatbball2, andy0.

And a few members who were instrumental in giving feedback about the text bundles and receive a special giffgaff thanks are ivida and ragnorak.

When we talked about the data limit, a lot of you said you were quite happy with the 100mb FUP we have now. So again we took this into consideration.

On the other hand, quite a few of you said, quite clearly, you didn't like FUP's because they were often advertised as unlimited this, that or the other. And if it wasn't truly unlimited, then please don't say it is. Fair enough really.

However there were a few of you who seemed opposed to the idea of goodybags because you liked our simple pricing structure so much. All you needed was the price we would charge for our data and you'd happily giffgaff away for the rest of your lives. Well...., as long as the price was right of course.

There were of course a lot of members involved in our discussions on how we should price our data. Too many to mention all by name, but here are some of the main contributors to the discussion, who receive a special giffgaff thanks, phil8715, rb30inside, ethani99, simon69c, dooferlad, paul_shirley, trick202, robwithhair and dangaff.

Anyone else who I haven't mentioned, you have our sincere gratitude for all of your input and feedback, so please keep it coming. We really look at what you're saying and try to incorporate as many of your ideas as possible. Thank you again.

With that said, we've taken all of this into consideration and have come up with a two pronged plan. (I've always wanted to say that 😀 )

So first off, when it comes to having truly unlimited bundles, or goodybags, as we like to call them, we are pleased to announce that at giffgaff unlimited truly means unlimited.

We have unlimited text goodybags, unlimited call goodybags and unlimited data goodybags. And yes, they are truly unlimited.

Bear in mind however that if you're not using a goodybag, the internet FUP of 100mb per day will continue to exist.

Which means that the pricing as you know it, 8p for calls, 4p for text, free giffgaff to giffgaff, free 0800 numbers, etc. etc. will continue as it is, with the addition of internet prices after May the 25th.

So anyone who falls outside of their bundle, will not get stung. There are no special tariffs for those who are on bundles. Simply when you've used up your allocated minutes in a bundle, you will be able to continue making calls but will be charged the normal giffgaff tariffs.

We felt that was the best way to do it as some of you wanted things to stay the way they are, whereas other wanted to see some change and the added benefit of goodybags.

So here we go…

I guess I’ve tortured you long enough….

Here they are, the giffgaff goodybags:

unlimited UK texts for a month

100 minutes, unlimited browsing and texts in the UK for a month

300 minutes, unlimited browsing and texts in the UK for a month

unlimited voice, text and browsing in the UK for a month

I hope you like what we’ve done with our goodybags and don’t forget, unlimited is truly unlimited. There are no fair usage policies attached to these.

Please find below the standard giffgaff rates:

8p for off net calls to any UK number

4p off net texts to any UK number

Free giffgaff to giffgaff calls

Free data usage until May the 25

After May the 25th, if you’re not using a goodybag, you will be charged 20p per MB up to a maximum of 50p (which works out at 2.5MB) after which you get up to 30MB for free.

Should you go over 30MB, we will then start charging at a rate of 20p per MB.

On top of all this we’ve also changed the website and have implemented some changes that were suggested by the community here as well.

We’ve changed the look and feel of the site a bit, of which above is a small example, which I hope you’ll all like.

We’ve changed the sub-navigation under the ‘My giffgaff’ header after we’ve received feedback that they were confusing and hope they make more sense now. We’ve changed what you can find under each category there a bit so hopefully you’ll find what you’d expect there now.

A special mention should be given to bigfatbball2, ivida, nmeg0dl1ke and dj for their input into the redesign of the website and although not everything is implemented yet, we've really appreciated your input and look forward to more design ideas.

We’ve changed the way the order process works as well as the messages you get when you’re signing up and activating, which will hopefully help people getting giffgaffed smoother.

We’ve also added some extra information to our pricing pages to reflect the new changes as well as adding some extra information after getting some requests from the community. So if that’s your thing, head over there and have a gander.

A special mention here should be given to dangaff, jermin and danielclo1il for their input here. Many thanks guys!

We are still working on a new process to change the way you port your old mobile number into giffgaff, which will be added hopefully around the end of April, beginning of May

We will also be adding functionality around the end of April, beginning of May which will allow everyone to use vouchers to top up your mobile.

We’re also still working on displaying your usage information in some intelligible way on the ‘My giffgaff’ pages at some stage, so I’ll keep you updated on that front as well.

Many thanks all and I hope you love what we’ve done!

Cheers,

Vincent

englishbeer

Hi vincent

I may be wrong, but are you saying that if you don't have a goodybag and use 1kb of data you are charged 50p for that day. You don't allow any free data at all?

John

trick202

All great news Vincent & Team.

The £10 goodybag is an unbeatable all-rounder!

Something for everyone there. Well done again.

trick202

We need some marketing bumf to pass on to our friends as soon as possible!

geekonthepc

Great - really like it - so glad I ported my number!

Thanks so much giffgaff!

englishbeer

Hi vincent

There is to big a gap between the £15 and the £35 goodybag. I suggest you add a £20 goodybag with 500 or 600 minutes + text and data.

John

geekonthepc

Ooh small thing - does the calls include minutes to voicemail?

Thanks

vincent

@englishbeer wrote:

Hi vincent

I may be wrong, but are you saying that if you don't have a goodybag and use 1kb of data you are charged 50p for that day. You don't allow any free data at all?

John

Hi englishbeer,

No, that's not actually how it works. The real nitty gritty of it is that it is charged at a rate of £2 per MB up to a maximum of 50p a day with a 100mb limit in place.

So 50kb would be 10p, 100kb would 20p, all the way up to 250kb, after which you're not charged more than the maximum of 50p.

As the actual charge is not implemented yet untill the 25th of May, we're still looking into what we might charge should you go over our limit of 100mb a day.

I hope that clarifies it a bit 🙂

Cheers,

Vincent

EDIT: Above states the old charges, which we discussed and changed to the following charges we have now implemented:

We will charge 20p per MB up to a maximum of 50p (which works out at 2.5MB) after which you get up to 30MB for free.

Should you go over 30MB, we will then start charging at a rate of 20p per MB.

zuberb

**bleep**,

None of them quite do it for me.

I was after 2 things.

For me, A £5 semi-unlimited Internet - Happy to pay 8ppm for calls and 4p for texts. Since I can use work mobile during office times. Three offer me the £5 free internet, but cheaper calls/text would have been perfect. Also like the forums approach...

For the wife & Mum. A 500mins or more bundle. Currently get by with £20 stretch bundle on 3 for 500 mins + enough free internet. 300 mins. is not enough and £35 a month is just too much money...

I think 50p a day potentially everyday for smartphone users is too much. How about capping it at max. £5 a month (still impose 100MB per day limit unlike £10 a month option) and throwing in say 10Meg a day free before charging. Realisticly, I get by on 200-300 MB max a month.

It's kind of impossible to not use a littlebit even by accident. When I switch on GPS for example and grabs a few KB for location.

Anyway, something like that could swing it for me.

If not, best of luck in the future. I might have to try a Virgin SIM for the wife...

Zuber

andydeakin

Vincent: The real nitty gritty of it is that it is charged at a rate of £2 per MB up to a maximum of 50p a day with a 100mb limit in place.

What is the minimum billing quantity/cost per session, or is it billed by the byte?

(e.g. Asda mobile charge 20p/MB, but minimum charge per session is 1p)

zuberb

Did not realise D-a-m-b was an expletive 😀

Zuber

englishbeer

Hi vincent

I think you need to include a free amount of data with each topup like three. Either 100mb - 150mb for three months after £10 top up or the first 2mb to 10mb free per day. I know many people who use a small amout of data each day just checking email or websites. With these charges they are going to end up paying 50p per day (around £15 per month) just for a few megs a day.

John

geekonthepc

I happen to agree with you there - or a 5p charge for the first 5mb or something. I'll be out of credit in days if I leave my phone checking my email automatically.

jpc

Hate sound a sour tone here, but the attraction of giffgaff was the prospect of cheaper internet for very light users. The option now seems to be top by £10 and be stuck with an every increasing balance because I am a light talker/texter. Or paying 50p a day (£15 a month) for less than 100kb of data a day. You really had the chance to be different from other providers giffgaff, now I have to go back to Three, or AsdaMobile or VirginMobile, or T-mobile who are all suddenly cheaper than you.

vincent

@andydeakin wrote:

Vincent: The real nitty gritty of it is that it is charged at a rate of £2 per MB up to a maximum of 50p a day with a 100mb limit in place.

What is the minimum billing quantity/cost per session, or is it billed by the byte?

(e.g. Asda mobile charge 20p/MB, but minimum charge per session is 1p)

Hi andydeakin,

ASDA obviously doesn't have a maximum of 20p per day, so you'd be paying a hell of a lot more with them, as you won't pay more than 50p at giffgaff.

And yes, I guess the minimum session would be 1p as well as you can't charge any less. We do indeed bill by the byte (up to a maximum of 50p).

trick202

"you can please some of the people all of the time - or all of the people some of the time"

vincent

@jpc wrote:

paying 50p a day (£15 a month) for less than 100kb of data a day.

That is incorrect, if you use 100kb a day you would be charged 20p a day. If you use less, you would pay less.

englishbeer

Hi vincent

I also think you have made a mistake with the unlimited data, text and calls part. Most people dislike unlimited because it not even close to unlimited. For example if unlimited data meant 2gb to 5gb per month, unlimited texts were 3000 per month same with voice minutes most people would be happy. Its when unlimited data is 500mb per month that people complain. I think a handful of users will bring the network down by downloading tens of gb per month making it slow for the rest of us.

John

simon69c

Sounds very good - looks like the £10 goodybag should suit me perfectly. Will there be a way to set up auto-renewal for our chosen goodybag? One of the things I like about giffgaff's system is that with auto topup I don't really need to worry about running out of credit - it would be nice if I didn't need to worry about having to remember to get a new goodybag each month.

Oh and I didn't see any mention about data roaming charges - will they be decided later or will giffgaff continue to have no roaming data capability? I notice the goodybags specifically mentioned UK for calls and texts but not for data, however I can't for one moment believe that the unlimited data includes roaming.

ragnorak

Well I for one am VERY pleased with the bundles, especially the £10 and £15 ones as these are literally better value than any other UK network for the types of usage covered. The elimination of any bothersome fair usage policy is very welcome too. :robothappy:

Like Simon I hope auto-renewal for goodybags will be possible however, or at least a queueing system like on 3.