Today's Service Outage

[gaffer]

As you very likely to be already aware, today we've suffered a major service outage - it was caused by major water damage to the computer network in a our data centre and it took nearly 8 hours fix.

Firstly I'd like to offer my apologies for the interruption in service and thank all of our members for their patience whilst we fixed the issue.

The service is largely back up and running now - the exception is new activations which are currently being queued and our service teams are working on a fix.

Some of you have asked about compensation - we're going to focus on fixing the issues we've had and make sure we have a stable service first - and then we'll sit down think of ways to make it up to you.

We'll continue to post updates on the support community so click here for the latest news.

Thanks once again for your patience.

Mike Fairman

CEO giffgaff

Update 21:15

Thanks for everyone's comments - especially those appreciating our way of keeping you up to date!

In response to a few of the issues raised...

Porting - those that were scheduled for today may have been delayed - we're continuing to work on these as fast as we can. 

Texts - we think that for most of the outage, inbound text messages should have been delivered. Whether those that failed initially will ultimately be delivered will be determined largely by the re-try policies of the network from which they were sent. In other words, you may or may not get them depending on which network sent them.

Root cause - we will of course investigate this and report on the conclusions. Our data centre does have an uninterruptable power supply and backup generators but its possible that even if these worked the water damage to the network gear was sufficient to bring the service down.

[pgoodrum]

I purchased a top up this morning and although the system is supposed to be working when I try and use it I'm told it's invalid - what's the point in having a PAYG phone you can't top up and potentially I'm a tenner down as well as no phone............. I may have to move provider........................

[crovis]

Thanks for keeping us informed.  Giffgaff does a great job & 1 day's outage is not the end of the world.  We can make other arrangements once we know what's happening.  We don't need compensation, just keep up the good work.

[endy]

Well I guess we get what we pay for. Bit like those people who winge when the budget airlines cannot deliver on x, y or z. Conviniently forgetting its cheap because airlines have to cut their clothe according to their budget as my old dad used to say.

If you want more go slap,  £35 down each month with the big boys, I and many others used to, now £10 a month that does me just fine!!!!!!!

[alistairleckie]

Just glad I wasn't robbed and beaten up and left in a locker with only my giffgaff phone to call for help. 999...... no service. 999........ no service. By the time I had written my last will and testament, and made my peace with God, giff gaff was working again. It could have been messy

[huminahut]

A bug tha k you to the GG staff, managing a network is *hard, I should know I manage a data centre, to all those mentioning backup systems, they were all in place and most likely in full working order, but there are things that will just cripple a network for example backbone outage. Those who have been moaning about compo and not being able to call/text/Internet, wow you wouldn't have done well 10 years ago, to be hobested I enjoyed the quiet, yeah it's a hassle but at the end of the day no system an no network can work 24/7/365 without issues, sometime they can be big one. Oh well get on and how do you know that person you were waiting to ring you actully rang.

[eduardoaquinta]

I  think the world needs to chill when I see a service which offers such relative value for money getting launched on so heavily by the whingbags who only think about how important THEIR life is! I think it is great what giffgaff are doing, they are open and honest which should be respected... even if they make a mistake ( aburst water main is pretty hard to predict mind.)  No backup or backups failed, life happens.. and nothing is more important than that ;)

[hathayoga]

When all said and done this is just to good enough!

[craigaloid]

I'm very grateful for the outage, I've had a whole day free of my girlfriend's incessant chatter.

I don't want any compensation, today's peace was a priceless gift to me. Thanks giffgaff!

[perobinson]

These things happen. Get over it people. GiffGaff give a great service for a great price. Thanks for the updates. I think the staff are going to deserve a beer (or beers!) after this. Cheers, Phil.

[skunkfu2]

I'd like to add to the comments. Working in IT myself I realise how tough it can be fixing a problem like this. I know its early days for giffgaff and I trust that learning from the problem can help provide a better service in the future. The fact that you guys are so community oriented with the updates and what not, I cant argue the fact you are for the people and you don't not give a **bleep** about us. Not much companies out there nowadays like you. Cheers :)