Feeling frustrated with this place!

[#1]

I’m finding this place and the way educators are dealing with things very frustrating

Promises are made but not kept both in the short and long term.  It makes me wonder if our input is really wanted and leaves me swithering between avoiding the place or just accepting that we can never change things and getting on with life ... it’s only a forum!

Three things in particular (well 4 but I can’t be bothered to moan about the state of gd anymore)

1. It is a year since we were promised categorisation of the tips forum to enable easy access to tips you might be interested in.  Not only has this not happened but there has not even been a change in the info about it to reflect the fact that it is now about far more than just phones and Giffgaff

2. There are several threads in contribute that were started by educators but, despite us volunteering our time, staff have not had the courtesy to respond, even with a ‘thank you’ for days (or weeks)

3. We put a lot of effort into new forum rules and guidelines, in particular I was keen that educators do not leave people hanging round waiting for replies. Yet here I am again ... it was read within 10 minutes of sending but not replied to 2 weeks later, and we weren’t discussing the weather (to be fair I had a very nice pm exchange with one of the other educators at the weekend, but mostly we were discussing less serious topics) 

In direct contravention of ...

Anyone else feeling the same?

[#2]

What did you expect @kath72 , this is giffgaff, not A Miracle on 34th
Street 😂

Seriously though, those things will never happen, they know it, and we know it. They are already going against their own new t&c's regarding suspensions/bannings, giving certain members customers so much leeway that it's quite astounding that some are still allowed to post. But again, that goes to the inconsistencies of treatment towards certain people.

Just add a 'lol' at the end of a nasty post, i find that's what gets a lot of people off a suspension.

And now they're changing from lithium to vanilla forums everything will be concentrated on the big switch over. I think things will potentially get worse before getting better.

[#3]

@kath72
You are absolutely correct, you may remember I voiced my frustration in another thread in a similar vein.
There are a significant number of threads in contribute alone, some started by giffgaff staff, others where there input has been requested to clarify situations and help us help others, which have simply been ignored for weeks at a time.
I have the distinct impression that some of the giffgaff staff really cannot be bothered with these forums, will post here only when they have to, and certainly do not wish to interact with members.
Other members have commented on this lack of engagement in other threads, thought it was just me who felt this, glad it is noticed by others.
Not sure what the real issue is, but no doubt our observations will be dismissed.

[#4]

@kath72 All good points and very sad to think gg staff are not responding. It does have the effect of not wanting to bother at all. Because you are conscientious, you do. 

[#5]

Agreed @kath72

Im also frustrated at giffgaff lack of response the thing that annoys me the most right now is the membername change was first discussed in January 2018 it is now October 2018 still not been implemented for existing members why mention features when there are always delays in implementing them only make announcements once features have been fully implemented after thurough testing otherwise you raise member expections

[#6]

@kath72

I totally agree with this.

In my opinion, the main problem is that people really accept the "run by you" line.

It is important to realise that, no matter what they put out there, the company is primarily in business to make a profit for shareholders.

If we lose sight of that, then I think that we are fooling ourselves.

[#7]

You are right @freedmaniac we take the “run by you” too serious sometimes. 

[#8]

@freedmanic @persco
I have, for a long time, taken the ‘run by you’ with a large pinch of salt ! Gg is a commercial company and all decisions made will reflect that whatever pie in the sky things we come up with

My frustration is when gg have stated things will happen .... and they don’t.
And when they do not comply with their own forum guidelines which had a lot of work on earlier this year to make them fair and balanced. My concern is that this will eventually lead us right round in a circle to a ‘them and us’ mentality which is not the ethos gg are aiming for. If you start a conversation it’s only polite to continue it ... so many threads and PMs left hanging

[#9]

When it comes to Tips and Guides I can only agree 100% with you,what used to be one of the most valuable resources for members when it came to giffgaff realted information has now been reduced to a complete shambles.

I'm not saying for one moment that the guides relating to general phone or tech tips or household and cooking guides etc shouldn't be there but the simple act of splitting them into catergories would make the section much easier and more enjoyable to browse and navigate.

The same level of agreement applies to the multitude of threads started and then just seemingly abandoned by the community team despite large amounts of effort by members to supply some input.You've only got to look around not only Contribute but also other sections of the forum to see threads on what would seem to be important topics where the follow up posts from staff members are every 1 -2 months if you're lucky,widen your search to the various discussion groups and the gap between staff posts gets even bigger in some of them.

Happily I have no complaints on your third point though,lately (but not always in the past),PMs to the community team have been answered promptly.

[#10]

@kath72 wrote:

it’s only a forum!

Exactly! And that's probably the best way to look at things.

It's sad but true that I've noticed over the last year or so that the kind of frustrations that you've voice in your post have resulted in a change in the way some topics develop especially on this board and that's because of a change in the people who are bothering to get involved.

I could make quite a long list of people who I never see posting here, people who used to be really involved, people who were not just here for the money but actually wanted to make a difference.

Sadly I'm gradually coming to realise that before long, I'll probably be able to add myself to that list.

I've always been of the opinion that, without payback, the community would be Ok and in many ways better but now, since many of those who I felt would still want to contribute have given up, I'm not so sure...