Finding a way to distinguish for newbies

[#1]

The activation journey has always been biased towards goodybags, and it's not particularly clear how to only add airtime credit when paying be credit or debit card.  The journey has also changed recently so that those using a voucher can get a goodybag during activation and redeem the voucher to pay, rather than the old way of adding credit before exchanging it for a goodybag.

This makes me wonder whether the cries for help come from people after the activation topup, or after a subsequent topup.

[#2]

The thing is giffgaff do need to do something to minimize the issue.  If new members knew that goodybags and airtime credit are 2 different things, then maybe it would mean that giffgaff would save money by reducing the number of refunds they give.

[#3]

I think it's the word topup that's confusing. Many times we see "I topped up my goodybag with another £10". We can guess immediately that they actually bought £10 of credit. But they're using the word topup thinking it means "add something to whatever I already have".

Giffgaff aside, technically they're right. You can't top up something you don't already have. If you had no water jug, you would not say "I need to top up my water jug" you would just say "I need some water".

So if somebody has a goodybag and has not previously bought credit, then pedantically the only thing that they can top up is their goodybag. And remember, new members these days are no longer given the option to buy credit along with their first goodybag (unless they buy a £5 goodybag with a £10 voucher). So, most new members will have only a goodybag when they first join.

Of course, we as established members know you can't top up a goodybag, but a new member with a goodybag that's running low will come to the main menu and see that topup option and will presume its their so that they can top up the only thing they have, which is a goodybag.

Somewhere else, I suggested a possible solution to this: we merge the menu links to a single "top up or buy goodybag" link. That goes to the present buy page https://giffgaff.com/buywhich already says what credit is for as well as explaining goodbags and gigabags. Yes, the explanations could be improved but the principle is there -- the main banner link should go to what wikipedia calls a "disambiguation" page -- one that helps you make the right choice from several possibilities.

[#4]

In addition to what has been said, I believe what makes things more difficult is that a number of those signing up don't read the information that is provided, beyond the headline at least, which is why an always on goodybag is often refereed to as 'all you can eat'.
@harrrrrry makes some very good points in the mail above, but the idea of 'bundles' and credit, is not unique to giffgaff it is common to all PAYG offerings, the implementation varies from company to company, and in my view giffgaff is clearer than many.

Where the problem in my view starts however is with the retail packaging, that all that is necessary is to 'top up' £10 to receive the bundle described.
Recently the packaging convinced Argos the SIMs were preloaded with a goodybag and hence they included this in their description and charged £10.

The trouble then is if someone has bought a SIM believing that topping up £10 will give them a bundle , what they are then confronted with does become confusing, and some merely top up.
I know that giffgaff present the SIMs the way they do for marketing reasons, but it can cause confusion during activation.