Airtime credit billing issue - refunds being issue...

Some giffgaff members who have bought a goodybag while using their airtime credit for mobile data have continued to be charged from their credit after the goodybag was bought, instead of the goodybag’s data allowance. We've since fixed the issue so that it shouldn’t affect anyone in future, and would like to apologise to everyone who's had this happen to them.

We're getting in touch with members who are due a refund directly, whether they're still with giffgaff or not. You can read more information about how we’re doing this in the thread in the Announcements forum.

This thread will have a little more technical detail as to the cause, and how to help members who may be affected if you see them asking questions in the Help forum.

Most Recent Update

UPDATE - 06 Feb 2019 - 09:11

Hi all, I have a short update for you on this.

Since putting in the fix, we’ve set up a series of procedures to make sure that we’re keeping a close eye on our systems and making sure that issues like this are picked up quickly and resolved. As part of this, we have regular meetings with our suppliers to understand changes that are planned to their systems or have been carried out, and their effects.

At one of those meetings last week, we discovered that a change that had been made in one of those systems had inadvertently allowed this issue to happen again for a short time. This was quickly addressed and was affecting members for under 48 hours.

Between 11:16am on January 23rd 2019 and 17:35pm on January 24th 2019, the fix that we put in place for this billing issue was not effective. That means that some members who bought a goodybag during this time, were using mobile data at the time, and continued using that mobile data session, would have been charged from their airtime credit instead of the goodybag that they had bought.

We’ve identified the members who were affected and we’ll be sending them a text message to let them know. Over 80% of members affected by this will be due under £1.00 credit refunded to their account. We’ll be refunding the amount that was erroneously charged from credit back to their account directly.

We are also continuing to refund members who were affected by the issue in mid-2018. The majority of refunds have already been provided, but there are some people who have since left giffgaff and that we haven’t yet been able to get in touch with because we’re not certain that we have the right details for them - for example, if they have left giffgaff a significant amount of time ago and may have moved. We will be sending out letters shortly to those addresses to ask people to confirm who they are and make sure they get their refund.

We’ll update again once all of these messages have been sent out to everyone - please let us know if you have any more questions.

Thanks,

Will

Update History

Click to reveal

01:23 - 28 Jun 2018

Hi everyone,

As you may have read in the Announcements thread, we recently fixed an issue that was causing some members’ airtime credit to be used for their data usage instead of their goodybag.

This would occur when a member had:

Started using mobile data on airtime credit
Bought a goodybag that then became active
Continued using mobile data on their device

What should have happened in this situation is that mobile data usage should have come from the active goodybag allowance. Due to an error in our billing platform, however, it meant that would only happen if the member started a new data session once the goodybag was active - for example, by disconnecting from the network in some way and reconnecting again.

We’ve since gone in and fixed the problem, so this won’t happen in future - but if anyone is concerned we would of course advise them to restart their device after buying a goodybag as a precaution.

We’ve been able to identify every account that was incorrectly charged in this way, and we are contacting everyone to ensure they receive a full refund. We will be sending a combination of text messages and emails, depending on what is most appropriate for the person in question, and offering the refund.

In the case that someone is due a refund, we will contact them and offer them the option to take it in a method that makes sense for them. Members who are still with giffgaff will be able to take the refund as airtime credit. Anyone who is due £1 or over will be offered the option of taking it as a PayPal payment. If neither of these options are appropriate, members will have the option of taking their refund as a cheque. Members who have since left giffgaff will be offered PayPal in the first instance, with the option of taking it as a cheque as an alternative.

Once members have confirmed their choice, we will pay the refund shortly after. The method of refund that the member chooses will dictate how long it takes for them to receive it as follows:

Choice of airtime credit: Within 3 days

Choice of PayPal: Within 14 days (not including possible PayPal processing time)

Choice of cheque: Within 4-6 weeks (not including banks’ processing time)

Automatic airtime refund: Between June 28th and August 15th.

If they haven’t made a choice by August 15th, we will automatically make the payment via airtime credit to those who have an active SIM card.

This is an issue that affects a considerable amount of people, including some that are no longer with giffgaff. As a result we’re expecting this to be a very common topic in the community, and particularly the Help forum, over the coming weeks.

If you see people asking for assistance on this and would like to advise them further, please make sure that you’ve familiarised yourself with:

the contents of the Knowledge Base article
the Announcements thread
this thread

We will be contacting members who are affected directly, but it may take until August 15th for all emails and text messages to be sent. In the meantime, members can enter their details at http://giff.ly/refundcheck to see if they're affected and should watch out for an email.

I’d really like to keep this thread for discussion about technical detail and troubleshooting so that members can learn about the issue to give the best help to other members. If you have a question about that, please ask, and we’ll do our best to answer. If, however, you’re affected by this and have a question about how it will work out for you specifically, please take a look at our Knowledge Base article, and if your question isn’t answered, post it in the thread in Announcements. That way, we can make sure community helpers have the best information possible.

Thanks,

Will

Find out more about my refund Ask about how to help other members

Update - 11:50 - 18 Sept 2018

Hi everyone, a short update from us here regarding the refund activity for this billing issue.

At this point, we've successfully processed the vast majority of refunds for members who are due one. For those who have requested a cheque, the process is taking a little longer than we had planned. Unfortunately, we have recently encountered some further difficulties that meant that we weren't able to produce the cheques in the way that we were planning. We will make sure you have your cheque as soon as possible.

I also wanted to let you know that as of today, September 18th, Ofcom has announced that their investigation into this issue has now begun. We’re going to work with them to make sure that they have all the information they need, and will be working to implement any recommendations that they might make.

We'll make sure that we update this thread once we have more to share, so please keep an eye on it for further information.

Thanks,

Will

Update - 09 Nov 2018 - 16:06

Hi all, I'm very pleased to say that as of today, the first cheques should be arriving with members who have requested one.

I'd like to thank everyone for their patience while waiting to receive them. We had some challenges that took a long time to overcome, but we're now sorted and sending out these cheques as quickly as we can print them. Keep an eye out in your letterbox over the weekend and the coming week for your refund.

Many thanks,

Will

UPDATE - 06 Feb 2019 - 09:11

Hi all, I have a short update for you on this.

We’ll update again once all of these messages have been sent out to everyone - please let us know if you have any more questions.

Thanks,

Will

01:23 - 28 Jun 2018 Hi everyone, As you may have read in the Announcements thread, we recently fixed an issue that was causing some members’ airtime credit to be used for their data usage instead of their goodybag. This would occur when a member had: Started using mobile data on airtime credit Bought a goodybag that then became active Continued using mobile data on their device What should have happened in this situation is that mobile data usage should have come from the active goodybag allowance. Due to an error in our billing platform, however, it meant that would only happen if the member started a new data session once the goodybag was active - for example, by disconnecting from the network in some way and reconnecting again. We’ve since gone in and fixed the problem, so this won’t happen in future - but if anyone is concerned we would of course advise them to restart their device after buying a goodybag as a precaution. We’ve been able to identify every account that was incorrectly charged in this way, and we are contacting everyone to ensure they receive a full refund. We will be sending a combination of text messages and emails, depending on what is most appropriate for the person in question, and offering the refund. In the case that someone is due a refund, we will contact them and offer them the option to take it in a method that makes sense for them. Members who are still with giffgaff will be able to take the refund as airtime credit. Anyone who is due £1 or over will be offered the option of taking it as a PayPal payment. If neither of these options are appropriate, members will have the option of taking their refund as a cheque. Members who have since left giffgaff will be offered PayPal in the first instance, with the option of taking it as a cheque as an alternative. Once members have confirmed their choice, we will pay the refund shortly after. The method of refund that the member chooses will dictate how long it takes for them to receive it as follows: Choice of airtime credit: Within 3 days Choice of PayPal: Within 14 days (not including possible PayPal processing time) Choice of cheque: Within 4-6 weeks (not including banks’ processing time) Automatic airtime refund: Between June 28th and August 15th. If they haven’t made a choice by August 15th, we will automatically make the payment via airtime credit to those who have an active SIM card. This is an issue that affects a considerable amount of people, including some that are no longer with giffgaff. As a result we’re expecting this to be a very common topic in the community, and particularly the Help forum, over the coming weeks. If you see people asking for assistance on this and would like to advise them further, please make sure that you’ve familiarised yourself with: the contents of the Knowledge Base article the Announcements thread this thread We will be contacting members who are affected directly, but it may take until August 15th for all emails and text messages to be sent. In the meantime, members can enter their details at http://giff.ly/refundcheck to see if they're affected and should watch out for an email. I’d really like to keep this thread for discussion about technical detail and troubleshooting so that members can learn about the issue to give the best help to other members. If you have a question about that, please ask, and we’ll do our best to answer. If, however, you’re affected by this and have a question about how it will work out for you specifically, please take a look at our Knowledge Base article, and if your question isn’t answered, post it in the thread in Announcements. That way, we can make sure community helpers have the best information possible. Thanks, Will Find out more about my refund Ask about how to help other members Update - 11:50 - 18 Sept 2018 Hi everyone, a short update from us here regarding the refund activity for this billing issue. At this point, we've successfully processed the vast majority of refunds for members who are due one. For those who have requested a cheque, the process is taking a little longer than we had planned. Unfortunately, we have recently encountered some further difficulties that meant that we weren't able to produce the cheques in the way that we were planning. We will make sure you have your cheque as soon as possible. I also wanted to let you know that as of today, September 18th, Ofcom has announced that their investigation into this issue has now begun. We’re going to work with them to make sure that they have all the information they need, and will be working to implement any recommendations that they might make. We'll make sure that we update this thread once we have more to share, so please keep an eye on it for further information. Thanks, Will Update - 09 Nov 2018 - 16:06 Hi all, I'm very pleased to say that as of today, the first cheques should be arriving with members who have requested one. I'd like to thank everyone for their patience while waiting to receive them. We had some challenges that took a long time to overcome, but we're now sorted and sending out these cheques as quickly as we can print them. Keep an eye out in your letterbox over the weekend and the coming week for your refund. Many thanks, Will UPDATE - 06 Feb 2019 - 09:11 Hi all, I have a short update for you on this. Since putting in the fix, we’ve set up a series of procedures to make sure that we’re keeping a close eye on our systems and making sure that issues like this are picked up quickly and resolved. As part of this, we have regular meetings with our suppliers to understand changes that are planned to their systems or have been carried out, and their effects. At one of those meetings last week, we discovered that a change that had been made in one of those systems had inadvertently allowed this issue to happen again for a short time. This was quickly addressed and was affecting members for under 48 hours. Between 11:16am on January 23rd 2019 and 17:35pm on January 24th 2019, the fix that we put in place for this billing issue was not effective. That means that some members who bought a goodybag during this time, were using mobile data at the time, and continued using that mobile data session, would have been charged from their airtime credit instead of the goodybag that they had bought. We’ve identified the members who were affected and we’ll be sending them a text message to let them know. Over 80% of members affected by this will be due under £1.00 credit refunded to their account. We’ll be refunding the amount that was erroneously charged from credit back to their account directly. We are also continuing to refund members who were affected by the issue in mid-2018. The majority of refunds have already been provided, but there are some people who have since left giffgaff and that we haven’t yet been able to get in touch with because we’re not certain that we have the right details for them - for example, if they have left giffgaff a significant amount of time ago and may have moved. We will be sending out letters shortly to those addresses to ask people to confirm who they are and make sure they get their refund. We’ll update again once all of these messages have been sent out to everyone - please let us know if you have any more questions. Thanks, Will

giffgaff community bloke
I'll be away on a break after the 20th until July 1st. If you need something while I'm away, ask an Educator you know or hit me up next month.
You can send me a message and we'll get rolling. Need a topic? Try here.

Message 1 of 40

by: t_will

community giff-staffer

on: 02/07/2018 | 17:04

Hi folks, just a quick update - the webpage to see if you're affected is now live at http://giff.ly/refundcheck.

Message 2 of 40

by: t_will

community giff-staffer

on: 03/07/2018 | 14:44

Hi all, just to confirm - the emails for this are now going out, and will continue to over the rest of the week, and we've already seen a few folks in the Help forum asking about whether they are legitimate. Please continue to point members to the Knowledge Base article if they need more info.

Message 3 of 40

by: t_will

community giff-staffer

on: 05/07/2018 | 14:43

Hi all, on the advice of our cheque provider, we're changing the advice period for how long it will take for a cheque to be received to a 4-6 week period. This will be reflected in the webpage that members make their choice on, and affect every member selecting the cheque option from now onward.

Message 4 of 40

by: dotso82
on: 05/07/2018 | 17:24

£55.00 Paid via PalPal to GiffGaff says 0.02 Pence left
So NO Fix!!!!!

Message 5 of 40

by: dez_d

community giff-staffer

on: 06/07/2018 | 10:43

dotso82 wrote:

£55.00 Paid via PalPal to GiffGaff says 0.02 Pence left
So NO Fix!!!!!

@dotso82

Thanks for letting us know about the balance not going in.

Could you check a few things for me? Can you text for free the word NUMBER to 43430.

You will receive an SMS with some account info.

Can you then login to see if the info in the text matches up with the info here - https://giffgaff.com/dashboard

Can you then follow this link to see if a payment has been made - https://www.giffgaff.com/profile/payment-details

The only reason I ask is because it might be possible that you might be logged into the wrong account.

Regards

Dez

giffgaff Educator

Message 6 of 40

by: marklorna32
on: 08/07/2018 | 10:46

Hey, I selected for my £48 refund to be refunded to me via PayPal and received a txt from giffgaff saying it had been paid and after checking my PayPal balance it is saying £0.00. Any clues?

Message 7 of 40

by: alexmgg2
on: 08/07/2018 | 22:24

@marklorna32

marklorna32 wrote:

Hey, I selected for my £48 refund to be refunded to me via PayPal and received a txt from giffgaff saying it had been paid and after checking my PayPal balance it is saying £0.00. Any clues?

In my experience of using PayPal with eBay, they often seem to sit on refunds for up to a week. Even at today's low interest rates, multiplied a few thousand times, it all adds up! :-/

If someones answer has helped you solve your problem, please consider setting it as Best answer, or leaving them Kudos points. Thanks!

Message 8 of 40

by: xsupersonicx
on: 22/07/2018 | 11:47

that link just takes me to the top up page

Message 9 of 40

by: harrrrrry
on: 22/07/2018 | 12:21

@xsupersonicx

Which link is that?

In some cases you need to be logged in to be able to access the page. If that doesn't work, then try:

close your browser and make sure no other browser windows are open
open a new browser, log in and go soon to the page you wanted

Message 10 of 40