@ujo55 wrote: I would also like to express my thanks and respect to you for the fact that having walked into a difficult situation you have done all in your power to keep with it and work with us as far as your remit allows. A big shout out of THANKS to you! @amy_b_d   That's +1 from me! ... View more

@ip633 wrote: I’m not one to shy away from telling it how it is, but I fear that this discussion is veering off track a little. There’s nothing wrong with questioning the credibility of the awards, but the OP started the discussion with good intentions, and it’s rather unfortunate that other issues are being brought to the fore.  Fair comment but the issues are connected. giffgaff's awards are designed to improve community morale but, based on past experience, they are going to do little to help. Addressing the other main issue that has been brought up here would make a big improvement. I would like to see a separate thread on that subject but if we start it, we are just moving into Groundhog day territory again. It's something I believe giffgaff needs to start taking seriously but there's little sign that will happen. I'll say no more...   ... View more

@amy_b_d wrote:   This is, unfortunately, something that's outside of my remit  Who's remit does it fall under then? My guess is that the answer to that it is no-one's specific responsibility. Since we no longer have a Head of Community, it should really be everyone's responsibility.   From what you have posted and from other things I've read over the last few years, it seems that everyone there has their own little projects to play with and would rather do that so looking after the day to day business of the community comes a long way second.   While I am aware that there are a few staff members who do try, they are few in number and for the most part the general feeling is that we are constantly ignored. That might sound harsh but that's the way it feels and leads me, and others I'm sure, to wonder why we bother.   Carry on like this and you'll end up with a community peopled only by those who are there for the money. ... View more

@amy_b_d   @amy_b_d wrote: I think if we are all supportive of a continuous thank you approach throughout the year between friends on the community and staff to members, then we can start rebuilding that trust as well, but if you would like me to run the poll then let me know because there's about 20 or so of us discussing it here and there are lots of people elsewhere on the community who might not have seen this and might also have an opinion.   Much depends on what you, and more importantly, the rest of giffgaff staff who are involved with the community, mean by this continuous thank you approach and how much time and effort you are all prepared to put into making sure that it works. Make no mistake, if what I'm thinking of is to happen, then it will require a lot of resources to do it justice.   Putting it in simple terms, what I'd like to see is far more regular input here from staff which is something I and others have been banging on about for quite a while.   What do I mean by more regular input?   Well, all too often we spot something that we feel is wrong or could be improved and start a discussion about it and all too often we are left coming up with what we think are good ideas, are left talking among ourselves and even if there is staff input, if it generates further discussion and questions, these are often ignored. Equally, threads started by staff are ignored in much the same way; there's a prime example stickied on this very board.   As to rewards, I don't know what other's feel about this but if I get an @mention from staff which tells me that what I've posted has been noticed, or even a PM, that will do for me. The thing is, too often I feel I'm just doing nothing more than giving my keyboard some exercise and that is hardly likely to encourage me to feel that what I'm doing is worthwhile.   Now, this thread was started because there were some concerns about how the Run by you awards were being handled but has now drifted off into a much wider issue.   I'd think that we need a new thread started by staff (perhaps you @amy_b_d?) to get a general feeling on these issues and some suggestions from the community as to how to proceed but, if you want to do that, you really need to get the whole team together and decide how 'engaged' with us you all want to be. Without that 'engagement' it's probably best to leave things alone as, to be fair, it's only a very small minority of us who are really concerned. I'd guess that for the overwhelming majority of those active here, as long as the money keeps rolling in, they're happy.   I must add that small minority used to be much larger but many gave up the struggle a long time ago.   Over to you... ... View more

@amy_b_d wrote: ... but this thread has highlighted that there's a desire to have awards      @amy_b_d That seems a rather sweeping statement in view of the relatively small number of people who have responded here, that most of those responses are assuming that these awards will be going ahead and are concerned with how they are arrived at not should we have them.   My view is that they are irrelevant to the majority and will continue to be irrespective of who actually decides who the winners should be. Do away with them.   Realistically, I expect that even if the majority posting here want them gone, they will probably still go ahead and, if that is the case then please change the name. 'giffgaff community awards' perhaps?   As to an 'always on' approach... Well, if you and the team are serious about that as a way of improving community morale then a few awards aren't the way to do it. All everyone there really needs to do is take us seriously, respond to threads, be visible and at least appear to take an interest as you have done here which, I must add, is a rare thing so well done; keep it up.  ... View more

@ip633 wrote:     He wouldn't recognise his baby nowadays  Gav's baby grew up some years ago, left home and gave daddy the finger!   @essie112mm  Where's that tongue in cheek smiley when you need one? ... View more

@bill48er wrote: Sadly, many who were very active in the group appear to have given up, leaving a few stalwart fighting for a common sense approach.   Very true.    I'm sure I'm not the only one who realised that the various suggestions we've been making for years, almost since the Lab was first foisted upon us, were at complete variance from what giffgaff wanted from it and have voted with our feet leaving giffgaff to get on with it.   ... View more

@alex_w   Sorry, perhaps I didn't make myself clear here or earlier in the thread.   The discussion that I wanted to start wasn't just about Reactions. I used that feature as just one example of something new  that Vanilla offers but I was also hoping for a wider discussion on other issues that might require a rethink of how other features are used or currently misused.  It seemed to me that the sooner those issues were considered, the better.   However, I'm sure you will have noticed, as I have, that aside from a few stalwarts, there's no real interest here in discussing things among ourselves. Without serious input from staff, such discussions just fade away as this one seems to have done. ... View more

Well, from reading @alex_w's post above it's clear that the discussion I was hoping to have isn't going to happen, at least not here. So to avoid diluting any future discussions, consultations or whatever, I think it best that this thread be locked and allowed to slip away while we wait to see what giffgaff have in store for us.     ... View more

@guy_ow wrote: @blackfive460 - evening, I flagged your thread up to the team, and @alex_w has asked if you'd be happy with this thread being moved to Community Platform Discussion board, as it will help him keep track of the discussion and also participate on it. The thing is, if this thread is moved to the discussion group, only a tiny percentage of the community will be able to have a say. @alex_w While I'd not be unhappy to see a discussion or discussions there on specifics, I think a more general discussion is better right here and would be even better started by a member of the development team with plenty of staff engagement. In any case, I see that this thread has had a mention in the latest gaff so moving it now surely isn't an option. ... View more

@guy_ow   That's not quite what I was hoping for.   I am quite sure that there will be a 'consultation' thread shortly before Vanilla launches but what I was hoping to achieve, admittedly somewhat pessimistically, was a discussion now, well before the development team's thinking becomes set in stone. As has happened with every other major change to the community that I've seen, by the time anyone asks us for opinions, what we are going to get at launch is already decided upon and we are presented with a fait accompli, like it or not. That's what I wanted to try to avoid.   If any so called 'consultation' is only going to happen shortly before launch then I can't see the point in bothering. The time to ask us is now. Who knows, we may have thought of some changes to how things are that will be really good but if you only ask having already made up your mind nothing will change. It has happened before and it would be good if it didn't happen with this change which is going to be the biggest change this community has ever seen. ... View more

@guy_ow wrote: As I said there have been some good ideas, and rather than tagging someone who knows more, I'll be pointing this thread out to the whole team, and asking for their input either directly to this thread, or fed to me to feed back to this thread. @guy_ow If there really is any serious interest from any members of the team on the issues I raised in my OP and other issues raised by others in their replies, in view of the way this thread has developed, I would rather see a new thread started by a giffgaff staff member who is actually prepared to engage fully in a discussion with us and, most importantly, take on board our concerns. As I've said more than once before, this community is supposed to be ours, not just giffgaff's.   If that's not possible and I can think of reasons why, in view of the development/learning curve that must be happening with Vanilla at the moment, I think it would be far better to let this drop and we can leave it until we see what the community looks like when it's eventually rolled out. ... View more

@ip633 wrote: I'm sorry, but they shouldn't be lurking, they need to be actively involved in these kind of discussions.  +1   Or at least they could provide some reasonable explanation for not getting involved if the timing isn't right or there's another good reason. Just ignoring us sends a very poor message about how they see this community.   Sorry, I did say I didn't want to turn this into another 'why bother' thread. Best to just let this thread die a natural death and not bother trying in future... ... View more

Ah well, it was worth a try...   It was worth a try to start a serious discussion with giffgaff about how we, that's us and giffgaff could consider if using some of the new features that are arriving with the new forum software would improve things, things that we feel aren't as good as they could be to everyone's benefit.   Seemingly giffgaff aren't interested so this has become yet another fine example of what is wrong with this community. The lack of interest from giffgaff here and in other threads, including some started by staff seems to have caused, aside from a few community stalwarts, a general lack of interest in such matters from most of the community. Who can blame them?   I've no wish to turn this into another 'is it worth bothering?' thread so let's leave it at that and let giffgaff get on with it.   ... View more

@harrrrrry   It's displaying Ok here. That's on a Windows 10 PC running Chrome and Edge. ... View more

@ip633 wrote: Interestingly enough, I had a look at the Vanilla forums website, and ended up having a live chat with a young lady about Kudos. Her response was “do you mean Likes?”, and although I didn’t manage to get a definitive answer, the fact that she’d never heard of the term, does suggest that it’s not currently available on the Vanilla platform. My guess is that we'll end up using Vanilla's 'Like' function but I would imagine that it would be a minor coding issue to have a 'Like' button that displays as 'Kudos' instead.   However, I'd think that this would be a good time to switch to 'Like'. After all the ability to 'Like' has become the industry standard across forums and social media and is more readily understood while probably Kudos isn't.    Regarding including a negative reaction; while I agree with @as7861's point about someone seeing a large total, it needn't work that way. It could be coded in such a way as not to show a total but simply show that it has been used. It's academic anyway; all sweetness and light, remember! ... View more

@jokeyboi77   It's perfectly possible to disagree without  ' deliberately offending'  or ' making people feel actively unwelcome on the forum'.   Since we already have the kudos button which allows us to show that we agree with what someone has posted without needing to make yet another 'I agree' post so what would be wrong with having a similar button to show disagreement? Surely that's far less likely to cause offence than posting.     @ujo55 I agree, giffgaff's 'all sweetness and light' policy is unlikely to permit any such easy way to show even a hint of negativity useful though it would be! Remember the 'star system'? ... View more

@essie112mm I  do agree about a change of name for BAs. Something that indicates that a post has provided a solution to a problem would be far better and might lead to the use of BAs being limited to areas where actual problems are being solved rather than sometimes being mis-used to indicate a post that concurs with an OP's opinion.     Much as I love "complete rubbish" how about "pap"?   I must admit that 'complete rubbish' wasn't my first thought. Curiously though, what I did think of first does rhyme with 'pap'...   ... View more

Thanks for joining in the discussion @t_will and I'm pleased to see I was right in spotting reactions as useful but I'd be interested to know if you have any thoughts on the idea of using them as a kudos replacement in some areas (Announcements for example) as a way of reducing kudos abuse? The abuse can't have escaped your attention in some threads surely.   Also, any thoughts on either simplifying or dumping ranks?   Anyway, regarding your list of  Reactions...   Currently, we have: Agree Helpful Thanks Funny  I can immediately see one that's missing...   Complete rubbish!   Couldn't resist...    Seriously though, I for one would be glad to see some means of disagreeing without having to post 'I disagree'.  While trying to encourage positivity is all well and good it is quite possible to have so much that you choke on it!  ... View more

My first thought before reading the thread was switch to plain, white DL envelope so you can add my vote to those preferring something less fancy. ... View more

@andreww wrote: @blackfive460 wrote: @andreww   And another much missed member comes out of hiding! This thread might prove to be one of the most interesting ones this year.   Don't worry Andrew, I think you can be fairly certain that neither Gregg nor Timo will be bothering you this time...  Ahhh, thanks @blackfive460     Am I safe? Have they both moved on? Is there a new guv’nor running the Community these days then?   I’m so out of touch with everything/everyone..... I can’t even remember if I can tether from my giffgaff sim or not?   Do I need to ask an agent??    @andreww I can't quite recall where Gregg went but Timo left this year. As to who took over... All I'm absolutely certain about is that it isn't and never will be me!  giffgaff, 'Run by me'! Now there's a nightmare scenario. I'd have 90% of the membership banned in the first week!    Regarding tethering; no, I don't think there's any need to ask an agent but, if you'd like to read a raft of largely irrelevant cut and paste replies you could always nip over to help and ask the Community! ... View more

@andreww   And another much missed member comes out of hiding! This thread might prove to be one of the most interesting ones this year.   Don't worry Andrew, I think you can be fairly certain that neither Gregg nor Timo will be bothering you this time...  ... View more

@woodyuk wrote: @oldyorkie if members are getting frustrated because they don't feel giffgaff are paying attention to suggestions and points made here in Contribute,perhaps we could do with a thread to see if they're listening?   Perhaps we could call it................ Ah yes, if only we could return to those happy days... I've just reminded myself that that particular thread started over 6 years ago. Doesn't time fly when you're having fun...   I've just been back to that thread and while I'm not going to link to it, I'm sure @andreww won't mind if I quote from his OP.   I can't help but think why has the giffgaff Community gone from fun and vibrant to dull and depressing? Do I just need a break? Is it time to move on and do something else with my spare time? When and why have I become so despondent with giffgaff?  Why are so many other long standing contributors posting in more negative ways too these days?   How long will the Community carry on before it implodes?    Plus ça  change, plus c'est la même chose... (The more things change, the more they stay the same)   Anyway, whatever else this thread has achieved, it's brought @oldyorkie out of hiding! I'm glad to see that you are still keeping in touch! ... View more

@extreme_one   This is nothing new.   It's sometimes possible with a few members of staff to prod them into a response with an @mention but such replies are often not particularly helpful and even if followed up, nothing further is heard. Even threads started by staff are often left to wither.   I think the best way to look at things is if there's no interest from staff then the issue is something they either have no interested in or simply don't want to tackle.   Silence can speak volumes... ... View more

Ah yes, how I remember the good old Vodafone brick I got in 1995. Airtime and talk time credit. Calls at £1 a minute. No SMS and mobile data wasn't an option. Happy days when people only used their mobiles when they really, really had to... ... View more

Perhaps the Gaff needs to be taken completely away from the Community?   Maybe when the new forum platform arrives (Vanilla) there'll be away to provide access to the Gaff without the need to post an announcement on an individual board. A permanent link to the latest version on a sidebar or elsewhere perhaps? Surely that would be more useful if the Gaff is intended to reach as wide an audience as possible.  Wouldn't that be better than hiding it away on one of the least visited boards in the Community?   I should also add that, at one time; years ago, I found the Gaff quite useful but now don't bother. I just don't find it at all interesting. ... View more

@willp789 wrote: On a serious note, it's hard to say whether this behaviour is deliberate, but it's something which I agree shouldn't be happening for the purpose of getting more kudos. What kind of solution could we implement to fix this "issue"? @willp789 My view would be that for many who post in the thread, it is deliberate behaviour designed to increase payback. Of course, the same behavior is rife elsewhere and we should remember that much of what we see posted in the entire community is driven by payback.   As far as the Gaff is concerned, I can think of two solutions; keep it in Contribute but lock it or post it in GD (where I gather posts and kudos have less effect on payback) but, if you like, have a locked post linking to it in Contribute.     ... View more

@revjonty wrote: I didn't see the advert, but I have read through the announcement thread. Same old same old. All the usual people heaping praise whilst slapping each other on the back with kudo. Having this community could be a really useful resource for giffgaff. A focus group for feedback. Except the way the community seems to have been moulded, that feedback is worse than useless. It's actively damaging. Unfortunately voices that criticise are drowned out, told off for being negative etc. to the point that they no longer bother, & the voices which give no thought for anything other than "if I heap on the praise I'll get payback" have become the dominant force. It's symptomatic of a much bigger problem on this community which there seems to be no will to address. Perhaps it's time for giffgaff to realise that payback doesn't just have a financial cost... ... View more

@various_mm wrote: fab! so looks like for every 100 people joining the network, 5 are leaving Not quite. @various_mm.   Annual churn is still a little over 50%. To put it another way, slightly over half the entire customer base leave the network each year.   There's little information from other similar, non-contract MVNOs concerning churn but, from what I've seen giffgaff have a somewhat above average churn rate and are markedly above the rates reported by networks offering long term contracts.   ... View more