Is GiffGaff's £10 per month deal for unlimited mobile data and texts proving too popular? Last week, we tried to activate a new SIM card with the company, but couldn't. GiffGaff's web login was broken, which meant you couldn't create a new account or top up an existing one. Which set us wondering -- can Giffgaff cope with the number of users it's getting?
A site outage can affect anyone, but last week's problem was far from an isolated case. It's the second time we've seen an issue like this with GiffGaff's website in recent weeks, and the support forums are full of complaints from users waiting for their SIM cards to be activated for long periods of time.
Looking at the most recent additions to this thread, users are complaining that they still have no service anywhere between seven and 46 days of activating their account.
A related issue is that there is no-one you can phone at GiffGaff if there is a problem -- you have to post a message to the forums and wait for a customer services rep to pick it up. This thread warns of a 48-hour delay before someone will get back to you, due to the extra number of requests they've received because of the wider problems. Users also complain on the forums that they've been told the reps don't work weekends, compounding the problem.
GiffGaff says it's working on its capacity issues. CEO Mike Fairman said in a post last week that the company would be investing "big time in extra capacity for the website and member services". In the same post, he admitted that the company's BlackBerry service would not launch until January, having originally been slated for November, and pushed back to December once already.
All this was enough to put this Craver off using GiffGaff for now -- especially after he found a T-Mobile deal that offers unlimited data for surfing and emails for just £7.71 per month.
Were we right to be put off? Fellow Craver Rich Trenholm has been using GiffGaff for a while, for example, and is quite happy. What do you think -- have we just scratched the surface of GiffGaff's problems, or does its service beat the other networks into a cocked hat? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook wall.
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anonymous 12 December, 2011 15:07
I've had no end of issues with giffgaff, both with their customer services and with networks issues (text messages delayed by several hours, calls going straight to voicemail). Community forum looks very busy and popular, but most "help" given is just rubbish spurted by children needing some extra pocket money through the payback system. Community mods/'educators' not so helpful either.
Been with Three now for the past few months and much better off. Not a single issue (apart from the bills being slightly higher than on giffgaff but hey, at least it works)
anonymous 12 December, 2011 15:36
Have to say that while I personally haven't had problems, it does seem that giffgaff has been having massive issues recently. I accept that they are working hard to fix them though
On a couple of points though:
"the support forums are full of complaints from users waiting for their SIM cards to be activated for long periods of time."
What do you expect for support forums? the community shows a lot of the bad experiences and very few of the good
"A related issue is that there is no-one you can phone at GiffGaff if there is a problem -- you have to post a message to the forums and wait for a customer services rep to pick it up"
Having no call centre is a big (positive) thing for giffgaff in their, and my, opinion.
Just to be clear though, there is the public community / forum, where you can post your problems and other users will help you. You generally get a response back within minutes.
Then there is the 'ask an agent' service where you raise a private case with a giffgaff agent, this is seperate from the forum. This is what has been experiencing delays recently, due to high volumes of case
personally, im happy with giffgaff (and the Xmas party was awesome!) but its not for everyone
anonymous 12 December, 2011 15:43
Giffgaff are improving their services and capacity. They are also employing more agents too deal with cases faster as more members join.
The giffgaff community is very helpfull and it isn't full of children trying to make extra mony at all. Many members that have needed help like the community because it is so quick. However the community can not help with account related issues, this is where the agents come in.
I have been with giffgaff for 9 months and hvent had a single problem.
However every phone company has problems but they are voiced through call centres. Giffgaffs "call center" if the online community so you can expect too see people needing help.
Giffgaff have recently turned 2 and are still "getting on their feet" so you should expect too see some issues.
I for one is really happy with the service I have recived and will not be changing my network provider for as long as giffgaff are here.
anonymous 12 December, 2011 15:48
in my case had a few problems here and there but so far nothing really serious, my phone and gigabag services have been great so far, so i am still a happy customer so far
anonymous 12 December, 2011 16:17
Sounds like giffgaff agents are here when they should really be over there.
anonymous 12 December, 2011 18:55
Heard about giffgaffs great deals & used for a while and although im sure they try their best, they are just not one of the big boys. Had to take a T-Mobile deal for certain issues with giffgaff, but can assure you T-Mobile customer service is far far worse. The guy in the store at T-mobile even said their foreign telephone staff are hopless & if any further issues, come in to the store & they will sort it. The staff were true to their word & when needed assistance on an issue, they resolved without all the heartache.
anonymous 12 December, 2011 21:11
I love Giff Gaff, with its community aspect..and I've even earn't money from it, through the 'refer a friend' section.
Calls are clear and it feels like you are part of something.. don't believe the hype Giff Gaff are great.
anonymous 12 December, 2011 22:08
Fyi giffgaff agents do work weekends
anonymous 12 December, 2011 22:24
Been on giffgaff for 6 months and for me the service has been excellent, as much cheaper than when I was on O2.
Mike0124 12 December, 2011 22:25
I have used GiffGaff for sometime now and have had no problems with using my phone. Only once did I not be able to log on to their website but later in the day it was fine.
anonymous 13 December, 2011 02:42
My whole family use giffgaff and we have all found it reliable, excellent value for money and easy to use, we love it and wouldn't consider changing back to any of the other networks we had tried previously. I would recommend it to anyone!
mcraymondo 13 December, 2011 11:02
I had some initial problems registering the card. I allowed a month overlap between my vodafone contract ending anyway just in case. I just tried a few days later & it worked & have been using since september without fuss. I was kinda worried it may be a victim of its own success though.
anonymous 14 December, 2011 13:40
I just signed up for giffgaff - first attempt failed at the payment stage but i think that was my internet connection rather then GG - second attempt worked without a hitch. Message after payment to check the member area for a phone number - clicked there - no phone number (well it did say to give it a minute) - nature called - hit refresh and there was my phone number - restarted my phone with the new SIM in it and away we go - everything working perfectly - internet is quick, test are [almost] instant, call are clear.
anonymous 14 December, 2011 14:10
TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE SO FAR, OVER 4 WEEKS TO ATTEMPT RESOLVING MY PROBLEM AND NOW 5 DAYS WITH NO SERVICE. VERY BAD!!
anonymous 3 January, 2012 21:02
to the people who are saying that "every mobile company has problems", yes that's true, but I have never seen a company who is unable to fix a problem for more than 4 weeks.
"the community is very helpful", how the community can be helpful if they can't access account details? the community is not helpful and can't be helpful, all the info found in the forums can be concentrated in a good help site.
I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND GiffGaff to any one unless you are a child who's using the phone as a toy gadget and have plenty of time to deal with it and actually nothing will happen if you are unable to use their number / sim for weeks.
People who praising giffgaff are assuming that all the people have plenty of time and that their main business is to play with their phones and chat in their community forums, they forgot that 99% of the people are using phones as a tool to make calls and who are not interested in messing with the phone, they just want to make calls / browse the internet.
anonymous 8 January, 2012 13:22
Giff Naff as it should be called I have been trying to resolve a problem for 2 weeks no customer service to speak of I have never been so frustrated .
anonymous 13 January, 2012 10:14
My father and I have had NO problems with GiffGaff at all. Both using a Sim Free Galaxy Note on their £10 a month deal.
anonymous 16 January, 2012 11:17
No problems in nearly a year and all my family and several friends are on Giff Gaff too so calls and texts to them are free. £10 Goody Bag gives 250 Mins and UNLIMITED text AND DATA. Very reassuring when you have a Smart Phone like my ip4.
anonymous 16 January, 2012 12:16
I've been with giffgaff since 2010 and have had only very minor service issues, so as far as that side of things go I'm more than happy.
The forum on the other hand is a different story, there is quite a clique on there and a lot of bullying by this clique, when you report them no action is taken, in the end I stood up to them and was then banned from the community forum, some members of this clique have a close relationship with staff members.
This of curse means I cannot actually get any help as all the help is online and I can't even view the forum without first clearing cache and so on so I become anonymous to the system.
anonymous 16 January, 2012 12:21
"i have been on giffgaff for nearly 3 years, i have had a few problems, never had a problem with texting or calling, there was a issue with data but that as been resolved, average download speed is between 2-3 meg, i would try three or t mobile but where i live they dont have a signal and i really dont want a contract phone!!!, besides all my family are on giffgaff so i can call them all for free anybody wanting a look or simcard should go here
That's strange, giffgaff only just very recently celebrated it's second birthday!
And I see you have wasted no time in spamming your affiliate link!<br />
Which brings me to another point, the financial incentive offered by giffgaff to it's members, which makes the community forum a joke, it's full of parrot posting and incoreect information making it difficult to actually find the correct information, all in the name of payback.
And there is the small matter of the giffgaff mafia, they will make your time on the community very uncomfortable indeed as they remove the competiton to increase their own payback kitty.
anonymous 16 January, 2012 14:35
I was with GiffGaff for 3 weeks, happily enjoying my service, my number was ported over the day after activation. Suddenly after those 3 weeks I lost service. It has been 3 weeks now of promises, no explanation of what is wrong. Agents are useless and don't read the ticket properly, just constant copy paste word for word of the update form 48 hours before. The deal is good, but it seems when it does go wrong, it goes REALLY wrong!
anonymous 16 January, 2012 18:33
I have been with GiffGaff for over a year, and yes there has been problems, but once resolved, i must amdmit they are the best network ive ever been with, i have been a custonmer of vodafone, three, O2 and orange and none of their deals can beat any of giffgaff's, you guys have just joint at the wrong time is all, you will see in the long term that they are a brilliant network. i am glad i am a member of them
anonymous 17 January, 2012 17:15
I has been a mixed bag for me some issues now and again still pretty happy though my service is still usable
regards pedromap@giffgaff-user
anonymous 20 January, 2012 00:27
I moved to giffgaff a few days ago and activating my sim/porting my old number across was flawless and I had about 1 hour of downtime. I guess I just got lucky?
anonymous 25 January, 2012 20:16
Joined GG 2 days ago all is good no problems working from an iPhone doing a trial for a month then the family will move over to it more than happy at the mo
anonymous 2 February, 2012 12:38
Unable to pay by credit card for the second month running raised issue with Giffgaff agent which was a waste of time they didn't read the question properly and pasted a generic reply.
Looked on forums and it appears numerous users have the same problem unfortunately because it's an account issue they can't help.
Deal is great but If I can't top up I can't pay for service. Going back to Virgin.
anonymous 12 February, 2012 09:44
Loads of issues logging in to the site to top-up - as others have said, not much point offering great deals if you can't pay for them...
anonymous 14 February, 2012 12:40
If I were a ceo of a big teleco i'd be a bit worried at the moment .... the majority of the negatives expressed here can easily be zero rated when balanced with what's on offer ie .. self evident value to the consumer + monthly total control of an individuals spend. ...I confidently predict that in a few years time this little company will either be broke or big ...very big !
anonymous 17 February, 2012 14:14
not true AT ALL!.... topped up today 17/02/12 on a brand new giff gaff sim, no messing about... straight into my old o2 phone and sorted, ten mins later im up and running. Great signal in all the old places my 02 network was (as expected) and everything so far has been REALLY easy to set up. Just like to point out aswell that the website offers auto top ups, online top ups (so i dont have to faff about clickin 1 to use this phone, and typing in my digits etcetc... and then have that awful message tell me, im sorry this card has been used to top up more than 2 numbers, you need a new card... lol i mean COME ON) and the website is very user friendly. Having an online account setup straight away with your sim activation gives you peace of mind that someone out there actually KNOWS you exist on the network. ALSO so far cheaper than other networks, and the more of my mates who use it the less of a package i need... currently a fiver a month goody bag for unlimited texts, and a top up every 3 months of £10 to retain giff gaff to giff gaff free calls unlimited. If upgrade phone handset, will get the £10 goody bag giving me unlimited texts / giff gaff calls and unlimited internet along with 250 off network minutes lol.. that beats any contract @ £13.33 a month!!! PLUS, most 02 phones are available on interest free finance in my catalogue, and even with THAT into consideration i would still be saving money.
anonymous 18 February, 2012 15:13
No problems apart from repeat text messages.....whats goin on there????????
anonymous 18 February, 2012 22:50
http://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/freecredit
FREE £5 CREDIT WITH THIS SIM CARD
anonymous 20 February, 2012 12:04
I have been with giffgaff since the begining of november & I'm trying to convert my large family into doing the same, as I love the value for money. But with the issues activating a new sim at the moment (& so far I'm only converting one son as the others are still tied to their contracts) it isn't going very well at all, I was sent 3 sim cards & none of them work, yet my friend who sent for a sim card on my advice, got it & that one will activate under my sons name but then I don't get the pionts for enrolling him into giffgaff. Rather disappointing for me & a whole load of possible new customers through me unfortunately
anonymous 21 February, 2012 22:06
I like the idea of Giffgaff but I have been waiting over a week to get my sim working and still no real response from their agents. They just say that this has been escalated to their technical team. A bit lame and no idea what the actual issue is. They just wouldn't answer that.
anonymous 24 February, 2012 11:26
Excellent Provider, GOOD COVERAGE COUNTRY WIDE
I WOULD AND HAVE GOT SIMS FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS,
And they seem happy upto now.
FROM WIZARD 63.
anonymous 26 February, 2012 14:48
GiffGaff is great/ http://b it.ly/giffgafftime
anonymous 27 February, 2012 11:21
Let's be clear about this. Having a "community" is great when the problem is the mobile user's lack of knowledge. I'm glad I don't have to subsidise people calling up a call centre because they don't know which way round the SIM card goes in. But the giffgaff community can't do anything important. It couldn't block my SIM when my phone got stolen two weeks ago, it couldn't send me a replacement SIM. It couldn't send me another replacement when the first didn't arrive. It couldn't activate that SIM. I am currently waiting for activation and a reply to my last three emails.
When everything is working, Giffgaff is great. I get to smugly tell my friends how little I am paying, and the coverage is better than some bigger networks. But as soon as you need something from them, you realise the holes in their business model.
I don't need a call centre. I just need Giffgaff to stick to it's own timeframes - 30 minutes for SIM activation, and 24 hours for an email reply.
By the way if anyone from Giffgaff is reading this and feels like activating my sim, my handle is fifthsunset.
anonymous 16 March, 2012 10:41
6 mths use and no problems.
i have asked a question in the community and got answers.
anonymous 16 March, 2012 11:11
My phone sevice with GiffGaff went down this morning. cant do texts or phone calls. Their support site is down, too.
Will be changing service.
anonymous 16 March, 2012 11:18
i cant send messages make calls gain access to internet cant even log on to giffgaff web page using comp worst thing is i cant even find out when it will be back bt i must stress that this has been the first time happening to me being with giffgaff for a year.
anonymous 15 April, 2012 19:37
I'd like to know who people think the "Giffgaff community mafia" are. I have noticed something similar myself, and I can totally see where you are coming from. I know for a fact that "darrenpainter" is one, he just sums up "busy c*nt" for me. No employment other than spending countless hours in front of a pc screen trying to earn payback.
anonymous 18 April, 2012 17:48
i ordered a sim from giffgaff 2 weeks ago could not activate the internet until now i have no internet emailed them tried to get help but in vain very stressed just waiting for my credit to finish and thats all no more top up ,i will change another provider,another customer not happy
anonymous 24 April, 2012 23:58
love giffgaff im allmost 40 and am a set in my ways kind of person after years on a orange contract on a noki 5.1 (the days not all phones/networks sent texts no such thing as pay as you go and no cross network texts) i went to tesco paygo about a year ago and switchd to giffgaff 6 weeks ago i could have saved ££££££,s if id joined 2 years ago, you right they not big boys but bare in mind if i opened a petrol station and sold fuel at £1.50 a GALLON not LITRE id get big ques as you would expect and theyed me moaning at the back so just get on board take ya time and then start saveing (out of intrestif you dont know they use the O2 carrier waves so if you have porr O2 signal then dont bother)
anonymous 26 April, 2012 00:37
gifgaff worked fine with me it to me 3 mins to register my new sim card i cant get over how amazing it realy is i was on o2 for 6 years what a rip off o2 were i.m sticking with my new gifgaff network from now for sure :)
anonymous 26 April, 2012 00:41
gifgaff is amazing
anonymous 11 May, 2012 19:21
Having tried Giffgaff ,both mobile and dongle, i consider it a complete nightmare.
It starts with a sim card taking 7 days or more to be deliver, then registering the sim takes hours for the servers to be working. Blackberry , don't even go there.
The community , most would seem to be unemployed, judging but the amount of time they spend on the site attempting to pust their sims onto new menbers , to get their £5 commission
It would also appear that most members moved from 02 to giffgaff , not a good business model for 02.so with luck this terrible virtuallity mobile company will short lived.
Get real folks , free lunch ????? i'm going back to a proffessional network , good luck