I’ll be up front and honest here. giffgaff have not sent me any cake, beer or phones to say any of this. I’ve started using them because the in-building coverage on my previous network wasn’t great and giffgaff are offering plenty of data plus a fuss-free service for not-much-money.
Today though, I was just about to shout at my phone. I pay £12 for the 3G-only package that delivers unlimited texts, 500 UK minutes and 3GB of data but I’d clean run out of data. I’m keeping on the 3G-only goodybag because, simply, there’s no 4G coverage just yet in the areas I’m in the most. However, my monthly goodybag runs out on Monday and I’d received this message … today.
It’s enough to send shockwaves down your spine. AGH! My data is going! HELP!
How am I going to get the latest tweets and inconsequential Facebook updates!?!?!
Well, with a 2p per MB charge I figured it was time to top-up my account and use that until the goodybag (which is their terminology for a monthly package) runs out and resets on Monday.
However. giffgaff have implemented a rather simple and “why the heck aren’t other networks doing this” idea which I was genuinely impressed with. Head into the “My giffgaff” account area (either through the app or the web) and you can just start your next goodybag earlier. It’s a shockingly simple solution. Instead of waiting with no data left and spending 2p per MB and watching my allowance like a hawk, then paying the £12, I just start the next goodybag early and pay the £12 today. I had less than 5MB of data when I logged in via the app, but it still let me login and start the next package early.
Bingo. I’ve got my 3GB allowance back and I can now head to Facebook to find out how many cakes my neighbour has eaten. Result.
I’m not aware of other networks doing this, and I honestly didn’t think giffgaff did it. There’s certainly been no big fanfare about it from what I can see, but it’s a logical, simple and clever idea to solving those “out of bundle” worries that many people have experienced on other networks.
This giffgaff post details the option, including the fact that it’ll delete what’s left of your existing package (which was no great issue for me anyway)
If you know of another network that does this, do let me know