When our working lives officially ended on 8th January our mobile phones went too. Having never before had to tread through the minefield of network tariffs and the innumerable offers available , we had to knuckle down to some solid research. I should really say that Marion had to knuckle down to some solid research as she is the one in this partnership who has the concentration and perseverance to do things thoroughly and she certainly seems to have come up trumps in finding GiffGaff.
I was at my nephew Christopher and his lovely bride Becky's wedding yesterday and was using the iPhone to keep tabs on the Liverpool score (yes I was granted permission by none other than the bridegroom himself). I got talking to some of the guests about network providers and nobody had heard about GiffGaff. That's a pity as Marion's research found that not only does GiffGaff have the best customer satisfaction rating amongst all service providers it also offers exceptionally good value for money tariffs.
If you know Marion you will know how thorough she is. She initially thought that Tesco had the best deal at £25 per month after an initial payment of £342 but on searching their customer feedback she found a lot of complaints about coverage and service. It was then that she spotted GiffGaff. Using GiffGaff you can either top up with pay as you go or buy a "Goody Bag" that lasts for a month and gives you different options depending upon the bag you buy. I opted for the £10 Goody Bag which has given me unlimited texts and unlimited Internet plus 250 minutes of calls. They go up in £5 increments to £25 which offers a massive 1500 minutes of calls (that's over 24 hours). My first month is drawing to a close. Internet and call coverage has been great ( there were a few black spots on a trip to the Lakes but I suspect that this would apply to all service providers) and I still have around 30 minutes of calls left so it looks like it was a good choice.
The only drawback is that you need your own phone. I wanted an iPhone and, if you haven' got one, the £510 cost could be off putting although there are plenty of other phones available for less. However in twelve months if I buy twelve GiffGaff goody bags in the year I will have spent £630 and will own the phone making year two very cheap (as long as the phone doesn't break down).
GiffGaff operates as a community so, instead of phoning a call centre for help, you put your questions to a forum of members (GiffGaffers) who will readily respond to your query. Members who do assist in his way earn kudos points for doing so and at the end of the year GiffGaff shares out a cash sum to members based upon the points they have earned. Marion doesn't use her mobile a great deal so she simply got her GiffGaff SIM and is using it on pay as you go. You can transfer your old mobile number to GiffGaff in the same way as you can on other networks.
So if your phone contract is coming to an end and you've got a phone or can afford to buy a new one outright, seriously think about changing to GiffGaff. The sums make it a no brainer.If, after reading this, you want to join, get in touch and I will arrange for a SIM card to be sent to you. If you use it I will earn a £5 reward. I would honestly recommend this service without any incentive so if you don't want me getting anything just go to www.giffgaff.com and you can sort it out yourself.
As for our regular weekly cinema trips on Orange Wednesday we've simply bought an Orange pay as you go SIM and use it in a very old phone to send and receive the necessary text messages once a week.
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