Giff Gaff

[witchesbubblebath]

Posting here for traffic:
Is Giff Gaff too good to be true?
I have bought my own smart phone handset recently (from Cex at £160) so I understand that you pay that off when you have a phone on contract making it more expensive than Giff Gaff, but it seems too good to be true.
I remember being about 17 and my dad taking out a mobile phone contract and it being at least £20 per month with the phone included. I remember he could have paid alot more but I didn't want him to spend it.
The price plans on Giff Gaff sound very reasonable and with my calculations on data, I could be very comfortable on £8 per month.
Also, I think Giff Gaff says free or unlimited texts and minutes.
👉 Is data counted as being the amount of Internet you use when not on WiFi? You know, when you press the data arrows to get online?
According to my phones settings, I use around 3.5 GB per month.
I am careful with it but use it on the bus sometimes and when I can't get WiFi. I never use it to watch TV shows or YouTube, I wait for WiFi for that. You're not charged for WiFi usage, are you?
I use it for Google maps also.
I've run it past one friend and he says it's not a scam and that he uses a similar network for just £5 per month.
I suppose the only thing bad is the limited customer service that the company will save money on. My friend told me a while ago that its largely answered by fellow customers and online forums.

Thanks for reading

Used it for years with no problems. They regularly calculate your usage too and suggest if you need to change package. I've moved down (so they're not out to upsell).

I’ve used them for years as well and happily recommend. Never any issues and very cheap to use.

I’ve had giffgaff for more than 5 years and they’re great. Started off on the £5 tariff and I think I pay £10 a month now but they’re brilliant. Great roaming coverage too, even in the US I could use some data from time to time and it wasn’t expensive at all. In the UK I’ve never had a problem with them, coverage or customer service wise.

And, yes, data is mobile data when not on WiFi.

Not too good to be true - been using for years, excellent.

I've used them for years. They're great.

Giff gaff runs on the o2 network, so as long as you get decent signal on o2 where you are then it will be fine

Sim only deals with small data allowances are cheap - that price is correct

People are used to 50+ a month where majority of it is payments for a new handset, the networks make surprisingly little

Had them from when they first started,amazing company.
Any query you want answered ,go on their website and answers in minutes.
Go for the £10 goodybag.

When you are used to traditional phone contracts it does seem a bit too cheap but I've got the £10 goodybag with them and I never get to the limit of it. It's great
They don't have to pay for shops (rent overheads / staff) so I think they can do a good price

Thing is unlike any other company, I've never actually needed customer service. And it's so easy to cancel, or change plan, or add on data.

It's not that Giff Gaff is too good to be true, more like 'standard' phone contracts that include the price of a high end handset, are stupidly expensive.

I currently pay £7 a month to ID mobile (runs on 3 network, which is the best one here, owned by Carphone Warehouse) for 12 GB data, unlimited texts and minutes.

You don't get charged for wifi, only when using mobile data. Have a look at:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/

Thanks everyone, some reassuring answers

I've been with them ages £10 a month no issues :)

Another one who has used them for years. I also signed DS up to them when he got his first smartphone and he is still with them. MIL has a data only SIM thing for her tablet too, which seems to work well.

£6 a month goodybag here. No issues at all.

They dont have a call centre or shops which is a huge saving and ao their products are cheaper

I can just reiterate what others have said. I've been with them for almost 10 years, and they've been great. Cheap international calls too. Recently they've increased the internet allowance a couple of times, I can never go near to use all up, it's very generous, and I'm on one of the lowest goodybags. They still do free roaming (though the data allowance abroad is lower than in the UK - but still very good).

There are loads of companies that offer SIM only plans, which is all giff gaff are doing. I use ID mobile and pay I think £6 a month for 6gb of data and unlimited calls/texts. They have lots of other packages too.

Great company, I've had no issues with them and have coverage absolutely everywhere I've been

If you want, I can refer you and you will get some free credit 🙂

I pay £6 a month.
Unlimited minutes and texts. I hammered it one month (just before it became unmetered) and I think I used 400+ texts and 300+ minutes
The data allowance isn't massive but I am either at home with internet or travelling to somewhere where I will have Wifi access.

@TellMeItsNotTrue yes please. Thankyou

I used giffgaff for 6 years and never had a problem but have just switched to Lebara as they're slightly cheaper - check out uswitch!

My whole family uses GiffGaff - it’s brilliant. Saves us a fortune. Haven’t ever had a single issue. 10/10 from me

As others have said, giffgaff are legitimate but not the only game in town these days when it's all about the data, especially if you don't mind locking in for an twelve or eighteen month contract.

How much data do you need as that's the main variable?

Have a look at the (really good) comparison tool at Uswitch and don't rush your purchase! You can refine the info by say clicking on giffgaff and see comparable deals.

If you don't want a contract (bear in mind giffgaff is a monthly contract for the plans) Lycamobile are offering 15GB for £6.99 a month with no contract right now. I note prices have risen sharply since I last looked at contracts so fixing a deal might be sensible.

Something rarely mentioned is that visual voicemail on iPhones or Pixel devices only usually works with the main networks, O2 only for Pixels. Although giffgaff use the O2 network it loses some perks, Virgin Mobile was the same. Worth thinking about if you have one of those devices as visual voicemail is awesome, I really missed it when I was with VM.

The best deals I've had for SIM only have been attached to my broadband - I had two years paying Virgin £2 a month for 10GB of data before they started pushing customers to O2 post merger. Now I pay £6 for 8GB with O2 which is doubled to 16GB as I have Virgin cable. I got a similar deal for a friend by renegotiating her Sky contract. Of course none of that is any use to you unless you are in a position to renegotiate your broadband!

Sorry forgot to say - giffgaff sell refurbished phones at fairly decent prices which are only available to registered customers. The aforementioned friend ordered an iPhone XS in immaculate condition for under £300, the first one failed but its replacement has been perfect.