My experience with Giffgaff, after almost 3 years of being a member

Goodbye T-Mobile

2 years before switching to giffgaff I was On T-Mobile and overall I was happy primarily because I was on a plan where

• As long as I topped up £10 every month then I can send unlimited texts for free.
• For £5 of that credit I could buy a booster which would give me a months worth of unlimited internet (which was capped to 3gb).

However my feelings for them changed dramatically

• In November 2010 they merged their networks with Orange which I had a bad experience with in the past
• In January 2011 they announced that they were dropping the unlimited texts and was lowering the cap to 500mb (Probably to prevent it competing with itself). 
• At the time I wasn't sure how much 500mb was until I used it up in a week and spent the remaining credit that I had left
• Of course they quickly changed it back for the existing customers but the damage was already done and I dont think I ever got my money back

Hello giffgaff

After comparing alternate networks I finally decided that giffgaff was the best choice for me, so I ordered a free sim, activated it as soon as it arrived and bought a £10 goodybag which gave me 250 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet

Upon switching I quickly realised the real benefits of switching which was that I 

• Get £5 upon joining
• Can call and text other giffgaff members for free (As long as I topped up every 3 months)
• Can access the internet for free (As long as I topped up every 3 months)
• Get 500 points (£5) payback if a person used my referral link
• Get 200 point (£2) if I help someone in the forum or recommended giffgaff to them
• Can excahnge my payback points for credit, cash or charity

So within that year I got my sister to switch from Orange, put a giffgaff in my Brothers new phone which he got for Christmas that year and also only topped up every 3 months

Where giffgaff is at now

It is now 2014 and

• giffgaff's popularity has surged (especially in the past year) 
• Like every popular system it every now and again suffers from problems, but when it works, it works. 
• The majority of perks which people had 3 years ago still exist today except the free internet for people who topped up every 3 months
• Now the £10 goodybag has risen to £12 (The current £10 goodybag replaced unlimited internet with 500 minutes instead of 250)
• You now get 100 (£1) points for taking Bronze, Iron and Gold Approved Helper Quizes
• You now get extra money when you become a Super Recruiter (Im an Apprentice)

Overall I like everyone else get aggravated when something doesn't work but I guess the real question is does the perks I listed above persuade you to put up with it and for me it does.