I noticed an advert on the television promising big mobile data packages and low costs so I jumped on their web site to find out more.
Our whole family has been with Giffgaff for years, lured into signing up with them originally because of the pay-as-you-go nature of the service and their low costs. Their goodybags (the name they use for their monthly packages) were especially good for the children as we were able to give them unlimited texts, calls and 3GB of mobile data for £8 a month.
After doing some checks on the Smarty web site, it seems that they have a similar model to GiffGaff in mind. They offer various ‘plans’ which all include unlimited UK calls and texts, the difference is just how much mobile data you need.
By moving our family (five of us in total) we would each end up with more mobile data each month but save £6 a month overall.
We can save an additional 10% if we set up as a ‘group’. This is a great feature that Smarty have created. It allows you to sign-up for one account (one login, one payment method etc.) but then add multiple SIM cards under that account. You can add up to eight SIM cards and for those additional SIMs, you get 10% off of their bill. Perfect for families.
I didn’t want to move everyone in one go so decided to switch mine number over and give their service a try. Switching is really easy. All you need to do is go to their web site and request a SIM card. Once the SIM arrives, simply activate it on the web site and request a PAC code from your current mobile provider. It’s all really easy to do. Your number is then switched over the next business day. Unfortunately I started my switch on a Friday so the switch did not complete until the following Monday but my original SIM continued over the weekend so it wasn’t a problem.
Once the switch was completed, I ran into a couple of issues.
Hiding caller ID
As well as personal use, I take advantage of the unlimited calls and use my phone for business purposes. Not wanting my customers to have my personal mobile number though, I always hide my number by dialling 141. I immediately ran into an issue with doing this on my new Smarty SIM as they do not allow you to use 141. Instead, you have to dial #31# before dialling your contact’s number.
Why they don’t use the standard 141, I am not sure. I decided to use the issue to test their customer support team.
Like Giffgaff, there isn’t a support number to call but instead if you need help, you need to contact their team via the live chat service on their web site. I got in touch and was directed to a page on their help site which detailed the #31# prefix needed before a number to hide my mobile number from others. I asked if they would be updating their system to use the standard 141 number but was told that lots of system updates are ‘on their way’ and that I would be notified once they were released.
I know a lot of companies keep a list of issues once resolved, they will notify all customers who have been in touch about it via e-mail. I asked if I would be notified personally or if I would have to keep checking their web site for more information. Bad news, I was told that I would need to keep checking the site.
I wasn’t thrilled with this answer because firstly, I wasn’t told if this feature request was among the ‘many’ that would be released ‘soon’. I wasn’t told when these features would be released and when they were, I would need to keep checking the site to find out if / when it had been released.
Unlike Giffgaff, Smarty do not have customer forums or a feature request system. Giffgaff’s system ensures that if a number of people are all requesting similar features, these can be voted on and presumably are more likely to be actioned. The only way to request a feature with Smarty is to contact their live chat team but my feeling was that requests were not noted in anyway. I felt I was just being fobbed off with their promise of some additional features being released at some point.
Voicemail
This is one of those issues that you don’t realise you need until you lose it. With GiffGaff, they allow you to create a full, custom voicemail message that people are played if you can’t take their call. Smarty use a system where you just record your name and they put a message around it. Something like ‘Thank you for calling your name here. Please leave a message after the tone.’
I have been so used to GiffGaff’s system which gives you much more flexibility that this change was a real pain. I have a custom recording that I had created by a voiceover artist which gives my callers a message, including on how to get in touch e.g. via e-mail etc. Smarty took away my ability to give my customer’s this additional information.
Summary
Overall the lose of these two features (hiding the caller ID and voicemail) are not major issues but they are big enough not to warrant swapping over to Smarty for the sake of saving a few pounds each month. There are definite benefits for families as you will save money and be able to control everything from one account but for individuals or people using their mobile for business purposes, there are probably better alternatives. I have now swapped back to GiffGaff.
