AROUND 2.6million Giffgaff customers are due a share of £2.9million after the mobile provider overcharged users earlier this year.
Telecoms regulator Ofcom says the virtual mobile operator, which is owned by and piggybacks on the O2 network, billed some users twice.
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The issue, which dates as far back as May 26 2011 and continued until February 14 2019, saw a delay in Giffgaff applying “goodybag” bundles of minutes, texts and data to users’ accounts.
During this delay, it meant that any calls or data used came out of users’ pre-paid credit when they should have been free as soon as the bundle was purchased.
Giffgaff has already refunded around £2.1million to the 1.2million affected customers it was able to trace, while the remaining £800,000 has been split between ten charities chosen by Giffgaff users.
The mobile provider says 90 per cent of affected users were refunded £5 or less.
How to cut your mobile bill
FIRSTLY, decide if you’re happy with your current deal and whether you want a new deal or handset – or both.
If you’re outside the minimum term of your contract then you can leave penalty free – and you might be able to find a cheaper deal elsewhere.
Pay-as-you-go deals are better for people who don’t regularly use their phone, while monthly contracts usually work out cheaper for those who do.
The best way to find a new deal is by checking comparison websites, such as MoneySupermarket and uSwitch.com, which compare tariffs and handset prices.
It’s also worth trying Billmonitor, it matches buyers to the best pay-monthly deal based on their previous three months of bills.
It only works if you’re a customer of EE, O2, Three, Vodafone or Tesco Mobile and you’ll need to log in with your online account details.
MobilePhoneChecker has a bill monitoring feature that recommends a tariff based on your monthly usage.
If you’re happy with your provider then it might be worth using your research to haggle a better deal.
But if you’re one of the 1.4million affected users either past or present who thinks they’re affected but haven’t been refunded, you should check using Giffgaff’s “billing issue checker” tool.
Giffgaff was also slapped with a £1.4million fine on top of the refunds it’s made, which will be paid to HM Treasury.
Gaucho Rasmussen, Ofcom’s director of investigations and enforcement, said: “Getting bills right is a basic duty for every phone company.
“But Giffgaff made unacceptable mistakes, leaving millions of customers out of pocket.”
Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at comparison site uSwitch.com, says it’s disappointing that some users still haven’t been refunded.
He said: “The fact that almost more than 1million consumers are still out of pocket is disappointing.
“If you are a Giffgaff customer and believe you could have been overcharged, contact the provider as soon as possible.”
Ash Schofield, chief executive of Giffgaff added: “On behalf of everyone at Giffgaff, I’d like to apologise again to all those members affected by this and thank you for your ongoing support.
“We’re able to make sure that this cost will not be passed onto you and it won’t affect the cost of goodybags and/or credit.”
Ofcom announced earlier this month that mobile firms will have to move millions of out of contract customers to cheaper Sim-only deals, saving them £74 a year.
Mobile users can also save money by switching provider using just a text.
And if you’re going away this summer, here’s how to avoid mobile roaming charges as holidaymakers are slapped with a £50 fee just to send a picture.
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