It's a dangerous game, giffgaff

You know me. I like a bit of enthusiasm. I like a start-up business. I like mobile phones. Therefore you'd think that I'd like giffgaff. And I do.

But this week I've become a little concerned, in the quasi-parental way I'd usually reserve for Geri Halliwell and road-crossing hedgehogs. Dear little giffgaff has been Tweeting about problems at Verizon. Well, not problems. A problem. A customer service faux pas extraordinaire that involved a member of Verizon staff refusing to disconnect a dead customer's mobile phone because their daughter didn't have the account PIN. Death certificate, yes. PIN, no. Not good.

But is this really a wise move from an organisation that has even less control over its customer service operation than Verizon? Relying largely on your own users to deliver 'crowdsourced' customer service is innovative, it's true. And - so far - pretty effective, it seems.

But I can't help feeling that giffgaff is throwing its stones from inside a glass house. Watch your windows, giffgaffers. We all make mistakes.