uSwitch deals vs O2 online store

[garetc]

Hi all, 

Long time lurker, infrequent poster!

Ordered a second line from O2 which I happily received over the weekend but at the same time I noticed on uSwitch that instead of 5GB data for £11, I could get 20GB for £8.

Subsequently spoke with customer service to see if I could adjust my new line as I am within the 14 days and was told the only way that I could redeem that or any other deal is to cancel the new line and take out a whole new contract. 

Surely this can't be a thing? The services aren't different when going via a third party store, it's still direct with O2, all that happens is the shopping cart is populated for you on the O2 website.

[madasaf1sh · Accepted solution]

@garetc 

It is I am afraid, as the deals done with uSwitch etc, and are custom offers just for the comparison sites, and are linked to a referral link that tells o2 the deal you get, and also to pay some commission to uSwitch.. (who arent as impartial as people think). 

Same as esim.net who offer a unlimited esim 30day package for £18 per month (doesnt allow worldwide roaming just EU)... o2 will never match that directly. 

As such I am afraid you would need to cancel within the 14 days and start again, via the uSwitch link 

[garetc]

Thanks for the reply @madasaf1sh 

Seems a silly way of doing things, the CSA said they were unable to comment.

Being an existing customer I thought that there might be better deals available to me which there wasn't. EE and Vodafone both offer existing customers discounts whereas O2 didn't appear to. At the very least direct customers should be offered the same deals as non. 

I'll probably leave it for now, I plan to upgrade the second line to a handset and let my main line drop down to SIM only in September/October.

Moral of this story is to check third party sites before going direct in the future. 😳

[madasaf1sh]

All networks do it, its a way of capturing market for people who dont want to go onto every network site, and its a value proposition for very little outlay... 

But yeah check 3rd party sites, just becareful, as the terms will be different