Ordering a PAYG Phone from O2 - MyO2 registration enforced or account required

[pgn]

So I finally decided young Quartus here is old enough for a mobile phone (he's been going on about getting one for what seems like ages, and my ears could do with the rest, tbh...). He is, after all, going to "big school" next year, which means reliance on the school bus system hereabouts, so a phone might come in handy...

Off I went, found a deal at a reputable direct seller of these handy devices, then searched and found a better one at a local retailer of flat-pack furniture, only to end up on O2's website where the same model of handset was cheaper yet again than either of the preceding "bargains".

OK. On O2 website, add phone to basket, hit checkout, am prompted for an e-mail address - this *will* be registered for a MyO2 account. Ooops! Quartus has an e-mail address, but probably falls below the age of having his own MyO2 account.

I backed up the truck, logged into my own MyO2, went through the order process, and lo and behold, a couple of days later, phone arrives and this appears in my MyO2:

So my question is, despite the pressure-selling tactics to get an e-mail address for any mobile sold, how do I divest my own MyO2 of this unwanted, and incorrectly identified (I got a Nokia 1.3, not the Motorola mentioned in the screenshot above!) addition to my record? 

How have others handled this seemingly mandated tie-in of (any) e-mail address with a PAYG phone and a tenner a month SIM with unlimited calls, texts and 6GB of data (for the first three months)?

[MI5]

@pgn 

I'll not sugar coat it.

You can't. It's now tied forever unless you get a different PAYG sim and register the other number to a different email address.

This one will then have the option to delete it after 6 months when the sim expires.

[pgn]

---

@MI5 wrote:

@pgn 

I'll not sugar coat it.

You can't. It's now tied forever unless you get a different PAYG sim and register the other number to a different email address.

This one will then have the option to delete it after 6 months when the sim expires.

---

Well, truly, that sucks. Oh, Phartifukborlz, as Douglas Adams might have intoned.

Thanks, @MI5 .

[Cleoriff]

What a lovely word from Douglas Adams @pgn 

I might pinch it...

[jonsie]

Sacre bleu!
Is nothing sacred?

[pgn]

---

@MI5 wrote:

You can't. It's now tied forever unless you get a different PAYG sim and register the other number to a different email address.

---

Given how little I am surprised by O2's ability to complicate matters, I was surprised to see, as I logged in to the PC to inspect the damage this transaction has inflicted, the little bit of text highlighted in the pic below: "Remove this device"

I wonder if that does what it says it does, leaving the new PAYG to register for its own MyO2 account...?

I have not explored what gems lie beneath that innocent-looking prompt - thought I'd ask around first!

Could it be I can cast Quartus's Christmas PAYG mobile to the winds, remove it from my account, and still be able to top up the SIM a little closer to the day after Santa visits?

(No sign of this elusive bit of text on the MyO2 app, or even on the mobile browser in "Desktop" mode, @MI5 ...  )

Clicking on it reveals a little more...

Hmm.

[MI5]

From memory, I think that is because you haven't activated that PAYG sim yet?
Removing it before doing so so may allow you to register it separately, but if not, you could still get a new PAYG sim to register it alone.

[jonsie]

I've got the option to remove my P&G which I added after using it for a while so it's not a question of activation

I think it's a new feature of My O2

[MI5]

It was there a while back for me but it was maybe a couple of years ago since I had a PAYG sim.

It came with the Nokia 8110 I bought but I had no need to activate the sim.

[pgn]

"New feature"? MyO2? Haha!

I wonder if I should ask Aura...

Anyway, as activation won't be for about two weeks, I shall leave it there for now.

What I ordered appears on my order and on my receipt as:

O2 P&G £10 ONLINE TRIPLE SIM 2/3/4FF 

(basically 6GB Data for months 1, 2 and 3, and down to 2GB thereafter, rolling over unused to next month)

We love a mystery.

Suppose I should go buy a £10.00 Top-up Voucher to keep handy for the first top-up, rather than hope it will work on Credit Card like the other PAYG phones in the house...