Vodafone Pay Monthly SIM not registered to the network

[Oxygen87]

I took out a pay monthly contract with a new phone for my elderly Grandad from Vodafone through Buymobiles.net last Thursday as it seemed to be a great deal but  ever since receiving the phone and SIM, the SIM just hasn’t been connected to the network and the phone says that the SIM is not provisioned so the phone is basically useless. I’ve contacted Buymobiles.net 3 times now and each time I’ve been told that the issue lies with Vodafone but without a mobile number because one hasn’t been sent with the SIM, I’m struggling to get any help from Vodafone. Is this normal? I feel like the whole thing is strange. Any help would be appreciated as I’m not a Vodafone customer for my personal phone and have never really dealt with them before.

Thank you.

[Charlotte]

Hello, @Oxygen87. I hope you're well. It's disappointing to hear about the problems which you've been having with the set-up of the service. 

In instances where a service is taken out through a third-party provider, there can be an issue where the order hasn't been received on our side, and that results in the SIM not being activated. However, it may be that it's still processing and just hasn't completed, in which case that's something we can fix. If you reach out to the Social Media Team, they can try to locate the account for you. 

If we're unable to locate an account and there's no record of any orders, it would need to be resolved by Buymobiles.net, as only they would have the details of your agreement. 

[Oxygen87]

Vodafone cannot find anything relating to this after just chatting to them so back to Buymobiles it is. Not sure where I stand with them not connecting the SIM? I hope money isn’t going to come out of the bank for a phone that can’t be used!

[Charlotte]

I'm sorry to hear that, @Oxygen87. If there aren't any active accounts with us, we wouldn't charge you. However, I can't speak for Buymobiles and what agreements are set up on their side. 

[Oxygen87]

I’m tempted to get them to take it back and just do it through Vodafone directly. I’ve never known such poor service from Buymobiles since they were taken over by AO.