Mobile phone sim cards expiry date?

[seylectric]

Hopefully most readers know what a mobile phone sim card is, the little chip with your mobile number on it that slots into the phone.

Anyway, here's my dilemma.

I buy and sell these cards but have not been trading for a few months. I have recently discovered that some of the older ones can not be registered, and are basically useless. Apparently the mobile phone network that issued them (O2) says that from any time from one year onwards, they will have expired and will not be useable. This apparently may also apply to other netwroks sim cards.

Now in the case of O2, nowhere on the sim card pack does it have an expiry date, nor is there one mentioned anywhere in the enclosed user guide booklet. O2 sell these in their shops for £9.99. The point is that I may have several hundred of these out of a stock of over 2000, they are from a lot of mixed (legal) sources and I have no way of knowing how old most of the sim cards are, or whther they are likely to have expired or not before reselling them.

Do I have a case against O2 for my potential loss (and actual loss, as I already know from doing a small batch test that probably at least 200 have expired)

[cheddar]

I'm not 100% sure but I think when you enter your details online to get the free sims you have to tick a box which says you gree with their T&C's and I think it mentions expiry on there. I only say this cos I am aware of it and know it doesn't state it in the pack.

But you say you are buying them so it depends where you are buying them from if its from a supplier/shop then they should be making you aware of this, If it is from a person then it depends what it said when they bought them and they would have a liability to tell you in that case.

I presume you have all your reciepts to be able to give to o2? Why not give it a shot, they might surprise you.

[seylectric]

Most if not all of the "free" sims I have are ok, it is those bought from other sources (including car boot sales etc.) that are the older ones. I can't see anything anywhere in the T&Cs (had a good read through before posting, had another quick look just now) regarding disabling unregistered/unused sim cards.

I did phone O2 who said they can't be responsible for sims not purchased directly from themselves, or for free ones that may have been bought elsewhere and for compensation I would have to contact the seller directly. They did back off a little when I mentioned that I couldn't find anything in the T&Cs and that it was O2 directly, not the seller, who was responsible for the fact that the cards are now useless. They then pointed out that the sims might have been activated upon purchase (not always the case) and would be disconnected if not used for 6 months. Other than that they were of little help.