How can I test my iphone 5s is with Tesco mobile!?

[rollonthesummer]

I've bought an iphone 5s from Ebay. It was sold as being with o2, so I ordered a Giff Gaff goody bag and it doesn't bloody work!

The seller says it will only work with Tesco or O2, so I presume that means it's with Tesco mobile (which would work with Tesco AND o2) rather than being with O2 (which would work with Giff gaff!).

It just says 'No service' at the moment!

I am presuming they are a good Ebayer and aren't trying to flog me a blocked phone...

How can I test it with a Tesco sim? I wanted a deal where you pay £7.50 a month and get x amount of data/minutes etc, but don't want to sign up to anything (presume I've lost my £5 with Giff Gaff!) until I know it works?

Can you just buy a sim in a supermarket to test it? If that did work, would I then have to buy ANOTHER sim on some sort of £7.50 a month for 12 months basis?!

Apologies for all the stupid questions but I am very confused!

You should be able to get a free SIM from Tesco to check your theory.

If that works, you then need to decide what to do. I am quite happy with Tesco mobile myself, so you might opt for a SIM-only deal with them. If you want to move to GiffGaff, you'll need to get the phone unlocked - or return it to the seller as not sold as advertised.

Wow-thank you for the link!

Will I get a phone number with that sim? If so, can I use the same sim/number to get a sim only deal with them or would I need a new one!?

You will get a phone number with that SIM. If you decide to stay with Tesco, you would then get another phone number with the SIM only deal. They might be persuaded to move the free SIM's number over to the SIM-only deal (doubtful as there is no real proof that you are the one using the free SIM, if you see what I mean) but there's no real reason for anyone to know the free SIM's number, is there? Do you have another number you'll want to port over from your previous SIM anyway?