If you were one of the millions of Optus customers without phone or internet connection for most of Wednesday, you will probably be wondering if and how you can be compensated for the inconvenience.
The Optus CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, has said there was “nothing we can do to make up for” the outage, but the company wanted to acknowledge customer patience and loyalty with 200GB of data for small businesses and consumers, and unlimited data on weekends for eligible prepaid customers until the end of the year.
That gesture has been labelled inadequate and a “hollow” as the industry ombudsman advises Optus may be on the hook for more compensation.
Here’s what options you have.
What has Optus offered me?
If you’re on a contract or a small business customer, Optus has offered 200GB of free data that you can register for until the end of the year.
If you’re a prepaid customer, you can get unlimited data on weekends until the end of the year.
So there’s no refunds?
At this stage the company with the motto of “yes” is saying no.
Rosmarin reportedly told News Corp there would be no financial compensation because it would amount to around $2 per customer for the time the network was down.
But there are other avenues people can explore for lost work and income, and a Senate inquiry into the outage will also look at what compensation might be appropriate for customers.
Who can I complain to?
In the first instance customers should go to Optus, and if they’re unhappy with the response, they can then go to the telecommunications industry ombudsman.
What are my rights?
The TIO says when a service is not fault-free people might be able to get remedies including refunds for the time unable to use the service, or compensation.
The TIO’s page for customers affected by the outage notes that remedies could include refunds for the time they were unable to use the service, compensation or a release from contract.
“We will take a careful approach to considering whether compensation is appropriate. The amount of compensation awarded will be proportionate to the extent of the harm suffered,” the TIO said. “It is likely most awards of compensation for non-financial loss will be modest.”
People will only get compensated for losses directly caused by the telco, and people will need to have kept their receipts and evidence to show the loss.
For financial loss, the TIO can order a telco to pay up to $100,000 compensation but if it is more than that, the claim could be directed to a court or tribunal to decide.
For non-financial loss, the maximum amount that can be compensated for non-privacy related claims is $1,500.
Can I get out of my contract and move to another provider?
Yes, that is an option you could explore with Optus or the TIO. If you’re not locked into a contract, you’re also free to port your mobile number to another provider and leave whenever you like.
That can also result in a big hit to the company if customers decide to leave in droves. In 2012 after 12 months of network issues that had come to be dubbed “Vodafail”, Vodafone had lost over half a million customers – it took years, a new chief executive and the rollout of 4G before the company recovered.
Both Vodafone and Boost Mobile reported their biggest sales days of the year on Wednesday, with a fourfold and fivefold increase in sales, respectively, off the back of the Optus outage.
