personal finance

How to claim compensation if your mobile network goes down


Recent issues on the O2 and Tesco Mobile networks have made it clear just how dependent we all are on our phones.

It is very frustrating for customers when they can’t use their network.

Many businesses rely on the coverage for their payment and communications systems while individuals take it for granted they can use their phones for keeping in touch with loved ones.

During the 02 glitch, which affected mobile operators around the world, customers reported being unable to make calls and send texts as they had no signal to do so.

Such outages are all the more frustrating because customers pay a lot of their hard-earned cash for this coverage. But there is some good news.

The Manchester Evening News reported that you claim money back for service disruption. This is what regulator Ofcom says on the matter.

Can you claim money back?

Depending on the circumstances, it may be appropriate for your provider to offer you some money back while repairs are being carried out.

In more extreme cases, where repairs take much longer (for example it takes longer than usual to access a mast site to undertake repairs), you may be entitled to an additional refund or account credit.

In cases where you have been without service for some time you may also have the right to leave the contract without penalty. There may be a term in your contract saying you can do this if your provider has failed in its obligations to you or breached a key condition.

How you can complain?

If your provider fails to repair a fault by the date promised, or you are unhappy with how long it is taking, you should follow their formal complaints procedure. Details should be available through their website or customer services.

If your problem is still unresolved after eight weeks you can submit your complaint to an independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme.

Head to the O2 website if you want to make a complaint.

Also the O2 Twitter feed is providing live updates.

Who do customers say are the worst phone providers? Watch and find out:

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