Telecom Ombudsman To Assist Unhappy Customers Amid Optus Outage

The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman will assist Optus customers with making complaints if they are unhappy with the business’ response to Wednesday’s service outage.

Customers and businesses have been affected by the outage since 4am on Wednesday, with no “precise timeframe” to when the matter would be fixed at time of publishing this article.

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In a statement, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIA) said, “If you have not contacted Optus, or you have been unable to contact them, we can forward your complaint to Optus on your behalf”.

“We can help you with refunds for the time you have been unable to use your service, compensation claims and disputes about your contract.”

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has also suggested businesses keep their receipts from Wednesday amid the blackout.

“I note the comments by the TIA that at this time, it is probably too early to be discussing or giving definitive views about compensation or other consumer rights,” Ms Rowland said.

“But I do reiterate the statement of the TIA’s statement that it is important, especially for small businesses, to keep receipts, so that any recourse and any redress that may be available to them has that evidentiary base.”

Ms Rowland urged Optus to continue to communicate with its customers and use “every channel available” to inform them of any updates.

She said customers expect being communicated to and Optus should “step up” and respond to the situation accordingly.

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