Optus outage: how to make a complaint and ask for more than data

Key takeaways for customers impacted by the Optus outage

This week, there was a huge outage on the Optus network. But, unless you live off-the-grid, you already knew that. So here’s what else you might want to know:

1. The Optus national network was down for over 8 hours, affecting over 10 million people.
2. Optus has offered customers 200GB of extra data to make up for the network event.
3. Customers who are not satisfied with that response can make a complaint to Optus asking for a different resolution.
4. You can use Ajust’s platform for a free and easy way to make a complaint that gets heard by Optus.

What actually happened with the Optus outage?

If you’re here, you’re probably one of the millions of Australians who were impacted by the Optus outage on 8 November. And you probably want to know what you can do to get heard by Optus and get a fair outcome. We’ll get to that soon, but first let’s cover the basic facts of the unexpected event.

The outage is the second high profile crisis for Optus in recent memory, after a massive data breach in September 2022. The outage impacted the entire Optus national network of landline and wireless services, including NBN services. Plenty of other mobile and internet providers use the Optus network (like Aussie Broadband, Dodo and iiNet), which means their services were down too.

The network was down from early morning (around 4am) and services started to come back online after midday, almost 9 hours later. Millions of people had their services interrupted by the outage. Many more were impacted indirectly – from not being able to pay for a coffee at a cafe, to not having access to entertainment systems during a hospital stay.

At this stage, experts are still working out the exact cause of the network event. Chances are it’s something too technical for us to explain here, so we’ll leave that issue for the network experts – and focus on how the outage has hit customers and what they can do about it.

What do Optus customers think about the network outage?

We wanted to find out how customers were affected by the Optus outage. So the Ajust team went out to the streets to ask them. Here’s what we learnt…

1. It’s getting harder to find Optus customers in the wild.

We spoke to lots of people who had switched to another provider after they were impacted by the data breach last year. Perhaps some customers we spoke to were also reluctant to admit they were still loyal to the company. We’re also hearing that Telstra has been busy since the outage, so we expect more customers are switching after this latest event.

2. Affected customers were generally reasonable about what they expected from Optus.

Some people wanted compensation for the outage. The most common amount people were asking for was a month’s refund or credit. But not everyone expected a payout. This was a surprise to us, especially while economic conditions are tough for the average consumer. Many customers just wanted Optus to give them better communication during the outage, an apology and some reassurance that they would be taking real action to avoid the issue happening again anytime soon.

3. There are no easy avenues for impacted customers to get heard.

Very few customers we spoke to had plans to contact Optus to share their experience with the outage and ask for a fair resolution. The main reasons people gave us were that they didn’t know where to start to make a complaint to Optus, they didn’t want to call Optus and wait on hold and they didn’t think it would achieve anything to contact Optus.

What is Optus doing for customers affected by the outage?

A few days after the outage, Optus tried to make up with its customers. It contacted affected customers saying it was “deeply sorry” for the service interruption and offering bonus data to repair the relationship. Here’s part of what Optus said to customers:

“To thank you for your patience, we are providing you at least 200GB of extra data, so you can connect more during the upcoming summer.”

But the gesture has received a flat response from many consumers. In a world with unlimited plans and easy access to wifi, bonus data is not particularly valuable. As one Optus customer told Ajust: “Nice to get a response! But seeing that I don't even use the 100GB that I pay for every month, the extra isn't all that useful.”

Can you ask Optus for a better resolution?

Customers can always choose to make a complaint to Optus if they were affected by the network outage and aren’t satisfied with the telco’s bonus data gesture.

From what Ajust is seeing on our platform, the Optus outage caused a wide range of experiences for customers. Some people were impacted much more than others. One customer we chatted with said he was just at home and couldn’t watch streaming services – so he didn’t really expect Optus to do much for him. But other customers missed telehealth appointments and lost income for their business. So you can understand how these customers won’t be happy with some bonus data for the summer.

The telco ombudsman has said that customers who suffered loss caused by the outage should make a claim with Optus. The ombudsman recommended that people keep evidence of their loss, like receipts and bank statements.

As a customer affected by the network outage, there are 2 ways you can make a complaint to Optus: you can make a complaint yourself directly with Optus or you can let Ajust do the work for you. If you want to handle it yourself, you can find the details to contact Optus here. Or just get started straight away right here.

If you make a complaint to Optus about the outage, don’t expect a fast response. With the spike in complaints, Optus is behind on getting back to customers. Some customers have been told by Optus that there is currently a delay of 5-7 days to respond to their complaints. Get the ball rolling with Ajust’s online platform – and at least you won’t have to wait on hold.