Here's How To Claim Compensation If You Were Hit By O2 Network Issues
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Furious O2 customers were left without 4G and data services for hours on Thursday, and those affected may be wondering if they are able to claim compensation.
The mobile network has since restored its connection, but its users were unable to access the internet on their mobiles all day, unless they had a wifi network. The outage also affected O2 subsidiaries GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile.
It wasn't just mobile phones either, as the network being down also caused problems for other services. Transport for London's electronic timetables at bus stops were also affected, causing chaos in the capital.
O2 blamed the network issues on a third-supplier and Ericsson, with the company issuing an apology to its customers as it worked to restore connection.
Network boss Mark Evans said: "I want to let our customers know how sorry I am for the impact of our network data issue has had on them, and reassure them that our teams, together with Ericsson, are doing everything we can.
"We fully appreciate it's been a poor experience and we are really sorry."
But can O2 customers claim compensation?
If you felt the network issues caused you significant problems, then you might want to pursue a compensation claim for money back.
You will need to follow the network's formal complains procedure or contact O2 on the phone, Twitter or online. If you had to pay to use wifi elsewhere, keep hold of any receipts of expenditure as this can help strengthen your case.
O2 will probably be inundated with claims and the phone lines will most likely be super busy, so it's worth being patient.
Tesco Mobile customers need to complain to Tesco Mobile, and GiffGaff customers need to complain to GiffGaff.
If your complaint is left unresolved after eight weeks, you can take your problem to an independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme.
Telecoms regulator Ofcom has two ADR schemes, CISAS and Ombudsman Services: Communications - O2 and the other networks are all part of the latter.
The networks haven't yet announced any plans to reimburse customers affected, although in the past O2 offered £10 vouchers following similar problems with data (although these issues lasted for three days in 2011).