Optus reveals the measly compensation it will offer Aussies after catastrophic network crash caused nationwide crisis – as the telco giant’s ‘first message’ to customers sparks fury
Optus users are furious with the telecoms giant after being hit with overdue notices and bills following the biggest outage in Australian history.
Kevin Rudd’s daughter Jess Rudd was among hundreds to criticize Optus for the intrusive messaging following a nine-hour blackout on Wednesday.
The entire network was offline between 4 a.m. and 1 p.m. as 10 million users had no answers as to what had happened and how long it would take to resolve the problem.
Outside rival companies such as Telstra and Vodafone, queues of frustrated Optus users were seen trying to switch networks, with many businesses unable to accept card payments all day.
CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has promised to provide compensation to those affected by the blackout, but only if they have a postpaid plan.
Customers have criticized Optus for chasing bills before offering an explanation after a historic power outage knocked 10 million people offline for nine hours on Wednesday
Ms Rudd noticed her phone was back online when she saw Optus had sent an email about her bill.
“I can’t make this up,” she wrote on X.
“Seriously Optus, how did your billing department function when all other companies couldn’t process, call or email a single cash register transaction?”
Others who received their bills after service was restored shared similar disbelief that a bill reminder preceded an apology or even an explanation.
‘So the first communication from Optus arrived on my phone after yesterday’s outage. An apology? An explanation? No, just a reminder that my bill is due next week,” one man wrote.
“I’d like to know how you managed to send me an overdue bill reminder yesterday while I was on SOS for over 10 hours,” wrote a second.