Can O2 customers get £75 after outage? Fact Check

ByCraig Haley

Rumours are spreading online that claim phone network O2, which experienced technical difficulties resulting in around 24 hours downtime this week, is giving £75 credit to those that call to say sorry.

Messages like the one below are spreading below –

O2 customers call them and you get £75 as a sorry from them! Just got mine!!

On December 6th 2018, O2 customers in the UK were unable to connect to their network for around 24 hours as the phone network experienced software glitches. Network coverage was restored in the early hours of Wednesday.

Soon after, rumours began spreading online that in order to say sorry, O2 were paying their customers £75 providing they called.

However such rumours are not correct. While O2 has announced that they will be providing credit to their customers as a result of the downtime, it is not £75.


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O2 announced the following types of refunds that will be provided in the form of credit and discounts –

Pay monthly, small and medium business and mobile broadband customers will receive two days credit from their monthly subscription cost, due by the end of January 2019.

Pay as you go customers will get 10% credit on a top-up in the New Year 2019. (Just wait until O2 say it will be available.)

Pay as you go mobile broadband customers will get a 10% discount on a bolt-on purchase in the New Year 2019.

However, to reiterate, O2 customers will not get a £75 refund or credit.

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