The network went down on Monday for several hours, with people unable to connect
Millions of Brits were unable to use their phones and internet services after Vodafone’s network went down on Monday afternoon. Most users were able to get their devices back in full working order by Monday evening (October 13), but hundreds of landline and internet problem reports are still being registered with Downdetector, as of Tuesday afternoon (October 14).
At its peak, over 138,800 Vodafone users were logging that the network had crashed on Monday. Acknowledging the major fault in the system, a Vodafone spokesperson said: “This afternoon [October 13], for a short time, the Vodafone network had an issue affecting broadband, 4G and 5G services. 2G voice calls and SMS messaging were unaffected, and the network is now recovering.
We apologise for any inconvenience this caused our customers.” They added that engineers were “working urgently to fix the problem”.
Some people are demanding compensation for the disruption to services that they pay for. If you were among the thousands of UK users affected by Vodafone’s significant broadband outage on October 13, you might be entitled to compensation.
As part of Ofcom’s automatic compensation scheme, the UK Internet Service Provider (ISP) is obligated to refund customers when service disruptions occur. However, this isn’t great news for anyone expecting a major windfall.
For events where the problems are widespread and issues are not resolved by an agreed-upon deadline by the company, people could be given automatic payments Right now, as of October 14, the network appears to have mostly recovered, and the majority of customers aren’t reporting mass issues.
This would likely mean that Vodafone will not have to pay out any compensation to customers. However, if your internet connection remains offline, it would be best to contact Vodafone directly and raise the issue with them.
According to Ofcom, when it comes to repairing faults, broadband and phone suppliers have “two full working days” to restore any lost broadband or landline services. The figures show that anyone who may still be affected by the outage, as of Wednesday, October 15, could be eligible for £9.98.
It adds that compensation “should be paid no later than 30 calendar days after the loss of service is resolved or the service is terminated”. The cash won’t be deposited into your bank account, though.
The Ofcom guidance added: “Unless you agree otherwise, compensation will be a credit on your bill. The credit will appear on your account within the timeframes above, but may show on your bill at a later date.”
Vodafone customers can log complaints directly with the network provider in a number of ways. Full details can be found online here.