The Optus outage left a Bendigo mother scrambling to try and get her children to school and other city residents fuming at the lack of communication from the telco giant.
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Millions of customers around Australia were left without phone and internet services after the network dropped out from about 4am on November 8.
In Bendigo, Optus mobile phone user Shauna Roy was relying on an Uber to get her kids to school and herself to work this morning because her car was at the mechanic.
"When the phone didn't work I ran across the road and asked a lady walking her dog what was wrong," she said.
"She asked me if I was on Optus and offered me her phone to use."
The experience had left the CBD worker flustered.
Optus service update
An update from the telco posted to the platform X just before 1pm said some services were now gradually being restored.
"This may take a few hours for all services to recover, and different services may restore at different sites over different times," the announcement said.
At Bendigo tech shop Geekly, Angus Smith said a lack of communication by Optus had created "a nightmare" for customers.
"We've had lots of people come in saying their phone is broken," he said.
"Optus' communication has been zero.
"They seem to think they can provide information only online, and if their customers are only on Optus they have no way of accessing it."
Businesses find workarounds
Rachael Lyne, from Ivy & Bloom Flowers, said her business had been unable to process payments at the start of the day.
"Then I realised we had a Telstra phone at home," she said.
She had brought her daughter's mobile phone in and been able to use it to hotspot to the Telstra network.
The Optus internet had since come back but the business was still unable to receive phone orders around midday when the Advertiser visited.
The manager of a Bendigo thrift store had been able to switch its Eftpos machine over from Optus to Telstra, she said, after discovering by googling that the unit had a built-in capacity to work on either system.
The business, it turned out, had to have accounts with both companies.
Bridges 7 cafe owner Jamie Pethybridge said his payment system was through Telstra but his business was impacted by his own phone, which was with Optus, not working.
"A lot of my suppliers are contacted through my phone so it's causing trouble not being able to get through," he said.
Like Shauna Roy, he had been "oblivious" to the system-wide problem in the morning, only finding out about it through word of mouth.
"I know Optus has done a bit of work around here and I thought it must have been related to that," he said.
Despite the inconvenience he wasn't too distressed about the issue.
"With what we've put up with through COVID, you learn to roll with it," he said.
Effects range from significant impact to inconvenience
At the Hargreaves Street Wine Bar, Heath Penbrook was pleased the business was using Starlink satellite internet, which was pretty reliable, aside from the odd incident of birds "pooping on the disc".
By contrast, Sarah Ayr from Chonky Bulldog Coffee, said the business' Crook Street van was only able to accept cash.
At Get Naked Espresso Bar, barista Olivia Martin said the shop's iphone was an Optus one, but the business wasn't seriously affected.
"We've been missing a few text messages but nothing too hectic," she said.
Meanwhile, Hargreaves Street bookshop Bookish was inconvenienced by being unable to get through to customers using Optus phones to tell them their orders had arrived.
At the Bendigo library, team leader Judy Legge said the computer users' area had seen only a couple of extra people come in wanting to use the wifi as a result of losing internet access.
"We have a constant demand," said. "It's actually relatively quiet today."
Bendigo Health was unaffected by the outage, a spokesperson said.
Have you been seriously impacted by the Optus outage? Let us know at addynews@austcommunitymedia.com.au
