Info from Lesley Bott
An “update” in early November is clearly unacceptable having had no signal since early August, so I have just been on Ofcom’s site here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/service-quality/mobile-faults-guide which gives all the details of how to complain. They do not directly deal with individual complaints about mobile phone companies but will look into matters if they get numerous complaints about the same issues with the same company! They ask that you fill in a form so that they can monitor the situation which is here: https://ofcomlive.my.salesforce-sites.com/formentry/SitesFormCCTMonitoring
There are alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme’s that will deal with matters (including compensation) and will help to resolve issues (advisable to read the https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/service-quality/mobile-faults-guide first)
If you are with giffgaff (part of 02) the ADR to raise a dispute here: https://www.commsombudsman.org/raise-dispute/giffgaff
If you are with o2 the ADR to raise a dispute here: https://www.commsombudsman.org/raise-dispute/o2
I think that the more of us that do this the more likely we are to get thinks sorted out ASAP. Probably also an idea to copy and paste this post and put it on various sites in areas apart from Parwich.org that are also affected by the o2 outage.
In addition, Lesley has found the following info:
I’ve looked into things further and found this (applies to those with an 02/giffgaff contract):
Under the “Consumer Rights Act 2015” a service provider must provide the contracted service with reasonable care and skill. I would argue that the service is not being carried out with reasonable skill and care if they can’t give you any service!
In early 2009, Tom Prescot won a small claims case at Brentford County Court called Prescott v. Orange. (He was unable to get a proper signal at his office or house in an area that should have had good coverage. The claim was for breach of contract as he had an 18 month contract with Orange; Prescott argued that the contract implied a “reasonable expectation of service” given the long-term commitment of 18 months.
The result was that Mr Prescot was released from his contract & awarded £500 compensation.
Might be worth those of you that have a formal contract with o2/giffgaff to quote Prescott v Orange 2009 & Consumer Rights Act 2015!!
PARWICH.ORG 
Submitted complaint
Sue O’Shea
This is a comment sent to me by O2 for the blog.
An O2 spokesperson said: “We apologise to customers in the Parwich area who may be experiencing intermittent issues with their services. Our engineers are aware of the problem and working as quickly as possible to fully restore customers’ services.
“We recommend customers ensure they have Wi-Fi calling enabled on their device as it will allow them to make and receive calls and text messages whilst connected to a broadband network.”
“Intermittent?”!!! Constant more like!
My guess is (and I could well be wrong!) that all this is linked to the Fibre optic cable work in mid November!! I’ve done a separate post about this on the blog. Let’s see if we can all suddenly have full access to all our mobile phone services after mid November!! For o2 to minimise the disruptions as “intermittent” is disgusting! Also it is all well and good for o2 to give out their apologies at this very late stage along with their “advice” but they have been silent for far too long and only engaged with us due to Richard’s tenacity! Yes, mobile phones do work on WhatsApp etc. but this is a fat lot of good for someone who is not near their own or a public WI-FI spot!!
I agree with you.
hi all
I contacted the office of the telecommunications ombudsman (www.commsombudsman.org), to inquire about how to make a complaint to them.
Got a reply from a Mr Kevin Woodall, Flexible Resolution Executive, detailing all requirements, timescales (8 weeks from first raising the complaint with O2), proofs of communication needed, etc
They will only investigate the complaint relating to your own account
If anyone would like a copy I’d be happy to share, or maybe better still, make an email request for procedure regarding a complaint addressed to Mr Woodall at
enquiry@commsombudsman.org
KEEP COMPLAINING and don’t accept a paltry fobbing-off offer to close your complaint
Roger
Thanks for the info on the Ombudsman, Lesley. I asked the Ombudsman Officer if we could make a Village Group complaint, but they said they only accept individual complaints. They also need to have proof that one has contacted the supplier (O2) 3 times, and they will not act until, as Roger says, 8 weeks have passed.
I would suggest waiting to complain to the Ombudsman until our service has been eventually restored.
I have spoken with a reporter from BBC Radio about the o2 situation. He is interested in running a news piece on these issues. He would like to have a word with a few of the other residents. If anyone is interested then please pass your email address and telephone number to the blog team and I will ask them to pass the details on to me to give to Dan Hunt at BBC news. or alternatively, email Dan at dan.hunt@bbc.co.uk putting o2 issues at Parwich in the subject line and your telephone number/contact details in the main body of the email