From WIRED · Christopher Null · · 2m
Microsoft owes you money for the Outlook outage
When Microsoft services went down this week, the company's Service Level Agreements meant business customers became entitled to compensation. Here's how to claim it.
In brief
When Microsoft services went down this week, the company's Service Level Agreements meant business customers became entitled to compensation. Here's how to claim it. Microsoft's Service Level Agreements entitle business customers to credits for the November 12 outage, but claiming them requires navigating a complex…
Microsoft's services went down this week
Outlook, Teams, and other Microsoft services were offline during a major outage, while the company's billing operations continued running normally.
Business customers are owed compensation
Microsoft's Service Level Agreements guarantee uptime for business accounts. When the company fails to meet those promises, customers are entitled to refunds or credits.
Consumer accounts get no protection
If you have a Microsoft 365 Family plan or personal account, you are not covered by Service Level Agreements. Microsoft can refuse compensation at its sole discretion.
How downtime is measured
Downtime is defined as any period when users cannot send or receive email with Outlook Web Access. It is measured in user-minutes: the length of each incident multiplied by the number of affected users.
“Any period of time when users are unable to send or receive email with Outlook Web Access.”
The credit tiers for this outage
An eighteen-hour outage equals a two point five percent downtime or ninety-seven point five percent uptime. This puts you in the fifty percent service credit tier.
What information you must provide
Microsoft requires a detailed description of the incident, downtime duration, affected resource names, number and location of affected users, and error descriptions. Include the outage codes: EX1550543 for Exchange, MO1550821 for Outlook, TM1550488 for Teams.
Calculate your bill and credit amount
Find your subscription costs in Billing > Bills & Payments in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Your credit is fifty percent of the total bill for affected services during the outage month.
How to file your claim
In the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, click the headset icon at the bottom right for Help & support.Click the headset icon again to reach Contact support, select Email, and submit your claim with collected information.
You have until December 31, 2026
Claims must be submitted by the end of the month following the outage. You have until December thirty-first, twenty twenty-six to file for the November twelve incident.
Microsoft's response so far
Microsoft said it is deeply sorry for the disruption and takes customer trust seriously. The company has not yet detailed how quickly it will process compensation claims.
“We are deeply sorry for the disruption this incident has caused our customers and partners.”
The one thing
Microsoft's Service Level Agreements entitle business customers to credits for the November 12 outage, but claiming them requires navigating a complex process.
