Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Microsoft’s services are functioning properly after more than 36 hours of server disruption. This outage has caused trouble for millions of individuals and businesses, especially one who relies on Microsoft 365 for emails and everyday work. Now, are you eligible for a service credit for the time these services were unavailable? Know that Microsoft may not automatically hand you the money as compensation, but there are some processes you can follow to claim it.
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Microsoft may owe you money
For those who possess Microsoft’s business subscriptions, it comes with a Service Level Agreement (SLA), which promises a certain level of uptime for its online services. For Microsoft 365, the company promises 99.9 per cent monthly uptime for services such as Exchange Online and Outlook. If Microsoft fails to meet this promise, eligible business customers can claim service credits.
The compensation, however, is not a direct cash refund. Instead, Microsoft offers credits that can reduce your future subscription bills. Depending on the extent of the downtime, the credit can be 25 per cent, 50 per cent or even 100 per cent of the applicable service charge.
Microsoft calculates downtime using something called user-minutes. In simple terms, it considers how long a service remained unavailable and how many users were affected. It also calculates credits separately for individual services, meaning an Outlook outage does not automatically qualify your entire Microsoft 365 subscription for compensation.
However, here comes an important distinction. These credits are meant for eligible business customers, including those using Microsoft 365 Business subscriptions, Exchange Online or Teams Premium. If you are an individual user with Microsoft 365 Personal or have opted for Family plans, then it may not be covered by the business SLA.
You can still request a refund, but the decision would be in Microsoft’s hands, and Microsoft will decide whether to offer one at its discretion.
How to claim compensation from Microsoft
If your business purchased its Microsoft subscription directly from the company, you can begin the claim process through the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre.
First, sign in to the Admin Centre and open the Billing section. Under Bills & Payments, check your subscription details and the amount you paid. This will help you understand the services affected and the potential credit.
Next, you need to contact Microsoft support. Look for the headset icon at the bottom-right corner of the Admin Center and click Help & Support. This will open Microsoft’s support chatbot. From there, select the headset icon again to reach the Contact Support page and choose Email.
You will then need to describe the outage, mention how long the service remained unavailable, identify the affected Microsoft services and provide the number and location of impacted users. Including the relevant incident IDs can also help Microsoft identify the disruption. These include EX1550543 for Exchange, MO1550821 for Outlook and TM1550488 for Teams.
Once you submit the request, Microsoft should provide a case number. However, receiving this confirmation does not mean your compensation has been approved. Microsoft will review the claim and calculate whether your business qualifies for a service credit.
Businesses that purchased Microsoft subscriptions through Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partners or other resellers will have to contact their provider and ask them to submit the claim on their behalf.
The deadline is particularly important. Claims for the November 12 outage must be submitted by December 31, 2026. So, while Outlook and Teams may be back online, businesses still have some paperwork to complete if they want Microsoft to make up for the lost service time.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
