Paypoint problems leave town residents powerless

AN electronic system which lets people pay for gas and electricity went on the blink, leaving people without utilities.

More than a million people are thought to have been affected after in-store payment service PayPoint stopped working on Saturday morning.

The system, which also offers service to retailers and businesses, allows users to top up their gas and electric meters. It meant many customers were left without utilities for hours because they were unable to top it up.

Customers began posting about their frustrations on social media.

Some reported having to make several trips to their local point to see if it was back up and running again, or expressed concern that the food in their freezers was going to go off.

@tishelli wrote: “#Paypoint need to sort this out, not easy when you’ve had no electric since half 10 this morning and you’ve got a 6 year old and 11 week old.”

There are five PayPoint facilities in Manchester city centre and dozens more around the region.

A pre-recorded message on the customer service number stated: “We are currently experiencing a nationwide outage with our PayPoint One devices.

“We are investigating the issue and apologise for the inconvenience caused. Please reboot your terminal every half an hour until the issue is resolved. Thank you for your patience.”