MORISSET Square was left without internet, phone lines and eftpos for two days after someone forgot to "Dial Before You Dig" and hit a Telstra cable.
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On Friday, Priceline Pharmacy couldn't receive scripts faxed to them by doctors, Coles customers couldn't get cash out, and the Greater Building Society had to close its doors.
Customers at several businesses in the centre walked away when told that eftpos services were not available.
Telstra area general manager Chris Cusack said "a third party contractor" damaged Telstra cables during construction works to repair a faulty road crossing on Dora Street.
"As a result we had to replace the cabling which services that area, and the work was completed on Saturday afternoon," Mr Cusack said.
"We understand the impact a disruption like this can cause and it highlights the importance of the Dial Before You Dig service, which can help ensure your safety and prevent unknowingly causing damage to cabling that, as a result, impacts on the operations of local businesses and also on home services."
Lake Macquarie City Council and Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) both said they had no crews working on Dora Street on Friday.
Pharmacist Rachel Nauluvula, of Priceline Pharmacy, said a number of their customers walked out of the store without their medicine.
"If they had a critical medical condition we gave them the medicine for free, but some had to pick their medicine up next week," Ms Nauluvula said.
The outage affected the pharmacy's fax machine, so scripts sent by doctors didn't come through.
"We had a runner going to our other store [Morisset Main Street Pharmacy] to pick up scripts," Ms Nauluvula said.
Morisset Coles manager Peter Murray said the store continued trading as normal.
"The eftpos was on and off today - we lost if for about an hour," Mr Murray said.
Telstra supplied at least one of the affected businesses with a temporary internet device.
The outage also hit The Lakes Mail office, cutting all telecommunications access.