Verizon offers $20 credit olive branch to customers after 10-hour network outage
Verizon's has responded to its recent 10-hour network outage by offering subscribers a $20 account credit.
Verizon has announced that it will offer customers affected by the outage that occurred for several hours on Wednesday, $20 credits to rectify the inconvenience.
The wireless service provider put out a statement on X on Thursday in which it detailed that the $20 account credits should cover “multiple days of service.”
“Yesterday, we did not meet the standard of excellence our customers expect and that we expect of ourselves,” Verizon said.
“This credit isn’t meant to make up for what happened. No credit really can. But it’s a way of acknowledging your time and showing that this matters to us.”
The network detailed that general subscribers can redeem the credits by logging into their myVerizon app. They will then receive a text message detailing when the credit is available. Additionally, Verizon detailed it will work with business customers directly.
Initial reports indicated that the outage, which spread throughout several states across the U.S. began at approximately midday on Wednesday in eastern time. Observers saw peak complaints through the Downdetector webpage an hour later, in locations including New York, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and Miami, affecting up to 177,000 subscribers. Additional high complaint areas included Kailua-Kona, Forest Grove, Portland, Chicago, Brooklyn, Hilo, Richmond, and Virginia Beach, according to Phone Arena.
The outage made it so users were unable to complete calls, send and receive text messages, phones had no signal, and users had issues with 5G internet. iPhone users noted that their devices were stuck in SOS mode during the outage, so they could not complete inbound or outbound calls, but users could use FaceTime audio to communicate between iPhones.
The outage lasted between eight to 10 hours depending on the location. Service was fully restored at approximately 10 p.m. eastern time. Verizon addressed the issues at the time, noting via social media that the network lapse was likely a “software issue,” which it was working to resolve. The company ultimately stated that there was no connection that the outage was caused by a cyberattack. The Federal Communications Commission has also announced its investigation into the incident.
This isn’t Verizon’s first outage issue. The carrier also experienced major down time last August, which the network similarly attributed to a software issue, Bloomberg detailed.
Inc. noted that scores of frustrated Verizon customers began flooding the official Verizon Support X account with concern during the outage and were met with responses from human agents at the other end.
During a time when AI automation is becoming more standard, Verizon’s consumer group CEO, Sampath Sowmyanarayan has been quoted as saying the company aims to use AI to take some of the “cognitive workload” off of employees so they can focus on communicating with customers.
A small number of AT&T and T-Mobile subscribers also reported network issues, due to not being able to make calls to people with Verizon numbers. This sparked the carriers to share some cheeky rebuttals on social media, ensuring that their networks were up and running. The X posts notably went viral.
“T-Mobile’s network is keeping our customers connected, and we’ve confirmed that our network is operating normally and as expected. However, due to Verizon’s reported outage, our customers may not be able to reach someone with Verizon service at this time,” T-Mobile said on X. “Our network? Solid. If you’re experiencing issues, it’s not us.....it’s the other guys. Some things are just out of our hands! - BUT if you're interested in giving us a try,” AT&T said on X.