Verizon customers across the country were taken offline yesterday as a massive network outage cut out cell service entirely for many customers for several hours, but Verizon says that “account credits” will be sent out to those affected.
Network outages aren’t an uncommon occurrence, but widespread, long-lasting outages like the one Verizon customers faced yesterday are exceptionally rare.
Just prior to 1pm ET on January 14, Verizon customers started reporting en masse that their phones were unable to connect to mobile data, or even phone calls and SMS. iPhone users saw nothing but a “SOS” icon, while Android users were left with a cross-out on their network icons. Outside of Wi-Fi, it left phones useless.
It wasn’t until 10:20pm ET – going on 10 hours later – that Verizon finally confirmed that the issue had been resolved, telling subscribers to “restart their devices to reconnect to the network” if they were still having issues.
Verizon said:
The outage has been resolved. If customers are still having an issue, we encourage them to restart their devices to reconnect to the network. For those affected, we will provide account credits. Details will be shared directly with customers. We sincerely apologize for the disruption.
Verizon has yet to publicly confirm the reason for the outage, but the carrier says that “details will be shared directly with customers” and that “account credits” will be sent to those affected.
Shortly after this article was published, Verizon updated its comments, confirming that customers can redeem a $20 credit via the MyVerizon app. A text will be sent once the credit is available, and this appears on be a on per-account basis rather than per-line.
The credit does not automatically apply and needs to be manually redeemed.
Verizon says:
Yesterday, we did not meet the standard of excellence you expect and that we expect of ourselves.
To help provide some relief to those affected, we will give you a $20 account credit that can be easily redeemed by logging into the myVerizon app. You will receive a text message when the credit is available. On average, this covers multiple days of service. Business customers will be contacted directly about their credits.
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.
If you’re still having trouble connecting, please restart your device (power down and power back on). This is the fastest way to reconnect your phone to the network.
We are sorry for what you experienced and will continue to work hard day and night to provide the outstanding network and service that you expect from Verizon.
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