Verizon (VZ) Offers Customers $20 Credit After Network Outage

Wireless internet provider Verizon (VZ) is offering its customers $20 credits to compensate them for a network outage that left millions of people unable to text or call for several hours on Jan. 14.

Verizon still hasn’t said what caused the massive outage, only that it has been “resolved.” There is speculation on the internet that the outage occurred because of a software update. But Verizon’s website only says, “If customers are still having an issue, we encourage them to restart their devices to reconnect to the network.”

Downdetector, a website that tracks internet disruptions, said that Verizon received 2,341,170 reports of outages in the 24 hours starting at 11 a.m. Eastern time on Jan. 14, with a big spike of about 180,000 reports at the same time in the early afternoon. About 60% of Verizon users reported problems with mobile phones, 35% said they had no signal, and 5% reported issues with their internet.

Compensating Verizon’s Customers

Verizon said the $20 credit to its To access the $20 credit, the company told customers to log in to their myVerizon app to accept. On average, the amount covers multiple days of service, Verizon said. It is contacting business customers 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 our customers’ time and showing that this matters to us,” Verizon said.

Verizon reports fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 30.

Numerous outages were reported in New York City, Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Brooklyn, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Miami, according to Downdetector.

After seeing some users report that they were seeing “SOS” instead of signal bars on their devices, Krispy Kreme
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-3.11%

responded on social media “SOS got you down?” and offered people free glazed doughnuts from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, saying “some days need a sweet backup plan you can rely on.”

T-Mobile
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and AT&T
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each said their networks were operating normally, but that their customers might not be able to reach someone on Verizon’s network.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the outage was related to a software update and only affected certain devices, such as Apple iPhone models 14 and higher, and some devices running Google’s Android operating system.

“Yesterday, we did not meet the standard of excellence our customers expect and that we expect of ourselves,” a Verizon spokesperson told Barron’s.