Verizon issues $20 credits to customers after massive outage: How to claim, when will you get it? — all FAQs answered

Verizon Communications Inc. said it will provide $20 credits to customers impacted by a widespread service outage on Wednesday, which the company said was caused by a “software issue".

“Yesterday, we did not meet the standard of excellence our customers expect and that we expect of ourselves,” Verizon said in a statement on Thursday morning. The company said it is offering $20 account credits, which should cover “multiple days of service".

“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,” it said on X.

Service disruptions were first reported shortly before noon in New York, according to Downdetector. The number of complaints surged to around 177,339 roughly an hour later. Cities recording the highest volume of reports included New York, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and Miami.

Verizon credit for outage: All FAQs answered

Who is eligible for $20 credit?

Customers impacted by the service disruption on Wednesday will qualify for the credit.

How to claim $20 Verizon credit?

The $20 credit will be accessible through the myVerizon mobile app, and eligible customers will receive a text notification once it becomes available to apply.

“We will give you a $20 account credit that can be easily redeemed by logging into the myVerizon app,” it stated.

When will you get it?

Customers will receive a text message once the credit becomes available.

According to David Witkowski, a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, which helps set global technology standards, such disruptions are typically triggered by external factors rather than the carriers themselves, as per Bloomberg.

In an emailed statement, he stated cyberattacks can be one such external cause, but outages may also result from issues involving third-party vendors that “provide contracted compute resources.” He added that other external factors can include “software updates and patches that work on testbed systems, but fail in deployment due to unforeseen issues with legacy hardware.”

Verizon said on Wednesday that there was no indication to suggest the outage was linked to a cyberattack.

Verizon experienced another major network outage last August that impacted thousands of customers across the United States and disrupted services for several hours. At the time, the company said the issue was caused by a software problem.

Verizon shares fell 1.3% in early trading in New York on Thursday.