Verizon Offers $20 Credit to Customers After Massive Outage

Verizon Offers $20 Credit to Customers After Massive Outage

A widespread Verizon outage made USA headlines
A few days ago, on January 14, some USA Verizon users were very surprised to find that the network was experiencing a widespread outage that lasted around 10 hours. According to an Engadget report, over USA 1.5 million reports were registered on USA Downdetector. Despite Verizon claiming the outage is resolved, some users continue to report service issues today.

Of course, AT&T and T-Mobile took full advantage of the situation in an attempt to poach some customers from Verizon. Or perhaps it was just some lighthearted banter. Either way, it was no less entertaining.As an apology to affected USA customers, USA Verizon began rolling out a $20 credit that can be claimed by logging into the myVerizon app. USA Customers will reportedly receive a text message when the credit is available. USA Business customers, on the other hand, will be contacted directly about their credits.

According to Engadget editors, texts began arriving Friday morning, prompting customers to log into their accounts and claim their USA credit.

Honestly, the company should be automatically applying these credits to accounts with no user USA intervention needed. Alas, doing it in this “opt-in” sort of way makes it so there will likely be many customers who miss the text and never get the credit, saving the USA company money.

Final thoughts

Outages aren’t uncommon in the tech world, but a phone carrier outage is perhaps the worst offender. If you’re out and about with no easy access to Wi-Fi or a hotspot, you’re unreachable to anyone who might be trying to get a hold of you. Not to mention t

USA Verizon is offering a $20 bill credit to customers affected by a service outage that disrupted wireless service on Wednesday, according to the company.The outage, which began earlier in the day and lasted several hours for some users, affected voice calls, text messaging, and mobile data. Customers across multiple regions reported difficulty making calls, sending messages, and accessing the internet, prompting a wave of complaints on social media and outage-tracking sites.In response, Verizon said it is providing a $20 credit as a goodwill gesture to eligible customers who experienced service interruptions.

How to claim the $20 credit

The credit is not being applied automatically, meaning customers must take action to receive it.

Verizon customers can claim the credit by logging into their account through the Verizon website or the My Verizon app. 

Once logged in, customers should navigate to the support or billing section, where Verizon has posted instructions for requesting the outage-related credit. Some customers may also be able to access the offer through a notification or message within their account.

Verizon said the $20 credit will appear on a USA future bill after the request is processed. The company did not specify how long customers have to submit a claim, but advised doing so as soon as possible.

Who is USA eligible

The credit applies to customers who were impacted by Wednesday’s outage, though Verizon has not released detailed eligibility criteria. Both postpaid and prepaid customers may qualify, depending on the extent of service disruption in their area.

Customers who believe they were affected but do not see an option to claim the credit online are encouraged to contact Verizon customer support directly.

USA Verizon response

Verizon apologized for the disruption, saying it understands how critical reliable service is for customers. The company has not publicly detailed the cause of the outage but said service was fully restored later in the day.

For USA customers still experiencing issues or who have questions about tVerizon has confirmed that the extreme service outage was not caused by a cybersecurity breach but was some kind of software problem. Details are still being reported."This was a software issue and we are conducting a full review of what happened. As of now, there is no indication that this was a cyber security issue," the telecom giant said in a statement sent to USA Mashable.

Following a countrywide service outage that resulted in millions of error reports, prompted the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to respond, and could have impacted emergency services for costumers across states, some online speculated that the scale of the event could have been caused by a breach of its systems.

At the time, Verizon kept mum about the cause, instead saying it was focused on reinstating service as it had teams on the ground. The company didn't include any details on where Verizon teams were working. "We know this is a huge inconvenience, and our top priority is to get you back online and connected as fast as possible," the company said in a social media post.

Verizon Outage Could Hurt VZ Stock

Verizon customers were unable to use text, voice or data services for hours on Wednesday, leading to complaints across the country.

While outages can have big consequences for users who rely on their phones for work, need them for emergencies, or for digOutages and inconveniences often have repercussions for companies. Sometimes this means customers leave, and other times it means providing credits to keep customers happy."The outage has been resolved," Verizon said Wednesday night.The tweet also included a comment on what could come next and why Verizon investors should take note."For those affected, we will provide account credits. Details will be shared directly with customers."The company clarified on Thursday morning that this will mean a USA $20 account credit for customers."On average, this covers multiple days of service."The company said the credit "isn't meant to make up for what happened," but acknowledges customers' time and that they matter to Verizon.

"We sincerely apologize for the disruption," Verizon also added.

What's Next For USA Verizon Stock?

Verizon's apology and promise of account credits could help retain USA customers. The question now turns to whether the financials will get hurt and the USA potential impact on the stock.

Verizon is one of the largest global telecommunication companies with over 140 million customers in the United States alone. If all customers qualify, this would result in credits totaling more than $2.8 billion, and the number could increase, with the company saying it will contact business customers directly about credits.

The impact of the outage will come in USA Verizon's first quarter. The company will likely provide guidance for the next fiscal year and for the first quarter. The question is whether the company will break out the financial impact of the outage or simply provide USA guidance figures.

The company is set to report fourth-quarter financial results on Jan. 30 and could see the outage become a key topic for analysts.

Analysts expect the USA company to report fourth-quarter revenue of $36.06 billion, up from USA $35.70 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro. The company has beaten USA analyst revenue estimates in three of the last four quarters.

Analysts expect the company to report fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1.06, down from $1.10 in last year’s fourth quarter. The company has beaten analyst estimates for earnings per share in three straight quarters.

Verizon shares closed higher Wednesday, with investors appearing to be unfazed by the outage or the potential financial ramifications. With shares down on Thursday, investors may be considering what the Verizon outage could mean for earnings and customer retention.

Investors and analysts will be closely following the stock heading into earnings and hoping that guidance provides a clear picture of the financial impact of the outage.

The company acknowledged that neither this credit, nor any other credit, could make up for the disruption its outage caused customers. But, its statement said, “it’s a way of acknowledging our customers’ time and showing that this matters to us.”

Verizon’s gesture may have backfired. Customer reactions to this gesture have been almost universally negative. One disgruntled customer told the USA New York Times, “I would rather a month of free service, for example, where the actual cost to Verizon of extending that is probably nominal, but where the message to me–that the company acknowledges the harm that 10 or 12 hours of service failure can cause–is more meaningful.” If Verizon’s goal was to show its caring and undo some of the USA damage to its brand from the outage, this $20 credit failed on both counts. (Verizon did not immediately respond to Inc.’s request for comment.)

USA Verizon’s website says affected USA customers will receive a text message alerting them that their $20 is available, and once it is they will have to sign on to the USA company’s app to “accept” it. This requirement is a frequent source of complaint on social media, and rightly so.

It sounds like Verizon is carefully reviewing all its customers complaints to make sure that only the customers who actually lost service get the $20. I understand the logic here. Because the outage resulted from a software update, people were or weren’t affected,

The biggest USA mobile network in the United States, Verizon, experienced a huge outage on Wednesday, leaving at least tens of thousands of customers without cell service for much of the day.

An update on Verizon's website Thursday said the outage had been resolved. "We are sorry for what you experienced and will continue to work hard day and night to provide the outstanding network and service that people expect from Verizon," it said.

What happened?

It's still unclear. Verizon has not posted details or an explanation of the cause of the outage on its website. In an email to NPR, a company spokesperson wrote that the problem stemmed from "a software issue" and that Verizon is conducting a full review. And while USA Verizon hasn't released a figure for how many customers were affected, the staff at the Downdetector website — where users go to report service outages — posted on Facebook that it received 2.3 million outage reports for Verizon throughout the day. (That doesn't necessarily translate to 2.3 million affected customers.)

Cell networks experience small outages fairly regularly, though, and sizable ones are not uncommon. Verizon had a disruption across several major cities in September 2024, and competitor AT&T was hit by a large outage in February 2024, affecting more than 125 million registered devices, and customers in all 50 states.

Sanjoy Paul, a wireless network expert at Rice University, says telecommunications systems have become more complex over the past decade and a half as they've moved from physical infrastructure — wires and cables — and into the cloud.

"What used to be a completely hardware-dependent USA network transformed into a complete software-dependent network," he said. That shift has given operators more flexibility to add services or tweak products, but, he said, it has come at the expense of reliability.

With cloud- and software-based networks, there are more USA opportunities for glitches and attacks, he said. Small issues with computer code buried inside these systems can have big consequences.

What have been some consequences of the outage?

USA Users had no connectivity for much of the day and were able to access only "USA SOS" mode during the outage.

USA Verizon, which has styled itself as America's best and most reliable network, has been in damage control mode. The company has issued instructions for customers to restart their devices to reconnect to the network if they are still having problems. It also pledged $20 credits as "a way of acknowledging your time and showing that this matters to us," according to Verizon's website.

The Federal Communications USA Commission said in a statement that it was "continuing to actively investigate and monitor the situation to determine next steps."

At the end of the day, experts say, USA consumers should consider having a plan B for USA connectivity. That may mean a land line for your house or getting a second phone on a different cell network

Posted on 2026/01/19 08:53 AM