AT&T Giving $5 Credit to Customers Following Major Network Outage

[MacRumors]

AT&T has announced that it will be providing impacted customers with a $5 bill credit per account as compensation for the network's major outage across the U.S. on Thursday. The credits will automatically be applied within two bill cycles, it said.

AT&T said the bill credit offer does not apply to AT&T Business, prepaid, or Cricket customers. A spokesperson for the carrier told CNET that those customers will "have options available to them if they were potentially impacted by the outage."

The carrier's full statement apologizing for the outage:

We apologize for Thursday's network outage. We recognize the frustration this outage has caused and know we let many of our customers down. We understand this may have impacted their ability to connect with family, friends, and others. Small business owners may have been impacted, potentially disrupting an essential way they connect with customers.

To help make it right, we're reaching out to potentially impacted customers and we're automatically applying a credit to their accounts. We want to reassure our customers of our commitment to reliably connect them – anytime and anywhere. We're crediting them for the average cost of a full day of service.

We're also taking steps to prevent this from happening again in the future. Our priority is to continuously improve and be sure our customers stay connected.

AT&T also shared the letter that its CEO John Stankey sent to the company's employees. In it, he said the company "let down" many of its customers and has "already implemented changes to prevent what happened on Thursday."

'Incorrect Process'

Based on its initial review, AT&T said it believed that the outage was caused by the "application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network," not a cyber attack. The U.S. government on Thursday said the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were looking into the outage.

The outage began in the early hours of Thursday morning, with tens of thousands of customers complaining that they were unable to make cellular phone calls, send or receive text messages, or use cellular data. AT&T said about three-quarters of its customers were able to access its network by around 6 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, and it said that it had fully restored its network by around 1 p.m. Eastern Time that day.

Article Link: AT&T Giving $5 Credit to Customers Following Major Network Outage

 

[jeremz1ne]

wow a 5 dollar credit what a joke

 

[jz0309]

Well, at least they are owning it …
VZ customer here

 

[G5isAlive]

So human error? Better than the alternatives I suppose.

wow a 5 dollar credit what a joke

are we that wedded to our phones now that a short disruption that could easily be gotten around by gettin on wifi demands a pound of flesh? Just what do you think they should have done? 5 dollar credit seems fine to me.

 

[jz0309]

wow a 5 dollar credit what a joke

I suppose you were expecting more? What a joke…

 

[CarAnalogy]

I'm a little surprised they actually admitted what happened. Maybe they had no choice as outside agencies were investigating.

Now apologize for the way you treat your customers when the service is working!

 

[ghanwani]

Biggest joke ever.

 

[Greenmeenie]

Ooooh $5 bucks.

 

[Bryan839]

The FBI are investigating? Hahahaha. That’s so funny. Regular outages in the UK on our network no one worries

 

[icanhazmac]

AT&T said the bill credit offer does not apply to AT&T Business, prepaid, or Cricket customers. A spokesperson for the carrier told CNET that those customers will "have options available to them if they were potentially impacted by the outage."

Well that sucks. I am fairly sure the Cricket folks are looked down upon because it is considered a "discount" service but the business and prepaid customers suffered the same outage and should get the same compensation. I am fairly sure that "have options available to them" means, sue us, we'll wait.

 

[desslr]

Before you complain that is $5 more than Hutchinson (3) in the UK have given customers after 3 outages and over 48 hours of downtime…

 

[klasma]

If you have 700 accounts, that buys you a Vision Pro.

 

[kirk.vino]

Wow, $5!
Last time I had an outage with Spectrum, they gave me a $2.5 discount lol
Gotta love these corporations. They barely pay anything to their regular employees, charge their customers an arm and a leg for mediocre services, but the c-level crowd there makes all the money in the world.

 

[JoeG4]

are we that wedded to our phones now that a short disruption that could easily be gotten around by gettin on wifi demands a pound of flesh? Just what do you think they should have done? 5 dollar credit seems fine to me.

It was probably a massive headache for delivery services and any other devices that relied on at&t's network during that time.

 

[phenste]

I suppose you were expecting more? What a joke…

all of big telecom is a joke. this is a surprise to no one.

 

[Polinsky]

wow a 5 dollar credit what a joke

OK. So now tell us exactly what you think they should have done instead?

 

[Mr. Heckles]

It was less than a day for the outage. Not defending these morons, but my bill comes out to $4 a day.

 

[raythompsontn]

That 10 hour outage is only $0.87 based on a 29 day billing cycle and $60.00 a month bill. $5.00 seems generous.

 

[Matcha]

People have been contacting att thru chat getting $5-30. I got $10

 

[ikramerica]

The problem is that you don’t pay by the hour or day, so calculating $5 is “generous“ is false. You pay for the service to be there when you need it, and if it wasn’t there for you during this outage and you really needed it, the cost could be much higher to you than a prorated gift.

 

[newyorksole]

I went to AT&T so I could get the first iPhone in 2007 and switched to Verizon in like 2015 or 2016. haven’t looked back!

if this is the first time this has happened in the past like 5-10 years then idt getting $5 is a big deal. I would DEFINITELY be trying to get more privately tho for the hell of it lol.

 

[raythompsontn]

You pay for the service to be there when you need it, and if it wasn’t there for you during this outage and you really needed it, the cost could be much higher to you than a prorated gift

Correct. Like power service, which is not paid by the hour or day. Ever get a rebate from the power company for power outages? Have you ever tried to get a rebate from Xfinity when their service goes down for 18 hours? Again such service not paid by the hour or day. (/sarcasm)

Yes, I know what you are saying. In reality less than a dollar of the service time paid for was the service actually unavailable. For some people that downtime was no big deal. I know for my AT&T service I never noticed. For others it was critical. If a service is really critical, then a backup solution should be in place. These systems are in fact fragile and a cable cut, a massive power outage, a tree down, will disrupt these services.

 

[Rainshadow]

are we that wedded to our phones now that a short disruption that could easily be gotten around by gettin on wifi demands a pound of flesh? Just what do you think they should have done? 5 dollar credit seems fine to me.

That’s really not a fair characterization. People rely on these phones not just for instagram. Our emergency services here all run on our phones. Counties dispatch resources in many cases by cellphone, people report medical emergencies, locals are notified of hazards. A cellular service going down can literally cost lives. In a significant number of cases, it is the ONLY lifeline for folks.

I wasn’t affected. But to belittle people because they had a significant emergency, business operations, phone interviews, etc etc etc affected is self centered and ignorant in the literal term of the word ignorant - not the insulting way.

$5 is something, but realistically, either you weren’t affected at all… or your day was destroyed by the consequence. In one case, $5 is generous and unnecessary, on the other side, $5 is insulting and laughable.

And another thing, for 5 years ATT was my internet and phone provider before Starlink got on the scene. Many people around here still use that method. So, no. WiFi isn’t always available for folks.

I really get sickened when people assume all folks live exactly like they do and have blazing fast WiFi, perfect cell coverage or the ability to walk to a Starbucks.

 

[raythompsontn]

A cellular service going down can literally cost lives

If a system is that critical then a backup method should be available. Cellular systems are prone to power outages, cable cuts and stupidity (in this case). If lives depend on a system being operational, backup communication from a different provider should be mandatory.

 

[jz0309]

all of big telecom is a joke. this is a surprise to no one.

a "joke"? as in what? say more

they are all gouging, that I will agree with, but the entitlement of expecting more than $5 for a 12hr outage - that's a joke