AT&T says it will credit customers for last week’s massive outage
The reaction to last week’s major AT&T network outage in the US has not subsided, and we are now getting some details on how affected customers will be compensated for the loss of service.
Through a new one AT&T support page, the company apologizes for the outage. “We recognize the frustration this outage has caused and know we have let many of our customers down,” AT&T said. “We understand this may have impacted their ability to connect with family, friends and others.”
To “make amends” to customers, the company proactively applies credit to the accounts of those affected. This credit represents “the average cost of a full day of service.” The amount is not specifically stated, but it is reportedly $5 per person.
If you’re on AT&T and lost service on Thursday, the credit should show up in the next one or two billing cycles. AT&T says it is working separately with business customers to agree on compensation amounts.
No data leaks
We recognize the frustration caused by Thursday’s outage and know that we have let many of our customers down. To make up for this, we are applying a credit to potentially affected accounts to assure our customers of our commitment to connecting them reliably anytime, anywhere. It…February 25, 2024
Reactions to the credit offer have been mixed on social mediavarying from there describes it as an “insult”, to others who take more of it philosophical view. Some AT&T customers have promised to switch providers after the outage.
AT&T has done that too published a letter from CEO John Stankey, sent to employees, which goes into a little more depth. The letter notes that Thursday was a “challenging” day, and also expresses confidence that the compensation is “completely manageable” – $5 each for potentially hundreds of millions of customers is a significant amount.
Stankey reiterates what we heard last week: the outage, which lasted about half a day, was a technical glitch rather than a cyberattack. According to AT&T, no customer information was released as a result of the issues.
Although AT&T seemed slow to address user concerns over the past week, it now appears willing to make up for the service disruption. AT&T says it is “taking steps to prevent this from happening again in the future.”