AT&T says it will credit customers for last week’s massive outage

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The reaction to last week’smajor AT&T network outagein the US last week hasn’t died down yet, and we’re now getting some details about how affected customers are going to be compensated for the loss of service.

Via a newAT&T support page, the company apologizes for the outage. “We recognize the frustration this outage has caused and know we let many of our customers down,” says AT&T. “We understand this may have impacted their ability to connect with family, friends, and others.”

To “make it right” with customers, the company is proactively applying a credit to the accounts of those affected. This credit represents “the average cost of a full day of service” – the amount isn’t specifically mentioned, but it’sreportedly $5 per person.

If you’re on AT&T and you lost service on Thursday, you should see the credit appear in the next one or two bill cycles. AT&T says it’s working separately with business customers to reach deals on compensation amounts.

No data leaks

We recognize the frustration Thursday’s outage caused & know we let many of our customers down. To help make it right, we are applying a credit to potentially impacted accounts to help reassure our customers of our commitment to reliably connect them - anytime and anywhere. It…February 25, 2024

The reactions to the credit offer have been mixedon social media, varying from thosedescribing itas an “insult”, to others taking a morephilosophical view. Some AT&T customers have pledged to switch carriers after the outage.

AT&T has alsopublished a letterfrom CEO John Stankey, sent to employees, which goes into a little bit more detail. The letter says Thursday was a “challenging” day, while also expressing confidence that the compensation is “fully manageable” – $5 each for potentially hundreds of millions of customers is a significant sum.

Stankey reiterateswhat we heard last week: a technical error rather than a cyberattack was to blame for the outage, which lasted for around half a day. According to AT&T, no customer data has been exposed as a result of the problems.

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While AT&T seemed somewhatslow off the markin addressing user concerns last week, it now seems eager to make up for the breakdown in service. AT&T says it’s “taking steps to prevent this from happening again in the future”.

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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

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