How to Get $20 After the Major Verizon Outage

Verizon customers impacted by a massive network outage that knocked out service on Wednesday will receive $20 in account credits as compensation. ​​The nation’s largest mobile service provider announced the sum online after apologizing for the disruption and saying the issue was resolved. The company did not specify the cause of the outage, which lasted about 10 hours and generated as many as 2 million reports, by some accounts, on downdetector.com, a website that tracks major network hiccups.

Verizon directed customers to log in to the My Verizon app and tap Accept to redeem the $20 credit, which it says covers “multiple days of service” on average. The carrier also said customers will receive a text message with instructions for redeeming the credit.

It isn’t yet clear whether the credits will appear on the next customer bill or at a later time.

Verizon business customers will be contacted directly.

“This credit isn’t meant to make up for what happened. No credit really can. But it’s a way of acknowledging our customers’ time and showing that this matters to us,” Verizon said in a statement shared with AARP. 

The outage affected wireless voice and data services, with phones showing “SOS” or “no network” status indicators. Landlines were not impacted.

Verizon urges customers still experiencing any issues to restart their devices and try reconnecting to the network.

During the outage, rival AT&T and T-Mobile networks continued to operate normally, though customers of those companies may have had difficulty calling people with Verizon phones.

Those rivals tried to exploit Verizon’s misfortune. “Our network? Solid. If you’re experiencing issues it’s not us.....it’s the other guys,” AT&T posted on Instagram.

On X, T-Mobile posted that its network “is keeping our customers connected.”

But Verizon’s competitors aren’t immune to major hiccups themselves. In 2024, AT&T paid $5 each  to affected customers when its own network went down for several hours.