“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 will take 1-2 billing cycles to see the credit, depending on when their bill closes,” AT&T posted on social media following their massive outage.
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…
— AT&T News (@ATTNEWS) February 25, 2024
The AT&T wireless outage that left customers high and dry for approximately 10 hours last Thursday. Now, prepare yourselves because the resolution to this fiasco is, frankly, a bit of a slap in the face to those affected.
AT&T, a titan in the telecom industry, experienced this significant service interruption not due to a cyberattack, but rather due to what they’ve described as the “application and execution of an incorrect process” during network expansion efforts.
Sounds more like incompetence.
So how did AT&T choose to address this inconvenience to their loyal customer base? With a billing credit. But not just any credit, a grand total of $5. Yes, you heard that right, five dollars.
The details can be found on the company’s “Making It Right” page on their website.
Over 73,000 outage reports were logged during this time on Downdetector, a site tracking service disruptions. The real number of impacted customers is likely even higher, given Downdetector only captures a fraction of actual incidents. Additionally, services including ones that cover emergencies were affected as well.
“We apologize and recognize the frustration this outage has caused and know we let many of our customers down,” says an AT&T spokesperson, promising this token $5 as a testament to their “commitment to reliably connect them – anytime and anywhere.” Yet, this gesture seems to fall short of acknowledging the actual inconvenience and potential loss experienced by their customers.
To add a layer of anticipation to this generous offer, AT&T notes that these credits will appear within one or two billing cycles, depending on when your account cycles close. So, not only is the credit laughably inadequate, but you’ll also need to wait to see this monumental sum reflected on your statement.
And before you think this applies to all AT&T services, think again. This credit will not grace the accounts of AT&T Business, AT&T Prepaid, or Cricket users.
The incident has caught the eye of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is investigating the outage.
In a time when connectivity is more crucial than ever, disruptions like these remind us of the fragility in our lines of communication. Yet, the response from AT&T – a mere $5 credit – might just be more telling than the outage itself. It speaks volumes about how the company values its customers and their experience. In the grand scheme of things, this gesture might be seen as little more than an insincere pat on the back after a day of frustrations.
