Verizon is now distributing the $20 credit it promised following Wednesday’s outage.
As PCMag reports, although you will need to redeem it proactively, the process seems easy. The carrier will send a text when the credit is available.
For its part, Verizon has apologized profusely for the outage and sent customers texts that read, “Valued Verizon Customer – We let you down this week. For that we are truly sorry. We would like to extend you a $20 account credit that can be easily redeemed via the link below. On average, this covers multiple days of service. This credit isn’t meant to make up for what happened. But it’s a way of acknowledging your time and showing that this matters to us….”
Checking the link provided in that text message takes you to the Verizon app, where you’ll see a “Redeem Now” button. If you’re wary of clicking links in random text messages (as you should be), the $20 credit should also be available if you log into your account on Verizon’s website.
However, not everyone has been able to easily redeem the credit. One user tweeted a screenshot showing the link failing. “The irony of trying to redeem my Verizon credit for the outage and it keeps not being able to connect,” the customer tweeted. Additionally, the credit will be applied to the customer’s next monthly bill “in 1-2 bill cycles,” Verizon says, so it may not happen immediately.
According to PCMag, Verizon has said it is only issuing $20 per customer, rather than $20 per line. The carrier settled on the amount, saying it’s meant to cover “multiple days of service,” even though the outage itself only lasted about 10 hours. Still, some customers argue that $20 isn’t enough to compensate for a lost day of work when the outage prevented users from making phone calls, texting, or using mobile data, which is especially crucial for Uber and DoorDash drivers. Others struggled to reach their loved ones for help.
A few users have reported securing higher compensation from Verizon after contacting customer support. “If you call, you’re able to request more. I was able to get an additional $50, but I know some people were getting $20 per line or even more than $59,” wrote one user on Reddit. That said, others say reaching Verizon customer support has been a struggle.
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