AT&T Apologizes For Massive Outage With A $5 Bill Credit And Subscribers React

Last Thursday, many AT&T customers awoke to find their phones were not getting service. There was no quick fix—the issue persisted for about 12 hours, leaving AT&T users without reliable communication. Now, AT&T hopes it has a plan that will smooth things over. It's going to credit affected customers five bucks.

AT&T has a new support page titled "Make it Right" that will answer all the questions subscribers may have about the credit. "We recognize the frustration this outage has caused and know we let many of our customers down. We understand this may have impacted their ability to connect with family, friends, and others," says AT&T's Make it Right page. 

Judging from the online response, customers may not like how AT&T has chosen to make it right. The $5 credit is not per affected line; this is a single credit for the account. So, even if you have an expensive plan with five or six phones, all of which were affected, you get the same $5 payoff as someone who only has a single line. That's not the only thing irking AT&T's user base. The carrier confirms that it won't be issuing any credits to AT&T Business, AT&T Prepaid, and Cricket customers. It will also take 1-2 billing cycles for the miniscule credit to appear on all eligible accounts.
As AT&T explains, the $5 credit is based on the average cost of a full day of cellular service. By that measure, it seems like fair compensation. However, continuity of service is what people demand of mobile networks. No one would pay AT&T's average daily rate if 12-hour disruptions were common. People rely on their smartphones, particularly the mobile data connections that can allow them to work from anywhere. Many AT&T customers feel the credit is not sufficient compensation for the inconvenience of losing their connectivity. This would not be the first time AT&T's customer service has come off as tone-deaf. 

Some have speculated that the outage was the result of another hack or data breach. However, AT&T says nothing untoward happened. It blames the outage on a mistake on the carrier's end while conducting network upgrades. Even if customer data was impacted, it's unlikely you'd get any more cash. At best, AT&T might provide a few months of credit monitoring. Anyone unhappy with the $5 credit can express their outrage by switching to another carrier that will probably be just as unsympathetic of future outages.