AT&T Offers $5 in Compensation for Customers Impacted by Major Outage

An upset man is staring at his cell phone (Getty/Stock Photo).
Getty/Stock Photo
Olivia Rondeau

Cell carrier AT&T is planning to give a $5.00 compensation to customers who lost service for hours during last week’s network outage.

The major outage affected tens of thousands of customers nationwide from around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday until that evening, Breitbart News reported.

AT&T said the issues were likely caused by “the application & execution of an incorrect process” during network upgrades and was not the result of rumored cyberattacks. 

“We apologize for Thursday’s network outage. We recognize the frustration this outage has caused and know we let many of our customers down,” the company said in an announcement titled “Making It Right.”

“We understand this may have impacted their ability to connect with family, friends, and others,” AT&T continued. “Small business owners may have been impacted, potentially disrupting an essential way they connect with customers.”

The cell provider went on to say that impacted customers will get an extra credit added to their accounts “to help make it right.”

The small print at the bottom of the web page clarified that the credit does not apply to AT&T Business, AT&T Prepaid, and Cricket Wireless customers and that only five dollars will be loaded to each affected account. 

The compensation was laughable to many customers and tech experts alike.

Lulu Cheng Meservey, the executive vice president of video game company Activision Blizzard, said “$0 would’ve been better, truly.”

“Common mistake — a company trying to placate angry people with a half hearted gesture only makes people angrier,” she wrote on X. “Unless your gesture is going to wow people, it’s better to apologize, take the L, and let it go”:

“Thank you @ATT for the $5 credit for a work day phone outage,” posted comedian Kristina Hart. “On behalf of everyone who pays $200/month for service, we are not at all baffled at your ignorance. We are so grateful for the $5 as it covered the cost of breathing”:

Other X users simply told the company to “do better”:

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.