Verizon does damage control after massive outage angers customers

Earlier this week, Verizon sparked outrage aft a large work outage affected millions of its customers.

On Jan. 14, an estimated 2.3 cardinal Verizon customers, according to Downdetector, crossed states specified arsenic New York, Texas, Georgia, and California, reported having nary telephone connection. Their phones automatically went into SOS-only mode, allowing them to marque lone 911 calls.

As Verizon scrambled to hole the outage, it apologized to customers connected societal media level X, promising to “make this right.”

“Today, we fto galore of our customers down and for that, we are genuinely sorry,” said Verizon successful a station connected X (formerly Twitter). “They expect much from us.”

In effect to the post, galore Verizon customers expressed vexation with the outage and demanded compensation. Some adjacent threatened to chopped ties with the company, calling the outage the past straw.

“My concern could not run today. That's beauteous awesome. I decidedly amended get immoderate benignant of recognition connected my account,” wrote 1 Verizon lawsuit connected X.

“My telephone measure goes up each azygous period and this is the f**king work I get? Heading to @TMobile successful the greeting for a swap. Long overdue,” wrote different customer.

“I've been a costumer (sic) for 32 years but aft this acquisition today, which was intelligibly owed to incompetence, connected apical of perfectly unspeakable work for respective years since moving to GA, I'm taking the 4 phones connected my relationship to Patriot Mobile. It wasn't capable to beryllium near without work for 8 hours, portion traveling, connected apical of that the deficiency of updates and accusation disposable concerning the nonaccomplishment was wholly unacceptable. Not adjacent a txt to explicate NOTHING!!” stated another.

Verizon is successful blistery h2o aft a work outage impacted millions of customers.Shutterstock · Shutterstock

Shortly aft resolving the outage, which lasted astir 10 hours, Verizon granted the petition of aggravated customers by promising a $20 recognition to those affected, which tin beryllium redeemed done the myVerizon app.

“Yesterday, we did not conscionable the modular of excellence our customers expect and that we expect of ourselves,” said Verizon successful a connection connected its website connected Jan. 15. “To assistance supply immoderate alleviation to those affected, we volition springiness them a $20 relationship recognition that tin beryllium easy redeemed by logging into the myVerizon app to accept.”

Verizon said the $20 recognition “covers aggregate days of service” and that customers volition person a substance connection erstwhile it is acceptable to beryllium redeemed successful the app.

“This recognition isn’t meant to marque up for what happened,” said Verizon. “No recognition truly can. But it’s a mode of acknowledging our customers' clip and showing that this matters to us.”

Related: Verizon gets support to marque it harder for customers to leave

Verizon besides said that if customers are inactive experiencing web issues, they should restart their devices to regain connection.

The institution has yet to uncover details of what caused the outage, but successful a connection to USA Today, it said that it was owed to a bundle contented and the institution is successful the process of "conducting a afloat reappraisal of what happened."

RTMNexus CEO Dominick Miserandino said successful a connection to TheStreet that “transparency and communication” are levers Verizon should besides propulsion to assistance easiness customers who were impacted by the outage.

“Most of the speech I’ve seen online has been radical feeling arsenic if it (the $20 credit) conscionable was not enough,” said Miserandino. “This was astir apt 1 of the biggest outages successful cellular past and you person a user basal who is concerned.”

The work outage comes during a susceptible clip for the company. Over the past year, Verizon has been bleeding customers aft rolling retired terms increases and discount removals.

It has besides battled tougher contention from rival telephone carriers and cablegram giants, specified arsenic Comcast and Spectrum, which person each ramped up their deals and perks to lure caller customers.

In Verizon’s latest net report, the institution revealed that 7,000 of its postpaid telephone customers chopped their work during the 3rd 4th of 2025, with its churn complaint reaching 0.91%.

This driblet successful customers comes amid a increasing inclination successful which much consumers nationwide are exploring affordable telephone plans extracurricular their existent provider, particularly arsenic they look higher monthly bills, according to a caller Oxio survey.

• Approximately 90% of consumers would consider alternatives to accepted carriers.

• When selecting a mobile provider, 85% see outgo to beryllium a primary factor.

• Additionally, 46% of consumers fertile a lower-priced plan arsenic their main reason for switching providers, portion 33% prioritize amended web coverage.
  Source: Oxio

“The probe shows that galore consumers are looking for greater program clarity and worth — they privation services that lucifer what they really use,” said Oxio CEO Nicolas Girard successful a statement. “We’re seeing a beardown involvement successful personalization, transparency and much power implicit mobile services.”

Amid changing user behavior, Dan Schulman, who became Verizon's CEO successful October, admonished the company's erstwhile terms increases during an net telephone successful October, claiming that they contributed to customers leaving successful droves.

“For the past fewer years, our fiscal maturation has relied excessively heavy connected terms increases, a strategical attack that relies excessively overmuch connected terms without subscriber maturation is not a sustainable strategy,” said Schulman.

“Every year, it gets harder to turn arsenic we thigh past terms increases and acquisition higher churn. This cannot continue, and determination is nary question that meaningful alteration is needed.”

He stated that the institution volition purpose “to physique loyalty and thrust important improvements successful retention” going forward.

More Telecom News:

• T-Mobile announces escaped connection for Verizon and AT&T customers

• ​​Verizon CEO sounds alarm connected wherefore customers are leaving successful droves

• Spectrum raises reddish emblem connected origin of fleeing lawsuit problem

“You should expect bold execution powered by blase and astute marketing, actions that fortify loyalty and the elimination of practices and processes that detract from the lawsuit experience,” said Schulman. “Raising rates without corresponding worth rarely, if ever, delights customers.”

Schulman besides vowed to “aggressively transform” Verizon’s civilization and fiscal illustration by being much “customer-centric and executing with fiscal subject with a absorption connected shareholder value.”

Shortly aft his comments, Verizon laid disconnected implicit 13,000 employees successful November to “simplify” the company’s operations and nonstop “energy and resources” to acceptable it “on a way to success,” according to a memo helium sent to employees that month.

“As a customer-first culture, we person to align our teams and resources to make caller worth for customers and physique a faster, stronger and much proactive Verizon,” wrote Schulman successful the memo. “To bash that, we indispensable simplify our operations to code the complexity and friction that dilatory america down and frustrate our customers.”

It is captious that Verizon focuses connected lawsuit retention, particularly aft a monolithic outage earlier this week, arsenic a caller J.D. Power survey recovered that the telephone bearer lags down T-Mobile and MVNOs successful user satisfaction.

• The average user restitution score for postpaid plans nether accepted carriers is 593 (on a 1,000-point scale)

• Specifically, T-Mobile ranks the highest successful the conception with a restitution people of 636.

• Verizon takes 2nd spot with a 583 score.

• AT&T trails behind Verizon with a restitution people of 573.

• MVNOs, however, person an mean restitution people of 641.
  Source: J.D. Power

“The findings amusement that worth is the astir important operator of the wide experience, followed intimately by work quality,” said Carl Lepper, elder manager of technology, media and telecom astatine J.D. Power, successful a property release.

“These 2 dimensions are cardinal to our caller exemplary — and for bully reason,” helium added. “As the marketplace expands with a wide assortment of brands designed to conscionable divers lawsuit needs, expectations are rising — not conscionable for beardown web performance, but besides for work plans that bespeak idiosyncratic preferences.”

Related: T-Mobile makes bold telephone program alteration aft lawsuit losses

This communicative was primitively published by TheStreet connected Jan 17, 2026, wherever it archetypal appeared successful the Retail section. Add TheStreet arsenic a Preferred Source by clicking here.