A cell phone tower is seen on February 22, 2024 in Redondo Beach, California. The outage affected tens of thousands of customers in cities across the country whose phones lost signal overnight.
Eric Thayer | Getty Images News | Getty Images
“It won’t be our last”
AT&T’s outage on Thursday crippled service for tens of thousands of customers who were unable to use their phones without Wi-Fi access. It was the result of an internal company error – rather than a cyberattack – as AT&T worked to expand its network, it said.
AT&T expects consumers and small business customers “most affected by the outage” to “compensate you for the inconvenience caused,” company CEO John Stankey wrote in a letter Sunday.
“This is not our first network outage and it will not be our last – unfortunately, it is the reality of our business,” he wrote.
AT&T credits the average cost for a full day of service, it said.
The credit does not apply to AT&T Business Enterprise and Platinum accounts, AT&T Prepaid or Cricket, its low-cost service, the company said. Affected prepaid customers “will have options available,” Stankey said, but did not elaborate.
Don’t wait for your provider
“My advice to consumers is: If this affects you, don’t wait for AT&T to decide” whether you qualify for a loan, said John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumer League.
“Call and say, ‘This has affected me. I want to make sure I get the recognition,'” he added.
Consumers who don’t want to call customer service may also be able to connect to a provider’s online portal or chatbot for a quicker resolution, he said.
Of course, phone and internet companies use such credits voluntarily, Breyault said. In contrast, federal laws governing the airline industry entitle consumers to a refund, for example in the event of a flight cancellation. There does not appear to be comparable consumer protection in the mobile communications sector, said Breyault.
The Federal Communications Commission in January proposed a rule that would provide discounts for consumers who face program blackouts with cable or satellite television subscriptions.
“It’s a matter of time” for consumers to demand a refund, Weinstock said. “But I think it would be worth always contacting your network provider and saying, ‘I’ve had an outage. It wasn’t my fault, you owe me money. You should bear the cost of this.’”
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2024-02-28 16:35:13
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