AT&T Will Issue $5 Reimbursements For 12-Hour Outage (cnn.com) 45
CNN reports:
AT&T is reimbursing customers for the nearly 12-hour network outage on Thursday, the company announced in a news release. The mobile network will issue a $5 credit to "potentially impacted" AT&T Wireless customers, which it says is the "average cost of a full day of service."
The credit will be applied automatically "within 2 bill cycles," according to an announcement at the URL att.com/makeitright. "We recognize the frustration this outage has caused and know we let many of our customers down."
In a much smaller font, they note that the credit "does not apply to AT&T Business, AT&T Prepaid or Cricket.
More from CNN: AT&T had encountered sporadic service interruptions in the days leading up to the outage, including a temporary 911 outage in some parts of the southeast. While regional disruptions to wireless service happen occasionally, prolonged nationwide outages are rare. The Federal Communications Commission confirmed Thursday it was investigating the incident...
Several hours after service was restored, AT&T released an update stating the outage seemed to be the result of an internal issue, not a cybersecurity threat. "Based on our initial review, we believe that today's outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network," the company said.
On Saturday, AT&T reiterated it was taking steps "to prevent this from happening again in the future," but did not elaborate.
The credit will be applied automatically "within 2 bill cycles," according to an announcement at the URL att.com/makeitright. "We recognize the frustration this outage has caused and know we let many of our customers down."
In a much smaller font, they note that the credit "does not apply to AT&T Business, AT&T Prepaid or Cricket.
More from CNN: AT&T had encountered sporadic service interruptions in the days leading up to the outage, including a temporary 911 outage in some parts of the southeast. While regional disruptions to wireless service happen occasionally, prolonged nationwide outages are rare. The Federal Communications Commission confirmed Thursday it was investigating the incident...
Several hours after service was restored, AT&T released an update stating the outage seemed to be the result of an internal issue, not a cybersecurity threat. "Based on our initial review, we believe that today's outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network," the company said.
On Saturday, AT&T reiterated it was taking steps "to prevent this from happening again in the future," but did not elaborate.
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Pretty sure $100 would have stopped it. Maybe $50 as well as say, a bare minimum. But with $5 I agree with you.
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Those who have businesses reliant on AT&T have a legitimate gripe as does anyone impacted by the inability to call for emergency services. The rest of us.. was honestly a bit nice to have one less distraction for the 6 hours it was down while I was awake.
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I kind of doubt it. I figure the $5 will work to stop a class action, as that is probably more than individual customers get in a class action lawsuit after the lawyer cut.
As mentioned elsewhere, on a daily basis, that is $150/month. Hourly would be $300. They're refunding more than the missed time by actual bill, median case.
This wouldn't leave enough to pay the class action lawyers, as they'd have to argue more than $5 would be appropriate, and would only get a reward for the amount above it.
Re:Class action incoming (Score:4, Funny)
"Since you've overpaid for your cell phone service by $50+ per month for the past several years, we're willing to give you a $5 credit for your extreme inconvenience and the threat to your safety." - AT&T
Ain't competition great? (Score:4, Informative)
Remember when we had three other wireless providers you could switch to, instead of two? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
I guess you can at least be glad they're giving you something. Spectrum's cable internet goes out all the time here and the only thing I ever get from them is an email saying that they're sorry. [youtube.com]
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Quite frankly having two credible alternatives is better than having only one.
I finally understand (Score:3, Interesting)
Some years back, I gave a homeless guy in San Francisco the loose change in my pocket .. which amounted 62 cents or something like that. He threw it in my face. Only now do I understand why.
Re:I finally understand (Score:4, Insightful)
One time I got accosted by a homeless dude in front of Aldi, who insisted he needed to return my shopping cart and keep the quarter. I told him "Sorry, but I don't carry cash and this is the only quarter I keep in my car specifically for when I shop here." He looked genuinely surprised, I suppose most people were just letting him bring their carts back. I guess the bums in Florida are more desperate.
Also on the subject of things that probably aren't worth the effort, the local Target near me has L2 EV chargers that are free for the first two hours. That's about $0.28 worth of juice (assuming you'll be there for the full two hours), but the catch is they're on the very far side of the parking lot. Foregoing $0.28 worth of gratis electricity in exchange for a closer parking spot seems like a damn bargain.
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Park it at the EV charge and then buy a Coke to refresh yourself from the long walk.
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Dude probably wanted to steal the shopping cart.
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So lemme get this straight (Score:4, Funny)
Next time I forget to pay in time, you just charge me what I owe instead of some ridiculous "late fee", right? Because it's just the "average cost of service" that I got anyway.
Average cost is $150/month? (Score:3)
The mobile network will issue a $5 credit to "potentially impacted" AT&T Wireless customers, which it says is the "average cost of a full day of service."
Which translates to $150/month for AT&T service -- wow. I pay $15/month ($17.33 w/taxes) for my single-line Flex plan at Ting (over T-Mobile) and even 4 lines would only be $70. Granted, I use less than 1GB of data/month, but still.
Maybe AT&T uses those gold Monster cables or something... :-)
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Granted, I use less than 1GB of data/month, but still.
Yep, that'd be the catch. My partner is glued to his phone and we can tell you that we've tried all the major MVNOs in an attempt to find something that isn't deprioritized straight to hell if you actually use your phone a significant amount away from WiFi. You get what you pay for these days.
That being said, $150/mo for a single line even on postpaid would be absolutely nuts.
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I use my phone all the time and have no issues with an MVNO, but I have excellent wifi at home and the few days I go into the office. I'm also judicious about connecting to hotspots when they're available, and I download podcasts and videos to my devices for offline use when I'm on wifi.
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I also use Ting.
25-35 bucks a month for a pair of smartphones.
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Sure, at the expense of their higher revenue customers. Of course, AT&T knows _exactly_ how much they're billing every account for that day, so picking $5 as an average is an even more a least effort CYA move.
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AT&T customer here, I pay $30 per month. But I'll take the $5!
Not for pre-paid? (Score:2)
Because I pay for the entire coming year in advance it doesn't matter if my phone didn't work for the same period of time as someone who pays after the fact monthly on a yearly contract.
I look forward to the class action.
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I'm assuming AT&T doesn't want to issue $5 credits for every burner phone that happened to be activated during this outage. A certain percentage of prepaid accounts are always going to just churn over to competitors or fail to be refilled, so why spend the effort trying to determine which ones are being used by your actual customers?
Or it could just be AT&T seeing it as a sort of reverse quid pro quo: you're under no obligation to provide fully reliable payments, they're under no obligation to prov
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I've been pre-paid on auto renew for years. I hope someone at AT&T can figure out the simple SQL query to identify real customers. If not then that would go a long way to explaining why they can't keep the phones running, either.
And I am absolutely required to provide reliable payments. I PRE-pay a year in advance. The monthly people are the ones who can miss a payment after using the service. It is literally impossible for me to fail to pay for service I'm using because I PRE-pay for it. If I did
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It's not a game. They put an offer in front of me. I signed it. I didn't find some magical way to cheat them.
If I wanted to pay $75/month for pseudo-unlimited service I don't need then I'd qualify for $5 refund when they go offline but if I pay $300/year for capped service I am playing a game?
Ok, sure. I want my frigging $5. They can credit it against my next year's bill.
If I bought tires on sale and they were defective and blew out 5 miles later I have the same rights as someone who bought the same ti
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Incorrect. I had been on a much more expensive plan for at least 10-15 years. I had never called in to complain about anything.
Try again Mr. I Know Everything So I Post AC
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Your post represents everything that is wrong with America.
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You have presented so many detailed facts, historical background, in depth logic, and sound reasoning I am left with no response.
Did you misclick when you reached for the AC box?
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Go ahead and file your stupid lawsuit for 1/366th (it's a leap year) of the annual fee you pay for your shitty cell service. I'll wait.
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Who said I was filing? I literally said I was waiting for someone else to.
Jfc, some people here really are fucking dumb.
You start shit based on your inability to read then double down when you get corrected. Take the L, bro, you've already self clowned twice. Stop digging.
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What a crybaby!
Muuuuwaaaaaaahhhhh! My cell phone didn't work today!! Call the Waaaaaaaaahbulance!
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Ad hominem. Sad.
Every time some low grade moron gets corrected his fragile DK ego can't stand it so has to "win" an internet argument (usually one he started) by using the absolute lowest forms of rhetorical tactics.
It would be funny if it weren't so sad.
Hint:that DK moron is you today. Take the huge L and move on, bro. Stop digging. It's a bad look.
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Muuuuwaaaaaaahhhhh, BRO!!!!
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Everyone should be on prepay. I get 16gigs/month with rollover and unlimited everything else for $25/month.
Why would anyone choose a different plan?
Is there some stigma that should make me pay more to get less with some other plan?
I don't have a Prada bag either.
Similar Event In Australia (Score:2)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
I'm with a reseller which whilst not their fault made 60GB of data available till the end of the year.
I do not use much data but needed to recently and noticed it is all still sitting there - happy days here!
Tell me: how many 911 calls did not go through? (Score:3)
And did anybody suffer consequences that were worth more than $5?
That's too much like these companies who lose all your personal info to the fine folks at RussianHackersDotCom and then offer you some freebie identity theft insurance (that costs them NOTHING, a deal they negotiated with the "insurer" who is counting on some number of people paying out-of-pocket to continue coverage after the brief free trial period they were given as compensation [eye roll]).
AT&T has had nearly a century of government-subsidized monopoly power as it provided land line service across the nation. Now, in the era of cell phones, they're letting all their copper infrastructure collapse and in CA (perhaps elsewhere) they've petitioned the government to be allowed to abandon the services that got them those decades of subsidy; they CLAIM that cell service will be a good replacement. Apparently they're not up to providing reliable basic service like 911 service via cell phones yet.
Any news about the other carriers that use AT& (Score:1)