Verizon is offering a very small mea culpa after Wednesday’s massive outage, which drew more than 1.5 million reports on Downdetector and lasted hours. Initially, the carrier posted on X that it will offer a $20 credit, but customers must redeem it in the myVerizon app. The company then said the credit could be claimed though customer service (via phone or chat), but our editors’ attempts to do so via chat were met with a message to wait for a text with further instructions.
Engadget editors began receiving the texts this morning (Jan 16) with a link to redeem. From there, you need to log into your account and visit the Account Overview section. Up top, there should be a Take Action or Mobile Actions button with a red notification circle. Click that and you’ll see a pop-up about the credit and a Redeem Now button. After you click that, you’re done, and Verizon says you should see the credit in one or two billing cycles. Of course, you’ll want to keep an eye out that it actually happens and contact the company if it doesn’t show up.
“This credit isn’t meant to make up for what happened. No credit really can,” the company wrote. “But it’s a way of acknowledging your time and showing that this matters to us.” Incensed customers have largely replied with incredulity, both at the miniscule amount, and that it isn’t being applied automatically. The entire redemption process takes a few clicks and about a minute to complete, which makes it even more frustrating that it can’t be automatically applied to every customer’s bill.
Update, January 15 2026, 11:57 PM ET: Verizon says the credit can be claimed through customer service via phone, chat and online in addition to the myVerizon app.
Update, January 16 2026, 10:29 AM ET: This story has been updated with detailed info about the redemption process which Verizon now says is completed with a link that will be texted to customers.
