Verizon Offers $20 Credit to Customers After Nationwide Service Outage

Verizon has issued an apology and is offering a $20 account credit to customers affected by a significant service outage that disrupted wireless voice and data services across the United States for over 10 hours on January 14, 2026. The outage began around noon Eastern Time and was resolved by 10:20 p.m. ET.

In a statement, Verizon acknowledged the disruption, stating, "We did not meet the standard of excellence our customers expect and that we expect of ourselves." The company added, "To help provide some relief to those affected, we are giving customers a $20 account credit."

Customers can redeem the credit by logging into the My Verizon app, where they will receive a notification when the credit is available. Business customers will be contacted directly regarding their credits. Verizon emphasized that the credit is a gesture of acknowledgment, noting, "This credit isn't meant to make up for what happened. No credit really can. But it's a way of acknowledging your time and showing that this matters to us."

The outage affected major metropolitan areas, including New York City, Houston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, Charlotte, Dallas, and Ashburn. Customers reported issues such as devices displaying "SOS" mode and no signal warnings. Verizon has not disclosed the specific cause of the outage but confirmed that it was due to a software issue and not a cyberattack.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is reviewing the incident. Verizon advises customers still experiencing issues to restart their devices to reconnect to the network.