Verizon Outage Update: Service Largely Restored, $20 Bill Credits
Verizon Offers $20 Credits After Hours-Long Nationwide Outage, But Questions Remain
Verizon confirmed it will provide a one-time $20 credit to eligible customers whose service was disrupted during the outage. The credit applies to postpaid wireless accounts and is expected to appear on upcoming bills rather than as immediate refunds.
Customers are being directed to request the credit through Verizon’s customer support channels, rather than receiving it automatically. Verizon has not said how many customers qualify, nor how long the credit request window will remain open.
For many users, the credit amounts to less than a single day of service, especially on multi-line or premium unlimited plans.
Why the Credit Matters — and Why It Falls Short
The $20 credit is notable because Verizon rarely offers flat, dollar-amount compensation after outages. Historically, credits have been prorated based on daily service rates, often resulting in only a few dollars.
Still, critics argue the gesture doesn’t match the scale of the disruption.
The outage:
-
Lasted more than seven hours for many customers
-
Affected users across multiple regions
-
Triggered emergency alerts in cities like New York City and Washington, D.C. warning that some users may not be able to reach 911
-
Prompted the Federal Communications Commission to say it would review the incident and “take appropriate action”
Against that backdrop, consumer advocates say a $20 credit feels more symbolic than substantive.
Who Is Eligible — and Who Isn’t
Verizon has not released full eligibility details, but based on prior outage credits, several limitations are likely:
-
Postpaid customers are prioritized; prepaid and MVNO users may not qualify
-
Business and enterprise accounts may be handled separately
-
Credits may require manual requests, adding friction for customers
-
Credits typically do not cover indirect losses, such as missed work or business disruption
Customers on Verizon-powered MVNOs — such as Visible — are generally subject to their own provider’s policies, even though they rely on Verizon’s network.
 |
| Verizon Outage Map |
After four to five hours of widespread service disruption on January 14, 2026, Verizon says its network has been largely restored, though some customers continued to report intermittent issues into the evening.
According to live updates tracked throughout the day, Verizon customers began losing service shortly before midday Eastern Time, with phones showing “SOS” or “SOS Only”, failed calls, and no mobile data. Outage reports surged rapidly and peaked in the early afternoon, making this one of the carrier’s most disruptive incidents in recent years.
By mid-to-late afternoon, however, outage-tracking data showed a sharp decline in reports, signaling that Verizon engineers were making progress. In several regions, customers reported that voice calls, texts, and mobile data were gradually returning. Verizon later confirmed that its teams had identified the issue and restored service for the majority of users, though it stopped short of declaring the outage completely over nationwide.
Read more:
- Verizon Outage Update: Service Largely Restored
- Top 7 Best Alternatives for Calls, Texts, and 911 When Verizon Is Down
- Who Pays When Verizon Goes Down?
What Verizon Has Confirmed So Far
In statements shared during and after the incident, Verizon said its engineering teams were fully deployed and working to resolve the disruption as quickly as possible. As service returned, the company indicated that most customers should see normal connectivity restored, while acknowledging that some users might still experience delays reconnecting or brief drops as systems stabilized.
Notably, Verizon has not yet disclosed the root cause of the outage or explained why such a large portion of the network was affected simultaneously. That lack of detail mirrors previous large-scale outages across the telecom and cloud industries, where technical explanations often follow days later after internal reviews.
Read more: Verizon Outage: Can You Still Call 911 in SOS Mode? What to Do If Calls Fail
 |
| Downdetector data showed reports of service problems rising to nearly 180,000 users and then dropping significantly later in the afternoon, indicating some parts of the network were recovering. However, Verizon itself has not confirmed a complete restoration, instead repeating that engineers are working to fix the service issue. |
What “Largely Restored” Means for Customers
Even after Verizon said service was back for most users, real-world experiences varied:
-
Many customers regained full service including voice, SMS, and mobile data.
-
Some devices remained stuck in SOS mode longer than others and required restarts to reconnect.
-
Intermittent issues were reported in pockets of the Northeast, Midwest, and select West Coast cities.
-
A smaller number of users said service returned but was slower or less stable than normal for several hours.
This uneven recovery is typical after major network disruptions, as traffic loads rebalance and systems resynchronize across regions.
Where is Verizon outage hitting the hardest?Downdetector's outage map shows the largest remaining outages, as of just after 5:30 ET, are occurring near New York City, Southern New Jersey, Washington D.C and Chicago. Other locales continuing to show large outages include: Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Boston and Tucson. |
Emergency Calling Concerns Remain a Key Issue
One of the most serious aspects of the outage was its potential impact on 911 calling. While some Verizon customers were able to reach emergency services, local officials in several states warned that 911 connectivity and call-backs could be unreliable during the disruption. Even as service returned, authorities continued to urge residents to use landlines or phones on other carriers when available if emergency calls failed.
Read more: Widespread Verizon Outage: What is SOS on my Phone? And What I Can Do?
 |
| Widespread Verizon outage prompts emergency alerts in Washington, New York City |
What Customers Should Do Now
If your Verizon service was affected:
-
Restart your phone to force a fresh network connection.
-
Update your device software if updates are pending.
-
Enable Wi-Fi calling when possible as a backup.
-
Monitor Verizon’s official support channels for follow-up explanations or customer credits.
Customers who continue to experience problems after the restoration window are encouraged to contact Verizon support directly.
What Comes Next
As of the latest updates, Verizon’s network appears mostly operational, but questions remain about what caused the outage, whether emergency systems were compromised, and what steps Verizon will take to prevent a repeat. Regulators and consumer advocates are expected to seek more transparency in the coming days.
For now, the January 14 outage stands as another reminder of how dependent millions of Americans are on a small number of massive networks — and how disruptive even a few hours of downtime can be.
