Thousands of Verizon Customers Without Service After Spike in Outages Across U.S.
Verizon Confirms Service Disturbance
Verizon has confirmed thousands across the US have been left unable to use its service Some have had even worse problems, with numerous reports from users stating that on Monday they were unable to connect to their wireless network at all with many saying that their phones are stuck in “SOS mode.” We are aware of the issue and are working to fix it fast, a Verizon spokesperson told FOX Business.
We are investigating a problem affecting services for some users. “A spokesperson added: “Our engineers are on it and working hard to identify the problem and address it …
Widespread Reports of Outages
Downdetector, a website that tracks outages, reported over 100,000 issues by 11 a. m. ET The outages seemed to most heavily impact the East Coast — particularly in large cities such as Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and the New York City metropolitan area. Still, customers in cities around the U.S. reported outages, from Los Angeles to Chicago and more.
The vast majority of complaints from customers included no service, except for a few with access to the SOS mode, which provides only emergency calls. Many did so on social media requesting updates and refunds as the outage disrupted their daily routines.
Communication Breakdown Frustration
Frustrated customers crowded forums to complain that Verizon did not communicate what caused its service disruption. As one X (formerly Twitter) user put it: “We all pay a pretty penny for our verizon bill. This time should be credited untill the issue is Fully resolved.
A SOS in Ohio since mid-morning, said another user from York. Worked on my commute this morning, but been down for the last few hours and has not resurrected.
Verizon Actions to Combat Robocalls
In a statement to CBS MoneyWatch at the time of the outage, Verizon said it was “working quickly to identify the issue. The company later gave an update saying they were working to restore service to affected customers throughout the day.
“Verizon engineers have been working to resolve a network issue and service is beginning to return. We understand these networks are an essential part of customers’ lives & apologize to those who were affected by the disruption,” the spokesperson wrote.
Many customers however were still frustrated and struggling to call friends, family or in some cases conduct their business over the phone. A few of them even said that they would switch to another carrier after the incident.
What is SOS Mode?
SOS is something that we see at the top of our mobile phones screen when our phone cannot connect to a nearby network. This means the phone will still be able to make emergency calls, like 911, over another carrier’s network if service is unavailable with your regular provider.
The feature, Apple says, enables users to reach emergency services even if their own cellular network is unavailable in a time of crisis such as this power outage. Yet customers took to social media to complain that outages also meant they were unable to use such services as two-factor authentication, which usually involves receiving a text message with a code needed to log into accounts.
The National Attack on Verizon
And by the afternoon, Verizon’s tweets addressing the outage were flooded with thousands of replies, a sizable amount of which are complaints about how the company handled their coverage. A number of angry customers described their frustration at missed business calls, and some said they had missed important appointments.
One customer, who expressed frustration said: “I cancel my service as soon as this issue is rectified.”
Verizon is still working towards restoring full service, and the company has announced that it has made some (presumably permanent) changes to its infrastructure to ensure that future outages are far less likely.