Verizon Wireless experienced an outage on January 14th, 2026. The outage affected many customers nationwide. Most customers were not able to place phone calls, send texts, or use data services, along with seeing “SOS” at the top of their phone screens. There were some customers who were still able to use data and send texts, but almost all customers faced difficulties making or receiving calls.
The issue was ultimately solved at around 10 p.m. Eastern Time. Slowly, most customers were able to once again send texts and browse the internet as the issue was being resolved. The ability to make phone calls was restored at 10:15 p.m. once the outage was addressed. The company did not disclose what caused the outage to occur. Many analysts point to a potential software issue, but Verizon itself has not confirmed the theory.
Verizon, in a press release the next morning, stated, “Yesterday, we did not meet the standard of excellence our customers expect and that we expect of ourselves. To help provide some relief to those affected, we will give them a $20 account credit that can be easily redeemed by logging into the myVerizon app to accept. … This credit isn’t meant to make up for what happened. No credit really can. But it’s a way of acknowledging our customers’ time and showing that this matters to us. (Verizon.com)”
Upon speaking with a Verizon customer service representative over the phone to originally claim the $20 outage credit, the representative shared his own anecdotal accounts of how the outage affected him, what he heard from the company, and how customers were impacted.
The representative went into detail about his difficulty coordinating with a school bus driver. Because of the outage, he had difficulty making arrangements for picking up his child from school. When he attempted to make a phone call over the Verizon network, his call did not go through, and he saw “SOS only” on his phone screen. He felt very frustrated, disappointed in Verizon Wireless (known for its network reliability), and upset that he could not get his child picked up from school. The representative (who luckily was not working that day) had to make additional arrangements to get his child picked up from school on time during the outage.
He also shared a story about a person he spoke to over the phone. A man called into Verizon complaining that he had no bars and the dreaded “SOS” on his phone screen. He could not call his wife, who was in labor at the time, because of the outage. Because the husband could not reach his wife, the wife assumed his phone was on Do Not Disturb. It was unclear if the husband was able to reach his wife in the end.
The support agent also described the aftermath of the outage upon his return to work in the call center. The agent was ushered into a meeting to discuss how to handle the situation if customers call Verizon customer service over the phone. In the meeting, management informed agents that a $20 bill credit will be sent to customers who faced issues during the outage. The representative then voiced his concern at the meeting that a $20 billing credit would not be enough to offset the effects of the outage on customers nationwide. He was ultimately brushed off by management despite his concern.
Many Verizon customers online expressed similar concerns that a $20 credit was simply not enough. Millions of customers were adversely affected because of the outage. It created difficulty getting directions, working, and communicating with others. The stories shared are only a small set of the millions of customers who dealt with issues using the Verizon network. The company has not revealed more details about what caused the outage. If you are interested in the billing credit and are currently a Verizon Wireless customer, you will receive a text message notifying you that your $20 bill credit can be redeemed if you were affected. This credit will not be automatically added to your bill, and the billing credit must be redeemed through the My Verizon app on your mobile device. You may also call Verizon at (800) 922-0204 to speak with a representative to claim the credit if you have not received the eligibility text message.