AT&T says it will now credit you for outages and long customer service wait times

AT&T says it wants to improve its customer service, and one way it’s doing that is by crediting customers for internet outages and long phone wait times.

The company said Wednesday that going forward, customers will receive a full day’s bill credit for any fiber outage of more than 20 minutes or wireless outage of more than an hour. If a customer calling its support lines has to wait on hold for more than five minutes, they will receive a $5 Visa gift card.

That’s not a lot — and customers should be vigilant to make sure AT&T actually pays — but the cost could add up for AT&T and spur it to improve its operations. Spectrum made a similar commitment last year.

The initiative is reminiscent of laws in Europe that require airlines to compensate passengers for delays, a regulation that some research suggests has improved on-time arrival.

AT&T with experience several widespread network outages in 2024, which could be incredibly disruptive in a world that relies on constant connectivity. Job interviews via Zoom can be cut short, homework has to wait and of course the ever-increasing sports broadcasts switch to streaming may be interrupted at an inopportune moment.

It doesn’t help that ISPs like AT&T have a stronghold in much of the U.S. — in some parts of the country, especially rural areas, consumers have only one or two ISPs to choose from. Services like SpaceX’s Starlink are helping the problem somewhat, and the FCC continues to do so capital deployment in rural broadband development as part of its Rural Broadband Accountability Plan.

According to New York TimesAT&T’s new policy is part of a $750 million investment the company has made in customer service over the past four years. AT&T Chief Marketing and Growth Officer Kellyn Smith Kenney said network outages have not been more common in recent years.

AT&T also plans to launch a dedicated website where customers will be able to check the status of outages so they don’t have to go to social media to see if they’re alone or not.