AT&T to 'make it right,' reimburse customers $5 for Thursday's outage. Here's what we know

AT&T has released a formal apology for the nationwide outages last Thursday, Feb. 22. The telecommunications company is also reimbursing some of its customers. Here's what we know.

What is AT&T's Make It Right?

On a site titled "Making it right," AT&T addresses and apologizes for Thursday's outage. The company states it is reaching out to "potentially impacted customers." In communications through the site as well as X, formerly known as Twitter, AT&T has promised to credit such customers $5 — the average cost of a full day of service.

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How do I get AT&T's reimbursement?

Some AT&T Wireless customers will be eligible to receive a $5 credit to their account, though it remains unclear how the company will determine who was "impacted" by the outage.

On X, AT&T replied to the question of qualification by writing it is "reaching out to potentially impacted customers by SMS or email to proactively credit them for the average cost of a full day of service."

The $5 credit does not apply to AT&T Business, AT&T Prepaid or Cricket accounts.

What caused the outage?

AT&T has assured its customers that there is no evidence that a third party was involved in the outage. The company also said they do not suspect consumer data was compromised.

"We understand your frustration and apologize for the service interruption," AT&T responded to a customer on X. "We believe it was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyber attack."

The company has also released a letter written by CEO John Stankey to employees regarding the Feb. 22 outage.

"Moments like these are a test of resilience," Stankey wrote. "This is not our first network outage, and it won’t be our last – unfortunately, it’s the reality of our business. What matters most is how we react, adapt, and improve to deliver the service our customers need and expect."

Verizon takes advantage of AT&T outage

Many AT&T customers replied to the company's X post, a few expressing dissatisfaction with the $5 credit for the outage. One user wrote, "A single $5 credit per account with multiple phones is an insult. You failed here." Another one posted, "This ain't going to cut it. @Verizon you got any offers if I switch to your service?"

It took Verizon all of five minutes to respond.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: AT&T 'making it right' with $5 credit after nationwide service outage