AT&T says it wants to improve its customer service, and one way it’s doing that is by charging customers for internet outages and long phone wait times.
The company said on Wednesday going forward, customers will get a full day’s credit for any fiber outage of more than 20 minutes or wireless outage of more than one hour. If a customer calls their phone support line and has to wait more than five minutes, they will receive a $5 Visa gift card.
That’s not much, but the cost could add up for AT&T and encourage it to improve its performance. The move is reminiscent of European rules that require airlines to compensate passengers for delays, a regulation that some research suggests improves on-time arrivals.
AT&T has experienced several network outages in 2024, which could be incredibly disruptive to a world that relies on constant connectivity. Work conversations via Zoom can be cut short, homework put on hold, and of course the ever-increasing sports broadcast can be interrupted at the wrong time.
It doesn’t help that Internet service providers like AT&T have a large base in the US—in some parts of the country, especially in rural areas, consumers have only one or two Internet providers to choose from. Services like SpaceX’s Starlink are helping with this problem in some ways, and the FCC has continued to invest heavily in rural broadband development as part of the Rural Broadband Response Plan.
According to the New York TimesThe new policy from AT&T is part of a $750 million investment the company has been making in customer service over the past four years. AT&T chief marketing and growth officer Kellyn Smith Kenny said the network outages have not happened in recent years.
AT&T is also planning to launch a dedicated website where customers will be able to check the status of the outage so they don’t have to log into social media to see if they are alone.
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