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After Verizon’s unexpected nationwide outage Wednesday, the carrier came out yesterday to try to save face, saying it was offering a $20 credit to all accounts in the myVerizon app. Now, its low-cost offshoot carrier, Visible, is also trying to make its own amends.
As spotted by 9to5Google , Visible is texting its customers with the following message, promising a $5 credit on their next bill as an apology for the outage:
Yesterday we let you down and for that we are sorry. We are giving you a $5 credit towards your next month of service that can be redeemed after Jan 16 when paying with a credit card online. This credit isn’t meant to make up for what happened. But it’s a way of acknowledging your time and showing that this matters to us. If you’re still having trouble connecting, please restart your device (power down and power back on).
The amount may be smaller, but it does seem to be a bit more convenient to claim, since it sounds like you can apply it while paying your bill (although I can’t make any promises for people using auto pay). Like Verizon’s offer, it also doesn’t seem to be discriminating between those affected by the outage and those who weren’t, as noted by a user on Reddit .
Some comments from other Visible subscribers on Reddit did point out that they had yet to receive the text, although I’m assuming that’s due to a slow rollout more than anything else, as textless users who reached out to customer service were able to confirm they were offered the $5 credit as well. I’ve reached out to Visible to confirm if the $5 credit applies to everyone, and will update this post when I hear back (I also asked if it would be applied to automatic payments).
As for why the payment is so much smaller, it’s probably due to the difference in cost between Verizon and Visible. Verizon said it based its $20 payout on the price for “multiple days of service,” and frankly, those same days cost much less on Visible.
While Visible uses the same network as Verizon, it sets itself apart by giving its users lower priority while connecting, which lets it offer unlimited plans starting at $20/month . Prices range to $33/month, but essentially, $5 goes a lot further on the low cost network, meaning it represents a similar value to $20 for a proper Verizon plan.
Whether that’s a fair price for an unexpected day of spotty connectivity, I’ll leave up to you.
