Verizon customers in metro Atlanta left frustrated after Wednesday's widespread service outage
Verizon's hours-long outage is fixed, but many in Atlanta say they're still feeling its impact on Thursday.
A widespread service outage left hundreds of thousands of Verizon Wireless customers limited to SOS starting around noon on Wednesday. It left many struggling and feeling frustrated.
Jim Gallow's whole day was interrupted by the outage.
"I was trying to pick my car up, and I needed to find out if my wife was home, and I couldn't get the Uber. And I realized I was stuck with no real way to get to my car," he said.
Gallow eventually made his way to the Verizon Wireless store.
"It was a little bit mayhem. It was one young lady with a group of people, and she was yelling out that it's nationwide. And then another group would come in. A lot of delivery people," he recalled.
Emory University professor Rajiv Garg was also impacted by the outage when he tried to pick up his daughter after school.
"I tried texting, no responses, and I was getting furious. Maybe she turned off her location services on the phone?" Garg said. "I still went to the bus stop, and her phone was not working."
In this day and age, connectivity can feel crucial, and Garg says issues like these are becoming more common.
The professor has suggestions for next time something like this happens.
"Make sure that all the kids — everybody — has Wi-Fi calling enabled," he said. "Near a library, a store — most of the places have a free guest Wi-Fi network. Connect to Wi-Fi, you're able to make phone calls, you're able to send messages."
Garg also recommended downloading an offline map for the city where you live, so that you won't need the internet to figure out where you can go.
Another option if you have no Wi-Fi or cellular but a clear sky is satellite, especially if you have a newer phone and a clear sky.
What to do if you still have issues with Verizon
A Verizon spokesperson says if you're still having issues, here's how to troubleshoot:
- Put your phone into airplane mode, and then take it out of airplane mode.
- Power cycle your phone.
- Reset instructions for Network Settings are here — iPhone and Android. Be sure they follow the steps for "Network Settings" reset.
As an apology for the situation, the company is offering a $20 credit to all affected customers.
The cause of the outage remains unclear.
