A recent major disruption in AT&T's (NYSE:T) network led to a surge in online dissatisfaction, with Google search data revealing a 797% spike in searches for ‘Cancel ATT’ in the United States on February 22nd, according to NoDepositRewards.com.
The search volume for cancelation queries reached nine times the usual levels following the telecommunications giant's service outage.
Moreover, data from Downdetector indicates that over 291,000 AT&T customers reported service disruptions between 3.30 a.m. and 6.50 a.m. ET. Concurrently, searches for ‘ATT customer service’ experienced a dramatic rise, soaring 5,782%, which translates to an increase of 58 times the normal search volume for customer support.
The outage appeared to have a ripple effect, as customers of other carriers, including Verizon (NYSE:VZ), T-Mobile (TMUS), and UScellular (USM), also encountered service issues.
“It’s not only frustrating when cell service goes down, but also potentially dangerous. When an outage like this happens, users may be unable to reach emergency services, which can cause chaos,” said Mason Jones, Marketing Director for NoDepositRewards.com.
“It can be bad for a telecoms business when their service goes down, and we’re seeing a staggering rise in users searching to ditch their provider for another. Situations like this can tip the scale, especially when dissatisfied customers are on the fence about switching,” he added.