Verizon outage affects customers and businesses in Wood County

On November 17, 2024By Littum

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Rolling Verizon outages in Wood County are worrying many, including businesses who say the random outages could start to negatively affect them.

If you are in Wood County or trying to reach someone there, you may be affected by the Verizon outage.

“I just thought it came across my personal cell phone, it wasn’t until this week that I found out it’s affecting our business,” said Jen Backus, office manager for Downey Plumbing, Heating, Cooling and Electrical.

Some Verizon customers may have received the notification within the last two weeks.

“Our big concern is that we pride ourselves on being a 24/7 business and when our customers are unable to reach us, that kind of puts a bit of doubt in their minds .” Backus said.

The notice from Verizon advises customers that they may experience a temporary interruption of cellular service and/or wireless Internet service at home.

Addition – in limited cases, work can shift out as much as two weeks.

“It’s random, it’s very sporadic,” Backus said.

The outage is also starting to affect Downey PHC in Wood County. They are a small family owned business that wants to be available as the temperatures are expected to get cooler.

“We’re still here and we’re still going, please keep trying,” Backus said.

Customers may be put off by the Verizon announcement, and some may be able to reach the company, but there is some concern for senior customers.

“Some of our older customers don’t have email addresses, so if they’ve gotten rid of their landline and they’re using a mobile device to reach us, that’s a concern for us as well,” Backus added.

Downey advises customers to try dialing *67 first, as it sometimes allows calls to go through.

As for Verizon Wireless, the text they sent says they are updating their network.

13 Action News reached out for an update and an exact timeline of the fallout, and we have not heard back.

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