Verizon loses voice mail for thousands of New York customers

A software glitch resulted in the loss of pre-recorded greetings and some stored voice-mail messages for thousands of Verizon Communications customers in New York City. The problem started in the overnight hours and continued through the late afternoon on Dec. 6.

According to a Verizon spokesperson, the problem has been corrected. Customers were notified of the problem via their voice-mail boxes. Those that call Verizon to report they lost voice mail will receive a one-month credit. On average, residential customers pay $6.23 for the service, while business customers pay $12.50.

Verizon was able to quickly create a patch to address the problem, but the carrier is not sure exactly what went wrong and is conducting an assessment to find out, said the spokesman. Until the assessment is complete, the spokesman said the company “couldn’t predict” whether the problem will occur again. He also said Verizon probably would be unable to retrieve the lost messages.

--Glenn Bischoff, senior writer