In Rowlett, Texas, a small catering business owner says her livelihood was nearly brought to a halt when a phone service switch went terribly wrong. Nikki Jackson, who has operated her catering company from the same location for 21 years, says the steady ring of her business phone — a sound that once meant constant orders — has been silent for almost a month. She claims it all started when she tried to move her phone service to AT&T after being promised significant savings and free equipment.

Jackson explained that the offer seemed too good to pass up, with assurances she would save between $140 and $150 a month and would receive the new setup without any hidden conditions. But within an hour of the technician leaving, her phone and internet stopped working entirely. She immediately reached out for help, texting the technician about the issue, but received no response. Without a working phone line, she could not make or receive calls, and her business traffic slowed dramatically.

To keep orders coming in, Jackson turned to social media, live videos, and online ads in a desperate attempt to reach customers. Still, the loss was staggering. Comparing the same date to the year prior, she said her business revenue dropped by $2,300 in a single day. Over the next several days, she relentlessly contacted AT&T, documenting 87 calls and nearly 20 hours on the phone with various representatives between February 17 and February 19. She also visited three separate AT&T store locations, hoping someone could restore her service, but each time was told there was nothing they could do.

Attempting to revert to her previous provider proved equally frustrating. With her service down, she could not complete two-factor authentication to regain control of her account. When she requested to update her verification method, she was told she would need to wait 30 days because her account was considered too new. Stuck without a working phone, Jackson faced mounting losses each day.

Eventually, she reached out to a local news outlet for help. Shortly after they contacted AT&T, Jackson received a call from the company’s corporate office promising to resolve her issue. AT&T helped her switch back to her former provider, but the damage had already been done. By her estimate, the lack of phone service over nearly a month had cost her $21,000 in lost business.

AT&T issued a statement saying, “We have apologized for the inconvenience in this particular instance. We took immediate steps to offer a temporary solution and connect her business. We have honored her request and assisted with the transition of her service to another provider.” However, Jackson says the company’s offer of $2,000 in compensation falls far short of making her financially whole. She believes that level of customer service is unacceptable, particularly for a company of AT&T’s size, and she remains frustrated about the lingering impact the outage has had on her business.

Even after being reconnected to her original provider, Jackson questions whether AT&T’s service was ever truly available in her area. She recalls being told just a month before the switch that it was not, raising further concerns about how the situation unfolded. For now, she is focused on rebuilding her customer base, making sure the phone number her clients have known for more than two decades continues to ring — because for her, that sound means survival.