Last Friday, Rogers customers experienced a Canada-wide network outage that took down cellphone and internet services. Now, a Montreal law firm is seeking authorization to launch a class-action suit against the carrier over the ‘inconvenience’ caused (via Montreal Gazette).
The request for authorization, filed by LPC Avocat Inc. in Superior Court this morning, argues that Rogers’ offer of compensation to customers in the form of a credit for two days of service is inadequate.
The class action will seek a total of $400 for each Rogers, Fido, or Chatr customer who was deprived of service if authorized.
The action will also seek compensation for non-customers who found themselves unable to use Interac or other online services because of the Rogers system crash.
The outage also impacted travellers as the ArriveCAN app was not working, as a result of which they were required to submit their information using the Traveller Contact Information Form prior to arrival at the border.
Rogers has so far maintained the breakdown was again caused by “a maintenance update” in its core network.
Earlier today, we told you the automatic compensation coming from Rogers will be two days of prorated service.
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
Wow, $400 is a lot for each person that lost up to 15 hours of service. Most were a lot less than 15 hours.
That is most likely a starting point, with any luck customers might get half that.
My TV still doesn’t work properly
Same here. Picture freezes on some channel. Stuff I recorded freezes too much. Gonna wait a bit to see if this issue goes away before calling.
$400 is being greedy, 1/30th of a monthly bill is too little.
Assuming the class action is successful, I wonder wether the amount will be per customer or per line/service. The person with 1 cell line shouldn’t be compensated the same as the family that lost multiple lines, TV and internet but has them all under one name.
400 per person, and 250 of that to the lawyers.
I think it’ll be more like $397 for the lawyers.
One day credit for myself will be $6.33. But how about the time I spent on driving for groceries and such only to have to leave it all at the store because interact debit and Credit cards wouldn’t work. ATM’s in stores were also down. So embarrassing and the time I was out there. No one said anything about Rogers down yet. Then to find my Fido phone didn’t work either. I was unaware that Rogers was part of my phone service. That was the last straw. I have been a Shaw person for decades and my phone is Rogers? GGRrrrrrr!
Change a coming quick time here. I welcome more than $6.33. Thank you Shaw for being my internet service. Never, Ever a shut down.
LOL at 400$ per costumers. It’s because of this BS l think lawsuits is a joke nowadays. Losing the ability to use your phone for a day is annoying yes, but it’s not the end of the world. However, Interac, 911 and credit cards not working IS the real problem and it’s in this specific case that Rogers should pay.
So if someone relies on Rogers for making phone calls and is lying on their kitchen floor choking on something and unable to call 911 on that day it’s not the end of the world?
How is unable to use your phone and unable to call 911 two separate things?
Yes its two different things. Normally you still can call 911 if you don’t have cell service on your phone but last friday even 911 itself didn’t worked in some areas and yes, like I said, this is the real problem that Rogers should compensate.
But let’s say you couldn’t call 9-1-1 without a cell service on your phone, what you describe is like 0.01% of what could happened and of course if it was happened, these people must be compensate enough, Otherwise, I’m with Rogers myself and honestly yes it was annoying and not very convenient but no way a 15 hours of no service worth $400. Like someone else said we should have more than just 1/30 worth of credits, but lets be honest, for normal costumers no way its a situation were our lives depend on it at a point we have to demand such money.
Rogers increased the risk factor of every Rogers customer’s lives without their consent… or even informing them at all.
It’s like an insurance company giving a coverage holiday for life insurance AND not even telling them.
It affects everybody, not just the unlucky unfortunate that were impacted directly.
People’s livelyhoods depend on making or receiving phone calls. Could be a call from a doctor or you’re trying to reach someone in regards to their lost child, informing your client of a suspicious transaction in their bank account, etc. To be able to use your phone and havibg access to the internet outside of home has become an integral part of our society. Its more than just a convenience, it’s a necessity. For some 400$ might not even begin to cover the damage they received.
You may think it is a joke but the only way companies like Rogers will take these issues seriously is when they are hit with BIG financial penalties and have to answer to their shareholders. Lawsuits like these put big companies on notice that they just can’t continue to operate without impunity.
Maybe for you it’s only an annoyance. For some people, they lost way more than 400$ that day. Flight, hotel and tickets bought for The Weeknd’s concert at Rogers Center in Toronto to find out that it’s cancelled because of a network outage.
One day’s worth? My phone still isn’t working properly at home, and that’s 2/3 of my day. 5G finally came back yesterday where I work. I better get more than one day compensation or I’ll be making the call, and the CSRs don’t like it when my number shows up on their screen.
People still have no internet, and their Ignite TV is spotty at best. My 79 year old mother was told to be patient and wait for it to be fixed. Bring on the lawsuit!
This is why allowing a virtual monopoly on a service deemed essential Does Not Work.