Rogers Is Increasing The Credit To Customers Affected By The Mega Outage
The announcement comes after a public scolding from a federal minister.
Rogers sign.
Canadians affected by the Rogers outage are getting a bigger payout. The company announced Tuesday evening that it will increase the credit to customers hit by the system failure that, in some cases, wiped out service for days.
In a tweet, the company said it will automatically apply a credit to customers' accounts equal to five days of service. Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri previously suggested that the credit would only cover one day.
The outage began in the morning of July 8. By the morning of July 9, Rogers said it had restored service to the "vast majority" of its clients, but admitted on July 10 that some customers continued to "experience intermittent challenges."
"We have been listening to our customers from across the country who have told us how significant the impacts of the outage were for them," the tweet reads. "We know that we need to earn back their trust." Rogers called the credit a "first step."
\u201cWe have been listening to our customers from across the country who have told us how significant the impacts of the outage were for them.\u201d— RogersHelps (@RogersHelps) 1657668032
The announcement comes after a public reproach by federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne, who on Monday announced that he had convened a meeting with major domestic telecom company leaders to "demand they take immediate action to improve the resiliency and reliability of our networks."
\u201cThat\u2019s why today I brought together the heads of the major telecom companies to demand they take immediate action to improve the resiliency and reliability of our networks by ensuring a formal arrangement is in place within 60 days.\u201d— Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne (FPC) \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 (@Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne (FPC) \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6) 1657571248
Champagne said he tasked telecom giants with producing protocols for "emergency roaming [...] mutual assistance during outages," and a procedure "to better inform the public and authorities during telecommunications emergencies."
He also announced that Canada's telecommunications watchdog, the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) will investigate the Rogers outage.
Rogers is also facing a proposed class-action lawsuit that, if approved, would seek $400 in damages for affected customers.