Rogers service outages class action overview:
- Who: A Rogers customer sued the telecommunications company after its network failure July 8-9.
- Why: The plaintiff says the company was negligent and the outage disrupted communication, payments and even access to emergency services.
- Where: The case was filed in the Superior Court District of Montreal.
A Rogers customer sued the telecommunications giant after a major network failure July 8 and 9, saying the outage disrupted communication, payments and even access to emergency services.
Plaintiff Arnaud Verdier filed the lawsuit July 11 in the Superior Court District of Montreal, alleging violations of consumer protection laws. The lawsuit also alleges Rogers misled consumers by claiming to have the “most reliable network in Canada.”
The outage impacted customers across the country, disrupting not just texting and mobile data but also customers’ abilities to call 911 and make purchases via debit payment systems.
Verdier, a Rogers customer since June 2020, says he was “flabbergasted” that the company only offered a credit equivalent to two days of service for impacted customers, which he said was “wholly inadequate” and does not account for the other damages he and class members suffered.
He is seeking $400 compensation for each Rogers customer affected by the network failure.
He’s also seeking compensation for Rogers sub-brand customers, like Fido Mobile and Chatr Mobile, and for all Quebec residents who were unable to carry out certain banking transactions because of the outage.
Verdier said he also wanted to “hold Rogers accountable for its negligence and insouciance, in particular with respect to its obligation… to make 9-1-1 calls available at all times and which was unavailable to all Class members for close to 24 hours during the outage.”
Rogers class action claims CEO blamed outage on ‘maintenance update’
In a statement, Rogers president and CEO Tony Staffieri blamed the cause of the network system failure on a “maintenance update” in the company’s core network.
However, Verdier said Rogers should have tested the update before rolling it out.
“It also appears that Rogers performed its update without a ‘rollback.’ Regardless of the exact technical reason, this breach can only be qualified as a gross negligence on the part of Rogers,” the lawsuit states.
Rogers later announced it would reimburse all impacted customers for up to five days of service.
In 2014, Rogers Wireless Communications inked a $26 million settlement with consumers who entered into a wireless phone contract with Rogers Wireless between Jan 1, 2007, and June 30, 2010.
A Quebec Superior Court ruled Rogers Wireless had to repay its customers for early termination fee charges as the fees were “abusive.”
Were you impacted by the outage? Let us know your experience in the comments!
The plaintiff is represented by Joey Zukran of LPC Avocat Inc.
The Rogers service outages class action lawsuit is Arnaud Verdier v. Rogers Communications Canada et al., Case No. 500-06-001192-224, in the Superior Court District of Montreal.
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65 thoughts onRogers class action alleges customers faced service outages July 8-9
Myself and my family were effected by this outage and many others although this one hurt because I had no way of talking with my doctor or my father who was palliative at the time. Extremely frustrating, especially not being compensated for it.
Our house hold was also with outlet services and feel we should be compasated as well