A Rogers spokesman called the move a “first step,” in a statement, though he did not say how much, on average, each customer could expect to receive back. This is an increase from the original promise to credit all customers for up to two days of service, which was first reported on Rogers’ official Twitter account. “We will continue to work around the clock to restore Canadians’ trust in us,” the spokesperson said. Rogers also said it will “proactively credit all customers automatically” through their accounts and that the refund should be reflected on the following month’s bill. Businesses across Canada were hit hard by the outage, with many losing large sums of money, Dan Kelly, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, told The Canadian Press on Monday. Kelly believes business owners should get a free month of Rogers service to compensate for the outage. “There are businesses in Canada that have been closed for more than 400 days in total in some parts of Canada over the last two years, and so every day of sales is absolutely critical in this recovery period,” he said. Montreal-based law firm LPC Avocat announced Monday that it has sought leave to file a class action lawsuit against the telecommunications company. The lawsuit seeks $200 for affected customers based on the fact that Rogers allegedly violated Quebec consumer protection laws by failing to provide “an essential service” on July 8 and 9. The lawsuit also seeks an additional $200 for Rogers’ claim that it has the “most reliable network in Canada,” claiming that this constitutes a “false representation.” Any Rogers, Fido and Chatr Mobile customers who were without service on Friday or Saturday are covered by the action, as are all Quebecers who were unable to make certain financial transactions, such as Interac payments and wire transfers, as a result her incident. Rogers’ announcement of increased compensation comes as some customers in Ontario are still unable to access certain services. In a statement, Rogers said she was aware that “intermittent ‘challenges’” remain.
