“Since the so-called return to service report from Rogers, I’ve had nothing but bad service,” John Layne of Oshawa told CTVNews.ca in an email Sunday. “I can’t access many sites like TD bank, Toronto real estate site and many others. The service I have is very slow.” Many people wrote to CTVNews.ca over the weekend to say they continue to be without phone, internet or television or are experiencing poor connections, which the company warned could be a possibility for some. Responses were emailed to CTVNews.ca and not all have been independently verified. The widespread network outage affected not only phone and Internet services, but also banks, debit markets, passport offices, 911 calls and Canada’s ArriveCAN application, which is required for travelers coming into the country. Images of people standing outside coffee shops looking for free Wi-Fi highlighted the time some people took to reconnect. Rogers said in a statement Saturday that it had restored service to the “vast majority” of customers. The company’s CEO, Tony Staffieri, apologized for the outage and said “nearly 100 percent” of the company’s network was back online as of Saturday afternoon. However, as some services come back online and traffic returns to normal, the company said the recovery of full service may be delayed for some customers. Staffieri also told CTV News Channel that “less than one percent” of customers are still experiencing “intermittent problems.” Staffieri also blamed the network failure on a maintenance update, which caused some routers in the system to shut down. But as the issues continued Saturday, some customers continued to be locked out, including some elderly Canadians. “I live in (an) apartment with a lot of seniors who only have landlines,” Lindy Adams of Owen Sound, Ont. he told CTVNews.ca on Saturday. Adams said phone lines remained down Saturday, with no way to reach family or 911, and at least five people were unable to get their prescriptions. Engy Ayad of SEM Construction in London, Ont., said that because Interact’s payments were down, the company could not pay half of its employees, who receive their pay via electronic transfer. “I went to the bank and they told me there was nothing they could do to help even though they had Bell internet, but Interac itself was down,” Ayad said in an email to CTVNews.ca on Saturday. “People’s livelihoods were affected by not being paid on time. It was just horrible.” Rogers says it will automatically credit customers to make up for lost service. The company’s mobile network also experienced a similar nationwide service outage in April 2021, which Rogers attributed to a software update.
‘LEAP OF FAITH’
After the payment machines at Bufala Pizzeria in North Vancouver, BC, broke down, manager Michael Littleford set up an IOU system, taking customers’ names and phone numbers in hopes that they would return and pay when they had the money. Within 24 hours, everyone had returned and paid their tabs, Littleford told CTV News Channel on Sunday. “To be able to say that we trust you to come back and pay the $200 tab for the food and bar, it’s a very big leap of faith to be able to say that to someone in this day and age. It seems very unusual and awkward. ” he said. While he was disappointed, the moment reminded him of “the humanity of people,” he said. “But we’re a community restaurant. We’re not in downtown Vancouver, we’re in North Vancouver in Edgemont Village, and a lot of the people here are local and regulars, and the level of trust I think grows in a smaller community than downtown ». With files from CTV News
