Customers frustrated at Rogers again after weekend outage
Almost 48 hours. That's how long it took for Rogers Communications Inc. to bring back its wireline services in Hamilton and neighbouring regions on the weekend.
Debora Edelmann and her sister gave up after several calls to Rogers services on Saturday and Sunday just to find out when the internet and TV services would return.
They don't really have any answers," Edelmann said Sunday morning.
The Mount Hope resident said she had woken up to the wireline outage Saturday.
Nothing was working."
Rogers wireline services were disrupted Friday night after a garbage fire on Hamilton's Upper Wellington Street at 10:45 p.m.
There was some rubbish against a hydro pole that caught fire," Ryan Coburn, assistant deputy chief with Hamilton Fire Department told The Spectator earlier. The blaze extended up the pole to the hydro and communication wires" compromising its integrity.
The telecom company worked to fix all damaged fibre lines," in attempts to bring back wireline services in Hamilton, Burlington and neighbouring areas including Ancaster, Dundas, Stoney Creek, Hagersville and Waterdown.
But Edelmann said, this time, it feels like we've been forgotten," comparing it to Rogers' July fallout.
Canada's major telecom company suffered a technical issue that impacted over 13 million wireline and wireless service users with a network blackout on July 8. The memory is still fresh for Rogers users though many had dismissed it as a one-off incident.
Now, as cities in the region were hit by another Rogers wireline internet outage, some are finding their trust shaken again, and feeling a sense of neglect from the telecom company.
I was getting frustrated ... it didn't seem to be a big issue but Rogers needs to be aware of this," Sandy Jamieson said. The 66-year-old felt the response was slow compared to the July incident when most of the services were restored by the following day.
They need to improve their rural area coverage. It's not their fault the fire happened. But 48 hours is long."
Hamilton Police on Saturday shared on social media that the ongoing wireline disruption by Rogers may affect your ability to call 911."
Edelmann told The Spectator that her residential complex - which is home to mostly seniors in their 80s and 90s" - was heavily impacted by the outage. She noted it's not uncommon to see ambulances in their Mount Hope complex. But with the unprecedented cut-off, she said, it's very scary."
Some businesses in Hagersville and Hamilton Mountain were also affected after the Interac services stopped working due to the outage.
Pat Mancini, president of Sweet Paradise on Stone Church Road, said some of his customers had to leave products because they didn't have enough cash" due to the outage.
He said he has been a customer with Rogers for a long time" and was surprised" that the outage happened again. Despite this, he wants to give a third chance to the telecom company.
Last week, major Canadian telecom companies signed a deal to ensure and guarantee emergency roaming and access to 911 in the cases of a major outage.
Ritika Dubey is a reporter at The Spectator. rdubey@thespec.com