‘It’s ridiculous’: Rogers outage creates headaches for Hamiltonians

John Dunton is the proud owner of an old clock radio and a landline - something he hasn't been able to say in years.

Most people think they're obsolete, but not today," the recently retired local said outside a packed Starbucks on Locke Street, where dozens flocked Friday to get precious internet access amid a massive Rogers outage. If it wasn't for that old radio, I wouldn't know what was going on because our internet's out."

It felt like the clock turned back decades for Dunton and thousands of Hamilton residents Friday as the nationwide Rogers disruption affected everything from phone calls and internet connection to ATMs and debit cards.

The telecom giant's internet and mobile services, which include Fido and Chatr, were unavailable for customers across the country as early as 6 a.m.

Rogers had yet to release a cause behind the significant disruption by late Friday afternoon, but said just before 9 a.m. it was fully engaged to resolve the issue as soon as possible."

We will continue to keep you updated as we have more information to share," the company tweeted. We know how important it is for our customers to stay connected."

The ramifications of the mass outage were felt far beyond basic cell and internet connection, extending to concerns over access to health care and emergency services.

Hamilton and Halton police services warned Rogers customers to seek alternative modes of communication if they needed to call 911. Their call centres remained fully operational.

Patient care continued uninterrupted at Hamilton Health Sciences, Joseph Brant Hospital and St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, but the latter said they were unable to make outgoing calls and had to reschedule some virtual appointments due to their system's reliance on Rogers.

We are working diligently to find alternative ways to restore our communication lines," St. Joe's said in a statement.

Meanwhile, several gas stations, grocery stores and small businesses across the city had to pivot to credit and cash payments thanks to the outage, which significantly hampered Interac services like debit cards and e-transfers.

For a Friday, we definitely saw less traffic for sure," said Dan Dov, manager of the Fortinos on Dundurn Street South.

I don't think we had less customers, but it still sucks," said KW Campol, owner of Coven, a plant-based and vegan grocer near Gage Park. We live in a system where everything is technology-based and stuff is bound to go wrong. Personally, I'm just thankful I don't use Rogers."

Residents looking to bypass the Interac ordeal through ATMs were also met with stubborn roadblocks.

Take the line of about a dozen cash-hopefuls that snaked out of the RBC on Locke and Main streets around noon.

No deal," Jim Gibson said while leaving the branch. Their ATMs are out and the (bank) teller said their systems have been on and off all day."

Gibson said he also tried a handful of ATMs in corner stores and gas stations on the way to a haircut appointment early Friday morning. None worked.

I got the haircut at least, luckily," he added. They told me I could come and pay them tomorrow. I just hope the outage is fixed by then ... It's ridiculous."

People looking to jet off from the Hamilton International Airport on Friday experienced the ripple effects of the outage as well.

Of the seven domestic Swoop flights scheduled from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m., five were delayed and two were cancelled - one to Moncton and another to Edmonton, according iFly.com, a flight tracking website.

Our operational team is managing the issue and working on mitigating the disruption to minimize the impact on travellers as best possible," said Swoop spokesperson Julie Pondant.

The City of Hamilton warned of disruptions to the following services as Rogers works on halting the Canada-wide outage:

• The Glanbrook Municipal Service Centre, which remains open but with limited resources available.

• The city customer service centre, which, while running, is coping with a high volume of calls.

• DARTS, which is experiencing major delays for booking and scheduling. Call accessible transportation services at 905-529-1212 for any help.

• Community recycling centres, recreation and seniors centres, provincial offences administration offices and the HSR ticket office, which all have their debit machines down. Credit, cash and cheque payments are still being accepted.

• On-street and municipal car park parking, which can only be paid for through coins or credit cards as the Passport app isn't working.

-With files from Toronto Star

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com