Rogers outage affecting Windsor customers, businesses and border traffic

A Canada-wide Rogers network outage is causing issues for wireless, cable and internet customers but also downing business Interac machines and possibly travellers crossing the Windsor-Detroit border.

KaiRon Hanson is a Rogers wireless customer and says he feels out of the loop.

“My internet’s out and I can’t call my company cause my phone’s out too. So, now I had to walk all the way downtown, get some wifi quickly and figure out what’s going on,” he said.

Rogers is apologizing for the inconvenience saying its technical teams are working hard to restore services as quickly as possible.

“It’s frustrating,” Hanson said. “They’re probably not going to give us any compensation for it or anything, it’s just something we gotta deal with.”

“I hope they hurry up, put services back on. Because people are losing out on money and missing out on opportunities because of them.”

Some are also reporting issues calling 9-1-1.

Windsor police and Chatham-Kent police both say their respective 9-1-1 service is fully operational, however, Rogers and Fido customers may have difficulty connecting and may have to use an alternate carrier or landline.

“If you’re calling from a Rogers cellular system and you get disconnected, please call back. We are not able to call you back on that system,” said Bianca Jackson of Windsor Police Service.

The outage is also wreaking havoc at the Canada-U.S. border where Rogers customers aren’t able to access the ArriveCAN app, which remains a requirement to cross into Canada.

"The ArriveCAN app is not impacted by the outage. Travellers who are not affected by the current Rogers network outage are required to continue to submit their mandatory information via the ArriveCAN application. The CBSA recognizes that the current Rogers network outage may affect some travellers who are not able to complete their ArriveCAN submission. The Agency is monitoring the situation and we would like to thank all travellers for their collaboration and patience," A statement from Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says.

Impacted travellers are being asked to submit their information using the Traveller Contact Information Form, which is available online or at ports of entry, before arriving at the border and bring paper copies showing proof of vaccination.

If no form is available, officers can collect the information from those crossing verbally on arrival, CBSA says. 

As of 5 p.m. Friday, the posted wait time at the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel and Ambassador Bridge was 20 minutes.

Coupled with the Rogers outage, Interac and debit payments are not processing at stores, with many shops posting signs in their windows advising customers that only cash and credit are being accepted.

”The machines are down and it’s a really big inconvenience,” said Karen, who wouldn’t provide her last name. “I have to get my stuff for the day and no money. My money’s in the bank, but no money to get the stuff I needed.”

“It happens, that’s technology for ya,” quipped Jolene Brignall.

Business owners say it’s an inconvenience if it lasts for one day, but any prolonged outage will start to affect their bottom lines.

“We depend very heavily on debit, because people do not carry cash in their pocket, more than 10 dollars,” said Misty Sergi, the owner of The Gifting Tree in Downtown Windsor. “When debit goes down, we can lose potentially a lot of sales.”

“Today’s not a great day, because most people would have got paid yesterday or today and they want to spend on debit.”

”Not everyone carries cash,” echoed Shawn Delacruz, the co-owner of Lowend clothing boutique. “A little inconvenience today. I mean I hope it’s just for today.”

Rogers Tweeted out that it will share information when it’s available, including when the company expects service to come back online.