Bell Canada customers could get credit from this week's giant outage

If you were impacted by the internet outage on the Bell network on Wednesday, there might be a way for you to be compensated.

The outage, which affected Bell, Telus and other Canadian service providers, was felt in multiple provinces shortly after 9 a.m. EDT on May 21.

It seemed to primarily impact wireline internet services, with mobile internet still working for some Canadians. Wholesale providers like TekSavvy, which uses Rogers lines, appeared to be having issues as well.

Although a Rogers spokesperson said it wasn't seeing an outage, there were mixed reports from customers. Some said their connection was fine, while others said they experienced an outage or slower-than-usual speeds.

Downdetector showed internet issues with Rogers customers in B.C., Ontario, and Quebec, while Bell reported disruptions in Quebec and Ontario. Telus confirmed issues with wireless services in Alberta, B.C. and Eastern Canada.

Amid the internet outage, Canadians were asking Bell whether they could get credit.

Some customers say they were successful in receiving credit from Bell after calling its customer service line.

"Bell gave me a $35.85 bill credit for this morning's internet outage. Might be worth giving a call to 310-BELL today!" reads a post on Reddit.

The Redditor says they selected the cancel my subscription option during the automated portion of a call with customer service.

"I told the rep I would like to cancel my internet, unless I can receive a one-time bill credit for the inconvenience caused by the outage, as I work from home and had to relocate temporarily," reads the post.

"I was expecting five bucks, if anything, maybe $10 or $15, if lucky. Surprisingly, she came back and applied a $35.85 bill credit to my account. Your mileage may vary! Good luck!"

Several customers replied to the post saying they tried and successfully received credit.

"It was $67 for me, or one month of service free. Currently have Fibe with three gigs up and down on promo," reads a comment. "Overall, no haggling, just stated that I missed a deadline for work due to the outage. Overall took about 7-8 mins from dialling to hanging up."

Others received credit, but not as much as $67 or even $35.

"I got offered $2.60 roughly first time and said no… want more… they came back with $7.50 or $8 with tax and I was like, 'fine,'" reads another comment. "It was raining in Toronto and I was home bored, so a few minutes on the phone wasn't a big deal. And eight bucks is four coffees at Tim’s. Ha!"

One Redditor said Bell customer service was catching on to the trend.

"Agent told me on the line that 'nobody can or has received any account adjustments' because the 'issue isn’t fully documented yet/not resolved,' and that even though they know there's an issue and they've had an 'influx of calls' (presumably from this post), they can't do anything but I should try calling back in a week once 'the resolution is documented,'" reads the post.

The Redditor says they pushed back, were put on hold, and were offered $1.67 10 minutes later for one day of outage.

Other customers weren't as patient, saying, "If given the choice of paying $35 or going through Bell support, I'll pay the $35."

Bell has yet to respond to our request for comment to confirm whether it typically offers credit after major internet outages. Based on previous reports from Bell customers who have experienced outages, the telecom giant does seem to reimburse people for issues.

Other internet service providers have also provided credit after massive disruptions. In 2022, Rogers spent $150 million on customer credits due to an outage that paralyzed the country.

One post on the forum RedFlagDeals from February 2023 details a person who was reimbursed $10.95 for a 36-hour outage after they explained that it impacted their workday.