Winnipeggers dealing with aftermath of Rogers outage

From issues paying rent to spending Saturday catching up on missed work – Winnipeggers are dealing with the consequences of a nationwide cell phone outage.

Rogers customer Hunter Ledingham says Friday got off to a difficult start when he realized he could not tell his work he would be late – and had to find cash to pay for a near-empty tank of gas.

“You could barely do anything,” Ledingham said. “Couldn’t send any e-transfers to anybody. It affected a couple of my friends’ rent. He couldn’t pay rent.”

Customer Cherry Collard says Friday’s outage gave her time to work without interruptions – but it meant catching up on missed calls Saturday.

“I really rely on my phone to be able to keep in touch with people for work,” Collard said. “It was definitely a surprise to not be able to contact anybody.”

Ledingham said without his phone, all he did was “just hang out outside and enjoy the old ways before there was internet really.”

Winnipeg Goldeyes General Manager Andrew Collier says Friday's game was affected by the outages – but it didn’t stop people from coming.

“Ticket scanning was fine – everything was fine there,” Collier said. “Maybe a little slower getting through concessions.”

Along with no debit – ATMs were not working.

Collier heard fan's phone frustrations – but says it felt like a usual game for fans in the stands.

''Maybe they were watching the game a little bit more and not on their phones.”

Make Coffee + Stuff Owner Jae-Sung Chon said while they couldn't take debit - that didn't deter customers.

“It was a little bit inconvenient but a lot of customers were understanding,” Chon said. ''There were obviously a couple of people who were looking for internet.”