BlackBerry Users File Class Action Suit Against RIM [Research-in-Motion Might Face Class Action Suit From Customers Because of Worldwide BlackBerry Service Outages]

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BlackBerry users are not happy with the worldwide service outages that lasted for days in the previous weeks. But should BlackBerry be legally liable for damages?

Consumers have filed a class-action suit against Ontario-based Research-in-Motion (RIM), maker of BlackBerry smartphones and the service platform that powers BlackBerry messaging, email and web browsing.

The lawsuit has been filed with the Quebec Superior Court by the Consumer Law Group, Inc., which says they are filing the lawsuit “on behalf of individuals who have BlackBerry smartphones and who pay for a monthly data plan but were unable to access their email, BlackBerry Messenger service (BBM), and/or Internet for the period of October 11 to 14, 2011.”

The lead complainant in the filing says he lost communications with contacts from the UK, U.S., Barbados and Trinidad when BlackBerry service went down. The outages in Europe, Americas, Asia and Africa resulted in delayed or lost emails, BBM messages, as well as inability to browse the Web, and was reported to cost RIM upwards of $100 million in damages.

RIM has provided customers with $100 free credits toward the purchase of select applications from BlackBerry App World, and enterprise users also get a month’s free technical support. However, the lawyers who filed the class-action suit say the company has not provided enough compensation in the form of pro-rated refunds based on service loss.

RIM has responded by saying they are not planning to provide additional compensation. RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie told the Financial Times that they “don’t currently have any offers like that.”

RIM has not received a copy of the complaint, and a company spokesperson says they will “respond to the matter in due course.” If successful, the class-action lawsuit will require compensation for each user who participates in the class-action.

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