Starbucks Suffers Payment System Outage After Technology Update Gone Wrong

Starbucks Suffers Payment System Outage After Technology Update Gone Wrong

Early this morning, Starbucks suffered a disruption in its payment system that affected multiple locations throughout the United States and Canada. Due to the outage, the stores were reportedly only able to conduct transactions in cash until late afternoon in some locations.

After the problem was identified, the company acknowledged the system trouble and was quick to point out that this was a company-specific issue related to a problematic “technology update.” According to a Starbucks representative, in an email to Reuters, the outage was not connected to the WannaCry ransomware cyberattack that recently hit thousands of companies in more than 100 countries.

“Our systems have not been compromised by any third party,” Madeleine Löwenborg-Frickemail, a Starbucks representative, told Reuters.

She did not identify the specific cause of the outage but said that system update to the system was conducted in line with normal procedures.

The company issued another statement around 4 pm (Eastern time) noting that the problem had largely been resolved. “Overnight we worked to install a technology update to our store registers in the U.S. and Canada, and a limited number of locations were temporarily offline,” stated the company. “The stores remained open during this time, and we can now confirm virtually all are once again fully operational with the remaining few stores scheduled to come back online shortly.”

While operations were disrupted, some customers were actually greeted with welcome news after they placed their order. Many people reported on social media that they were given a free coffee today. “We apologize for the inconvenience, but we’re so glad we could make it right!” responded a Twitter employee on Twitter to one coffee drinker in St. Louis who was given a free beverage.

Photo credit: lilivanili

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