Sainsbury’s top boss has apologised to shoppers for the IT meltdown that left thousands without groceries yesterday.
The ‘technical issue’ created chaos on one of the busiest shopping days of the week. The grocery chain cancelled online orders and couldn’t accept contactless payments – so shoppers either had to use a physical card or pay in cash.
Customers, who already faced long queues at the tills, were forced to desperately queue at nearby ATMs, but many machines ran out of cash due to the dramatic uptick in withdrawals.
Today CEO Simon Roberts sent an email to all shoppers confirming the ‘affected systems are now back online’ and stores continue to be open and ‘fully operational’.
He apologised to ‘every customer’ that was impacted by yesterday’s IT failure and revealed that any shopper whose online order was not delivered will receive a voucher in the coming days in help make up for the ‘inconvenience’.
Many loyal Sainsbury’s shoppers turned to rival Tesco after being unable to complete their Saturday shop, however the chain also experienced tech issues yesterday and was forced to cancel a small proportion of online orders.
Sainsbury’s top boss has apologised to shoppers for the IT meltdown that left thousands without groceries yesterday. Customers are pictured waiting in long queues yesterday at the chain’s shop in Wandsworth, south London amid tech difficulties
The grocery chain cancelled online orders and couldn’t accept contactless payments – so shoppers either had to use a physical card or pay in cash. Pictured is a self-service till at a Sainsbury’s in London that could only accept cash payments
Shoppers abandoned their carts and baskets at a Sainsbury’s near Richmond upon Thames yesterday as the supermarket chain battled an IT glitch impacting customers’ ability to pay
Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts (pictured) today sent an email to all shoppers confirming the ‘affected systems are now back online’ and stores continue to be open and ‘fully operational’
‘I want to apologise to you and every customer that has been affected by the issue and to thank you for your patience and for bearing with us,’ Mr Roberts penned in the email reviewed by Mail Online. He also thanked customers for their ‘patience and understanding’.
‘I really understand how important it is for everyone to be able to shop with us conveniently and easily, whenever and however you want to, and I am sorry if you have not received your usual service from Sainsbury’s this weekend.’
The CEO said he is ‘pleased to confirm’ that all impacted systems are functioning normally and that stores are accepting all forms of in-store payment, including contactless.
The online ordering system is also ‘working as normal’ and customers who did not receive their delivery yesterday can now place new orders with delivery windows starting from tomorrow, he said.
Mr Roberts also revealed that Sainsbury’s will ‘automatically’ add a voucher to the online wallet of impacted shoppers to ‘apologise for the inconvenience’.
Sainsbury’s contact centre teams are reportedly working ‘working very hard to do everything they can to help customers who have been affected by the issue and need further assistance’.
The boss added: ‘Thank you for bearing with us while we work to answer any specific questions you may have as soon as possible.’
He further went on to praise all the ‘colleagues who have worked so hard to resolve this issue and support our customers’. Mr Roberts said he is ‘proud’ of how the team ‘stepped up’ yesterday to managed the ‘unexpected challenges’ customers faced.
A handwritten sign was placed outside a Sainsbury’s store in Cobham yesterday to inform customers of the technical issues affecting the supermarket chain
There were long queues yesterday at the Sainsbury’s on the 316 near Richmond upon Thames as shoppers struggled to complete their purchases amid IT failures
Shoppers were forced to desperately queue at nearby ATMs, but many machines ran out of cash due to the dramatic uptick in withdrawals. Pictured is a Sainsbury’s Bank cash machine in London ran out of money amid the IT technical issues yesterday
Two of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains – Tesco and Sainsbury’s – were hit with technical issues yesterday, leaving the busy grocers in absolute chaos.
Furious shoppers were battled painful queues as contactless payments failed, cash machines running dry and tempers flaring over cancelled online orders.
Customers were seen marching out of the supermarket yesterday, looking for the nearest alternative, after they realised Sainsbury’s was no longer accepting contactless and that the queues were huge.
Queues snaked into the aisles as customers tried to negotiate the self-checkout tills and tensions flared as customers’ cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay were being declined with some tills seemingly shutting down completely.
Swathes of counters were empty with the till either closing or only offering to take cash. Some infuriated customers went over to the customer services section to voice their complaints.
Outside the grocer, hordes of angry shoppers tried to take out cash from nearby ATMs but were left emptyhanded due to the surge withdrawals.
Shoppers at a large Sainsbury’s branch on Cromwell Road, west London told yesterday that the store, which offers around 20 self-checkout tills, only had three operating counters – causing a ‘meltdown’ around the payment area and snaking queues.
The west London store had opened a separate queue for people with only a few items, one shopper claimed, but the queue quickly became packed as customers rushed in to grab essential weekend supplies.
Customers are seen outside the Sainsbury’s store in Lyons Farm, Worthington on Saturday, where the shop is only accepting cash. Some appear to be withdrawing cash from the ATM
Sue Mautner, pictured yesterday, told that a west London Sainsbury’s had opened a separate queue for people with only a few items but this had become packed as customers rushed in to grab essential weekend supplies
Argos, which is owned by Sainsbury’s, was also affected by the software update, meaning some customers may have had issues ordering new items or collecting orders in-store. Pictured is the Argos inside the Cromwell Road, west London Sainsbury’s yesterday with a sign on the door notifying customers that it was closed
Shoppers queued outside a Tesco store in London yesterday to withdraw cash, as the supermarket was hit with major technical glitch
Argos, which is owned by Sainsbury’s, was also affected by the software update, meaning some customers may have had issues ordering new items or collecting orders in-store. It said there may have been delays in fulfilling orders placed.
Only a small proportion of Tesco orders due for delivery on Saturday were impacted, it is understood. Tesco customers received an email if their order was disrupted, and if it was cancelled they were not charged.
In-store shopping and orders placed on the app and website were not affected by the tech failure.
Tesco told in a statement yesterday: ‘The vast majority of our online orders are being delivered as normal, but due to a technical issue earlier today we have had to cancel a small number of orders. We are contacting affected customers directly, and we’re really sorry for the inconvenience.’
Sainsbury’s and Tesco were hit by technology failures just one day after McDonald’s experienced an IT outage that left customers unable to order food.