Furious Sainsbury’s shoppers have been have faced utter chaos today after an IT meltdown left them battling painful queues as contactless payments failed, cash machines running dry and tempers flaring over cancelled online orders.
Tesco was also forced to cancel and delay home deliveries today due a ‘technical issue’. The supermarket did not specify how widespread the issue is, but dozens of Tesco customers complained online about their missing orders this morning.
Sainsbury’s suffered an ‘error with an overnight software update’ that impacted its online ordering system and contactless in-store payments, and non-functioning cash machines.
A Sainsbury’s Bank cash machine at one location in London has run out of cash as customers were forced to make withdraws to pay for their shopping.
And shoppers at a large branch on Cromwell Road, west London branch told 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.
Sue Mautner said that the shop 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.
Shoppers queue outside a Tesco store in London to withdraw cash, as the supermarket is hit with major technical glitch today
There are long queues at Sainsbury’s in Wandsworth, south London today as shoppers struggle to pay for their groceries due to technical difficulties
An ATM machine outside a Tesco store in London which has run out of cash, as the supermarket is hit with major technical glitch
A Sainsbury’s Bank cash machine in London runs out of cash as the supermarket is suffering from IT technical issues
Sue Mautner (pictured) said 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
She told : ‘I’ve had to walk a long way to get here and thank God I did my big shop in the week.
‘I went into the shorter queue which was still very busy and they said that people were having problems paying with card.’
The Argos inside the Sainsbury’s was temporarily closed today, with a sign on the door attributing the disruption to a ‘technical issue’.
She added: ‘I offered to walk to the cash point instead but then they said that that wasn’t working either. Even though I was in the short queue I still had to wait a long time.
‘The man in front of me was just buying two beers and I couldn’t understand why it was taking such a long time.
‘In the end I just showed the person at the till my cards and just hoped that one would work. It had gone into meltdown.’
Inside the store, queues snaked into the aisles as customers tried to negotiate the self-checkout tills.
Some shoppers raced over to the two tills which had cashiers but these soon became packed.
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.
Paul Thompson described the experience as ‘painful’.
He said: ‘I had to wait in there for 15 minutes which is a lot longer than usual.
‘I’ve actually been going to this shop for 15 years and I’ve never had to queue.
‘It was really painful queueing in there today.’
Some infuriated customers went over to the customer services section to voice their complaints.
Mauro said: ‘I only had to pay for a few items and even that took over 10 minutes.
‘There’s been various problems for a few weeks but this was to do with the contactless system not working.
‘I admit I don’t really come much here any more as you can see.’
Furious shoppers at a large west London Sainsbury’s (pictured) told that the store, which normally offers around 20 self-checkout tills, had only three counters operating, causing a ‘meltdown’ around the payment area
An apparent security worker stands guard at the door of the Sainsbury’s store in Lyons Farm, Worthington this morning
Swathes of counters were empty with the till either closing or only offering to take cash. Paul Thompson (pictured) described the experience as ‘painful’
Mauro (pictured) said: ‘I only had to pay for a few items and even that took over 10 minutes’
‘All Jamin Hu, 26, said: ‘We were waiting in line for around 10 minutes.’ Vicarus, 23, added: ‘There were very long queues in there’
Christoph (pictured) also had to wait for more than 10 minutes in the chaotic shop. He said: ‘They weren’t accepting any contactless cards and actually only one or two tills were working’
Matthew looked relieved as he darted out of the supermarket with a bag of shopping. He said: ‘There were lots of tills closed down that were not taking card’
The Argos inside the Cromwell Road, west London Sainsbury’s has temporarily shut its doors today, with a sign on the door attributing the closure to a ‘technical issue’
Outside Sainsbury’s, hordes of angry shoppers shook their heads and complained to their fellow customers after their ordeal.
Others marched out of the supermarket looking for the nearest alternative after they realised Sainsbury’s was no longer accepting contactless and that the queues were huge.
A group of international students had had a miserable time nipping in for a few groceries.
‘All these checkouts were out of order,’ Jamin Hu, 26, said.
‘We were waiting in line for around 10 minutes.’
Vicarus, 23, added: ‘There were very long queues in there.’
Christoph also had to wait for more than 10 minutes in the chaotic shop.
He said: ‘They weren’t accepting any contactless cards and actually only one or two tills were working.
‘And the place was only refurbished the other week.’
Matthew looked relieved as he darted out of the supermarket with a bag of shopping. He said: ‘There were lots of tills closed down that were not taking card.
‘I had to wait for five minutes. There weren’t even many people there, there were just very few tills working.’
Frustrated shoppers are being forced to wait in long queues and pay with cash as the company admits it is ‘experiencing issues with contactless payments’. Several customers have also complained that the grocer’s ATMs have run out of money due to the influx in withdraws.
The supermarkets’ tech issues come just one day after McDonald’s experienced an IT outage that left customers unable to order food.
Stephen Page said he walked down to his local Sainsbury’s in Guildford this morning to complete his Saturday shop after learning about the IT issues impacting ‘online deliveries’.
At this point, he claims, it wasn’t clear that card payments had been impacted by the tech meltdown.
‘After choosing my items from my shopping list, like many others, [I] queued to be served as all the tills were dead,’ Mr Page told .
‘However, when I was finally served I was told that they were accepting cash only.’
He said he went outside to use the supermarket’s ATM, but it was ‘also dysfunctional’. Mr Page added: ‘I returned to the counter the Sainsbury’s employee already knew that the ATM was not working but had failed to tell me.’
He then took a five-metre walk to the nearest ATM, withdrew cash, returned to Sainsbury’s ‘queued up and collected my shopping’, he said.
The shopper reiterated that he is not frustrated with store staff, but how Sainsbury’s management has handled the situation.
He argues the company is putting ‘their interests’ first and how the IT failure ‘impacts them commercially, as opposed to the interest of their customers’.
A handwritten sign outside a Sainsbury’s store in Cobham informing customers of technical issues currently affecting the supermarket chain
Shopping left by the tills at the Sainsbury’s supermarket in Richmond-upon-Thames
A non-functional Sainsbury’s Bank cash point at the branch of the shop in Richmond
Huge queues as shoppers attempt to pay for their groceries at the Richmond shop today
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
Shoppers queue for the cash machine outside the Sainsbury’s in Lyons Farm, Worthington
The ShopSmart handsets at a Sainsbury’s in Wandsworth, south London appear to be inoperable today as they all display the message ‘no internet connection’
One customer received an email from Tesco this morning indicating that they could not fulfil her home delivery order
Sainsbury’s was unable to deliver its Groceries Online orders today due to an ‘error with an overnight software update’, a spokesperson told . The error also caused ‘issues with contactless payments’.
Despite the tech failure, Sainsbury’s says all its stores are ‘open as usual today, accepting chip and pin and cash payments’. And, as of around noon today, the grocer’s online ordering system was functional again.
‘We will not be able to deliver the vast majority of today’s Groceries Online orders and we are currently unable to contact customers directly,’ a spokesperson said of the IT difficulties.
‘Our online ordering system is working as normal and customers can place a new order now for delivery any time from tomorrow. We apologise to customers for the inconvenience and are working hard to fix the issue.’
However, as Sainsbury’s online system appeared to be back up and running, rival supermarket Tesco was also hit with an outage.
Tesco told that that the some online orders had been cancelled due a ‘technical issue’.
A Tesco spokesperson said: ‘We are working to fix a technical issue which has meant we have had to cancel some online orders that were due for delivery today. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.’
Dozens of Tesco customers have complained online that their orders have been cancelled or delayed this morning.
Tesco outages reported on Downdetector
Customer Denise Salman said on Twitter/X this morning: ‘@Tesco thanks for cancelling my home delivery tonight with no proper notice.
‘On my way home from Gatwick Airport and not looking forward to going food shopping. I placed the order over a week ago so very shabby customer service!! Not happy!!’
Another customer Claire Graham, said her order had been cancelled too, replying to Denise with: ‘Cancelled too – birthday party ruined… no food. No time to get food.
‘@Tesco just says “sorry”… not good enough.’
Another Tesco shopper, Mandy Friend said her click and collect order was cancelled this morning.
She said: ‘My Tesco click and collect just got cancelled. Poor lady who phoned me was very frazzled and not looking forward to phoning lots of angry customers!’
Reports on Downdetector indicate a peak of around 130 outages at Tesco at around 11am this morning.
It is understood that a small proportion of Tesco deliveries due today have affected.
Tesco customers whose orders have been impacted will received an email to notify them and will not be charged.
Sainsbury’s has said it is experiencing ‘technical issues’ at some stores meaning it will not be able to fulfil the ‘vast majority’ of online grocery deliveries. The supermarket chain said on Saturday morning it was ‘working hard to fix the issue’ and apologised to customers affected
Frustrated customers say they cannot pay at the tills and are ‘disappointed’ that they will not be receiving their online delivery orders. Others have claimed they are now forced to turn to rival Tesco to complete their Saturday shop
Sainsbury’s, replying to a X user who asked about refunds, also confirmed that that ‘once the systems are fixed, your order will be cancelled’.
One social media user questioned if customer personal data has been impacted by the technical outage. But Sainsbury’s reassured that shoppers’ ‘details will still be safe and secure even with the issues going on’.
The supermarket, in another tweet, apologised to a customer for the ‘inconvenience’ caused by the delay in their delivery.
While the company has not indicated when the issue will be resolved, they told the shopper: ‘We’re working hard to fix the issue ASAP. Please place a new order online from the current available slots.’
Despite the supermarket ‘working hard to fix the issue’, the have been chaotic scenes in Sainsbury’s stores across the country today.
A furious shopper took to X this morning to complain about their experience with the chain’s online ordering system. They wrote: ‘Delivery expected between 8am-9am. No communication what so ever!!! Can’t get through Sainsbury’s by phone or messenger? Extremely poor service.’
Another customer echoed: ‘Why would I bother rebooking a delivery with food meant for this weekend on Monday?
‘I’m popping out to a different supermarket instead and will be cancelling the monthly delivery fee with you, I think the online shopping experience with Sainsbury’s not worth the hassle.’
Another joked: ‘Good job I ordered this mornings delivery from Tesco then, eh?’
Some shoppers have complained that Sainsbury’s is providing ‘mixed messages’ to customers about their online orders.
‘Are any orders going out? I should have had a delivery yesterday but the driver had an accident so was rebooked for today,’ one claimed.
‘Your tweet said “vast majority” but your other tweet said all orders will be cancelled, so sending out mixed messages.’
A Sainsbury’s in London is instructing customers that tills are ‘cash only’ after having suffered from IT technical issues overnight
There are long queues at the Sainsbury’s in Wandsworth today as customers only can pay by cash as overnight software update is affecting contactless payments and are unable to deliver the online orders
Shoppers are struggling to pay at the tills at a Sainsbury’s in Wandsworth, south London today
Another shopper detailed their alleged ‘awful experience’ at the supermarket’s location in the London suburb of North Finchley this morning and even accused the grocer of being ‘happy to let old people starve’.
The customer said they were doing a £13 shop on behalf of a 92-year-old woman this morning when they were impacted by the outage.
‘Couldn’t pay by her contactless card and told to cross street and get cash out. Don’t know her PIN number so couldn’t do that,’ the shopper said. ‘Offered to come back later and pay but told that’s not acceptable. Happy to let old people starve.’
However, some shoppers have taken a bit more of a lighthearted response to the inconvenience.
‘With the M25 closure chaos this weekend and now the Sainsbury’s tech issue looks like my shopping delivery isn’t going to arrive today,’ one said. ‘First world problems. We may have to resort to the pub for dinner.’
‘Boy and Girls, in the world of technology, things break, nobody is immune,’ another said, advocating for the supermarket.
‘Sainsbury’s are clearly in a situation where if they had the systems working to answer your questions, they would be able to deliver your orders. Show some support x.’