Starbucks payment system crash prompts some locations to hand out coffees for free

[wickedplayer494]

[url]http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/25/technology/system-crash-for-starbucks-leads-to-free-coffee-for-some.html[/url]

[quote=New York Times]The in-store payment systems at Starbucks went down Friday at 8,000 company-operated stores in the United States and Canada, leading to an unexpected giveaway of coffee drinks at some stores.

In a statement, the company said the failure was caused not by hackers but by a problem during a daily computer system update. The chain said late Friday that it was still working to resolve the problem, which also affected the chain’s Fresh and Teavana stores.

“We are actively working to resolve the outage, and our stores will remain open and continue to serve our customers,” the company said.[/quote]

[theevilldeadII]

GOD DAM IT, I could have used some free coffe :(

[Roll_Program]

It's not so bad since most Starbucks customers are long term repeat customers, they'd rather lose $5 or so per customer for a day but keep them still interested in Starbucks for the long term.

[Cjk592]

I work at a mall in London, Ontario and they did this a few evenings ago. Didn't actually get to indulge in a free drink myself, but I know they were fairly packed with people that day.

[garychencool]

Damn, missed it :v:

I wonder if it's still going on..

[StrawberryClock]

Well there's one system admin somewhere that's gonna get fired...

[Janeway]

This probably didn't put a dent in their profit margins.

[Snoogens]

I used to work at starbucks and a similar thing happened a few years ago. We gave away free coffee for like an hour. Probably close to £250 worth.

[mcgrath618]

[QUOTE]News of the outage spread quickly on social media, with the hashtag #TheFrappening[/QUOTE]
:v:

[spazthemax]

Hah :v the starbucks near me just closed up and had their employees waiting around drinking free coffee themselves

[Jacinth]

[QUOTE=spazthemax;47598800]Hah :v the starbucks near me just closed up and had their employees waiting around drinking free coffee themselves[/QUOTE]

Employees always get a free drink. Every break and before and after their shift.

[Morbo!!!]

[QUOTE=ratman;47598026]I used to work at starbucks and a similar thing happened a few years ago. We gave away free coffee for like an hour. Probably close to £250 worth.[/QUOTE]

So 5 coffees?

[Ybbat]

[QUOTE=Cjk592;47595737]I work at a mall in London, Ontario and they did this a few evenings ago. Didn't actually get to indulge in a free drink myself, but I know they were fairly packed with people that day.[/QUOTE]

I live in London wanna hangout. I'll bring my fist.

[Niven]

I was at Starbucks when this happened actually. They asked if I had cash so I paid. My friend after me got his for free. Little fucker.

[Megalan]

Actual message about this from an incident management system
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/hegYbqP.png[/IMG]

[ZombieDawgs]

Such a shame, how will Starbucks ever recover from this? Especially with all those taxes they have to pay ;_;

[garychencool]

I went into a starbucks today and I heard the staff there talking about the craziness with this.

[Loopoo]

lol at the people genuinely upset over missing out on a free coffee

[AK'z]

their coffee isn't that good.

if you genuinely think their coffee warrants triple the price of a homebrew then you're brand crazy.

[lavacano]

[QUOTE=AK'z;47602309]their coffee isn't that good.

if you genuinely think their coffee warrants triple the price of a homebrew then you're brand crazy.[/QUOTE]

If you can't find a local coffeehouse though, Starbucks is the chain to go to. Means you'd need to drown your coffee in crap to enjoy it but money goes to a company that doesn't shit on their employees or do anything obnoxiously douchey

[Levelog]

[QUOTE=lavacano;47605638]If you can't find a local coffeehouse though, Starbucks is the chain to go to. Means you'd need to drown your coffee in crap to enjoy it but money goes to a company that doesn't shit on their employees or do anything obnoxiously douchey[/QUOTE]

Nah man, Caribou Coffee is my go-to large chain.

[lavacano]

[QUOTE=Levelog;47605827]Nah man, Caribou Coffee is my go-to large chain.[/QUOTE]

never heard of them here in Seattle

i might be in a bad area for chains though

[acer8]

[QUOTE=AK'z;47602309]their coffee isn't that good.

if you genuinely think their coffee warrants triple the price of a homebrew then you're brand crazy.[/QUOTE]

Not necessarily, alot of people go through any drive through or fast food/drink place for the convenience of having it within minutes and having to do nothing more than stand/sit there.

[isak]

[QUOTE=AK'z;47602309]their coffee isn't that good.

if you genuinely think their coffee warrants triple the price of a homebrew then you're brand crazy.[/QUOTE]

it's decent coffee but it's hugely overpriced for the quality, but that goes for all fast food. i could make better burgers than mcdonalds for less money, but i don't want to take the time to make patties and grill burgers and prepare all that at 3am when i'm high off my ass so i just go to mcdonalds

homemade coffee or coffee from small shops is almost always leagues ahead of what you'll get from starbucks.

[SgtTupelo]

[QUOTE=Megalan;47601189]Actual message about this from an incident management system
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/hegYbqP.png[/IMG][/QUOTE]

I assume here POS means "piece of shit" as usual? :v:

[lavacano]

[QUOTE=SgtTupelo;47608476]I assume here POS means "piece of shit" as usual? :v:[/QUOTE]

it actually means "point of sale" in this context

I'm sure whoever did the writeup was thinking of both meanings though