LONDON (AP) — McDonald’s experienced system failures globally on Friday, causing some restaurants to close for a few hours and prompting complaints from customers on social media. The fast food chain referred to this as a “technology outage” that they were working to fix.
McDonald’s Corp., based in Chicago, stated that the issues were not caused by a cybersecurity attack, but did not provide further details about the cause.
In a statement, the burger giant acknowledged a technology outage that affected their restaurants and assured that it was being resolved. They expressed gratitude to customers for their patience and apologized for any inconvenience.
Earlier, McDonald’s in Japan announced on X (formerly Twitter) that “operations are temporarily out at many of our stores nationwide,” attributing it to “a system failure.”
The website Downdetector also registered a surge in problems with the McDonald’s app in the recent hours.
Following the outage, some McDonald’s restaurants in Bangkok, Milan, and London were operating normally again, serving customers who were able to place orders and receive their food.
One restaurant in Bangkok had plywood covering a door with a sign stating, “Technicians are updating the system,” while offering apologies for the inconvenience. However, customers were still able to place orders and make digital payments.
A spokesperson for McDonald’s in Denmark confirmed that the “technology failure” had been addressed, and their restaurants were open for business.
A staff member at a McDonald’s restaurant in Milan mentioned that the system was offline for a couple of hours, but they received guidance from a technician on restoring its operation.
Reports from media outlets highlighted complaints from customers in Australia and the U.K. regarding issues with ordering. One customer in Australia posted a photo on X, indicating the unavailability of a kiosk.
Patrik Hjelte, owner of multiple McDonald’s restaurants in central Sweden near the Norwegian border, explained to local newspaper Nya Wermlands Tidning that “All McDonald’s restaurants are connected to a global network, and that is what’s messed up.”
