Furious McDonald’s customers have taken to social media to express their frustration after an IT outage left them unable to order food.
The worldwide issue began early on Friday morning, but within only a few hours it had Brits complaining online.
One user posted on Twitter: ‘You have ruined my morning McClowns. I have been eating here daily and I was denied my McMuffin due to your rubbish system being down.
‘I thought you had discontinued Roland McDonald’s persona years ago.’
Another person commented their rage at the situation: ‘Sooooo, for the first time in ages I’m gagging for a nice McMuffin… order online, drive to the McD’s and… you’ve got a country-wide failure?
‘How about you lock the app then until it’s sorted instead of allowing people to order? Just a thought?’
McDonald’s UK app noticied a spike in problems from around 5am on Friday
Another user expressed disappointment that they ‘couldn’t even serve a latte this morning’.
McDonald’s has so far not made an official comment on the widespread issue.
But a spokesperson from McDonald’s UK said they were ‘looking into’ the problem.
A system used to monitor IT problems for businesses, Downdetector, noted a spike in issues with the McDonald’s UK app from around 5am on Friday.
In 2018 McDonald’s said on average the company serves 3.5 million customers per day in the UK.
But the issue has also been reported across the world, including in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Another user took to social media to question why McDonald’s could not continue to take orders down with pen and paper following the digital shutdown.
They moaned they ‘had not had their McBreakfast today’ due to the failure.
However it is thought not all stores have been affected by the outage and a small number continue to operate throughout the impacted countries.
McDonald’s customers have been unable to order food in its restaurants due to an IT outage (stock image)
But the problem has also been reported by media organisations in China and Sweden. Other social media users posted the same problem in Germany and Austria.
In Japan, the company apologised to customers on social media and said they may need to ‘wait a while’ for problems to be resolved.
McDonald’s in Japan, which has around 3,000 stores in the country, said: ‘There is currently a system failure. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and ask that you please wait for a while until the service is restored.’
A McDonald’s Australia spokesman said it was ‘aware of a technology outage’ currently impacting stores across the country.
One manager in the country wrote on Reddit his store continued accepting orders by writing them down on paper, while other locations decided to close.
The IT outage comes after McDonald’s UK and Ireland announced it will be undergoing its most significant menu change in decades, as the chain celebrates its 50th anniversary.
In 2018 McDonald’s said on average the company serves 3.5 million customers per day in the UK
In the huge shake-up, the restaurant will be making recipe changes to its beloved beef burgers, promising they will be ‘better than ever before’.
Fan favourites that will see changes include the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and of course the classic Cheeseburger variations including the double and triple.
The shake-up comes 50 years after the first set of golden arches appeared on a UK high street in 1974.
The restaurant in Woolwich was the first McDonald’s in the UK and offered customers ‘The United Tastes of America’.
And the recipe switch-up is not the only big change – the news comes just after McDonald’s launched a new personalised ‘inclusive’ uniform that allows staff to wear the clothes ‘they feel most comfortable in’.