Customers and employees were not lovin’ it on Friday as an international system failure impacted McDonald’s establishments around the world.
The shutdown of their digital programs caused stores around the globe to close until it was back up again.
“McDonald’s experienced a global technology system outrage, which was quickly identified and corrected,” the franchise’s Global Chief Information Officer, Brian Rice, said in a statement on the company’s website. “Many markets are back online, and the rest are in the process of coming back online.”
The news of the fast food giant’s system malfunctioning began spreading online early Friday morning as users began reporting problems with the app around 2 a.m. ET, and complaints spiked around 9 a.m..
Soon after, McDonald’s in Japan took to X to announce that many stores nationwide had temporarily halted operations due to a “system failure.”
In Hong Kong, the chain also blamed a “computer system failure” as the root of online orders made through the self-serve kiosks being out of service.
A cashier worker at a New York location reported to CNN that the store’s IT system went down around 1 a.m. and didn’t start back up until hours later, around 5 a.m..
Patrick Hjelte, the owner of several McDonald’s restaurant in Sweden, stated that “all McDonald’s restaurants are connected to a global network,” which is most likely the reason the shutdown was so expansive.
McDonald’s emphasized that the issue was “not directly caused by a cybersecurity event,” but rather a “third-party provider during a configuration change.” However, they did not include any further details on the issue.
Since the shutdown, many McDonald’s restaurants have reportedly solved their problems and are operating normally again, including establishments in Bangkok, Milan, London, and Los Angeles.
