Morrisons shoppers were left frustrated on what is the busiest shopping day of the year for supermarkets across the nation, as the retailer experienced an IT glitch. The supermarket chain has since issued an apology after patrons couldn’t access discounts with their More loyalty card in the run-up to Christmas, due to system issues.
To make matters worse, some have taken to social media to voice that their festive online orders and click-and-collect reservations faced delays or cancellations.
Attempting to mitigate customer dissatisfaction, Morrisons announced a universal 10% off promotion on baskets full of Yuletide fare and drinks at checkout counters, but disgruntled customers reported this was not honoured in certain stores. Voices on social platforms complained about loyalty card discounts not being processed properly at checkouts.
One annoyed shopper stated: “More card prices not being honoured… and not made aware until I went to pay. Cost me at least £20 more than it should have.”
Another expressed vexation, noting: “Very frustrated that the More card isn’t working this morning. No Discounts on my shopping. Had to pay way more than expected! ! “.
Additionally, a customer posted an image showing an error message on a self-checkout screen saying: “We are really sorry some promotions and discounts are not working at this time.”
Besides the technical woes concerning loyalty cards, one report surfaced from a patron in Bacup who did not receive the advertised 10 percent reduction, despite conversing with a staff member. Her account: “In Bacup this morning I wasn’t offered anything despite talking to a member of staff! “.
Steve Dresser, a retail expert and CEO of Grocery Insight, commented that it’s hard to imagine a worse time for IT systems to fail. The Morrisons website also seemed to be experiencing issues, with error messages on some pages indicating invalid or late server responses.
One customer expressed their frustration to the BBC about their Christmas food delivery, which included a turkey, not arriving as scheduled. “I’ve rung customer services who said they couldn’t reinstate the order or offer me a delivery slot and there’s nothing they can do,” they shared.
Despite explaining their health conditions and lack of transportation, the customer was only offered a ‘£10 good will voucher’. On Morrisons’ Facebook page, other customers have reported cancellations of Christmas deliveries ordered a month ago.
“Half my Christmas shopping isn’t coming including the turkey and puddings and they were ordered a month ago,” one person posted under an advert for discounts. Some customers claim they have missed out on significant in-store discounts.
The supermarket has been promoting substantial reductions on Christmas dinner food, including vegetables, over the past week.
“I’ve just wasted an hour of my life shopping at Morrisons only to find out by checking my receipt that I’ve been charged £40 more than I should because the More Cards aren’t working. No communication at all, so loads have probably overspent without knowing,” one disgruntled customer shared on X.
Today has been earmarked as the busiest supermarket shopping day of the year by retail experts Kantar, with sales expected to surpass £13bn in December for the first time. The issue seems to predominantly affect loyalty card users and those using click and collect services. A Morrisons spokesperson has stated: “If More Card prices are not registering, we will apply a 10 percent discount to the customer’s entire shop.”
They also mentioned that some home deliveries might be delayed today and advised click and collect customers to wait for a confirmation email before heading to the store.
Frustration was palpable among shoppers, with reports of incomplete online Christmas orders. Emma Millhouse voiced her disappointment: “Ordered Christmas food on November 3rd and when it was delivered today more than half was unavailable.”
She added, “If you are going to advertise Christmas food delivery don’t pretend it’s guaranteed. A £20 voucher isn’t good enough to cover the stress.”
Meanwhile, Moira Redhead from Northumberland reached out to X with her concern: “I’m due to have my Christmas order delivered today between 16.30 and 1730. It has my turkey and everything I need for Christmas.”
“I’ve just had an email from you saying you couldn’t fulfil my order and it’s been cancelled. What am I meant to do I can’t get to shops? ” Natalie Williamson penned in frustration: “@Morrisons food to order what a disaster! “”Online issues and no timescale for resolution. Supposed to pick my order up at 10am, just been told on the phone they can’t even guarantee it will be today. What a joke.”
A Morrisons spokesperson said: “This morning we are experiencing some system issues which are principally impacting some More Card discounts and Click and Collect orders. For More Card customers who have Morrisons Fivers to redeem, these will be done manually in store by colleagues. And if More Card prices are not registering, we will apply a 10% discount to the customer’s entire shop.
“For Click and Collect orders, we are asking customers to wait for an email to inform them that their order is ready for collection before heading to store. Some home delivery orders may be arriving late today – and we will be communicating directly with those customers affected. We sincerely apologise to our customers for this inconvenience.”