McDonald’s Corp. has been hit by a system outage that appears to have started in the Asia-Pacific region and spread to other markets globally, leaving customers unable to order at its stores and through electronic platforms.
The issue, caused by a problem with the fast-food giant’s computer system, rippled from Japan to Australia, New Zealand and several European countries on Friday, leaving some restaurants unable to take orders or serve food.
“We are aware of a technology outage, which impacted our restaurants,” McDonald’s said in an emailed statement. “The issue is now being resolved. We thank customers for their patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Notably, the issue is not related to a cybersecurity event.”
Social media users in the UK had reported being unable to place orders online on Friday morning. Issues there and in Ireland have now been resolved, the company said in a separate statement.
Problems were also occurring in Germany and other markets during the morning in Europe, a spokesperson said, saying the company is still seeking details.
McDonald’s shares were down 0.5% in premarket US trading.
The problems, which first appeared in Asia, found restaurants in Taiwan halting phone and online ordering due to system maintenance, while McDonald’s Japan said many outlets across the country were forced to suspend their operations.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand Herald reported stores were unable to take orders and Australian broadcaster 7News said restaurants across the country had been impacted by the outage. Singapore’s Strait Times said ordering services on the McDonald’s app were down in the city-state.
Still, some locations were getting back to business as usual. The McDonald’s system in Hong Kong was gradually resuming normal operations and customers were able to use its app and self-ordering kiosks again, according to a post published around 5 p.m. local time on its official Facebook page. Online ordering had also restarted in mainland China, according to a Weibo post.