Microsoft's Massive Tech Outage Has Even Hit The Starbucks App

In one of the biggest tech bungles in recent times, cybersecurity company CrowdStrike pushed a faulty Microsoft Windows update that brought down systems and companies around the globe. Almost everything was hit, shutting down live news stations, grounding flights, closing banks, and interrupting even the most minor services.

One of the companies that was hit is Starbucks. You can open its app and poke around the interface, but customers are still greeted with a splash page warning that all online ordering functionality (including accessing a given store's menu), is not currently functioning. For a company that does roughly 70% of its business through a combination of online and drive-thru ordering, where many tricks can be used, that's a brutal blow. And it's not even Starbucks's first issue with its app.

Making matters worse, some stores have even lost the ability to charge credit and debit cards, restricting all payments to cash. In a country where roughly 70% of people mainly use cards, it's going to affect the coffee chain's sales until the problem is fixed.

As is usually the case when companies have issues, the ground-level employees bear the brunt of the crash. Many baristas have turned to the main Starbucks subreddit to look for advice and support, or just to share their craziest stories. One user said, "Almost every store in my district except mine closed because they didn't want to deal with the outages," adding that their location's mobile and delivery orders skyrocketed, and an increased drive-thru queue caused two accidents. 

Another Redditor said one unruly delivery driver went behind the counter to obtain an order: "He was ignoring other partners saying to get out from behind [the counter], I raised my voice because he clearly wasn't listening, then he starts yelling..."

As internet users are known to do, plenty of gallows humor is being shared. A Starbucksified Everything is Fine meme was shared on Reddit, and Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier posted on X, formerly Twitter, "Airplanes? Whatever. Banks? Who cares. Starbucks mobile orders are down? This is an international disaster."

Although there's no current timeline for when everything may be back in order, CrowdStrike and Microsoft continue to work to resolve the issues, with some companies already back in action.