#TargetDown Trends as Target Experiences a Checkout System Outage, and Customers were Not Happy About It
Target shoppers took to social media on Saturday to complain that cash registers in stores across the country weren't working, preventing them from making what should have been a quick weekend trip to the big box store.
In a tweet from its @asktarget account, the company wrote that it is "aware of a systems issue in store and [is] working as quickly as possible to get this fixed."
From another official account, Target wrote: "Our teams are troubleshooting now and we apologize for the inconvenience. We will provide an update as soon as possible."
We’re aware that guests are currently unable to make purchases at Target stores. Our teams are troubleshooting now and we apologize for the inconvenience. We will provide an update as soon as possible.
— Target News (@TargetNews) June 15, 2019
Social media users said cash registers weren't working properly at a number of stores nationwide and posted images of long lines.
"This is how you bring America to a standstill," Minnesota journalist Nancy Yang shared on Twitter alongside a photo of an error message at a cashier's stand. "Every single register at the Richfield [Target] is down."
A user replied to Yang, saying "Countrywide! Nothing here in NE too!"
Downdetector.com received more than 5,000 reports about stores experiencing problems on Saturday.
Blair Driscoll, a 35-year-old living in Tampa, Florida, told BuzzFeed News that she and her husband were running errands at their local Target when they heard a message on the intercom informing customers that the registers weren't working.
"We thought it was just our store," Driscoll reported to BuzzFeed, "but when we got near the front someone said, 'No, it's all of them.'"
USA Today reported that in Boston, Target security officers had to tell incoming customers that the store was closed due to a larger system issue.
Anyone who has ever worked in retail feels for Target employees today #Targetdown pic.twitter.com/tf9pe8uAOd
— Terri Miller (@ticklet) June 15, 2019
At least @target kept me fed. They brought out candy and popcorn and wings. I’m thinking they should set up a TV next and pop in a movie. Maybe we can play bean bag toss, too #targetdown
— Nancy Yang (@n_yang) June 15, 2019
A number of social media reports said that Target employees handed out free drinks and snacks to placate customers already inside stores when the system went down while they continued to wait.
Friendly reminder that Target employees are not the right people to be taking out all your anger and wrath on. Don't blame the workers. #targetdown
— Tom Vásquez (@TVasquez) June 15, 2019
Many took to Twitter with #targetdown to remind others that the employees shouldn't bear the brunt on customers' discontent and express sympathy for the disarray that the system issue caused in the stores.
