Starbucks stores across the U.S. and Canada were hit by a computer glitch Friday and some stores responded by giving away free drinks until the system was fixed.
A supervisor in a New York City Starbucks on Spring Street said they can’t ring up sales or accept credit cards. He declined to be identified.
A barista in a San Francisco Starbucks said they were closed because of the computer problem.
“Yes it is true,” Starbucks spokesman Jim Olson told CNNMoney. “The point of sale cash registers are down in the U.S. and Canada. It is not a hack. It happened during a typical daily menu refresh on the system. Something went wrong and they are working as quickly as possible to get them up.”
Delighted Starbucks fans were tweeting that some stores were giving away freebies until the computer problem could be fixed.
“Starbucks systems are down so I got my drink for free. Seems like all Starbucks are doing this. Be sure to tip the barista!” tweeted @octopuscandy who lives in Los Angeles.
“the machines at Starbucks are down so they’re giving away free drinks. #you’rewelcome,” tweeted @nicolemariko14 in Washington.
@mackenziecrotty said the problem extended to Edmonton, Canada, tweeting, “apparently the servers at starbucks are down across canada so i just got free coffee.”
The computer glitch came on a day that Starbucks reported robust sales. The coffee chain said Friday that sales and profits for its fiscal second-quarter that were up nearly 20% from a year ago and ahead of Wall Street’s forecasts.