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Black Friday Panic at Macy's: People Report Credit Card System Outage (fastcompany.com)

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the damn-it dept.

An anonymous reader shares a report: Macy's might have celebrated an increase in share price on Black Friday, but it seems like the retailer will end the day with a lot of lost sales. Many of its customers recently took to Twitter to complain that its credit card machines are down, and that they can only pay with cash.

9 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. O. M. G! by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I wonder how many murder / suicides this will result in?

    But seriously, do they not load test in the run-up to these extravaganzas?

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    1. Re:O. M. G! by myid · · Score: 3, Informative

      Businesses should always be prepared for a system failure or power outage. I was in a local shop recently when the power failed. It took them less than a minute to get a box of paper based "kerchunkers" from the manager's office and put one at each register. Sales lost: $0.

      Last summer on a hot day, I was in a Target store when the power failed. Backup lights went on immediately. People who looked like managers went quickly from one checkout station to another, doing something. Everything at the checkout stations worked except the conveyer belts; you had to move the stuff towards the checker by hand.

      When I drove away, the signal lights in the area weren't working, so the power loss wasn't the store's fault.

      When the managers were going from one checkout station to the next, I don't know if they were enabling an override or what. But whatever they were doing, it looked like they knew what to do, and that they had practiced getting the checkout stations back online; they were prepared.

  2. Old adage by boudie2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Never borrow money unless it's for something you can make money with.

    1. Re:Old adage by AvitarX · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why would you assume that a credit card purchase is for the loan?

      I get 2% cash back, and price protection for 60 days.

      That means if they do better sales in January (likely), I get the discount, and it's easier than dealing with various stores.

      Between the two, I save about $300-400/year, and 200 of it is zero effort.

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  3. Re:Well.. by phantomfive · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Fools pay with cash. When you pay with credit cards, you get cash back.

    (And don't make a stupid argument that the price is increased to pay for the "cash back"........of course it is, but the people who pay with cash pay the same price as those who pay with credit cards, just don't get any cash back).

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  4. Re:Well.. by jmccue · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well you are correct, but in reality:

    # 1. People do not have the cash, so they need to borrow to buy what they cannot afford. If Credit Cards were to disappear, the world economy will crash faster then it ever has.

    Also there seems to be a push worldwide to do away with cash completely, I think a couple of countries already have. What I have read this seems to due with "stop the criminals", but I think is is more like 'monitor the public'.

  5. Re:Well.. by tk77 · · Score: 5, Informative

    This exactly. I pay with credit cards because i get cash back or points towards things like gift cards for places I actually buy things. I'm paying the same price at the register as someone who is paying cash, except that I get back a percentage of what I'm paying for to reduce the cost of something next time.

    Not everyone is using credit cards because they can't afford things. I hardly ever carry a balance on mine and pay them off right away. I also don't like carrying a lot of cash around with me. If someone steals the money off you while your out shopping, you've probably lost it for good. If someone steals your credit card you can simply cancel it and get a new one. Any charges incurred will be wiped away.

  6. Re:if u have 2 use a credit card by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Without credit, most of the american, european and asian retailers would have to close down.

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  7. Why I pay with cash... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If stores get the majority of their payments by cashless means, they'll drop the option of paying in cash. This is bad from a privacy, anonymity, and economic class (immigrants and the poor are more likely to be un-banked) perspective. This also puts more power to track purchases in the hands of governments, banks, and marketeers.

    I think of the slight inconvenience as doing my part to slow down the slow erosion of privacy in the US.