Marks & Spencer customers have been left frustrated as its contactless payment system has gone down. This afternoon, M&S customers started reporting issues with card payments.
Currently, the retailer is unable to accept contactless payments or process click-and-collect orders across several of its UK stores. People took to social media to complain, and the retailer has been forced to issue an apology.
One person wrote on X – formerly Twitter – this morning: “What is going on this morning seems to be a large outage across your stores. Currently waiting outside Purley Cross absolutely no updates.”
Another added: “I’ve tried to return some clothing to the Camden store and have been told that your WiFi has been down company wide since Saturday so I can’t return them. Nothing on social media about this – is it true? Now need an extension on return time as going away.”
A third shared: “In a queue with 10 customers at @marksandspencer, I was the only person remaining when they announced that their contactless service was not working on their card machine. Welcome to a world where they will stop you from using facilities whenever they want. Cash.”
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M&S reassured shoppers that its technical teams are currently working to fix the issue, with the hope that it will be fixed before too long. although it is unknown how long this will take.
In response to one frustrated shopper on X, M&S wrote: “I’m really sorry about this! We are experiencing some technical issues, meaning that we cannot accept contactless payments or process click-and-collect orders. We are really sorry for any inconvenience and hope to resolve these issues soon.”
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Another customer questioned how many stores were impacted, to which a spokesperson responded that sites would remain “open today” despite the payment problem.
Another shopper shared that they had experienced card issues at an M&S store in Newcastle on Saturday afternoon. They shared on X: “Store said issue was volume of customers using checkouts. Wouldn’t accept contactless Debit Card took five mins to clear.”
Other Brits also claimed the same thing, with one shopper sharing that there was problems at the retailer’s Bexley Heath store and another saying that there was issues at one of M&S’ London branches.
On today’s card issues, a spokesperson for M&S said: “Our stores are open today but we are experiencing some technical issues meaning that we cannot accept contactless payments or process click and collect orders. We are really sorry for any inconvenience and hope to resolve these issues soon. Our colleagues are on hand in store to help customers however they can.”
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