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McDonald's branch in Tokyo: technical malfunction
Photo: AFP
A computer malfunction at McDonald's has brought numerous branches of the fast-food restaurant chain to a standstill in Japan and other countries in the region.
However, the US company ruled out a hacker attack.
"There is a technical disruption that is impacting our restaurants," McDonald's announced on Friday.
There were also problems in Germany: A photo was circulated on X of a note that had apparently been attached to the entrance door of a branch.
There is a “total failure” at McDonald’s across Germany, it says.
The company confirmed to SPIEGEL that there had been “individual technical disruptions” in this country.
However, the problem has now been resolved.
The company initially did not provide any information about the exact extent of the disruption.
The company said there could still be disruptions in service or changes to opening hours.
»We are working hard to provide the usual service again and are very sorry if any inconvenience has occurred.«
The company initially did not comment in more detail on the reasons for the disruption.
However, a cybersecurity incident was ruled out.
According to the Japanese division, many branches are no longer accepting orders due to the interruption.
The disruption is also affecting the branches in Australia, according to the headquarters there.
The New York Times also reported on a computer system failure at McDonald's in Hong Kong, and a report in the New Zealand Herald said there are IT problems in New Zealand.
Accordingly, functions are either restricted or customers cannot place orders at all.
McDonald's operates nearly 3,000 outlets in Japan, about 1,000 points in Australia, about 245 locations in Hong Kong and over 160 restaurants in New Zealand, according to their respective regions' websites.
Editor's note: McDonald's has now confirmed that there are also problems in Germany. We have supplemented the text accordingly.
hpp/mik/Reuters