A number of Target shoppers were left in limbo on Friday as the retailer reported “a global technical outage” impacting its website and app during the final days of the holiday shopping rush.
Customers went on social media to report issues, including problems with both returns and curbside pickup — and not receiving confirmation emails for pickup orders they had placed Multiple shoppers reported their credit card accounts showed pending charges, however.
Downdetector showed a sharp increase in issues for the company, with Chicago among the hotspots. As of around 6 p.m., 915 errors had been reported, which was down from 1,395 at 4:13 p.m.
In a message to customers, Target acknowledged it was experiencing “intermittent issues” with its “digital experience,” but said a fix was underway. Earlier in the day, the company revealed its system was “temporarily down.”
“We understand that this global technical outage has cause lots of frustration, inconvenience for all our guests,” The @AskTarget account on X said to one customer, in part. “We apologize that we let you down.”
As the outage continued Friday night, customers who had placed orders were asked to avoid creating new ones. Target explained that customers’ orders and purchase histories may not be visible due to the ongoing issues.
Some shoppers reported “authorization holds” on their credit card accounts – which Target said were different from actual charges. The retailer explained customers aren’t billed until orders shipped or are picked up.
“The authorization hold will ‘drop off’ automatically,” @AskTarget told one social media user. “The authorization expiration window depends on the payment tender type. Please call the phone number on the back of your credit/debit card to learn more about authorization holds on your account.”
Target didn’t immediately provide a timeframe for when the outage would be resolved.
Customers who need assistance were asked to contact the company here.
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