Shoppers Drug Mart handles computer interruption affecting customers

Due to some technical malfunctions, Shoppers Drug Mart is alerting customers of possible delays in acquiring their prescription filled even though the computer outage which affected close to 1,300 locations has been put under control.
According to a spokesperson for the pharmacy retail chain, the interruption was as a result of network failure that obstructed stores from getting access internal and external systems.
The outage which started on Monday night was experienced in 1,300 locations which created a delay in customers making use of their debit cards and also making use of the retailer’s loyalty points program. However, the interruption was resolved on Wednesday says Shopper Drug Mart.
The pharmacy chain which is owned by Loblaw Companies Ltd stated that the outage was unexpected and caused a delayed in service provision.
The issues when began on Monday night ran through until Wednesday when the technical difficulties was handles says Shoppers spokeswoman Tammy Smitham. And this is the first time such a serious technical problem occurred in the chain.
Although there had been cases of similar technical problems in respect to payment systems, this issue this time around affected wider location systems.
In the period of the outage in some locations, customers were able to make purchases with the use of cash and credit cards of close to $300 but they could not get their Shoppers Optimum points.
In other locations, stores were unable to fill customer’s prescriptions as they could not access patience files because of the electronic problem while some stores were able to manually fill prescriptions.
However, even though the pharmacy has managed to put the situation under control, there might still be a slight delay in getting prescriptions as a result of an accumulation of data.
Shoppers Drug Mart has also assured customers that their Optimum points collected on the period of the outage will immediately be added to their accounts.
However the outage on Monday had induced irritated customers to express their anger on social media which led the company to render an apology on the social media website.
Amongst some of the numerous complaints, the company was advised to properly inform customers about such technical difficulties when they occur.