Starbucks Computer Glitch Means Lights Out, Free Drinks at Some Stores

People trying to get their coffee fix were out of luck for several hours Friday after a system-wide computer problem forced Starbucks around the U.S. and in Canada to close their doors.

By Friday night, Starbucks announced that the problem had been fixed, and stores should return to normal Saturday morning.

"There’s a sign the registers are closed. This is our happy hour," said Christina Robledo while visiting a Fresno location Friday evening.

"I feel sad. I need my coffee. I need my caffeine," said Rose Hieng.

"Kind of frustrated. This was a treat for our daughters today," said Nicole Palmer.

The company experienced an computer outage around 4 p.m., halting sales all together.

"I’m P.O.ed about it," said Latacha Haynes.

Frustrated customers drove across town to find a way to get their coffee fix.

"I’m going to have to find a substitute. Another substitute Starbucks, or I might just have to–I don’t know what I’m going to have to do," Haynes said.

"We were just coming to get coffee and head up to the mountains, and that one’s closed, and then I came to this one, and this one’s closed," said Nicole Hamilton-McManus.

In Clovis, a handwritten sign let customers know they were closed.

Confused, many would-be customers walked away.

But some stores chose to instead give out free drinks and make their customers’ day.

"It’s a real surprise on a Friday," said Dean Topping. 

Starbucks put out a statement saying the problem was with their point-of-sale systems, cutting short the theory that their systems were hacked.

"A hack–that’s the first thing that you think to think about," said would-be customer Angel Vargas.

The outage came in the same day that Starbucks reported sales up 20 percent from last year.

But right after, the glitch forced the coffee giant to come to a screeching halt nationwide.

"We rely so much on computers nowadays that it’s kind of scary in a way because we use computers for everything. What’s going to happen when we’re unable to use it?" Vargas asked.