M&S ‘cyber Incident’

[user1471427667]

Hi,
not sure what is going with M&S. Firstly, last week they were wrongly advertising 15% off everything but when you got to checkout it didn’t go through and just called it a ‘glitch’. Then, I went into store on Monday and while queuing at checkout I heard the cashier explain that all their tills were offline and they were unable to honour any sparks online offers. As I had a 20% off voucher for some trousers, I decided to wait and order them online instead, thinking it was just a problem with my local store.
I placed an order online on Wednesday for 3 items, my money was debited from my card as usual and I was sent an email with order details saying my items would be ready to collect in storeon Saturday - all good.
As I’m checking my order this morning, I see the items haven’t even been despatched yet. Then this afternoon, I see the following message on the website ( I was unaware of this and wonder why, if they knew this on Tuesday, did they take my money for my order on Wednesday?)
I also realise, I cancelled another order last week and I’ve yet to receive a refund ( usually get them within 48hrs)

Interesting how people’s experiences differ. I paid in food store using contactless on Thursday evening. And a refund from an online clothing order returned on Monday hit my account on Wednesday. Was not aware of the issue until i received the CEO email.

An attack can spread through a company so it might not have affected as many systems on Tuesday as it did when they suspended orders.

They've been having problems with this for a week now and it's clear they're trying to shield customers' stored personal details from the threat. Hopefully they've been successful with this.

Not sure why this has also been impacting contactless payments, though. They were up when I was in on Tuesday (before the email was sent out by the CEO) but far from running. It took 3 or 4 minutes for my payment to go through. Thinking on, that's possibly because I'm signed up for e-receipts, as the checkout ended up issuing me with a paper receipt.

It has happened to the NHS, quite recently.

Probably not. The text of the email suggested that the website was functioning as normal when it was sent, on Tuesday.

It happens quite a lot, obviously the bigger the company the more likely in the news.

Yes I thought I remembered something like that

Presumably they'll extend their return period due to these issues.

I had the message from the CEO earlier in the week, but prior to that, and since, dozens of spam emails about an order for afternoon tea. My iCloud email account is good with spam and junked them all - the first one is 15/4.

Honestly the staff know as much as you right now sorry

This is supposedly the day I collect my order but of course, it won’t be there and it’s still showing as waiting to be despatched. No communication from M&S still to tell me what’s happening. I agree with pp saying shop staff don’t know what Is happening anymore than any of us and I feel for them having to deal with all the questions etc. Some people with orders placed got emails, some didn’t. Going by this thread, some people have had refunds, some haven’t . Contactless payments were working in some stores as recently as Tuesday but others weren’t .

Well I've had an email saying my order is delayed by 48h. No real explanation and absolutely zero mention of the cyber attack. Just a "sorry it's late and we are working as fast as we can" type email.

I was very fortunate, I ordered something on Friday with Sparks discount for C and C Saturday and picked it up no problem, must have been just before it happened. I received the email from the CEO

Be careful with any credit cards you have linked to your M&S Account.

Having read this thread last night, I checked the balance on the card linked to my M&S account, only to find two Amazon transactions of 99p dated 22nd April.

I only use that credit card on my online M&S Account, nowhere else, so very strongly suspect the issue is linked to this cyberattack.

Having spoken to my credit card company this morning they have immediately cancelled the card, but not before telling me that random small value transactions are often used to test a card before a larger fraudulent transaction is processed.

This is why I only use credit cards for shopping and not my bank debit card.

I ordered some school shoes for my daughter on Tuesday as hers got damaged and chose M&S because we have a store locally where I can pick them up, usually the next day. I was a bit surprised that they didn't have any collection slots available until the weekend. Then I had to go into store on Wednesday to pick up a couple of food bits. Their contact less system wasn't working (felt sorry for the guy whose job was to stand at the door and inform every single customer who walked in) but you could still pay by inserting your card.

My shoe order is now showing unavailable for collection for another week so will have to cancel and go elsewhere.

@Popquorn Thanks for this. I had no idea. Hope it’s resolved soon. Does the cyberattack mean our banking details etc. are compromised? 😢

It may be a possibility, but even M and S might not know the full implications yet - for example, the attack might have locked them out of their own systems.

I use the Caravan and Motorhome club for booking caravan holidays and something similar happened to them last year, iirc it took weeks to sort out and you could only book holidays by phone as they had to rebuild all their systems so this could take a while. Didn't the NHS one take ages to sort out.

As someone who works in tech I’ve always thought the website is so badly designed, there is no stock checking and control. Doesn’t surprise me that it was so vulnerable

It’s a mess and their comms are a joke. Ordered Sunday for collection in store Tuesday. Told delayed. Got an email Weds to say goods had arrived. Walked to store and machines not working to collect package. Various staff members argued amongst themselves about whether they could manually search through the delivery. Told no/yes/no multiple times. Three women had a Quick Look and found my parcel, then got snotty about giving it to me as they couldn’t register I’d taken it anywhere. A man in a high vis jacket then came along and yelled at them and me!!! Eventually got my parcel, which they’re now emailing me about not collecting… Tried to buy a few food bits and card machines would only work if you put your pin into the machine, no contactless. That said, that transaction has not shown on my bank statement so who knows?!

Does anyone know why only some of their customers had an email from them about this? I haven't had any contact from them like some other posters have

No, this is what is odd/ annoying. From this thread, some people who placed orders before and after me have had orders delivered to store to collect. Others have had emails about their orders, either to say they are delayed for 48 hrs or the CEO email. Others ( like me) have received nothing and are still waiting for news of both their orders and refunds.

oh no! I’m not going into store today to ask about my order or to see if the goods I want are available to buy in store instead.I can’t imagine the poor staff know anymore than the rest of us and the whole thing is chaotic.
By next week though, I would expect to have some sort of clarification on the status of both my order and my previous refund

I’m not sure what you mean ( as a non techie). I always liked that they actually put when stock was running low or said ‘ only 6 items left’ etc. They also have a function that if an item appears sold out online you can put in your nearest store and they tell you if they have any in stock. I’ve had success with that a few times .