X

Sears, Kmart outage disrupts payments, deliveries, report says

The three-day outage impacted the stores' websites, according to Business Insider.

Abrar Al-Heeti Technology Reporter
Abrar Al-Heeti is a technology reporter for CNET, with an interest in phones, streaming, internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. She's also worked for CNET's video, culture and news teams. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all.
Expertise Abrar has spent her career at CNET analyzing tech trends while also writing news, reviews and commentaries across mobile, streaming and online culture. Credentials
  • Named a Tech Media Trailblazer by the Consumer Technology Association in 2019, a winner of SPJ NorCal's Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2022 and has three times been a finalist in the LA Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards.
Abrar Al-Heeti
Sears

Sears and Kmart stores reportedly experienced a three-day outage.

Getty Images

An outage at Sears kept customers from making returns and picking up online orders at Sears and Kmart stores for several days, according to a Friday report. It also interrupted deliveries, prevented customers from scheduling service appointments and kept some Kmart stores from processing noncash payments, Business Insider reports. 

The issues reportedly began on Tuesday. Sears said on Friday they had been resolved, according to Business Insider. 

Frustrated customers took to social media to complain about the outage. Sears and Kmart responded to several tweets, apologizing and saying they're "in the process of resolving very serious technical issues."

One customer spoke of placing an order that Sears canceled but still charged for, and the customer was struggling to get a refund. Another went to Kmart but couldn't pay with card because "all their systems were down." Others complained about not getting deliveries and not being able to make or cancel repair appointments for appliances .  

Sears didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Watch this: Amazon Prime Day 2019: Everything to know