Marks and Spencer website goes down for hours as shop apologises to customers

M&S shoppers faced problems placing online orders, making returns and using the Marks and Spencer app on Saturday after the shop reported 'technical issues'. The retailer issued an apology to shoppers on May 18 after the website crashed for more than seven hours.

Customers trying to access the M&S website were met with an error page, which read: "Please bear with us. Sorry you can't shop with us right now. We're working hard to be back online as soon as possible." A message on the app stated: "We're working to improve your experience. We'll be back soon."

Shoppers took to social media to complain, saying they were unable to log in or place an order on Saturday morning, while others said they were unable to scan their Sparks app while shopping in-store. The first complaint on X was posted at 10.45am and the website was down until 6pm.

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Clare wrote: "@marksandspencer I'm trying to sign in on your website to place an order but all it does is go in endless circles of error then refreshing. Are you aware of any issues with this?" And Hayley said: "I'm having issues too. Not working on website or app. Sparks isn't working either."

One shopper posted: "@marksandspencer is there an issue with logging into accounts today? Was logged out of the app automatically and now just have a spinning wheel. Can't login on the browser either. Overheard another customer in store with the same issue trying to make a return."

Donna said: "@marksandspencer your app is still down...losing a lot of money today folks." And Nigel wrote: "Trying to do an instore return but can’t access return label. Yet to ask at desk. Will see how long outage goes on for."

The official Marks and Spencer X account responded, saying: "Hi there, we're experiencing some technical issues today and we are working on it. We're sorry for any inconvenience caused."