Darkness on Black Friday as online stores crash.
Thousands of South Africans woke up a little bit earlier on Friday 24 November 2017, in an attempt to get a jump on the madness which is Black Friday. These bargain hunters, however, were met with a massive stumbling block... the websites that had been offering massive Black Friday sales had crashed.
Two of South Africa's largest online retail platforms, Takealot.com and online fashion store Superbalist.com, both experienced crashes as thousands attempted to gain access to the sites just after midnight. This was further intensified by the fact that Takealot had promised customers that they were ready for this year's sales after the site had crashed on Black Friday last year.
The website and apps are temporarily down.
We’re so sorry for disappointing any customers who are trying to shop this Black Friday, and we’ll be back up and running as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/i5XS8YR6eo— takealot (@TAKEALOT) November 24, 2017
Once the websites were up and running again, frustrated customers were still locked out due to the surge in traffic. Thousands who were left disappointed as the best deals started to get snapped up while they were locked out.
Many of these frustrated shoppers took to Twitter to express their thoughts, here are the best reactions:
#blueisthenewblack So the @TAKEALOT Website and App Decided to crash at 00:01 #BlackFriday #TakeAlot pic.twitter.com/i8491gM2uE
— K E O A G I L E (@Iam_Keoa) November 23, 2017
How to piss off customers: brag that you're ready for #BlackFriday and then have both your site and app crash within seconds of the sale launch. Well done @TAKEALOT for being completely useless.
— Doug (@the_pink_zebra) November 23, 2017
South African online retailers have a lot to learn! You can’t say you ready then crash in seconds! It doesn’t happen in america! Or Japan or Germany! I should’ve just slept
— Sizwe (@SizweMakhoba) November 23, 2017
@TAKEALOT you guys never loved us! Stayed the whole night for crash?? Ah datz not fair
— Lebogang_N (@LebogangNthoke) November 24, 2017
OMG, @TAKEALOT! The #BlackFriday Gods are just not with you! How does the site crash nje?!
— Yimi (@skhumali) November 24, 2017
So I stayed up to watch your site and your app crash #BlueIsTheNewBlack #fail pic.twitter.com/gbfGLHF7KZ
— Shireen (@Smart4x4Chick) November 23, 2017
The CEO of Takealot said that they had been preparing for Black Friday since January this year by upgrading their servers... a bit hard to believe. Only took them less than a minute to crash. #BlackFriday2017
— James_Ilsley (@ilsleyjames) November 23, 2017
Shame, how the mighty crash @TAKEALOT pic.twitter.com/OJsPTPkf4M
— Spagett. (@celest_O) November 24, 2017
@TAKEALOT Don't ask customers to stay up until midnight for #BlackFriday online deals if your website is going to promptly crash at 12:01... #disappointed #wasteoftime #beprepared pic.twitter.com/EUyCm8iZkf
— Enrico Pillay (@enrico_pillay) November 23, 2017
When all the #BlackFriday2017 websites crash at midnight @superbalist @TAKEALOT ??
— Anne Pwapwa (@MwambaP) November 23, 2017
By Dean Workman
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