Starbucks App Disrupted by Survey Glitch, Leaves Users Unable to Order

Lead: On September 18, 2025, Starbucks’ mobile app across the United States malfunctioned starting around 4 a.m. local time when a mandatory satisfaction survey looped, blocking access to ordering and rewards features for hundreds of users.

Nut Graf: A flawed update triggered an in-app customer survey that fails to disappear even after completion, rendering the app unusable. The incident highlights risks of deploying untested features in high-traffic digital services and has frustrated loyalty members who rely on seamless mobile ordering.

Outage Details and User Impact

  • Reports of the app failure began at approximately 4 a.m. local time on Thursday when users opening the app were immediately directed to a satisfaction survey they could neither dismiss nor bypass.
  • Affected customers across multiple states took to social media and DownDetector to complain that after finishing the survey, the app simply returned them to the survey screen, trapping them in an endless loop.
  • Frustration ran high among Starbucks Rewards members, many of whom rely on the app for pre-orders, payment, and free-drink redemptions.

Workarounds and Customer Response

  • Tech-savvy users discovered a temporary workaround by long-pressing the Starbucks app icon on their home screen and selecting “Order,” bypassing the survey loop and enabling at-least minimal app functionality.
  • Others resorted to in-store and drive-thru transactions, enduring longer wait times and manual payment.

Company Statement and Next Steps

  • Starbucks Care acknowledged the disruption in a post on X, confirming a “temporary outage of the order ahead and pay feature” and apologizing for the inconvenience while assuring customers that most stores remain open for walk-in service.
  • The company is working to roll back the problematic survey update and hopes to restore full app functionality by Friday morning.

Broader Implications

  • The incident underscores the critical importance of thorough testing for mobile-app updates, especially those that gate essential user flows behind new features.
  • It also illustrates how digital loyalty platforms, now integral to quick-serve restaurant operations, can become a single point of failure when misconfigured.

Subheading: Lesson Learned

  • Prioritize robust QA processes for high-impact app features.
  • Implement graceful fallback paths to prevent total service denial.
  • Communicate proactively with users via multiple channels in case of digital outages.