Morrison's Christmas delay extends to a second day

More than 24 hours after experiencing what the supermarket called a “system problem” on Monday, some Morrisons customers faced further delays in their Christmas orders.

One customer told the BBC she was waiting for nearly £200 worth of groceries, while another said she struggled to get answers from the firm about her Christmas shopping.

It follows chaotic scenes at the UK's fifth largest supermarket on December 23 – the biggest grocery shopping day of the year – which saw deliveries canceled and discounts not applied.

Morrison has apologized and said delivery has returned to normal but has yet to reveal the cause of the problem, despite repeated requests from the BBC.

“The Morrisons store experience has returned to normal today, but all More Card customers will still receive 10% off their entire store all day,” the supermarket told BBC News on Tuesday morning.

It added: “Click and collect and home deliveries are operating as normal. We are determined not to let a customer down this Christmas.”

A Morrisons customer in Worcestershire, who did not want to be named, received a text message on Monday saying his delivery had been delayed.

As of Tuesday morning, he had still heard nothing from Morrison and had not received the delivery.

The customer had an order worth around £200 and saved vouchers throughout the year to bring it down to £100.

He said the lack of communication had left him “in limbo”, thinking he would “go (out) today and spend £200 and then come home and buy £200 worth of Morrisons.”

He finally got his order later on Tuesday.

The problems began on Monday morning, when customers who placed orders for Christmas began receiving emails saying their deliveries would be delayed or cancelled.

Then, when stores open, store customers find their vouchers are not being accepted at the till.

In response, Morrisons implemented a 10% discount for members of their More Card loyalty scheme and other discounts for non-More Card holders.

Another Morrisons customer, Matthew Welch of Northumberland, canceled his delivery on Monday morning.

She said the manager she spoke with when she called was “less than helpful.”

Matthew told BBC News: “The manager said he would have to wait until the problem was fixed and then he would get back to me, which he didn't.”

He added: “I have since discovered that four other people in the village where I live also canceled their Christmas deliveries yesterday.”

The BBC spoke to two others from Northumberland who were there Delivery was canceled yesterday.

Morrison stressed that these cancellations were separate from its major “system issues,” but would not go into further detail. Nor did it explain what went wrong with its systems

Mr. Welch bought his groceries locally.

“I'll swap to another supermarket, but I won't use Morrisons for anything else,” he said.

Since this story was published, Morrison has been contacting Mr. Welch offering to deliver orders and add points to his card.

Consumer expert Kate Hardcastle said the supermarket chain needed to be more transparent with customers about what happened.

“It's something that won't be forgotten too quickly in the new year,” he told the BBC.

“I think it's about trying to lean in, doing as much as they can, being very honest about it,” she adds.

The way supermarkets use loyalty schemes has changed in recent years, from offering points to discounts for members.

“If we're going to have retailers implement these systems where you can only access a certain price through the scheme, you have to make sure they're watertight”.

“Our grocery stores, they're built on legacy IT systems that can really be affected at a sensitive time of year… It's about trying to figure out in the new year how they can really work with their loyal customers.”