11 Horrifying Tales Of Hardship From Yesterday's Visa Blackout

'If you get this message there are other survivors.'

On Friday evening all hell broke loose across Europe as people were left unable to use Visa to purchase their traditional mini bottle of commute prosecco.

Social media was awash with tales of hardship and woe and panicked scenes were reported in the company’s head office.

My thoughts are with #Visa at this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/BdWIkjdbfp

— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) June 1, 2018

OK, so that might not be a genuine tweet but still, more than a few people seemed to take it badly and were severely put out.

One woman’s “heart-rending” story made front page news.

This heart-rending tale, which could be summarise as ‘woman has to use cash to buy sandwich’, is on the front page of today’s Guardian. pic.twitter.com/mBHW5AkT6D

— Nick Hilton (@nickfthilton) June 2, 2018

Elsewhere, individuals were taking it upon themselves to deal with the situation as best they could, possibly taking cues from ‘The Road’.

Can’t refill car and dumped it on central reservation of motorway. Have set fire to it so noone will steal it and am now walking north, into the wind, with nothing but a torch, a sharp stick and Murray mints for sustenance. Advise others do same #Visa

— Anthony Pearson (@ANTH0NYPEARS0N) June 1, 2018

Went to buy fish and chips and could not pay. #VISA down. Packing my bags and preparing for the end of the world. Heading north... if you get this message there are other survivors.

— Simon Jackson (@Nim0n) June 1, 2018

Some sought to make the most of it and saw it as an opportunity to crack open their best gags.

Now that #Visa has stopped working dads at checkouts all around the nation are simultaneously saying "Does that make it free then?"

— Daniel Walsh (@DanielWalsh12) June 1, 2018

For Carolyn, the worst moment was when she briefly thought she’d blown her entire month’s budget on £1.50 socks.

#Visa thought my life had reached a new low when my debit card was declined in @Primark 😂Turns out it was part of the Europe-wide issue. Phew! Payday was only yesterday

— Carolyn (@HisGrumpyMonkey) June 1, 2018

In a heartless move, Visa continued to advertise their services to those affected as if nothing was happening.

Sat in a bar in Vienna, can’t pay the bill because visa is down everywhere... and then an advert for visa debit comes on. Oh the irony #visa debit pic.twitter.com/GdpErlroZL

— jamie (@donttakethepeas) June 1, 2018

This just came up on Facebook timeline. The irony #Visa pic.twitter.com/xZ9iiLeYix

— Sunflower78 (@sunflower78_sun) June 1, 2018

Inevitably, Brexit was a factor.

When #visa says it's having problems processing in #Europe are we included or already excluded?

— Simon Bye 🇪🇺🇬🇧 (@UB5simon) June 1, 2018

And others sought to exploit their hardships for momentary fame.

If anyone needs an interviewee on this story I am available. Massive disruption in my life. I was nearly unable to pay for my Diet Coke and packet of Chipsticks in Boots just then. #VISA https://t.co/TnBOB7KD3C

— Christian Hewgill 🎙 (@ChrisHewgill) June 1, 2018

But on a serious note, throughout all of this one group of people had a genuinely rough time - all the poor people working in shops, bars and restaurants across the country.

You are all in our thoughts x.

At petrol station when #VISA went down. Bloke b4 me had no cash so they asked him to return+pay tomorrow. Said he would. Asked him 4 his phone 4 insurance. He said no. Asked for his name. He said “dave”. Didn’t take his plate, surname or address. Pretty sure he’s not going back

— Paul Stubbs (@InDerby) June 1, 2018

Just a reminder that shops are open tomorrow, so you can go in and apologise if you were an arsehole to staff when they were unable to take #Visa payments today. Remember, folks: being rude to shop assistants is not OK.

— John Orbea (@Cyclopunk) June 1, 2018

On Saturday Visa apologised for the system failure, saying it “fell well short” of its goal to ensure cards work reliably at all times following problems on Friday afternoon.

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