Massive computer breakdown hits McDonald's restaurants throughout NZ

SAN FRANCISCO - FEBRUARY 09:  A sign stands outside of a McDonald's restaurant February 9, 2009 in San Francisco, California. Fast food chain restaurant McDonald's reported a 7.1 percent increase in same store sales for January as people look towards cheaper food alternatives in the weakening economy.  (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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A Wellington McDonald's has been forced to revert to cash and paper dockets after a system breakdown.

The fast food chain has been hit with a global outage with reports of system malfunctions in New Zealand, Australia and Japan.

The restaurant on Manners Street in the capital said their computers went down Friday evening.

A staff member said half the system is back working just before 9pm but the kitchen order screens are still showing "loading" signs.

He said staff are writing down or verbally giving orders to people working in the kitchen.

Similar problems have also been reported in the UK and Canada.

A McDonald's NZ spokesperson told The New Zealand Herald, "McDonald's restaurants are experiencing an IT issue that's impacting their ability to process orders.

"Our team is working to rectify the issues as soon as possible and we thank customers for their patience."

RNZ