Coles, Woolworths reject offer to break protocol as state claims ‘shelves have been removed’

Coles and Woolworths have responded after an Australian state announced it would bend the rules following a global IT outage that saw millions of systems shut down. The two largest supermarkets were among many to go into damage control after fares were slashed and lines formed last Friday.

The flaw is estimated to have cost Australian businesses around $1 billion as many were forced to shut down or turn away customers because they could not access vital systems. The South Australian government was concerned that a 2016 law would restrict supermarkets and shopping centers from taking deliveries outside of designated hours to protect surrounding homes and businesses from noisy trucks.

The government said the rule has resulted in residents not being able to buy essentials such as fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs, flour, pasta, rice, toilet paper or laundry products since the shutdown.

As a result, he encouraged local councils to change the rules temporarily to allow supermarkets and shopping centers to take deliveries out of hours if required.

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Housing and Urban Development Minister Nick Champion hoped this would return supply levels to normal as soon as possible.

“CrowdStrike’s massive outage caused significant disruption to supermarket supply chains for essential items such as fresh fruit and vegetables,” he said in a statement.

Supermarkets play down shortages after SA government claims

Champion predicted it could take up to two weeks for the shelves to be fully restocked.

However, following the government’s claim, Yahoo Finance contacted both Coles and Woolworths.

Coles said stock levels are good across the state.

“Coles distribution centers were restored and operating as normal over the weekend, and we have no supply issues related to the disruption and shelves remain well stocked,” a spokesman said. Yahoo Finance.

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“We appreciate the support of the South Australian Government following the events of last Friday. Coles currently does not require delivery of goods outside of the curfew.”

A spokesperson for Woolworths said Yahoo Finance that she asked for flexibility on deliveries after experiencing several delays.

However, stores are currently receiving enough deliveries to ensure shoppers can purchase the essentials.

“The good news is that all stores across South Australia are receiving deliveries and our teams are getting the products on the shelves, so things are looking in great shape,” the spokesperson said.

“We are grateful to the South Australian Government and local councils who have provided short-term relaxation measures to store delivery timelines.

“Thankfully we haven’t had to make deliveries outside normal times, but the flexibility means we can do so if there is a delay or problem.”

The impact of the CrowdStrike flaw in Australia

The IT outage hit millions of Australians on Friday afternoon, many of whom were greeted with a “blue screen of death” on their computers and screens.

The blue screen in Microsoft’s software read, “Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart. We’re just gathering some error information and then we’ll restart for you.”

Are you affected by an IT outage? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com

CrowdStrike was attempting to perform a software update, but a glitch occurred in the process and affected approximately 8.5 million devices worldwide.

It caused problems for supermarkets, banks, media organizations, transport systems and many other vital entities.

Will you be able to get compensation if you are affected by the CrowdStrike shutdown?

The company’s Australian president, Michael Sentonas, said his top priority was getting systems back up and running.

But he admitted it would be difficult to avoid affected businesses seeking compensation or litigation.

“Those conversations need to happen and they will happen,” Sentonas said. “This phase will come after we repair our customers.”

He added: “We understand the disruption and distress we caused many people. We did an update, which we do regularly and have done for over a decade, and we got it very wrong.”

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said it remained to be seen whether businesses would be able to seek compensation, either from CrowdStrike directly or through some form of government redress scheme.

“It’s affected different businesses and different sectors of the economy in wildly different ways, and the reality is we’re going to see the end of that for the next few weeks,” Mr Willox told ABC News.

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