Customers at most Hannaford Supermarkets are unable to use credit or debit cards to pay for their purchases because of a computer problem that began this morning.
Customers can still pay by cash or checks, said Hannaford spokesman Eric Blom.
“Most our stores are not able to process electronic payments — we expect the problem to be fixed this afternoon,” he said.
The computer glitch does not pose a security risk, Blom said, but rather is an operational problem. Blom said Hannaford has 181 stores, and all but “a handful” are impacted by the problem. He wouldn’t say whether the problem was the result of third-party equipment or Hannaford equipment.
“We wouldn’t want to get into details, but we certainly are working with a software vendor to address the problem,” he said.
Blom also wouldn’t disclose what percentage of Hannaford’s sales involve credit or debit cards. He said he was unsure if freestanding ATMs at the stores were impacted by the glitch.
In 2007 and 2008, Hannaford’s computer system was attacked and breached. Computer hackers stole credit and debit card numbers between Dec. 7, 2007, and March 10, 2008, from Hannaford shoppers. More than 4 million card numbers were exposed. About 1,800 fraudulent charges had been made by the time Hannaford announced the breach on March 17, 2008.
In 2010, the Maine Supreme Court ruled that victims of that breach couldn’t sue for damages if they didn’t suffer financial losses, physical harm or identity theft.
I had trouble placing on order online with a company I work with often. This is the response I got when I wrote customer support: “We are having issues with our payment system, we are currently working with the payment company we are partnered with to resolve this issue.” Coincidence, or is it possible that Hannaford deals with this same processor, and it’s the processor’s problem?
could be
Hannaford is owned by a big multi-national conglomerate. They may hire out (Partner?) some of their security and processing work, but my guess is that they do most of it themselves.
No soup for you today! :)
Bring cash or your checkbook!
Don’t bother taking your check to Paradis’ in Brewer. They are only accepting cash. I left a shopping cart full of food at the checkout because I only brought my checkbook after hearing I could use it.
I was at Hannafords yesterday. They weren’t taking checks, either. I asked why not. They said they “couldn’t process them,” which I guess means that they are part of one of those computer-linked programs where they scan your check, and instantly, electronically present it for payment to the bank for payment. They have so little trust in their customers that the idea of accepting a check from a long-time customer was just unthinkable to them, unless they could eliminate ANY risk to their holy bottom line.
It really is lunacy but lunacy is what it takes to awaken the masses that they are not safe and all is not well in their dreamworld.
I bet all those people dancing around with their Visa cards like in the commercials aren’t happy. Now the people in line who pay with cash and checks can frown and make unhappy faces at the credit card users! And the banks-think of all the money they lose when customers don’t use their cards.
Meanwhile, this is another reason why I pay with cash. Cash is never down.
I use my debit card because it’s fast. Works just like a check. If someone steals it, I could be on the phone in a heartbeat and cancel it. But if they steal my cash, it’s gone for good.
Buy a gun and carry it, no one will steal your cash. Say NO to dependence on electronic money!!
Until the machines that read them fail, or the power goes out, the internet dies ect. Cash is king.
Also, if someone steals the $50 in your wallet, then that’s only $50 you’ve lost. If someone has your debit card, then they have access to all your cash-that has happened to me. Yeah, you might get the money back, but it takes time, not to mention any potential damage to your credit report.
Crapola…
Tanks!
Shop at Shaw’s – they’re American owned.
Not a lot of people can afford to shop at Shaw”s!–Comparison shopping has shown a lot of us that most of the products we buy regularly are very much higher in price then other supermarkets!!–
Only 1%ers shop at Shaws.
Have faith…..Market Basket is coming soon.
Where?
1st one is coming to Biddeford, in the old Lowe’s building.
And get charged two to three dollars more per item? I don’t think so.
Most instances Shaw’s is cheaper.
So why is the same chicken I purchase at Walmart almost 4 dollars more at Shaw’s? Why is the same frozen meal 2 dollars more? Why is that same size pint of ice cream almost 3 dollars more?
I’ll keep shopping at Walmart and Hannaford thank you very little.
Because they stock QUALITY Chicken. Wal-Mart doesn’t. Wal-Mart sells imitation Ice Cream
It is the same brand of chicken so the quality is the same. The products are 100% identical besides the price. It cost 6.98 at Walmart and it cost almost 10 dollars at Shaw’s. As for the ice cream you do know Walmart does sell Häagen-Dazs and other expensive ice cream.
shaws and hannaford have the same corporate owner (wife worked at shaws)
nope, i worked for Hannaford in Old Town. Hannaford is owned by Delhaize America, subsidiary of Delhaize Belgium. Shaws is owned by Minnesota based SuperValu.
shaws parent company supervalue does own a store called shop n save. Which is out of illinois and missouri. Hannaford has no part of those shop n saves. The shop n saves in maine a part of hannaford.
shaws parent company supervalue does own a store called shop n save. Which is out of illinois and missouri. Hannaford has no part of those shop n saves. The shop n saves in maine a part of hannaford.
stop sarah your making me dizzzzy.
shaws parent company supervalue does own a store called shop n save. Which is out of illinois and missouri. Hannaford has no part of those shop n saves. The shop n saves in maine a part of hannaford.
Every store gets my money as long as they have the best price that week. I can’t afford to support anyone else even for patriotic reasons.
No they are not the are owned by Albertson’s out of CANADA do your homework
Albeertson’ s is out of Utah, not Canada. And They are owned by Supervalu out of Minnasota.
Shaw’s is a lot more expensive than Hannafrd
Shaws has better quality, and whether the prices are higher depends on which Hannafords you shop at. Belfast Hannafords is about the same price for the same grocery bag as Shaws in Rockland. Rockland Hannafords may be cheaper than Rockland Shaws, I’ve never made the comparison. The fact is that Hannafords, like its predecessor Shop n Save, has different mark ups at different stores. When they’re in a “captive” market Belfast, they stick it to their customers. It’s very peculiar when small stores like the Northport Market, Toziers in Searsport, and the Swan Lake Store (Best store by a Dam Site!) charge less than Hannafords for some stuff. It appears that the efficiencies of scale are being used to make their executive rich.
I don’t know about your area, but the quality in the Brewer Hannaford is excellent and the prices much lower everyday than the Bangor Shaw’s. Even the supposed deals at Shaw’s are more expensive. Ex. Eddy’s ice cream at Shaw’s, buy 1, get 1 free 5.99 each. You save $5.99. At Hannaford, regular price $2.50 each.I can get 2 for 99 cents less than the “deal” at Shaw’s. I do price comparison’s regulerly and Shaw can never beat Hannaford,
My guess is that in the Bangor-Brewer market the presence of Sam’s and Wal Mart set both Shaws and Hannaford on a different pricing strategy than Hannaford pursues in Belfast, where they are essentially the only game in town, and can set prices pretty much as they like, and stick it to their victims, er, customers.
I LOVE the sushi counter at the Brewer Hannaford!
And have to play all their games? Have to whip out their card to get lower prices? No thanks. Can’t stand Shaws.
Right. I hate that. I’m already your customer, why make me prove it? How about your loyalty to ME?
What are the people who put a few dollars on their Debit cards and pay the rest Cash going to do? Am I the only one annoyed by that?
If your annoyed by someone doing what they have to do to purchase the items they are purchasing, you must spend alot of days being annoyed.
Well, if a person has to put ONE dollar on their Debit card to be able to finish paying for their Cigarettes, something tells me they aren’t good with saving and organizing their funds. I’ve seen it a couple times…Annoying. Same with Credit Cards, people who pay the minimum each month have a better credit rating than those paying their full bill. It’s simple, don’t buy things if you can’t afford them. I want a Fender Jazz Bass but I can’t afford it, maybe I’ll take up a second job at night. Or maybe, just maybe I’ll throw it on my credit card and pay the minimum so I can achieve perfect credit.
well hello CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!!!!
While it may be obvious to you, it’s clearly not obvious to many.
But so what? Sounds pretty judgmental to me. What if it were 83 cents to pay for flowers for his mother? Why do you add “cigarettes” to this terrible scenario?
That’s not annoying, what is annoying is going to a drive thru and someone in front of you has to do 4 separate orders. That is annoying
hear hear! there should be a rule, not more than two separate orders, otherwise go inside
Some banks have that rule. When I was a drive up teller at a large bank, we had a rule saying no more than three simple transactions. And we enforced it.
I seen it enforced once, I almost gave the teller a standing ovation for it.
Yeah, way to go, your best customers (more accounts and payments) get the worst service. I once said, “I have four, do you want me to drive around the building and come back with the last one?” They were 3 payments and 1 deposit. Why shouldn’t the good customer get good service at the bank? They are entries on a computer, not an ice cream sundae.
You’re making a lot of assumptions there….
If fast food joints had the common sense to start doing that.
You won’t believe the number of times I see that crap starting and I either yell, honk my horn, or go inside, get my order, pay for it and come back and that car has barley made it to the window to pay. Sometimes I do all the above. Yell, Honk, go inside, come back with my food.All I want is a burger, the people in front of me want everything including the kitchen sink (maybe that’s why it takes so long, a manager has to come on the speaker and say it is against policy to sell their sink BUT feel free to do 4 separate orders during the lunch hour at the window)
Lose some weight and you won’t crave the fast food crap.
Only losers go to fast food restaurants.
I am within my weight tolerance, your assumption is appreciated, now find something else to do then gaining weight sitting in front of your computer all day taunting people with a comment hiding behind your keyboard.
Yup….Same with the bank Drive Thru. Go inside if you want extensive information. Too much work for people to step out of their vehicle and walk.
I think people use that trick to avoid paying fees at ATM machines that aren’t associated with their banks. One local store here set a limit for purchases before accepting debit or credit cards. It’s apparently legal. Perhaps you should have a similar policy.
I believe that setting a minimum for credit card transactions is against their merchant agreement with the credit card companies. They could be fined or lose their ability to accept credit cards. There is a way to report them online, although I would only do so if they were really rude about it.
I have been to two store in the Camden/Rockland area that have a $5.00 minimum to use your debit card.
For stores with small amount transactions, its a big issue. Actually for all businesses that feel they have to take credit cards, its a significant issue. Sit down restaurants really get hit since a majority of their sales is credit sales.
Since debit cards effectively replace the bank having to process a paper check, saving the banks a significant cost – years ago it was estimated to cost a bank over a dollar to process a physical check – I think it should be the bank that should absorb the majority of the cost of processing debit card payments. “CREDIT” cards is a different story, since that is the choice and convenience to the customer – not the business.
My guess is that the larger fast food places have enough volume that they probably are or own “processors”
Ask a lawyer if you can pay with an AmEx card ! LOL Heck NO they say !
I know that there are different fees for debit card transactions depending on the way that they’re processed.
I have read that PIN-less transactions, such as tap or signing, cost the merchant more than the PIN transactions. And I think it’s no coincidence that many banks have contests that allow you an entry with every PIN-less transaction you make. Transactions where you enter your PIN (which I would think is more secure than simply signing for the purchase) don’t count.
Lets all go to the bank and get cash!!!!! Then go shopping. I’m pretty sure banks only have about one half of one percent of their depositers money in them.
Make a bank run! they are thieves and deserve to be downgraded lower.
If you read the fine print on your banking agreement, they can postpone payment for a period of time. About the time it takes for an armored car to drive up from the Federal Reserve in Boston, and dump a barrel of cash on the bank run. A bank run is practically impossible at a commercial bank in the current FDIC system. Continue on with this deregulation stuff, and who knows?
Merchant Services has been having some severe server problems for the last couple weeks resulting in thousands of merchants to not be able to accept credit cards..
And the politician’s wonder why the small business owner is more and more refusing to accept debit and credit card’s. Between the merchant account fee’s, the transaction (‘swipe’) fees and the hang time that the card issuer’s put on the payment to the merchant, it’s not a wonder why the entire Country hasn’t gone back to the check and cash. These Merchant Account Service’s are literally sucking the revenue out of every small business in the Country. This new card, that’s supposed to ‘only charge 2.75% PER TRANSACTION, is another demonstration of just how vulnerable the small business sector is to corporate manipulation. No folk’s, untill the money starts to actually move, not just sit and electronically move from 1 account to the other, the entire Country is on the verge of another Depression. Cash flow is the answer, not Banker’s Constipation !
Small business’ won’t last very long if they don’t take plastic. That’s how the modern world pays. Like it or not
I work for a company that no longer takes plastic. We do not have the assets to cover a fine or a lawsuit over a breach of our customers’ security. Another way the big boys use their rigged system to benefit themselves over the little guy.
I know a few antique shops that don’t accept plastic. I say, “Good for them!” I hate to see so many people as slaves to the banks, whether as shoppers or merchants-the banks have their hooks into all of us.
When I go shopping, 2 debit cards, 1 check book, and cash. Call it foolish but it was great a few weeks back when a local bank I won’t name right now was “having problems” I got rung up, swiped my card and the clerk got snobby at me “your card declined” and I am thinking that was impossible unless someone stole my identity on my way in, tried again, declined. Grabbed second card from other bank, swiped it, and the payment processed with no problem. Called the bank asked what was up “Oh we had problems today and some people had problems making purchases” and I am thinking how wonderful it is to do business with a bank looking like a fool because a card declined when it shouldn’t have.
I learned to have plan A, B, C and D.
Been there. The clerks always assume you’re up to no good.
Blah…. go fishng thats a plan.
Never rely on a piece of plastic for anything.
If you pay cash, you’re still paying your share of what the retailer pays the credit card company. There’s no surcharge for using a credit card, and unless there’s a discount for paying cash, then you know that the credit card fees are just being added to cost of EVERYTHING. So if you pay cash, you pay the cost of the credit card, you add to the profit of the retailer, and you don’t have free use of the bank’s money for the thirty day billing cycle. This might be a good choice for some people, but not for others
‘Cause, yeah, it is so much more secure handing someone a piece of paper with your name address, phone number and driver’s license number. Add to that an account and routing number. Do you have any idea how many people handle your check before it even gets to the bank? I am willing to have the occasional inconvenience with plastic, because it is a whole lot more secure.
It is less risky than a credit card number that’s good to go as soon as it’s obtained. How often are checking accounts compromised based on the account and routing numbers? I haven’t heard of any here in Maine. I think it’s more of a risk to use a credit or debit card.
In any case, who says he was talking about using checks instead? What about cash?
The difference is, you have ZERO liability if your credit card is compromised in most cases. By law the most that you can be liable for is $50. A debit card offers similar protection, but takes a bit more leg work. None of these protections are offered if your checking account is compromised, you are on your own.
If my credit card is compromised, it is the bank’s money in limbo, not mine. That’s why I use my credit card almost exclusively (always pay off at the end of the month), especially when traveling. If my wallet is stolen, I am out a wallet, and maybe a few dollars at most.
I picked up some prescriptions at Hannaford yesterday, and went through there “no credit, no debit, no checks, only cash” routine. I asked them why they wouldn’t take checks. “They can’t process them” the clerk told me. As it happened, I had a hundred dollar bill in my wallet. She blurted out “we don’t accept hundreds,” before realizing how ridiculous that was-no cards, no checks, no cash.”
Later I had a disagreement with Hannaford over the pharmacy bill, and when talking on the phone to the pharmacy manager the fact that they couldn’t take a credit card came up. “Oh, that was a statewide problem,” he said. “Lots of stores couldn’t take cards.”
“Lots of Hannaford stores?” I asked.
“No. Most of the retailers in the state are affected.”
I pointed out that I’d just come from two other retail stores where I’d charged things without trouble. He denied that this was possible.
If this is the sort of dim bulb they hire as a pharmacy manager, it’s no surprise that they can’t hire IT people who can keep their computer system from being hacked. Parroting the company line takes precedence over everything.
Minimum wage attracts minimum capabilities.
Or, as my old friend Steve Waterman used to say: “You pay peanuts for wages, you get monkeys for help.”
If you read the fine print on your banking agreement, they can postpone payment for a period of time. About the time it takes for an armored car to drive up from the Federal Reserve in Boston, and dump a barrel of cash on the bank run. A bank run is practically impossible at a commercial bank in the current FDIC system. Continue on with this deregulation stuff, and who knows?
Reminds me of the ATM network outage that affected several states across the country in the late 1990’s. It’s disturbing to think of so many people who rely on this electronic network for purchases. What will happen if the network is down, like during an ice storm, hurricane, or earthquake?
Cash is always on. (As are paper books, too, but that’s a different rant!)
I was at Hannaford when this problem was occuring. There was some confusion. I use cash because I expected this to happen. What will people do when this is gets worse? Get cash protect your money so you can use it to live don’t depend on computers as they will shut down and leave people penniless..
you say that with such certainty…
It is an educated guess.
Hanny needs to get their act together seems to me there are many issues there, I personally do NOT use my cards at Hannaford ever since I was hacked from using their system. twice
One way to slow down the EBT spending.
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Just noticed the photo was from 2011 LOL! Belt tightening BDN?
It’s just a file photo from 6 months ago. Should they have paid someone to get a current photo of a supermarket? This seems sort of nit-picky…
Not if you believe in journalism and timeliness.
It’s only a photo of one of the stores! talk about being nit-picky, @letsbehonestforonce! They only wanted it for the store logo. If that is all you have to comment about, then don’t.
lol OK!