Shoppers at Morrisons have been hit with an IT meltdown on the busiest day of the year for the nation’s supermarkets

Morrisons has apologised after customers have been unable to get discounts on their shopping ahead of Christmas after a problem with the More loyalty card.

At the same time, some customers have also complained that their festive online orders and click and collect orders have been delayed or cancelled.

The supermarket tried to head off a customer backlash by offering a blanket 10 percent discount on trolley loads of Christmas food and drink at the till. However, customers said the discount was not being applied in some stores.

People on social media have complained their loyalty card discounts were not working at the till.

One customer complained: “More card prices not being honoured… and not made aware until I went to pay. Cost me at least £20 more than it should have.”

A second said: “Very frustrated that the More card isn’t working this morning. No Discounts on my shopping. Had to pay way more than expected!!”

Another posted a photo of an error message at the self-checkout, which read: “We are really sorry some promotions and discounts are not working at this time.”

One customer reported that the promised 10 percent discount was not being applied. She wrote: “In Bacup this morning I wasn’t offered anything despite talking to a member of staff!”

Retail expert Steve Dresser, the chief executive of Grocery Insight, said it was hard to think of a worse time for the IT systems to fail.

The Morrisons website also appeared to be down, with error messages on some pages suggesting invalid or late responses from servers.

One X user said their Christmas food delivery, which included a turkey, was due to arrive this afternoon.

“I’ve rung customer services who said they couldn’t reinstate the order or offer me a delivery slot and there’s nothing they can do,” they told the BBC.

“I explained to them I’m very unwell, disabled and immunocompromised and I don’t drive and they just said they can’t do anything and offered me a ‘£10 good will voucher’. I really don’t know what I’m going to do.”

On the Morrisons Facebook page, people have also been commenting that Christmas deliveries they ordered a month ago have been cancelled.

“Half my Christmas shopping isn’t coming including the turkey and puddings and they were ordered a month ago,” one person commented under a post advertising discounts.

Others say they have been missing out on large discounts in store.

The supermarket has been advertising heavy discounts on Christmas dinner food, including vegetables, in the last week.

“I’ve just wasted an hour of my life shopping at Morrisons only to find out by checking my receipt that I’ve been charged £40 more than I should because the More Cards aren’t working. No communication at all, so loads have probably overspent without knowing,” wrote one user on X.

A Morrisons spokesperson said: “This morning we are experiencing some system issues which are principally impacting some More Card discounts and Click and Collect orders. For More Card customers who have Morrisons Fivers to redeem, these will be done manually in store by colleagues. And if More Card prices are not registering, we will apply a 10% discount to the customer’s entire shop.

“For Click and Collect orders, we are asking customers to wait for an email to inform them that their order is ready for collection before heading to store. Some home delivery orders may be arriving late today – and we will be communicating directly with those customers affected. We sincerely apologise to our customers for this inconvenience.”

Today is predicted to be the busiest shopping day for supermarkets this year, according to retail analysts Kantar. Sales at supermarkets are expected to reach over £13bn for the first December ever.

The supermarket says loyalty card and click and collect orders are mostly affected.

A spokesperson said: “If More Card prices are not registering, we will apply a 10 percent discount to the customer’s entire shop.”

They added that some home deliveries may be arriving late today, and that click and collect customers should wait for an email before going to the stores.

Shoppers complained that some online Christmas orders were missing a large number of purchases when they arrived.

Emma Millhouse complained: “Ordered Christmas food on November 3rd and when it was delivered today more than half was unavailable.

“If you are going to advertise Christmas food delivery don’t pretend it’s guaranteed. A £20 voucher isn’t good enough to cover the stress.”

Moira Redhead, from Northumberland, contacted the story on X to say: “I’m due to have my Christmas order delivered today between 16.30 and 1730. It has my turkey and everything I need for Christmas.

“I’ve just had an email from you saying you couldn’t fulfil my order and it’s been cancelled. What am I meant to do I can’t get to shops?”

Natalie Williamson wrote: “@Morrisons food to order what a disaster!

“Online issues and no timescale for resolution. Supposed to pick my order up at 10am, just been told on the phone they can’t even guarantee it will be today. What a joke.”