It was good while it lasted . Starbucks announced late Friday night that a computer outage that affected registers at 8,000 stores in the US and Canada , prompting baristas to give away free drinks , has now been resolved . The global coffeehouse chain said in an update on its site that stores are expected to open for 'business as usual ' Saturday . The company said earlier the outage affected 7,000 stores in the US and 1,000 in Canada . It did not explain exactly what caused the outage , which began in the early evening on the East Coast and in the late afternoon on the West Coast . Scroll down for video . No coffee here : A Starbucks store closes Friday in Phoenix because of computer issues . Starbucks says a sales register computer glitch has disrupted sales at company-operated stores in the US and Canada . It 's free ! A nationwide shutdown of Starbucks ' computer system Friday evening prompted baristas to give away free coffee . Excited Twitter users spread the word about the giveaway , sharing photos of the free-of-charge drinks . Happy customer : User Joshua Decker praised the fine service at a Starbucks store in Redmond , Washington while posing with his free beverages . Store No . 1 : There were plenty of satisfied customers at Starbucks ' first-ever store in Seattle . The company offered free drinks and baked goods to customers before saying stores that had not already closed for the evening Friday were closing early . Earlier in the day , a young barrista named Jaleel working at a Starbucks coffeehouse on 8th Street in Manhattan told Daily Mail their system went down at around 7.30pm . The computer glitch prevented staff from accepting credit cards or ringing up sales , but Starbucks workers at the East Village location were still accepting cash . Some people who were standing in line at around 8.30pm had their wallets in hand . At one point , Jaleel walked up to a middle-age man waiting to get his coffee and let him know that their system was down and they were unable to take credit cards . In response , the customer flashed several folded banknotes . Starbucks released a statement on its website saying the company is aware of the point-of-sale register outage in the US and Canada . Greed is good : This giddy Starbucks patron took full advantage of Friday 's one-of-a-kind giveaway . Get it while it 's free : For some fans of the popular coffeehouse chain , the joy proved short-lived . According to Twitter users , many Starbucks locations around the country closed their doors so as not to give away free products during the shutdown . 'We are actively working to resolve the outage and our stores will remain open and continue to serve our customers , ' the statement read . 'The outage was caused by a failure during a daily system refresh . We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience or confusion and will update this statement once systems are back online . This outage also affects our Evolution Fresh and Teavana stores . ' Twitter immediately lit up with messages from giddy Starbucks customers spreading the word about the impromptu coffee giveaway and sharing photos of their free-of-charge Frappuccinos , venti mochas and soy lattes . 'Got myself a breakfast sandwich & iced tea at # Starbucks for free just now to be fair , I did pay for a drink earlier this afternoon , ' boasted user Karen Chu , from Los Angeles . Another LA resident by the moniker @ octopuscandy bragged : 'Starbucks systems are down so I got my drink for free . Seems like all Starbucks are doing this . Be sure to tip the barista ! ' Twitter user iamgrant quipped : 'Who wants to go to Starbucks with me tonight ? I 'll buy . ' But for some fans of the popular coffeehouse chain , the joy proved short-lived . Fans of the global coffeehouse chain expressed their gratitude for Friday 's freebies on social media . Seattle TV reporter Alison Morrow took this photo of a throng of tourists swarming the Pike Place Starbucks location . According to reports from around the country , many Starbucks locations in places like Florida , Tennessee and Arizona closed their doors so as not to give away free products during the shutdown . The potentially costly tech snafu comes just one day after the Seattle-based global coffeehouse chain , which had 21,366 locations in 65 countries last year , posted record quarterly earnings with net revenues of $ 4.6billion . On Friday , Starbucks shares gained 4.4 pe rcent to $ 51.50 following the impressive quarterly results . Good news , bad news : The tech snafu comes just one day after the Seattle-based global coffeehouse chain , led by CEO Howard Schultz ( pictured ) , posted record quarterly earnings with net revenues of $ 4.6billion .
Point-of-sale shutdown is effecting 8,000 Starbucks locations in US and Canada . Company said in statement glitch was caused by a failure during a daily system refresh . Alison Morrow also affected Starbucks ' Evolution Fresh and Teavana stores . Many Starbucks locations closed their doors so as not to give away free drinks . Coffeehouse chain said in update on its site stores are expected to open for 'business as usual ' Saturday .