LivingSocial’s website is once again among the living after coming back online Thursday morning from an embarrassing crash that lasted more than 40 hours. The DC-based online middleman says the outage stemmed from a malfunctioning database that needed to be manually rebuilt, according to Washington Business Journal.
The site returned about 9 AM, nearly two full days after it initially went down. But even though LivingSocial can once again sell its coupons and travel packages, the company is in serious damage-control mode.
Even with LivingSocial’s assurances that the website outage did not affect customers’ credit card information, it still represented a cringeworthy moment for the six-year-old company that only last year was routinely showered with praise from DC officials for being a popular internet commerce company based in the nation’s capital. Slate even recommended that between the technical issues and the continuous quarterly losses, LivingSocial should consider giving up entirely.
“These last two days have been an incredibly low point for our company but we will do better and we will be back,” LivingSocial CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy wrote in a company memo today.
The company will also need to make up for its partner merchants’ lost sales. In the last year, LivingSocial has shifted from daily discounts toward coupons that remain available for weeks or months. In hopes of making up some ground from the two-day outage, the company announced on its blog that customers can get 25 percent off all purchases on Friday and 15 percent on Saturday and Sunday.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
LivingSocial Trying to Recover After Being Offline for 2 Days
Its website is back from the dead after two days that its CEO called a “low point” for the struggling online merchant.
LivingSocial’s website is once again among the living after coming back online Thursday morning from an embarrassing crash that lasted more than 40 hours. The DC-based online middleman says the outage stemmed from a malfunctioning database that needed to be manually rebuilt, according to Washington Business Journal.
The site returned about 9 AM, nearly two full days after it initially went down. But even though LivingSocial can once again sell its coupons and travel packages, the company is in serious damage-control mode.
Even with LivingSocial’s assurances that the website outage did not affect customers’ credit card information, it still represented a cringeworthy moment for the six-year-old company that only last year was routinely showered with praise from DC officials for being a popular internet commerce company based in the nation’s capital. Slate even recommended that between the technical issues and the continuous quarterly losses, LivingSocial should consider giving up entirely.
“These last two days have been an incredibly low point for our company but we will do better and we will be back,” LivingSocial CEO Tim O’Shaughnessy wrote in a company memo today.
The company will also need to make up for its partner merchants’ lost sales. In the last year, LivingSocial has shifted from daily discounts toward coupons that remain available for weeks or months. In hopes of making up some ground from the two-day outage, the company announced on its blog that customers can get 25 percent off all purchases on Friday and 15 percent on Saturday and Sunday.
Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.
Most Popular in News & Politics
Roe v. Wade Was Overturned. These Protests Are Happening Around DC.
George Huguely and Yeardley Love: Love, Death, and Lacrosse
Anti-Abortion Clinic Protests Are Getting Bigger and More Aggressive
Death and the All-American Boy
Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People
Washingtonian Magazine
July 2022: Summer Music Guide
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
Guest List: 5 People We’d Love to Hang Out With This June
Not Just Foxes: 5 Animals You Might Spot at the US Capitol
How Rosa Parks Befriended a DC Hotel Owner
Dan About Town: The Best of Bashes, Balls, and Benefits This Past April
More from News & Politics
Devastation, Joy, and Fury: Reactions From the Supreme Court
Roe v. Wade Was Overturned. These Protests Are Happening Around DC.
PHOTOS: DC’s British Embassy Caps Off Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee
Photos from the Supreme Court: Roe v. Wade Has Been Overturned
50 Years After Title IX: Why Survivors Still Need More Protections
Anti-Abortion Clinic Protests Are Getting Bigger and More Aggressive
“Reading Lolita in Tehran” Author Azar Nafisi on How Freddie Mercury of Queen Helped Her Survive Life in Iran
This Maryland Start-Up Is on the Brink of Winning a Prestigious XPRIZE