CrowdStrike apologizes for outage with $10 Uber Eats voucher that did not work

How can an apology be made for the outage that resulted in millions of computers crashing worldwide? It seems that a $10 Uber Eats voucher is the answer.

Despite facing a massive amount of media and public attention, CrowdStrike continues to work towards repairing its damaged reputation and apologizing to partners and customers after a botched update on their systems resulted in a widespread IT outage.

The source, who spoke to TechCrunch, revealed that the apology to partners was in the form of an email offering a $10 gift card for Uber Eats as compensation for the extra work caused by the July 19 incident.

I was rather skeptical that this wasn’t an elaborate joke, but yes, @CrowdStrike has apparently emailed its customers & offered a ~$10 UberEats gift card/coupon for any “inconvenience”…and yes, it errors out when one goes to redeem it, saying it has been cancelled 🫠 https://t.co/dhiUAfHZjG pic.twitter.com/mjmL2gndxI

— Patrick Wardle (@patrickwardle) July 24, 2024

The email was sent from the official CrowdStrike email address and was signed by Daniel Bernard, who holds the position of Chief Business Officer at CrowdStrike.

According to a screenshot posted to Twitter/X by another recipient (which has since been removed), the email expressed our sincere appreciation and apologies for any inconvenience caused. As a token of our gratitude, we would like to offer you a complimentary cup of coffee or late-night snack on your next visit.

Surprisingly, individuals who attempted to use the gift card were met with an error message. After examining the voucher on the Uber Eats website, it was discovered that the gift card had been canceled by the issuing party and was no longer usable.

CrowdStrike representative Kevin Benacci verified the company’s distribution of the gift cards. However, Uber identified them as fraudulent due to the unusually high redemption rates of the vouchers. Benacci stated that the intention behind the gesture was to recognize and appreciate the efforts of their colleagues and partners in assisting customers during this challenging time.

Initiatives to seek reconciliation must have a beginning, yet CrowdStrike’s initial attempts to offer an apology have evidently not been successful.