Retail Stories

4 disasters tagged #retail

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Woolworths reconfigured AI assistant after it claimed to be human and talked about its 'angry mother'

Feb 2026

Australian supermarket chain Woolworths had to reconfigure its AI phone assistant Olive after customers reported it fabricated personal stories about having a mother with an "angry voice," insisted it was a real person, and engaged in irrelevant banter during support calls. The chatbot, recently upgraded with Google Gemini Enterprise, also gave inaccurate product pricing. Woolworths retired the assistant's human-style persona after complaints spread on Reddit and X.

Facepalmby Product Manager
Customer frustration across Australia's largest supermarket chain; inaccurate product pricing; AI persona retired after public complaints
ai-assistantcustomer-servicebrand-damage+1 more
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Taco Bell's AI drive-thru becomes viral trolling target

Aug 2025

Customers discovered Taco Bell's AI ordering system could be easily confused, leading to viral videos of bizarre interactions and ordering failures.

Oopsieby Operations/Product
Viral social media backlash; system reliability questioned.
ai-assistantproduct-failureretail+1 more
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McDonald's AI hiring chatbot left open by '123456' default credentials

Jun 2025

Researchers accessed McHire's admin with default '123456' credentials and an IDOR, exposing up to 64 million applicant records before Paradox.ai patched the issues after disclosure.

Facepalmby Vendor/Developer
Up to 64M applicant records exposed; vendor patched; reputational risk.
securityai-assistantbrand-damage+2 more
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McDonald’s pulls IBM’s AI drive‑thru pilot after error videos

Jun 2024

After viral clips of absurd orders, McDonald’s ended its AI order‑taking test with IBM across US stores.

Oopsieby Operations/Product
Pilot ended; vendor reevaluation; reputational hit.
ai-assistantbrand-damageproduct-failure+1 more