• Argos website was down on Sunday afternoon
  • The retailer has apologised to customers
  • Problem comes as scam emails circulated in Argos’ name

Multichannel retailer Argos suffered problems on its website over the weekend just as the festive shopping period gets under way.

Argos’ website was down for some hours on Sunday, prompting shoppers to take to social media to vent their frustrations.

Some claimed that they had paid for goods but were told that their orders had never been made.

Argos reinstated the site yesterday and apologised to customers.

Argos, owned by Home Retail Group, said: “We are extremely sorry for the temporary service issues our customers were experiencing on our website.

“We have identified and fixed the issue and our site is now up and running.

“We apologise to any customer who has tried to contact us unsuccessfully today [Sunday] and we are working to respond to all enquiries as soon as we can.”

The problem came as Argos reinvents itself as a digital-first business and following a period of difficult trading.

It occurred just weeks before Black Friday, when shoppers are expected to take advantage of a swathe of online deals.

Separately, the BBC reported that Argos said it was aware of people receiving scam emails in its name.

Argos said customers in receipt of unsolicited emails should not reveal any personal details. It said it had not been the victim of a cyber attack.