Staff at Hewlett Packard in the U.K. were left embarrassed after accidentally selling laptops with a value of over $3,000 for around $2 (£1.58) via its website.
Hewlett Packard has issued an apology for taking its website down in the U.K. for the last weekend in July 2016. This was after an error on its website was detected. A mistake with product pricing allowed shoppers to purchase expensive laptops for less than $2 (£1.58). The laptops had a previous retail price of around $3,100 (£2,378.) Through a processing error the laptops were reduced in price and consumers were allowed to acquire the premium computers for next-to-nothing.
In a statement, the company said: "We apologize sincerely to impacted customers for any inconvenience caused" (as reported by the Daily Mirror.)
To add to the embarrassment, Hewlett Packard was alerted to the error not by the vigilance of its own staff or realizing that the takings were not adding up; instead the alert was sounded after those lucky enough to spot the error posted about their low-cost purchases on social media.
In the event, not many people were lucky since has cancelled all unprocessed on-line orders. Under British trading law, retailers are able to cancel online orders if they have made a "genuine and honest mistake on their part that you should have noticed." Hewlett Packard has said all buyers affected by the reversal will be refunded (in other words, they will get their $2 back and a feeling of disappointment.)
On realizing the error, Hewlett Packard took their website down on Saturday July 30, in order to stop any further sales and to make corrections. The website is now back up and running. The issue affected the ".co.uk" HP web-store only.
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle
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