Internet retailing has become one of the fastest growing industries in the UK, as the majority of consumers in this country now have a broadband internet connection which allows for speedy shopping. And with smartphones and computer tablets fast becoming must-have items, consumers who choose to shop online can now do so anywhere, from the comfort of their own home to a wifi enabled coffee shop in town.
Unfortunately, though, by basing a retail business online, companies leave themselves open to hacking, computer viruses and technical errors – something which popular e-retailer play.com found to its cost earlier this week.
A computer glitch on the website allowed consumers to enter a code and receive a free £15 credit boost which they could use to buy a variety of items from the retailer. Many online sellers use promotional codes and prize giveaways as a means of enticing users to make purchases on their sites, yet a minimum spend usually applies before user profiles are credited with “free” money.
Yet the computer error negated the minimum spend threshold, meaning that users could simply enter the promotional code to purchase up to £15 worth of free items at absolutely no cost to themselves.
This would not have been an insurmountable problem had the news of play.com’s glitch not spread to popular discount information site HotUKDeals. As a result, thousands of users inundated the website with freebie purchases, so much so that the site crashed several hours after the glitch had been revealed.
At the time, play.com posted on its social networking sites, saying; “This code was unfortunately raised in error, and has now been taken down.
“We are currently investigating the technical issues surrounding this – please bear with us while we solve the issue, and thank you for your patience.”
There was much speculation in the press about whether or not play.com would honour their customers’ orders or not, with many industry experts claiming that not doing so would damage their reputation with regular users of the website. Yet with thousands of people all redeeming the “free” code, the cost of allowing orders to be processed could be financially crippling, especially given that the run up to Christmas is the most profitable time of year for retailers.
While customers who placed orders using the voucher code received confirmation emails from the site, and some were even told that their items had been dispatched, play.com has now confirmed that they will not be sending items to consumers who purchased them using the “free” £15. All customers who entered the code at the checkout on the website will have their orders cancelled but may re-order by using a credit or debit card to pay if they still wish to receive the item.
Play.com is obviously not the only retailer which has been affected by computer or technical error, but the blunder so close to Christmas may have cost them dearly. Only time will tell whether this malfunction will damage their relations with the customers it relies on so heavily.
Did you take advantage of the glitch in play.com’s website, or do you feel it is unethical to take advantage of retailers when technological errors occur? Should the website honour its customer orders if this situation occurs in the future, or should consumers accept that mistakes happen and not judge retailers too harshly when they do?
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