Currys PC World cancels online bargains due to ‘website error’

Customers of Currys PC World have been left wondering where in the world their bargain-basement televisions are after the retailer cancelled orders due to a pricing error which meant that discounts of more than €2,000 were wrongly applied.

Online shoppers believing themselves to have bagged the bargain of the century by buying giant top-of-the-range TVs at a rock-bottom price have been left dismayed by the retailer’s move to block orders.

As a result of what Currys PC World described as a “website error”, a 65in ultra-high definition 4K Sony Bravia television went on sale on Saturday priced at just €239, considerably less than the €2,599 such a TV would normally cost.

People with a keen eye for a bargain were quick to recognise the scale of the sale and swooped, happy to pay the price and comfortable that, once the money had been deducted from their accounts, a legally binding contract was in place.

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They were less than pleased then to receive communication from the retailer hours later saying their orders had been cancelled, with a promise that the money would be refunded within five working days.

People who contacted The Irish Times said their orders had been processed correctly and money had been taken from their accounts. Consequently, they called on the company to honour the sale and dispatch the TVs without delay at the reduced price.

One customer, recognising the scale of the deal, had even bought two televisions so was doubly peeved to have his order cancelled.

While people may be aggrieved at having the bargain pulled from their grasp at the last minute, the law would appear to be on the side of the retailer.

According to long-standing consumer legislation, when a retailer advertises a product or service for sale, the consumer is given “an invitation to treat”. That means the consumer is invited to make an offer to buy the product in question.

No contract?

Until money changes hands no legally binding is in place.

However, in this case the offer was accepted, a fact which left many people thinking a binding contract had been formed and that was behind their calls for Currys PC World to sell the television at the advertised price.

According to the European Consumer Centre (ECC), the retailer has a get-out clause. If there is “a genuine mistake on the part of the trader to display the correct price”, they can claim that there is a defect in consent and the contract may be set aside, especially if the consumer should reasonably have known that the price displayed was the result of an error.

The ECC says that a rogue price may be “an obvious, rare mistake, quickly acknowledged and rectified” so the consumer “may not be entitled to benefit from the error”.

A spokeswoman for the retailer confirmed that there was a pricing error which had affected the cost of the television for around eight hours. She said that Currys PC World are investigating how the mistake had occured.