Website Error Allowed Customers to Buy $600 Electronics for $8.85

[Hum]

Causing an online frenzy among shoppers, an apparent glitch on Walmart's website early this morning led to $8.85 listings for items, including computer monitors and projectors normally worth hundreds of dollars.

The country's largest retailer was selling a 24-inch high definition Viewsonic computer monitor, an InFocus IN2124 Projector digital projectors and other products, many for $8.85. The projector is listed for $578.89 on Walmart.com and $579.99 on Newegg.com.

As customers shared about the deals on social media sites like Instagram, wondering if the site was hacked, products sold out online in just hours.

A spokesman for Walmart said the company is still scanning the millions of items on its site to see if there are still any technical errors causing price discrepancies.

Walmart assured the media that the site was not hacked.

 "We experienced a technical error that caused some items to show incorrect pricing," Walmart said in a statement. "We are working quickly to correct the error and during this time, there may be intermittent site availability. We apologize for any inconvenience to our customers."

Ravi Jariwala, a spokesman for Walmart, said: "I want to make very clear this is not a hack. This is an internal technical error."

When asked if the company will honor items sold to customers at the mistakenly low prices, Jariwala said the company is "still working through those details."

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[techbeck]

Why can I never be on sites when this happens..

[AJerman]

Why can I never be on sites when this happens..

Seriously. We need a notification service for price errors on sites. :laugh:

[Hum]

Eh, unless there were laptops, or an HDTV, none of that stuff would interest me.

[AJerman]

Eh, unless there were laptops, or an HDTV, none of that stuff would interest me.

I'd be down for the projector, XGA or not.

[Raa]

This is why we can't have nice things. :P

[shockz]

Eh, unless there were laptops, or an HDTV, none of that stuff would interest me.

There was a $900 47" LG 3D TV for 289. A few of us at work ordered them, one already got a refund notice.

[papercut2008uk]

online things like this happen all the time, it's pointless even buying, even if you get through the order process and recieve confirmation or order, the company is not obligated to take the order and send the goods.

 

all the orders would be canceled.

 

it's better when you go to places like Tesco, grab 10 huge cases of beer for ?8 because of a computer glitch and walk out with a recipt and the stuff. Online you just get dissapointed, people go mental when they get a email that their order was cancelled.

[fmanchu]

I ordered the Samsung 55" around 8:15AM, got the confirmation txt around 10 AM. Immediately went to pick it up. 

 

Samsung UN55F6300 55" 1080p 120Hz Class LED (1.9" ultra-slim) Smart HDTV for $329 + tax

[webeagle12]

This is not mine but...

[Praetor]

this is just wrong... i mean yeah it must be funny and good and all for those that buy stuff at such a low price, but it's very obvious someone screwed big time, and probably someone will get fired (or several, to compensate the loss of sales).

[spenser.d]

Won't they just cancel the orders and retract all the pending charges?  Doubt anyone is getting their electronics for cheap.

[Atomic Wanderer Chicken]

Darn it why wasn't I on Walmart's site this morning, I could have bought 12 of the computer monitors!

[xendrome]

When asked if the company will honor items sold to customers at the mistakenly low prices, Jariwala said the company is "still working through those details."

 

Translated "NO"

[fmanchu]

[Preppy Veteran]

online things like this happen all the time, it's pointless even buying, even if you get through the order process and recieve confirmation or order, the company is not obligated to take the order and send the goods.

 

all the orders would be canceled.

 

it's better when you go to places like Tesco, grab 10 huge cases of beer for ?8 because of a computer glitch and walk out with a recipt and the stuff. Online you just get dissapointed, people go mental when they get a email that their order was cancelled.

Except as pictures around the web will show you, some people did get this to work.  In-store pick-up or express delivery seemed to have been the key.

[(Account no longer active)]

Sounds to me like a 11/6/year-2k13 bug. It would be funny if the prices went negative so customers were credited.

[Atomic Wanderer Chicken]

Wal-Mart's website is very slow to non-working when I'm searching on. I bet the cheap bastards at Wal-Mart are so enraged, they are having the web people redoing a lot of the website to prevent this from happening again. :laugh:

[Hum]

I'd think even the dullards working at Wal-Mart would say "something's wrong" if you were getting a TV or monitor for $8.85. :laugh: