Dell pulled the listing at about 1.30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Monday, according to one customer, and then reposted it -- at the same incorrect price -- before finally fixing the error.
Hundreds of postings have been made to Dell's forums from angry customers who ordered the Axim at the knock-down price on Monday, only to later receive an email from Dell saying that the erroneous offer would not be honoured.
"This is to notify you that, regrettably, we need to cancel your recent order for an Axim handheld PC," Dell wrote to its customers in an email. "Due to our error, the system was shown online at an incorrect price, well below the correct price." Dell noted that it specifically indicates on its Web pages, its catalogues, and in its advertising that "Dell cannot be responsible for such errors."
Dell added that its email acknowledgement of orders does point out that it cannot be responsible for typographical or other errors, and reserves the right to cancel any orders resulting from such errors.
But for many, that does not seem to be enough. "I received numerous order confirmations yesterday, but today received the email," one customer told ZDNet UK. "You would think Dell would offer some sort of a discount to make up for this, but they did not offer a thing." Dell was not immediately available for comment.
This is the latest in a string of pricing errors that have plagued e-commerce sites, including those of Dell, its competitors and other big brand names, and sparked a public relations nightmare. In March, Amazon.co.uk was lambasted by customers when it said it did not intend to fulfil the orders of customers who took advantage of a pricing mistake to buy iPaq handheld computers for less than £10. The company temporarily took its entire UK site offline while the error was fixed.
Amazon said its terms of use strictly state that no contract for sale has been formed until customers receive an email stating that their order has shipped, meaning it had no obligation to hand out iPaqs at rock-bottom prices.
The company appeared to have the legal right to cancel the incorrect orders, judging by the way past incidents proceeded. At the end of 2001, when Kodak mistakenly offered a £329 digital camera for £100, legal experts argued that Kodak's automatic confirmation email formed a contract with the buyer, mainly because of the way it was worded.
"The legal consensus was that Kodak had formed a contract with the customers at the point when the confirmed acceptance of the customer's order, unless the company said something to the contrary," said Struan Robertson, a solicitor with law firm Masons, at the time.
Amazon's terms of use, on the other hand, specifically stated that the confirmation email does not form a contract: "No contract will subsist between you and Amazon.co.uk for the sale by it to you of any product unless and until Amazon.co.uk accepts your order by email confirming that it has dispatched your product."
Online pricing mistakes are increasingly common on retail Web sites. Previous incidents include Compaq Australia selling a laptop computer for one penny, Kodak's digital camera offer and Dell's offer of a set of high-end $229 speakers for $24.95. Dell and Kodak honoured the sales, but Compaq merely refunded buyers their penny.
Talkback
I was one of the customers who ordered the product. I ordered one at 1:30am on Monday and then another at 2:00am for my dad. I recived acknowledgments for both but never recieved confirmations or any other correspondence from Dell until just this morning, even though I was told I would get a confirmation with one business day. To add to the frustration, all Dell sent to me was a cheap copy-and-paste email message that my order had been cancelled. This is not the first time Dell has had these types of errors and many consumers, including myself, are getting fed up with their business practices.
A user of Aximsite.com found this deal and posted it 2 days ago at 10 pm, so I can only image how many were ordered. Link: http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28753&perpage=15&pagenumber=1
I am also a customer that was involved with this "mis-pricing." I ordered this product at about 8:30am that following morning that it was posted and immediately received a order confirmation. I have purchased several computers through Dell and being a valued customer, one would think that a business would honor you in some way. Although this was a mistake, it was advertised for a extended period of time and Dell has had mistakes in the past that they should have learned from. This is a good example of poor customer service and advertising.
On November 24, Dell advertised an Axim X3i PDA for $79. I purchased two of such PDA's and used my credit card to send the order. Shortly after, an acknowledgment e-mail from Dell came. They stated that they are processing the order and have received my credit card information.
On November 25 around 11:00 am, Dell removed the product from their website. Shortly after (around an hour), the product was put back on the Dell web site with the advertised price of 79$.
The following day, Dell sent me an e-mail stating that my orders had been canceled.
These events seemed very suspicious to me. It hasn't been the only time Dell has canceled orders due to a Supposable "Typo".
As a consumer I feel betrayed and disgusted that any Shareholder Company would result to such methods to sell and advertise products. It appears that Dell practiced the "bait and switch" which is not only morally wrong, but against the law.
Dell has once again continued in its deceptive pricing practices.
It is understandable to have a pricing mistake, but once it happens once or twice then there should be a system in place to prevent these pricing mistakes.
This was the 3rd or 4th item in the past 2 months that had a "price mistake". Yet Dell hides under the umbrella of their TOS, saying they cannot be responsible for pricing errors.
It is not so much the fact that there was a pricing mistake, but that Dell continues to let them happen and infuriating customers in the process is the outrage.
i placed 2 orders more than 24 hrs apart. How could it be price error for so long. I hink when so many people ordered it that dell decided to jack up the prices
dell is cheating its loyal customers, It is not price mistake. Something is fishy as they accepted orders for more than 24 hrs
I too was duped by this scam. Now they know my Name, Address, Phone #, Email Address, & Credit Card + pin#. This should be illegal.
-X dell shopper
Dell actually shipping out a few of those 79$ axims.
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=AximOrder&message.id=9336
The post in the dell forum actually links you to the dell tracking of one of the said shipped axims.
Jake
I have no sympathy with those dishonest people that placed an order at a price they knew to be an error. Mistakes can and do occur. Why should a customers dishonesty be rewarded with a subsequent discount, as suggested by one commentator?
When they placed their order they knew it was an error and they were just trying to pull a fast one!