Earlier this month, an Italian online retail store named MediaWorld made a rather epic snafu: It accidentally labelled the 13-inch iPad Air units it was selling for US$17 (~RM70), instead of the average RM3,699 that it typically cost.
Naturally, several eagle-eyed customers noticed the pricing and swooped in to snag their unit(s) of the 13-inch iPad Air. Some customers chose to pick up their tablets directly in-store and, as per the original Wired report, things went smoothly.
Then came the response from MediaWorld, 11 days later – the company began contacting customer who bought their iPad Air at the unbelievable price, admitting that it was “clearly incorrect”. As such, they gave them two options: keep the tablet and pay the difference with a US$173 (~RM714) discount, or return the tablet free of charge and get their US$17 back, plus a US$23 (~RM95) discount voucher.
Now, in situations like these, you would think that the customers and consumers would be protected by the law. Not so, in this case. According to an article in the Italian Civil Code, a contract can be annulled if one party entered into it because of a mistake, but only when that mistake was essential – meaning it directly influenced their decision to agree – and recognisable by the other party, who should have noticed it through normal diligence.
Basically, the consumers knew the pricing for the 13-inch iPad was ridiculously low and therefore, likely an error. Instead of taking advantage of this error, they should have done the right thing and informed MediaWorld about the cock-up. But, human nature and all that.
Also, as Italian consumer lawyer, Massimiliano Dona argues, the email MediaWorld sent out doesn’t technically qualify as a formal warning; sending out a regular email and asking consumers to “choose one” carries no legal force in and of itself. So, if the recipients choose to ignor the email, the company will need to decide if it wants to take legal action or not.
