Italian retailer MediaWorld is facing a fierce backlash from its customers after accidentally selling 13-inch iPad Air models for €15 (approximately Rs 1,500). This was supposed to be an offer for loyalty card holders, but the shocking deal faced heavy criticism due to a major pricing glitch.
The company fulfilled online orders and handed out devices in stores for 11 days before it noticed the mistake. The firm is now asking buyers either to return the tablets or to pay close to the real retail price.
According to a report from Wired, the iPads were listed at the wrong price due to a technical problem on MediaWorld’s e-commerce platform. The system kept on processing both home-delivery and in-store pickup orders.
Customers started receiving their products without any intimation. The retailer figured out the error only after nearly two weeks.
When the mistake became apparent, MediaWorld wrote an email to buyers stating that the €15 price was ‘incorrect,’ and gave them two choices:
Keep the iPad, but pay the price difference to adjust to the correct promotional rate. MediaWorld also helped ease the blow with an extra discount.
Return the device for a full refund and get a €20 (about Rs 2,050) voucher.
Several customers have spoken out against these offers, since the original terms and conditions didn’t address price errors.
A MediaWorld spokesperson clarified that an unexpected glitch caused the iPads to appear at prices well below their actual value. The spokesperson described it as a ‘manifest error’ that rendered the sales economically impossible for the company.
MediaWorld now says it acted under existing regulations that allow corrections in such cases. It claims that this two-option offer shows fairness and transparency.
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Several buyers are refusing to return the iPads or pay extra. Since many devices have been delivered, the dispute has now become an embarrassment for the company. The case could test how Italian consumer law handles mistakes of this scale since there was no pricing-error clause in the contract.
MediaWorld, meanwhile, is trying to limit the fallout from one of its most expensive errors in recent years.