onedef92
12-03-2013, 11:38am
Rancho Cordova company honors prices after online mistake; loses $28K
Policy not the same for each business
UPDATED 6:52 PM PST Dec 02, 2013
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. (KCRA) - As online shoppers troll for Cyber Monday deals, a Rancho Cordova company is hoping today will help recoup the losses of a computer mistake.
That mistake had the business selling tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise for next to nothing.
But even though the company could have canceled every order, Rancho Cordova’s Cyberguys! has decided to eat the losses.
Workers inside the store were packaging and shipping orders all day as KCRA 3 visited the Cyberguys! warehouse.
“We have a store on Amazon,” said Wes Sumida, the company’s owner.
The business is still recovering from the damage done by just two decimal points.
It’s ironic that a computer error was made by a tech-based company; that irony isn’t lost on Sumida. The glitch hit, and it hit fast.
“Within a 70-minute time frame, before we caught the error and could change it, we sold $28,000 worth of goods for $280,” Sumida said.
It's a simple slip-up, but it will take the company weeks to recover from the losses, he said.
"We had the right to cancel it,” said Sumida of the thousands of orders. "It's in the fine print that we can do that, but it just didn't seem (like) the right thing to do."
Even though $28,000 in merchandise disappeared down the information superhighway, Sumida said he never even considered canceling the orders.
“This is just one of those situations that, why penalize the customer?” Sumida said. "They didn't make the mistake, we made the mistake, so we honored all the prices and shipped everything off."
It’s an unusual move, considering much larger companies have not done the same.
A glitch on Walmart.com caused an online buying frenzy in November. A few years ago, Best Buy was accidentally selling $10 TVs.
Neither company honored those prices, but Sumida said that’s not how he does business.
“We've never refused a customer (a) refund in the years we've been in business,” he said.
That customer loyalty is how he found the glitch.
Customers began calling and asking why Cyberguys! was selling their goods so cheaply.
"We probably got more than $28,000 worth of goodwill,” Sumida said. "That wasn't the plan, it just happened. It always pays off to take care of your customers."
For consumers who stumble upon deals like the ones Cyberguys! accidentally posted, beware.
Companies are not required to honor the prices. It’s up to each individual business to decide what to do.
Policy not the same for each business
UPDATED 6:52 PM PST Dec 02, 2013
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. (KCRA) - As online shoppers troll for Cyber Monday deals, a Rancho Cordova company is hoping today will help recoup the losses of a computer mistake.
That mistake had the business selling tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise for next to nothing.
But even though the company could have canceled every order, Rancho Cordova’s Cyberguys! has decided to eat the losses.
Workers inside the store were packaging and shipping orders all day as KCRA 3 visited the Cyberguys! warehouse.
“We have a store on Amazon,” said Wes Sumida, the company’s owner.
The business is still recovering from the damage done by just two decimal points.
It’s ironic that a computer error was made by a tech-based company; that irony isn’t lost on Sumida. The glitch hit, and it hit fast.
“Within a 70-minute time frame, before we caught the error and could change it, we sold $28,000 worth of goods for $280,” Sumida said.
It's a simple slip-up, but it will take the company weeks to recover from the losses, he said.
"We had the right to cancel it,” said Sumida of the thousands of orders. "It's in the fine print that we can do that, but it just didn't seem (like) the right thing to do."
Even though $28,000 in merchandise disappeared down the information superhighway, Sumida said he never even considered canceling the orders.
“This is just one of those situations that, why penalize the customer?” Sumida said. "They didn't make the mistake, we made the mistake, so we honored all the prices and shipped everything off."
It’s an unusual move, considering much larger companies have not done the same.
A glitch on Walmart.com caused an online buying frenzy in November. A few years ago, Best Buy was accidentally selling $10 TVs.
Neither company honored those prices, but Sumida said that’s not how he does business.
“We've never refused a customer (a) refund in the years we've been in business,” he said.
That customer loyalty is how he found the glitch.
Customers began calling and asking why Cyberguys! was selling their goods so cheaply.
"We probably got more than $28,000 worth of goodwill,” Sumida said. "That wasn't the plan, it just happened. It always pays off to take care of your customers."
For consumers who stumble upon deals like the ones Cyberguys! accidentally posted, beware.
Companies are not required to honor the prices. It’s up to each individual business to decide what to do.