Price glitch sees retailer Currys drop iPad price to £4 ahead of Black Friday sales

A glitch on the Currys PC World website saw £289 iPads for just £4 once a Black Friday discount code was applied.

When the code ‘FREECASE’ was added at the online checkout, it appeared that shoppers had managed to nab a bargain. 

The offer was meant to take £30 off the total cost of the 32GB 9.7 inch 2018 Apple iPad and protective case, but instead the price dropped to just £4 .

Orders started to mount up as quick thinking shoppers spotted an opportunity.

But the item was soon listed as unavailable for collection and has now been pulled from the site altogether  – although some customers have still been charged.

Those who missed out quickly took to social media to voice their displeasure.

User @panzapanda wrote on twitter : “I get that I was probably never going to get the £5 Ipad, but FFS they could at least have the decency to email me. The only reason I know it has been cancelled is due to having checked DPD. Thoroughly disappointed in Currys. Thoroughly disappointed.”

Another wrote:  “Welp my Curry’s £4 ipad got cancelled, though my sister’s might have arrived, mine was only £15 minutes away from being delivered before it was cancelled.”

Under the Sale of Goods act, If an item is priced incorrectly on the shelf, or scans at the wrong price at the till, retailers are under no obligation to honour it. Yet if money changes hand in store, they have no recourse to demand the full price later.

Retailers are not obliged to honour an incorrect price listed online – although some will – as was the case when Marks & Spencer advertised a Panasonic 50-inch TV worth £1,099 for just £199 back in 2011. 

Marks & Spencer bowed to online pressure and stood by the orders.

A spokesperson for Currys PC World told the Independent:  “Due to a pricing error on our website, a number of customers were charged an incorrect amount for an iPad. This issue was quickly corrected on the website and we apologise for any inconvenience caused. In line with our terms and conditions, which can be found on our website here, we do not honour pricing errors. The advertised price was correct but, due to human error, when the customer applied a promotional code for an accessory it processed the price incorrectly.

 “We are providing full refunds and are working to reduce such errors in the future.”