A hot potato: Imagine you spotted a 13-inch iPad Air on a popular retail site for just $17, bought it, and then the company demanded you hand it back or pay almost the full price. It's the situation a European electronics chain's loyalty cardholders find themselves in, and they're not happy about it.
On November 8, loyalty card holders were likely delighted to see a deal appear on the website of Italian retailer MediaWorld: a 13-inch iPad Air for 15 euros (about $17) instead of the usual €879 (about $1,012).
Wired reports that the offer was snapped up by several customers. Some chose delivery while others opted to pick up the device in store to ensure there were no issues and, presumably, it hadn't been a mistake. The orders went through, and the customers likely thought they'd snagged the early Black Friday deal of the century.
But the elation turned to anger 11 days later when MediaWorld contacted the buyers via email. The company claimed the iPad price was "clearly incorrect."
The buyers were given two options: they could either keep the iPad and pay the difference, though they would be given a €150 ($173) discount; or they could return the tablet free of charge to get their €15 back along with a €20 ($23) discount voucher for their troubles.
While many companies have clear disclaimers about pricing errors in their terms and conditions, those that MediaWorld attached to the iPad orders made no mention of such a clause.
MediaWorld told Wired that its pricing had been due to a "clearly recognizable technical error."
Regarding its attempts to recover the iPads or make the customers pay close to the full amount, a spokesperson said, "By virtue of the provisions of the current regulations, we found it necessary to intervene, resorting to a legal principle aimed at preserving the contractual balance in the event of an error of this magnitude."
MediaWorld also highlighted that the customers were receiving discounts whether they decided to keep the iPads or send them back.
It appears that Italian law is on the side of the company in this situation. Article 1428 of the Italian Civil Code states that 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 recognizable by the other party, who should have noticed it through normal diligence.
But consumer lawyer Massimiliano Dona argues that as the email in which MediaWorld made its demands doesn't qualify as a formal warning. Sent by regular mail and framed as a simple "choose one" proposal, it carries no legal force on its own. If recipients ignore it, MediaWorld would then have to decide whether to pursue formal legal action.
The bigger question, Dona adds, is whether MediaWorld actually has a solid legal basis for such action. To void a contract in Italy, the retailer must prove that the buyer knowingly took advantage of a pricing error. And a 98% discount, while dramatic, isn't automatically proof of consumer bad faith. With today's landscape of flash sales, app-only deals, social-media promos, and the chaos of Black Friday pricing, Dona argues it's plausible that a customer might assume the price was just an aggressive marketing tactic rather than a mistake.
The crux of the issue is the buyer's ability to recognize that the price was incorrect. We'll have to wait and see if any customers decide to fight for their $17 iPad Air.
In 2019, Amazon accidentally sold Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Super Telephoto Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras for $94, which was 99.3% less than its usual $13,000 price.
