Walmart Website Error Allowed Customers to Buy $600 Electronics for $8.85
Nov. 6, 2013 — -- Walmart has said that it has resolved an issue that was causing an online frenzy among shoppers. An apparent glitch on the company's website early this morning led to $8.85 listings for items that included computer monitors and projectors normally worth hundreds of dollars.
The country's largest retailer was selling a 24-inch high-definition Viewsonic computer monitor, an InFocus IN2124 Projector digital projectors and other products, many for $8.85. The projector is listed for $578.89 on Walmart.com and $579.99 on Newegg.com.
As customers shared the deals on social media sites like Instagram, wondering if the site was hacked, products sold out in just hours.
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A spokesman for Walmart said the company was scanning the millions of items on its site to see if there are still any technical errors causing price discrepancies.
"The issue has been resolved and Walmart.com is open for all," Walmart spokesman Ravi Jariwala told ABCNews.com. "Given the wide discrepancy in pricing, we are notifying customers who ordered these items that their orders have been canceled and that they'll be refunded in full. In addition, we will send these customers a $10 e-gift card that can be used toward future purchases at Walmart stores and Walmart.com."
Earlier today, Walmart assured the media that the site was not hacked.
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"We experienced a technical error that caused some items to show incorrect pricing," Walmart said in a statement. "We are working quickly to correct the error and during this time, there may be intermittent site availability. We apologize for any inconvenience to our customers."
"I want to make very clear this is not a hack. This is an internal technical error," Jariwala said earlier today.
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When asked if the company will honor items sold to customers at the mistakenly low prices, Jariwala said the company is "still working through those details."
Just two weeks ago, Walmart stores in Louisiana experienced another frenzied shopping day, but that time with live customers. An error in the food stamps EBT system caused account limits to temporarily disappear, leading customers to load up shopping carts with hundreds of dollars worth of items.
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