Halfords glitch reduces £280 bike to £18 but shop REFUSES to honour it
Customers scooped more than £260 off the bike when they ordered through the retailer's eBay store - and then applied an extra discount code on top
BARGAIN hunters who saved £262 on a bike worth £280 from Halfords won't actually be able to take their purchase home.
This is because the discount that saw the price reduced to £18 was actually down to an online glitch.
Cycling enthusiasts spotted the bargain Pendleton Somerby Womens Hybrid Bike on the reduced to £20.
Savvy shoppers then managed to scoop a further discount on the deal by applying a 10 per cent off at eBay code taking the price down to £18.
The 93 per cent off deal was spotted by eagle-eye shoppers and shared on .
Unsurprisingly the bike soon sold out but it turns out that the deal really was too good to be true.
What are your rights if something is advertised at the wrong price?
YOUR rights on buying something for the wrong price depends on whether you bought it in a shop or online. Here are your rights according to Citizen's Advice:
Buying in a shop:
- If you haven't bought it yet - The store don't have to sell it to you for the mistaken price but you could ask them to honour it. The same rules apply if you see an item advertised at a lower price than the one on the price tag.
- If you've already bought it - If a shop charges you less than the advertised price then you do'nt have to give it back. If you realised that you were charged more than the advertised price, return the item and ask them to refund the difference. Keep any evidence of the mistake like the receipt and a photo of the advertised price.
Shopping online:
- If you've paid for it and/or it's been sent to you - The company can’t usually cancel your order, even if they realise they’ve sold you something at the wrong price. They’ll only be able to cancel it if it was a genuine and honest mistake on their part that you should’ve noticed.
- If you haven't paid for it - If the retailer realises its mistake then they are entitled to cancel it.
Halfords has since apologised to customers and told The Sun that the discount was actually down to a "genuine human error" - and they're now refusing to honour it.
A spokesperson said: "We have removed the product from sale and are contacting customers to let them know the bike won’t be dispatched.
"To apologise for the inconvenience we will be offering them an extra 10 per cent discount off their next purchase.
"The bike is currently on sale for £224, with a further 10 per cent discount for those affected."
The bike comes in two sizes - 17 inches and 19 inches - will cost £201.60 with the extra 10 per cent off.
But that's still £183.60 more than what they had been expecting to pay.
The retailer's decision won't come as a shock to most of the shoppers who were already pretty sceptical when they took advantage of the glitch.
One user wrote: "Order confirmed but doubt that we will received them."
Another speculated: "Probably an error on Halfords website, doubt anyone is gonna get that at that price... but you never know!"
Halfords isn't the only retailer to suffer a glitch - shoppers were able to stock up on unlimited supplies of ice cream thanks to a till glitch at Sainsbury's.
But not all errors are good news for shoppers. Tesco was forced to apologise to customers after it took three months to process thousands of credit and debit card payments made at Tesco Express stores.
Another glitch at the tills in Aldi left some customers paying DOUBLE for their shop.
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