Whirlpool

Not enough space in title :(.
Anyway, for all of you who were involved in the Dell Mx Revolution 'scandal' (Dellgate?) the Taiwanese government has delivered some bittersweet vengeance:

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2009/07/01/dell_ordered_to_honor_taiwan_monitor_mixup/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/01/taiwan-orders-dell-to-honor-15-monitor-mishap

Basically Dell put up a 19" monitor for $500NT (roughly $19 according to XE right now) when it should have been $5000NT. 26000 customers ordered 140000 monitors (that's right, over 5 each on average). The Taiwanese government wants them to honour one monitor each and the rest at 'discount'.

Should Dell be forced to honour blatant typos/'bait and switch' tactics?

Seriously though, Dell needs to stop making these 'typos'.

serrin writes...

Dellgate?

nice pun although thankfully dell isnt related to our government in anyway. (think about the what ifs lol)

and i really wanted that the MX rev for that price.

maybe this would finally get dell's act together. (probably not, but we can dream can't we?)

can it seriously be that hard to stop, prop, and check for mistakes that could waste only a minute or so?

i wonder if the taiwanese government would force a bank to honour a typo and let the customer keep $10,000,000 instead of $100,000.00

everybody makes mistakes and while Dell seem to make their share, most of the time you can be pretty sure it isn't right.
You can put your order in and hope to get what you order but when they pick up on the mistake you should just accept it say it was worth a shot and move on.

I could guarantee that Dell would have a clause in their website T&C's that cover them from this, nearly all e-commerce sites do.

UZ3R writes...

I could guarantee that Dell would have a clause in their website T&C's that cover them from this, nearly all e-commerce sites do.

But even so, that doesn't override local laws of the country they operate in and might not have been enough in this case.

serrin writes...

Should Dell be forced to honour blatant typos/'bait and switch' tactics?

yes.

The Taiwanese government wants them to honour one monitor each and the rest at 'discount'.

fair enuff

Seriously though, Dell needs to stop making these 'typos'.

dell needs to make more of these typos HERE in Australia!

I wanna order the 30" LED LCD's for ... AUD$19

19" meh, i dono wat i gonna do with it.

scottl writes...

dell needs to make more of these typos HERE in Australia!
I wanna order the 30" LED LCD's for ... AUD$19

Typos like those happen here all the time, its just that the government here dosen't force them to honour the price!

(Eg. A certain PS3 pricing screwup in Dick Smith a while back.)

i always find it fascinating they never typo your address, credit card no. shipping cost info whatever, yet pricing.

Lol @ blatant bait and switch

lol hahaha

sucked in DELL! about time they got it !

scottl writes...

dell needs to make more of these typos HERE in Australia!

I wanna order the 30" LED LCD's for ... AUD$19

Just means dell will raise their prices everwhere to recoup the money....

Internet Party writes...

i always find it fascinating they never typo your address, credit card no. shipping cost info whatever, yet pricing.

I must be unlucky as i have mad major companies stuff my shipping address, my name, phone number several times!

if dell dont hav

" *All pictures featured are solely for illustration purposes only ...Price and availability Subject to change without notice. We reserve the right not to sell under cost. E&OE "

on their website then they can ship out

if they have it then the customers can shove off

rancho writes...

i wonder if the taiwanese government would force a bank to honour a typo and let the customer keep $10,000,000 instead of $100,000.00

Strawman fail.

Did the bank say they would give you $10,000,000 for $100,000.00?

Doesn't this just show that with online the rules change. You make a mistake and a swarm descends to take advantage. In the space of a few hours you've got 140000 units on order for multiple millions.

That would mean a 'cost' to Dell of $4m+. Think they'd just tell the government to shove it and withdraw from Taiwan.

serrin writes...

Seriously though, Dell needs to stop making these 'typos'.

No ... seriously people need to stop thinking they are going to get their goodies for cheap.

The swarm has no conscience and just consumes all.

Clearly not, who seriously think's it was an intentional bait & switch? And even then, a fine levied by the goverment is the way forward.

It says in the second article that the gov't merely suggested Dell honor the purchases. So now Dell is offering some $30 off coupons. I think thats fair — it doesn't make them bankrupt, we all make mistakes

These mobs done it in 8 hours.
That's really quick...

Taiwan is a small market with a lot of export exposure... Taiwan government has a lot to risk that's why they released the second article clarifying the need for compensation but not the need to full honour the incorrect price.

There's mistakes and then there's Dell mistakes..
Dell need to improve their QC..
Customers need to accept that mistakes will happen.

Hopefully, Dell improve their QC and at least reduce the number of mistakes as a result of this decision..

If dell took their money, then I say yes. But if no money has changed hands, I say no.

If local laws stipulate that Dell must sell at an advertised price then of course they should be forced to sell. If not then no they shouldn't. Simple as that really.

DanD writes...

f dell took their money, then I say yes. But if no money has changed hands, I say no.

If they took the customers $19 they should give them $500 worth of product? hmm

They shouldn't have to honour the purchases but the governments should setup a fine for these type of mistakes (not a stupidly large fine, but enough to make companies take a bit of care). I wonder how Dell do it so often which makes me suspicious.

Probably because it was in a Foreign currency, some probably just made a typo when filling out the spreadsheet

Its a simple mistake, people should get over it

Emptysoul writes...

If local laws stipulate that Dell must sell at an advertised price then of course they should be forced to sell.

If anyone knows any markets where that is the case, I'd be interested to hear about them. My presumption would've been that companies simply wouldn't do business online there given the risks, or alternatively restructure their systems to mitigate, such as preventing new orders if "swarming" is detected.

Anyway, reason for this bump is I just stumbled upon the outcome of the Taiwan price blowup:

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/t-business/2009/08/18/220893/Apologetic-Dell.htm