Coupang typo triggers online door-buster

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Finance

Mon, September 25, 2023 | 05:02

Economy

Coupang typo triggers online door-buster

Posted : 2017-05-26 14:56

Updated : 2017-05-26 16:17

E-commerce company Coupang mistakenly advertised a Samsung monitor at 10 times cheaper than it should have been./ Screen capture from Coupang

By Eom Da-sol

Workers at e-commerce company Coupang had a rough Friday morning.

Hundreds of online customers ordered a 32-inch Samsung monitor mistakenly priced with one missing zero. Some Netizens criticized people who ordered the monitor when the price was obviously a mistake.

The large monitors went on sale from 2 a.m. on Friday advertised at 29,900 won instead of 299,000 won ($267).

Over the next six hours, hundreds of customers rushed to the website and ordered the monitors. Some online communities allegedly spread news of the pricing error to encourage others to buy the monitors.

Netizens joked on the site's customer inquiry and review section.

"I have ordered 300 monitors. I hope Coupang keep the promise with its customers," a netizen said. Others even threatened the company, saying, "Do not delete the sale post, Coupang. Or I will call the customers' service hotline all day."

While some laughed at the jokes and the skyrocketing number of orders at Coupang, others pointed out that Korean netizens were embarrassing because they found people's mistakes amusing.

More than 1,000 comments on Daum, Korea's second-biggest online portal, criticized the buyers.

"Not funny. That post is clearly a mistake. Taking advantage of it and making a laughing stock out of it are just unacceptable," a netizen said. Another said, "This shows how Korean netizens react to the mistakes made by others. We should be ashamed of ourselves."

Coupang deleted the advertisement at around 8 a.m. An official told The Korea Times that "The orders would be canceled and the money would be fully refunded."

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