European electronics giant MediaWorld is scrambling to recover hundreds of iPad Airs it accidentally sold for €15 instead of €879 - a 98% discount that lasted just long enough for savvy customers to complete their purchases. The company's November 8 pricing glitch has sparked a legal battle over whether customers should have recognized the "obvious" error, with consumer lawyers arguing the timing during Black Friday season made the deal seem legitimate.
MediaWorld, one of Europe's largest electronics retailers, is facing a consumer nightmare after a technical glitch priced Apple iPad Airs at €15 instead of their usual €879 price tag. The November 8 pricing error, initially dismissed as a too-good-to-be-true Black Friday preview, has evolved into a complex legal battle over contractual obligations and consumer rights.
The deal appeared exclusively to MediaWorld loyalty card holders, making it seem like a legitimate flash sale rather than a system error. According to Reddit users who documented the experience, the checkout process worked flawlessly - order confirmations arrived within 40 minutes, in-store payments processed without issue, and customers walked away with genuine iPad Airs.
The seamlessness of the transaction is what makes MediaWorld's position particularly precarious. Unlike typical pricing errors that get caught during checkout, this glitch allowed complete transactions. "The terms and conditions attached to the order make no mention of any clause regarding pricing errors," according to WIRED's investigation of the incident.
Eleven days later, MediaWorld sent what consumer lawyer Massimiliano Dona describes as "not a formal warning" - just a simple email claiming the price was "clearly incorrect." The company offered customers two options: keep the iPad but pay an additional €729 (with a €150 discount applied), or return it for a full €15 refund plus a €20 voucher.
"We confirm that, due to a clearly recognizable technical error caused by an extraordinary and unexpected glitch on our e-commerce platform, some products were mistakenly displayed at prices that should never have been displayed," a MediaWorld spokesperson told WIRED. The company's defense hinges on the argument that a 98% discount should have been "obviously" an error to any reasonable consumer.
But legal experts aren't convinced. The timing couldn't have been worse for MediaWorld's case - the error occurred just weeks before Black Friday, when extreme discounts are not only common but expected. "Today prices are not as standard as they once were," Dona explains. "Between limited-time offers, flash sales, promotions, and contests, everything is more variable, plus we're in the midst of Black Friday discount season."
