Misuse of discount codes

[imonit45]

Hi Guys
I am contacting you from an online retail store in Germany.
We are currently speaking to a customer who has misused discount codes on our website, using a discount code advertised as “€150 OFF with a purchase of an item of €600. The customer then used the code 3 times to reduce the price to €150 and is not arguing we have to ship goods.


We have informed the customer that the code was not to be used in this manner and that the system error allowed him to place the order, but have since refunded their money and canceled the order.
They are demanding that we honour the order and deliver the products to him at the incorrect price.
I have already contacted our lawyers for advice but would like to ask what your advice would be in this case.
Many Thanks

 

[finleydesign]

Just refuse the order, people not have a legal right to buy from you

Just right to them thanking them for their offer to purchase, however you will not be accepting their order on this occasion

You might also want to look at upping your terms and conditions if they don't already state the above, we provide terms that make it impossible for any order or complete sale to be concluded until the customer has received a delivery confirmation, that way any issues can easily be sorted out at the point of the sale

By the way they are acting, they are trying it on and trying to play the game, just simply refund them now, then you don't have their money

 

[finleydesign]

Sorry didn't read the part where you had cancelled and refunded, so thats fine, no contract of sale has been completed? Tell them to do what ever they want and no communication will be entered into, they only trying to shout you down to submission

 

[Newchodge]

Are the terms and conditions for the discount absolutely clear and visible when the purchase is being made?

 

[antropy]

LOL just cancel and ignore.

 

[deniser]

Just ignore them once you have refunded their money and if they make any more fuss, say you will report them to the police for attempted fraud.

 

[Mr D]

You have changed your site settings to stop the use of discount codes this way?
Hard to see it as misuse if you have set up to accept that use.

 

[iDigLocal]

You do not have to process an order. You have the right to refuse any order without any reason. I would not worry about it.

Keep an eye on your social media accounts an reviews in case they feel inclined to make a negative post. If they do simply explain that you had an IT error in the way your website was set up and so they were given an incorrect price.

 

[Page]

Ignore - the more you communicate the more time you will waste and the more they will keep on wasting it

 

[FrontierMan]

You need to fix your website so that a discount code can only be used once, otherwise this will happen again

 

[Scotty1]

Hopefully your T&C's state that a contract is not formed between you and customer until you have sent them a despatch notification?

(Whoops forgot to check when this was first posted!)

 

[lesliedocherty]

We had a customer the other day after 5 orders we noticed they used a different email address every time so they could use the 'FIRST10' discount code, if our system validated mobiles it would have been picked up, but it doesn't and it didn't.

 

[The Byre]

Under UK law, a contract did not take place.

Under German law, the customer committed attempted fraud. Leistung und Gegenleistung - Sie wissen es doch! Hat mann in der Lehre gelernt! Also, kein Vertrag ist zustande gekommen!

 

[parkingandsecurity]

Instead of "just ignore" which will undoubtedly cause an issue why not try and fix the issue?

Dear joe,
As you are aware we have cancelled your ordered and made a full refund. It appears a system error allowed the discount code giving $50 off an order over £150 to be used more than once. We understand this must be frustrating for you and we have looked into resolving the issue you experienced to ensure people do not have the same problem in the future.
As much as we would love to be able to sell you X at £150 this is below our cost price so we would be unable to do so viably, However, as a goodwill gesture, and a small thank you for bringing this to our attention we can still supply you the goods at £150+£z. This would still represent a saving to you of £Q.
If you want to take advantage of this offer please let us know before Monday 19th after which time we would be unable to honour this p[rice for you.
Once again apologies for any inconvenience this has caused you.

This does a range of things:
Lets them know the code was used wrong
Justify why you cant give them £600 off stock for £150
Offer a resolve
Give a deadline on the resolve
And lastly saysorry for your computer error. After all it wasnt their fault that the system let them use the code more than once - A supermarket til wouldnt and nor would most websites.

 

[P19Johnson]

I advise looking into your website to add the feature of only one use to your discount codes in the future just so this dosen't happen again.

 

[lesliedocherty]

Instead of "just ignore" which will undoubtedly cause an issue why not try and fix the issue?

Dear joe,
As you are aware we have cancelled your ordered and made a full refund. It appears a system error allowed the discount code giving $50 off an order over £150 to be used more than once. We understand this must be frustrating for you and we have looked into resolving the issue you experienced to ensure people do not have the same problem in the future.
As much as we would love to be able to sell you X at £150 this is below our cost price so we would be unable to do so viably, However, as a goodwill gesture, and a small thank you for bringing this to our attention we can still supply you the goods at £150+£z. This would still represent a saving to you of £Q.
If you want to take advantage of this offer please let us know before Monday 19th after which time we would be unable to honour this p[rice for you.
Once again apologies for any inconvenience this has caused you.

This does a range of things:
Lets them know the code was used wrong
Justify why you cant give them £600 off stock for £150
Offer a resolve
Give a deadline on the resolve
And lastly saysorry for your computer error. After all it wasnt their fault that the system let them use the code more than once - A supermarket til wouldnt and nor would most websites.

customers don't care about htewhy's, i tried this, politely explained and got 'its not my problem'