ANHUI, SEPT 10 – A small business in China, Little Swan Dongshan Franchise Shop, faced a huge loss of 30 million yuan (RM19.6 million) after one of its employees made a mistake in labeling product prices in the online store.
According to reports Red Star Newsthe incident occurred on August 28 when more than 40,000 orders for washing machines were received within 20 minutes on the Tmall platform before the company realized the error and stopped sales. During that period, washing machine products worth 70 million yuan were sold at only 40 million yuan, causing a huge potential loss.
“We apologize to all customers involved and humbly request that the order be cancelled. We will return your money as soon as possible,” the company said in a statement.
The mistake was caused by an employee who misunderstood the promotional price on the platform, resulting in the pricing being extremely low. For example, a washing machine that should cost 1,699 yuan (US$240)) is sold for only 299 yuan, while a model worth 2,499 yuan is sold for 439 yuan.
Citing reports Oddity Centralthe business owner, in an attempt to apologize, also posted a video clip of the employee responsible, who publicly admitted the mistake and explained that they could not bear the loss even if they sold everything they owned.
Local authorities are currently investigating the case. Legal experts insist the company needs to prove that the mistake was completely unintentional in order to void the purchase contract. If it fails, the company may be forced to fulfill the order and risk bankruptcy. – Agency
