14 DAY TRIAL // One particular silver and gold necklace at Macy’s sells for $1,500 (€1,173), so you can imagine how surprised Robert Bernard was when he saw it listed in a mail advertisement for just $47 (€36.7). His next move was to rush to buy it at the Collin Creek Mall, he tells WFAA.
Not once did he stop to think that the discounted price was a typo because all he could think of was that he was about to get his wife the most beautiful present ever.
When he got to the mall, Mr. Bernard found out that many others had also rushed to seize the opportunity to buy the necklace so that, when his turn came, it was already out of stock.
Mr. Bernard ordered two and paid for them. He then went home to wait for the items to arrive. Instead, he got a phone call from Macy’s: they had realized the mistake and were sorry to let him know that he wouldn’t be getting the jewelry items at a 95% discount.
“This item has the wrong price for $47 [€36.7]. The correct price is $479 [€374,8] and because of that pricing error, your order has been canceled and I apologize,” the call center operator told him.
Mr. Bernard was informed that he would get a refund but he’s terribly upset that Macy’s didn’t offer to send him some kind of compensation for his troubles, which he believes he was entitled to because it was their mistake, not his.
He says this is the reason he’s gone to the press with the story in the first place.
“I'm very, very bothered by it because I don't want anybody else to feel the way I feel,” he says.
In a statement to the press, Macy’s has apologized for the typo but refused to say how many necklaces had already been sold.
Those customers get to keep them but those who only ordered (and paid for) them should probably start thinking of doing something else with the money.
“When the mistake was caught, signage did go up in the fine jewelry department and on store doors alerting customers that a mistake had been made,” Beth Charlton, Macy's spokeswoman, says.
“For those customers who bought the necklace at the $47 price, they were fortunate. For the gentleman you spoke with, he was not so fortunate. We are sincerely sorry he was disappointed and unable to buy the necklace at the $47 price for his wife,” Charlton adds.