Amazon pricing glitch
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August 2, 2000: 8:15 a.m. ET
Online retailer says pricing mistakes on toys caused by computer error
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - As if Amazon.com hasn't had enough problems with its recent stock slide and Wall Street analysts cutting their ratings, the Internet retailer said Wednesday that a computer glitch has led to incorrect prices for some toys on its Web site.
Amazon.com spokeswoman Kristin Schaefer told CNNfn she was unsure how many items were mispriced and did not know how many buyers were affected but said it was likely to be a "very small percentage" of total customers.
Customers who ordered the incorrectly priced items were informed of the error via e-mail, which offered them instructions on how to either complete the order at the corrected price or to cancel the purchase.
Schaefer said Amazon (AMZN: Research, Estimates) planned to handle the pricing snafu adhering to its pricing policy. If an item's correct price is lower than the price listed on Amazon's Web site, the lower amount is honored, she said. If a product's correct price is higher than the stated price, the retailer said it would contact customers for instructions.
The company told customers it regrets the inconvenience and will give a $5 discount to anyone who completes the purchase of a mispriced product.
The latest glitch comes after a host of problems for the Seattle-based e-tailer. Last week Amazon stock tumbled 14 percent after the company turned in second quarter revenues that disappointed Wall Street.
In addition, Amazon's Chief Operating Officer Joseph Galli announced he was leaving the company for B2B concern VerticalNet.
Since the end of June, when Amazon's creditworthiness was challenged by a Lehman Brothers analyst, the drop in the company's stock price has wiped more than $4 billion off its market value.
Amazon (AMZN: Research, Estimates) edged up 1/8 to 30-1/4 Tuesday.
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