iPads for $95? Price blunder proves costly

A new Apple iPad on display during an Apple event in San Francisco. Photo / AP

Its slogan may be 'every little helps' but it seems a Tesco discount on Apple's latest iPad yesterday was just too good to be true.

A glitch on the Tesco Direct website offered the new Apple tablet for only £49.99 ($95.00 NZD), a 90 per cent discount on the recommended retail price of around £500 ($955 NZD).

Hundreds of shoppers raced to buy the iPad Wi-fi 4G 64GB black model, which was advertised on the supermarket's site yesterday evening.

News of the blunder spread on Twitter, with lucky buyers boasting about bagging the cut-price tablet.

At one point the website crashed, preventing shoppers from purchasing the tablets. But after Tesco Direct caught wind of the error it suspended transactions and said it would cancel the purchases and refund any money paid.

A spokesman said: "We always look to offer our customers unbeatable value but unfortunately this is an IT error that is now being corrected."

Dominic Gemski, 20, of Portsmouth, was so thrilled to see the tablet for such a remarkable price that he decided to buy three.

He said: "It was like music to my ears when I saw the price. I quickly bought one for my girlfriend and my brother.

"I'm a massive technology geek so I was thinking of buying one anyway. But when I saw the offer I jumped at the chance.

"I think Tesco should honour the price but I don't think they will."

After the glitch Tesco Direct and "every little helps" started trending UK wide on Twitter.
One person wrote: "Just got the confirmation email. So far so good."

In October last year Tesco stores were besieged by bargain hunters after a computer glitch saw Terry's Chocolate Oranges sold for 29p each.

The mix-up happened because the tills could not handle two simultaneous promotions on the chocolates, a three-for-£5 offer and a buy-one-get-one-free deal.

- DAILY MAIL