On online orders, oopsies, and orders of court.

Last week, ultra-cheap first class and business tickets were listed on ANA's Vietnam website. Bargain hunters swooped in. "One customer reportedly snapped up US$250,000 worth of tickets for just US$17,000."

But as it turns out, the listed fare were the result of a currency conversion glitch. ANA has announced that it will cancel and refund the tickets.¹

I expect a fair bit of wailing and gnashing of teeth on the part of customers who had hoped that the airline would honour the mistaken fares. One customer was quoted by The Straits Times as being "very disappointed" by ANA's decision:

"...this incident was not the first time he had been let down by the Japanese airline. A flight he booked from Tokyo to Osaka was cancelled in January 2023 due to a snowstorm.

'I think twice is enough, third time isn’t a charm, and I’ll cut my losses with ANA and just take Singapore Airlines next time,' he said."²

But most customers wouldn't go so far as to sue the airline, and try to force the airline to honour the mistaken fare.

...right?

Well, some might.

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Back in 2003, there was a company known as Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd, which listed IT products for sale on its website.

One fine day, it erroneously listed a HP laser printer at $66. Its usual price was $3,854. Before the error was rectified, 784 persons purchased 4,086 printers. The company informed the customers that it would be cancelling the orders. Presumably, most of these customers grumbled, then moved on.

But not all. 6 friends ordered, between them, 1,606 printers. They sued the company, demanding that the company honour the online order.

The long story short is that the friends did not succeed in their claim. The matter went up to the Court of Appeal, which dismissed the claim on the basis that they knew, or had constructive knowledge, that there was a pricing mistake on the website.³

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I suppose the take-away is a simple one. As Aaron Wong puts it, anyone who buys a mistake fare "is signing up for a wild ride of excitement, anxiety, stress, denial, abject disappointment and maybe, just maybe, a trip of a lifetime. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions for sure."

It definitely doesn't come with a guarantee of being able to (a) take that flight; or (b) successfully sue the airline to honour the fare.