Currys PC World has cancelled many Black Friday orders - here’s why

Currys PC World is facing backlash from angry customers after it has been revealed that shoppers buying items during the retailer’s Black Friday sales have had their purchases cancelled. The company has blamed a technical fault for causing some orders not to be processed, even though customers received their confirmation emails. Currys PC World has apologised for the “inconvenience caused,” however many shoppers are calling for the company to honour the original Black Friday discount on their cancelled items. A spokesperson for the company was unable to say how many customers had been affected by the fault, but said that the firm would handle complaints on a case by case basis. ‘Why can’t you honour Black Friday deals?’ Upset customers took to social media platform Twitter to express their frustration at the situation. One person wrote, “@curryspcworld You can count on us… to take your money, miss the delivery date, lie through our teeth, mysteriously cancel your order 10 days later and not give a refund! #shambles #blackfriday #curryspcworld.” Another tweeted, “@curryspcworld - I ordered a Black Friday offer yesterday, got my order confirmation email then today out of the blue you have cancelled it? Item now double the price #nothappy #servicefail #blackfakefriday #rippedoff.” “@curryspcworld hey I have got a receipt of my order placed on 24 Nov, and now I got told it’s your tech problem so my order wasn’t processed, and I was told to reorder with the original price, why can’t you honour Black Friday deals?” wrote another. 'Will be honouring promotional prices' A spokesperson for Currys PC World said, "We understand the importance of our Black Friday offers to customers and we are very sorry for the disappointment and inconvenience caused by our website glitches. Following a detailed investigation we stand by our approach to help customers on a case by case basis. "We will be honouring promotional prices for any customer who placed an order between 25th November and 1st December and received an email confirmation of purchase but then had the order cancelled. If we are out of stock on their item of choice we will give the customer a 10% discount off a similar product. "Unfortunately, due to the unprecedented volume of customers shopping online with Currys PC World on Black Friday (27th November), our website experienced a temporary outage. We can confirm that transactions made by gift cards and some Order & Collect purchases were affected but home delivery was not. "Any customer who paid by gift card had funds put back in full by 8.00pm on Wednesday 2nd December. Those customers whose Order & Collect purchases were cancelled were informed as soon as possible and they were able to replace their order the same weekend and still take advantage of our Black Friday promotions. "We ask impacted customers to contact our Customer Services team and we are also putting in place a webform for cancelled orders which will be live by the end of tomorrow to help those customers affected seek a speedy resolution.” ‘Long list of complaints about Currys PC World’ Consumer rights group Which? has said that Currys PC World isn’t legally obligated to sell the offered goods at sale price, but suggested that doing so would be in the company’s best interest. Which? consumer rights expert Adam French said, “This is the latest in a long list of complaints we’ve heard about Currys PC World, and customers will understandably be frustrated that their Black Friday purchases could not be fulfilled. “The tech retailer has earned itself a poor reputation for customer service and in a recent Which? survey received just two stars for its after sales service. “The company must up its game or customers will rightly go looking elsewhere for a good deal.” Additional Black Friday issues Currys PC World has already had to apologise to customers, after hundreds of pounds were accidentally wiped from gift cards during its Black Friday sales. The surge in demand saw the company website crash, making it completely unavailable for a period of time on Friday 27 November. Customers reported seeing money wiped from their gift cards when they went to buy items online. A spokesperson for Currys PC World said, “Due to the unprecedented volume of customers shopping online with Currys PC World this Black Friday, our website experienced a temporary outage. “Unfortunately, transactions being made by gift cards were affected. We will ensure that every customer affected by this issue has funds put back onto their gift cards in full, as soon as possible. We apologise for this issue and understand that customers will be disappointed they weren’t able to secure their products.”