Razer Pledges to Honor Bogus 90% Off Coupon Codes
Some enterprising hacker decided to test out gaming accessory maker Razer’s UK Razerzone store shopping cart by dropping in a 90% off coupon code. Then, the coupon code went viral, and people started buying Razer gear at firesale prices. Once Razer finally discovered the code, it quickly removed the company but was left with a very expensive mess.
What’s a company to do? Retract all those sales and make everyone mad, or eat the cost? Razer is taking the latter path.
“While we have the option of cancelling the orders legally, we’ve always had a customer comes first policy at Razer and in respect of this incident, we have decided to honor the orders that were placed using the unauthorized code by Razer fans buying single products for their own use,” said Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director Min-Liang Tan in a statement. He said that Razer will also allow those who bought multiples of single items to hang onto one of them at the discounted price. (That’s a wise move, because it will keep individual customers happy but won’t allow resellers to make a killing.)
Razer didn’t release any sales numbers from the fiasco, but surely it will hit them hard in the pocketbook. We appreciate that Razer’s focus here is on keeping its customer base happy. The company seems to realize that in the gaming and enthusiast markets, community plays a huge role in building and supporting a brand, and even in the face of a rough situation it’s ultimately better for everyone if they eat the cost of those goods.
Tan also noted that orders may take a while to get processed--a few weeks in some cases and up to a few months in others, primarily because many of the items were already backordered.
Speaking of community, it might not be a bad idea for customers to consider cancelling their orders now that they know Razer didn’t intend for the sale to happen. Razer is doing its customers a solid; perhaps customers can return the favor.
And may the hacker who inserted the bogus coupon code enjoy a life full of BSODs.
What’s a company to do? Retract all those sales and make everyone mad, or eat the cost? Razer is taking the latter path.
“While we have the option of cancelling the orders legally, we’ve always had a customer comes first policy at Razer and in respect of this incident, we have decided to honor the orders that were placed using the unauthorized code by Razer fans buying single products for their own use,” said Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director Min-Liang Tan in a statement. He said that Razer will also allow those who bought multiples of single items to hang onto one of them at the discounted price. (That’s a wise move, because it will keep individual customers happy but won’t allow resellers to make a killing.)
Razer didn’t release any sales numbers from the fiasco, but surely it will hit them hard in the pocketbook. We appreciate that Razer’s focus here is on keeping its customer base happy. The company seems to realize that in the gaming and enthusiast markets, community plays a huge role in building and supporting a brand, and even in the face of a rough situation it’s ultimately better for everyone if they eat the cost of those goods.
Tan also noted that orders may take a while to get processed--a few weeks in some cases and up to a few months in others, primarily because many of the items were already backordered.
Speaking of community, it might not be a bad idea for customers to consider cancelling their orders now that they know Razer didn’t intend for the sale to happen. Razer is doing its customers a solid; perhaps customers can return the favor.
And may the hacker who inserted the bogus coupon code enjoy a life full of BSODs.
