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Pssst. Droid going cheap - you want?

Don't you just love e-commerce?

With pure play e-tailers like Boo dropping like flies now the venture capital gold rush is descending into the kind of farce last seen in the movie Paint Your Wagons Red, bookshop Amazon.co.uk has hit on a great - if unexpected - way of keeping us science fiction fans happy.

How? Well, with the inadvertent flick of a keyboard, the normal price of the video Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace was changed from £11.99 to 11.99 pence (that's about five cents to you US types).

Rather unsurprisingly, this act of accidental generosity was picked up and quickly doing the rounds as one of those viral e-mails that all your mates send you at work, and thousands of customers started flocking to Amazon's British arm.

Unfortunately for your chums here at the 'Nest, the one member of our brave band of thieves who heard about the deal, Martin, decided to buy the video for himself and not tell any of his work colleagues and chums!

We'll let you vote on Martin's punishment for his extreme act of selfishness at the end of this article, but in the meantime, have a read of the bizarre letter that Martin got when his copy of the video thumped through his letter-box and landed on his hallway carpet!

<amazon letter begins>

Dear Martin,

We are contacting you, because you have recently placed an order to purchase "Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace" from Amazon.co.uk.

As you will no doubt have noticed, at the time of you placing your order, the price for this video was correctly displayed on our web site at 11.99 GBP. However, the price incorrectly appeared at 10 to 12 pence on the order confirmation page. The correct price now appears on the order confirmation page.

Like any retailer, we have to be on guard for these types of anomalies. We also have to reserve our right to accept or reject orders placed by our customers so that we can ensure, for example, that the prices are correct, the product is available, the credit card is valid and the transaction is not fraudulent.

With these considerations in mind, our web site terms and conditions, which are accessible from every page of our web site, clearly state: "No contract will subsist between you and Amazon.co.uk for the sale by it to you of any product unless and until Amazon.co.uk accepts your order by email confirming that it has shipped your product." (For the full terms and conditions page, click on the link below)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/subst/misc/copyright.html

We regret that, due to the incorrect price appearing in the order confirmation pages, we cannot accept your order to purchase the video at either 10 or 12 pence (as the case may be) and we will have to cancel your existing order. Under the terms and conditions, there is no contract between you and Amazon.co.uk for the purchase of this title.

We are truly sorry for this mistake and, as a gesture of goodwill, we will dispatch to you one (1) copy of this title free of charge. In addition, we will not charge postage and packing on this shipment.

If you would like any further copies of the video, please return to the Amazon.co.uk web site where you will shortly be able to place orders for as many copies as you wish at the correct price of 11.99 GBP.

We hope this helps alleviate any inconvenience that you may have been caused. Obviously, we must reserve all of our rights in respect of this matter. We hope you understand our position on this matter and we hope you will continue to shop at Amazon.co.uk.

Please feel free to contact us at the above email address if you have any further questions.

Warmest regards,

Adrian Mortimer
Customer Service
Amazon.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk
Books music and more

<amazon letter ends>

What a curious and mixed response, eh?

Oh well, but it all ended okay in the end - Martin got his free Phantom Menace video, and we are going to have our fun now by letting you vote on what we should do to this selfish scum-sucking member of our crew.

What is Martin's fate to be?

Martin's Punishment

What should Martin's reward be for stitching up his co-workers?

Martin is selfish. He should be marched out into the grounds of Crowsnest House, paraded in front of the assembled ranks of the entire company, and made to watch as his precious free copy of the Phantom Menace has it's tape ripped out in front of him and burnt by a cigarette lighter. A fitting lesson for an act of such perfidy that even Jabba the Hutt might bow his head in shame!
Martin was only concerned that his fellow SFcrowsnest team members not risk their money on an Amazon pricing mistake that might have very well been rescinded, costing them the full ticket price of the Phantom Menace video. He has the heart of a jedi and should be commended for his thoughtfulness and taken out to the local McDonalds for lunch as a treat!

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