Free online shopping briefly delights customers

New Zealand customers at an online shopping site were happily shocked when they got expensive televisions and iPods for free Monday after a computer glitch charged them only postage and handling.

News of the error by Australia-based electronics retailer Dick Smith‘s New Zealand website, which failed to register the main items, quickly spread through the Twitter community.

“My order just went through. 27 inch iMac. Total price: $4.95′,” @Steffen_, tweeted.

A 27-inch iMac would normally cost from A$1,500-A$1800 ($1,500-$1,800).

“There was actually a website issue this morning with a pricing error on the Dick Smith New Zealand website,” a company representative said, after the company was tipped off by Twitter.

The firm took the site offline for maintenance, telling customers it was “to improve your shopping experience.”

But all may not be completely lost.

An Australian radio station and Twitter users were reporting late Monday that people who had bought products on the New Zealand site for free might be offered a 10 percent discount. ($1 = 0.930 Australian Dollars)

SYDNEY (Reuters) -  (Reporting by Erin Forster, editing by Elaine Lies)

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