I Bought This Chopard for Two Hours!

This summer I'm going to Germany. (Backstory here.) Of course I'm going to buy a watch over there to commemorate the trip, and someone suggested watch shopping at Wempe in Munich, since that's where I'll be staying (Marienplatz).

Since I was off today I thought I'd peruse the Wempe web site and see what was on offer and get an idea of what I could expect shopping there.

To my surprise, I found an absurd deal on a watch that I'd always loved, the Chopard Mille Miglia:

It wasn't in the green that I preferred, so I changed the drop-down box to the green version and the price jumped to over $9,000 US. Whoa. Same with the red and black versions, but going back to blue (with the 18k gold!) the price dropped back down to $1,100. Well now...okay...if that's the price, that's the price.

I bought it on the spot.

After my purchase, and having a Master's degree in Information Systems Management, I thought to myself, "If their systems are managed properly, they'll flag this purchase, because no way are they going to sell that watch at that price. They probably dropped a zero."

My other internal dialog said, "It's their site, their price, this is what they're presenting to the public, who am I to question the deal of a lifetime? I don't know what they're doing!"

There was an angel on one shoulder and the Devil on the other, each whispering in a different ear. (Yes, I'm a Christian, and I've also said here before more than once that I'm heavily flawed, hence my need for God's grace and mercy.)

Two hours pass, I'm cleaning the kitchen and my phone goes off on the counter. It's an email from Wempe: "We've cancelled your order, the item is unavailable."

Really now? The screenshot I took clearly says that it was.

I emailed them back saying just as much and requesting an explanation. 30 minutes later, a full refund was issued, without further communication, and despite their saying it could take up to 2 weeks. "Who gives refunds that quickly?" I chuckled to myself.

I run back to the computer and go back to the site:

As suspected, they updated the page with the correct price of $11,100. Uh huh.

Then, just before dinner, another email from Wempe: "Unfortunately, due to a system error there was a very wrong price published and we had to cancel this order. The refund is already processed."

I appreciated their candor. I'm not mad, lol, they're under no obligation to sell me the watch at that price and I know it. The refund was given, and we're back to square one. On the bright side, I helped them correct an error.

Had this been an unknown site, I'd have never made the purchase, but this was Wempe, a well-known company. I know this post doesn't exactly paint me in a glowing light, but I just thought I'd share my excitement for the day. My wife got a good laugh out of it too.

Cheers! 🍻

-Eric