Click Frenzy descends into chaos as computer glitch leaves shoppers empty-handed

THE much-hyped Click Frenzy online sale has descended into chaos, with computer glitches and inventory shortages leaving shoppers empty-handed.

Too good to be true?

THE much-hyped Click Frenzy online sale has descended into chaos, with computer glitches robbing bargain hunters of their promised deals.

Shoppers have taken to social media to vent their frustration over the 24-hour sale, billed as the Australian version of the United States’ Cyber Monday.

Big discounts on gadgets, clothing, electronics, computer games, flights, beauty products and more drummed up a frenzy of interest when the sale started at 7pm AEDT on Tuesday — but some shoppers were disappointed after inventory and IT failures left them empty-handed.

#clickfrenzy Stumped again...this is becoming a joke!!!! So annoyed. pic.twitter.com/jsDLmUtZEh

— Partha Ganguly (@pgang) November 15, 2016

After being asked to sign up for email alerts on their favoured sales items, people complained of missing out on the special deals they’d been promised.

“Nothing working. No emails coming through as advised. Nothing ... Totally bummed,” Cathy Bennett wrote on Facebook.

And many of those that clicked on banner ads to buy discounted products found that they had instantly sold out.

“I’m beginning to think this is one big joke! Sold out? In my cart for barely a second and already sold out when I click on pay? Inventory issues? I think it’s more than an ‘inventory issue’!” wrote Mel Lea.

.@ASOS website dying under traffic for click frenzy. Getting a 403 error when trying to add to bag.

— William Chambers (@chambershire) November 16, 2016

One shopper was so frustrated that they started a Facebook page called Let’s Take Action on Click Frenzy, calling for the ACCC to investigate whether the company had engaged in misleading conduct.

“There are laws that prevent us against companies such as this that falsely advertise and doesn’t give us a fair go,” the page’s creator wrote.

Stupid #clickfrenzy r they only randomly choosing subscribers to email special deals? Never got the webjet one 😠

— Evie Frye (@EvieFrye16) November 15, 2016

Bargain hunters had been enticed to submit their email addresses to the event organisers with the promise of deals like a 55 inch Samsung Smart TV for $10, a PlayStation 4 for $4 and an Apple iPad mini for $2.

“Lots more at 99 per cent off, only for subscribers,” said a pop-up on the Click Frenzy website.

“While stocks last, sales will occur at various intervals between 7pm AEDT Tuesday Nov. 15 and 7pm AEDT Wed Nov. 16,” the fine print said. “You must subscribe for details.”

After receiving a deluge of complaints, Click Frenzy’s social media team reiterated that emails would be sent “at random intervals”, advising shoppers to “refresh your page”.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

Unlike Alibaba’s Singles Day, Click Frenzy does not take care of payment processing or provide cloud services and inventory management support to help vendors handle the extra web traffic and sales. Shoppers are directed to the vendors’ own websites to make their purchases.

ASOS Australia has opted to extend its 30 per cent off sale for an extra day after its website crashed.

The first Click Frenzy in 2012 was an unmitigated disaster, with the website’s server crashing just minutes into the sales.

“That fateful day is well behind us,” the company said optimistically on its website ahead of this year’s sale.

“We’ve listened, we’ve learned and we have been working extremely hard to put right any wrongs ... We have taken every precaution to ensure our servers will not go down, and we have advised our retailers of the traffic volumes they should expect.”

‘THE UNFORTUNATE REALITY OF RETAIL’

Click Frenzy managing director Grant Arnott said emails were sent to subscribers as promised, blaming spam filters and potential server delays with email providers for the missing emails.

“There are certain things that are out of our control,” Mr Arnott said in a statement to news.com.au.

“We regret that some customers feel they missed out and are angry — on the flip side we know many shoppers got the bargain of a lifetime.”

Regarding the glitch that left some shoppers unable to access their chosen deal, he explained: “We had one unfortunate issue this morning when a pop-up banner for users to click on to access a deal was not seen by all users, and therefore we made a decision to re-run the promotion this afternoon to give those who did not see the banner a chance to purchase.”

Some of the deals were so hot that they sold out within minutes, he said.

“I can understand people’s frustrations but that’s an unfortunate reality of retail — any customer who misses out on a hot item in high demand will be disappointed, whether it’s concert tickets, flight deals or a clearance sale.”

He said that while those who missed out on nabbing a bargain were the most vocal, “it does not reflect the majority”, labelling the event a success.

“The data we are seeing thus far shows a substantial increase in visitation and engagement with the hundreds of retail brands participating in this Click Frenzy compared with last year,” Mr Arnott said.

“We learn many lessons with every event, this has been another learning experience and we will continue to improve.”

The Click Frenzy sale ends at 7pm on Wednesday. For those keen to try their luck, comparison site Finder has compiled a full list of deals.

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