Razer, their accidental discount, and the aftermath

[Suave Charlie]

So a few days ago the gaming hardware company Razer had an offer code circulating around the internet that offered a 90% discount on literally every product. This code was passed around facebook and twitter and thousands of people used it, myself included.

I did it with the thought that, the orders probably won't get honoured but best case is I get a new headset, and worst case I just get a refund in a few days.

For context; I've bought from razer many times, I have the chimaera headset and have spent £150+ on the onza controllers (they break a lot). I probably wasn't going to buy much more from them until I was confident of the build quality in their products.

But today their CEO came out with a public response to the incident:

Spoiler

https://www.facebook.com/minliangtan/posts/512572145467239

A few days ago, a coupon code that provided a discount of 90% off Razer products at our UK Razerzone store went viral and thousands of orders were placed in the space of a couple of hours. This coupon code was NOT authorized nor approved by Razer and was generated by a third party to test our shopping cart (and left in our system unknown to us till now). When we discovered this, we had to shut down our site for a bit until we figured out what was going on.

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. Unfortunately, as the products are being sold well below their cost, it will likely cost us an insane amount of losses to make good on the orders which will really really hurt us as we?re still a small company - that much said, we want to do right by the community. For orders in the multiples of units for a single product, we will still give each an opportunity to purchase one item of each product ordered at the 90% off discount but not for multiple units of the same product. Our focus is on doing the right thing for our fans, the gamers and the community, not for resellers or users to profit from this. That?s not gaming, that?s not our deal.

So that?s the plan. It?s going to take a few weeks (and up to a few months in certain cases) to get all these orders processed and shipped?a lot of stuff was already back-ordered due to high demand?and we ask that customers please bear with us. We apologize to anyone miffed or confused by this week?s happenings in the U.K., we appreciate everyone?s patience, and we thank all of our customers for their support. Game on?

So basically they're going to lose a lot of money but have done best PR move I've ever seen.
Loads of people have now said that because of this move they're cancelling their orders and even reordering at full price.

So for discussion; what do you think of how they've handled this?
How would you have done it?
And should I cancel my order? (Already leaning towards doing so)

I searched around and couldn't find any topics about this so sorry if there is already D:

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Wow, that's a very mature way of dealing with the incident, props to them



I hope the goodwill they earn from this move will benefit them in the long run.

 

[porous_shield]

That's a great PR move for sure and I hope all those orders don't ruin them. Too bad some of the big soulless conglomerates couldn't learn from.

 

[hazabaza1]

Jesus, that's cool of them.
Shame that they're going to lose a fuck ton of money, but this is a really respectable way of handling this.

 

[votemarvel]

They handled this really well. It's a shame that some tried to take advantage by ordering multiples of items.

 

[Total LOLige]

Any honourable person would cancel their order for the sake of Razer, I'm not sure how small they are. On the other hand the CEO is willing to let the orders go through, so maybe you should just keep it. They're cool dudes for honouring the orders, which is a totally mental move.

 

[Yuno Gasai]

It actually never occurred to me that Razer was/is a small company - they're such a big, popular name that I guess I assumed they'd have the people to back it up.

Regardless, the fact that they're willing to let it slide and to allow individuals to retain that 90% discount for personal orders is actually a really amazing thing to see. They're going to make such hefty losses from allowing these orders to be processed that it's actually ridiculous.. but they're showing that they put the customer first, and I think that's something for which they deserve a HECK of a lot of respect.

If I had placed an order with that discount code, I'm not gonna lie, I would cancel it. Learning that they're only a small company would fill me with guilt, and the fact that the code wasn't generated by them in the first place would make it feel a lot like I was stealing from them. I don't want to feel like a thief.

I'm intending to support Razer a hell of a lot more in the future, especially since they've shown they can be so awesome. <3

 

[Vegosiux]

That's it, the next stuff I buy is gonna be from them. Sorry Logitech, we've had our fun, and I don't hate you, but this won't work out in the long term.

Razer, you're cool. Hell, after that move I'd insist to pay the full price just because I support hoopy froods.

 

[Idsertian]

It's an incredibly awesome move from a company like them. If I had the money, I'd be buying something from them right now, but I don't, unfortunately. Still, even though they were cool in my book anyway, they've gone completely sub-zero now thanks to this move.

Rock on, Razer.

 

[LiquidGrape]

They'd best have a dedicated base, otherwise this is the kind of thing that could break a small company.

 

[EHKOS]

There isn't a .gif of him clapping, so I hope you'll ignore the text and enjoy the Razer colored fireworks:

Spoiler

Good on you Razer! This is how to win people over, my next mouse will be a Razer. Now if only publishers would do cool things like this....

 

[LunaticPanda]

I won't cheapen this by calling it a good PR move, it's a damn kind thing to do and I respect them for it and I sincerely hope that nobody ends up losing their job over this.

 

[Silly Hats]

It's alright, I still bought a Black Widow and Death Adder at full price (Australian). They've got some funds on the way.

 

[SilkySkyKitten]

Welp, I bought a Naga 2012 edition a month or so ago at full price. Love the thing to death, and so far it's been simply nothing short of awesome. So while it's only one example, I'm already impressed by their products. And now they're doing this sort of thing, even though it will cost them a lot of money? They aren't whining and pissing and throwing a fit because somebody found a loophole and are just being generally awesome guys to their customers?

Yeah, consider me a bona fide Razer fan now.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Argos famously mispriced a TV set some years ago and an enterprising woman purchased several...hundred. They tried to renege but in court, they lost the case because they had already taken payment and thus, entered into a binding contract. Since then, almost all online purchases get checked by a human for "approval" first in a two step process; Order Confirmed and Order Accepted.

In this case, nothing is written about payment was taken, in which case they would have to honour it. If none was taken, as is quoted, they are well within their rights to cancel them all, particularly as if the above is accurate, the code wasn't even a genuine one.

That they are honouring it is honourable. That they are only doing so for gamers and not those seeking to turn a profit is very admirable indeed. Fair play to them.

Shame their products are frankly overpriced rubbish. I'd buy it at 90% off, but not at full price (again). I've been consistently disappointed by their mice and keyboards and won't buy another.