Most of us have ordered a few things online in our time, and undoubtably have encountered frustrations at the checkout.
It’s unlikely that many people have ever received a $2.3m invoice for it.
According to a post on Reddit, a man in Germany “accidentally” purchased 28 Tesla Model 3s because of an apparent website glitch.
Going by the username Balloon-Man, the poster explains how his father managed to accomplish this.
Last year, as the COVID pandemic spread across Europe, the German government doubled its cash-back incentive for those individuals switching to an electric vehicle.
Looking to capitalise on this incentive, the German man chose to purchase a Tesla from home. He was stuck at home anyway, what better time to upgrade the ageing family Ford Kuga?
The Model 3 is the most affordable part of Tesla’s lineup, it certainly seems like suitable entry-level electric vehicle, so Balloon-Man’s father proceeded to make the order.
After opting for the Autopilot add-on, the father-son duo entered their payment information and clicked “confirm” to place the order but, according to Balloon-Man, the action could not be completed due to a payment issue with the website.
The man’s father persisted for several hours and entered payment details and hit “confirm” again and… you see where this is going.
Eventually the order processed but the error was not noticed until the following day, when an invoice for a staggering €1.4 million (A$2.3m) hit the man’s inbox.
To add insult to injury, Balloon-Man’s father had been whacked with €2800 of non-refundable deposits, €100 per car.
The duo immediately contacted Tesla upon receipt of the invoice which thankfully cancelled the orders and refunded the €2800, leaving the pair to order just one Model 3. Crisis averted.
The lesson in this story? Double check your credit card statement before hitting confirm over and over.
