1) If a company gets a heads up on a glitch they will obviously try and cancel it for YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE – The idea is to get them to only realise there was a glitch in their system once people have started to receive orders!
2) Worst case: You will always be able to get a refund if a glitch doesn’t work!
3) Most companies DON’T HAVE TO HONOUR your order, it’s not false advertising and you’re not going to win a court battle over it so don’t say it to them, you look like an idiot. There is a case for false advertising if they are alerted to the mistake (e.g. a window display saying X for Y price and that offer is a mistake and they leave the sign up for more than a reasonable amount of time).
4) For grocery orders you can simply turn away the order at the door (for a full refund) or cancel only certain items (again for a complete refund). Just wait and see what turns up!
5) IMPORTANT: If you’ve ordered but the correct price was charged (e.g. more expensive than what you first thought / we said). WAIT! Please wait before you contact the company asking for your refund, if you report it they may notice the glitch and cancel others. If you really must cancel it then don’t make any mention of why you’re cancelling it, just say I was supposed to be paid this morning and it hasn’t come through or similar! Ideally wait until others have started to have their orders dispatched before you ask for cancellation / refunds. If ordering online they have to give you 14 days as a cooling off period anyway. If the order arrives, simply refuse the delivery and it will eventually be sent back to the company and you will get your refund + you then don’t have to worry about postage costs to return!
6) NEVER order a stupid amount of products, only order 1 or 2.
7) If a glitch is in-store, always ensure you leave a couple of other deal hunters.
8) If a glitch doesn’t work then don’t threaten the staff / company with legal action etc. But do explain your frustration / ask for compensation for their mistake and the hassle it has caused you, e.g. if you had to drive 25 minutes to the store and it was cancelled but they didn’t think to ring you to let you know, we would expect a giftcard to say sorry for this!
9) DO NOT CONTACT A COMPANY ON SOCIAL MEDIA / BY PHONE / BY EMAIL OR ANY OTHER METHOD during a glitch FOR ANY REASON, you’re alerting them and ruining it for yourself and the others that have ordered. Don’t do it! You have no excuses!
10) If a glitch is on a website that you’re not sure is safe then don’t buy! Check reviews. Ask others. Use a payment provider like Paypal to protect the purchase. ALWAYS take screenshots of the page, the order confirmation etc etc.