http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/07/05/taiwan-dell-caught-in-the-web/ Taiwan: Dell, Caught in the Web Posted By Portnoy On 2009-07-05 @ 11:01 am In Business, Chinese, Cyber-Activism, East Asia, Humor, Internet & Telecoms, Photos, Taiwan (ROC), Technology, Weblog | 1 Comment On the late night of June 25, Dell, the brand that sells customized PCs, suddenly became the hottest word on Taiwan's Twitterverse, Plurksphere, and BBS, because all products listed on Dell's homepage are on unbelievable discount. dell1 The snapshot on Dell website taken by Fred on the night of June 25. Fred blogged about it [1] immediately as the tsunami of order from Taiwanese Internet attacked Dell's website: 电脑大厂Dell可能因为网站程式错误的关系，当然也可能是因为前一阵子靠Twitter赚了三百万美金的关系，大手笔回馈用户，今晚在该公司官网上每一项产品都降价NT$7000，使得19寸萤幕一部只要NT$500、20寸低价版也只要NT$999。 Perhaps it's a website programming error, or perhaps it's a customer giveback for the 3 million USD sales thanks to Twitter not long ago. Tonight, all product prices listed on Dell's official website have been lowered by NT$7000, making 19-inch monitors on sale for NT$500, and 20-inch for only NT$999. But Fred doubts: 至於Dell真的会出货吗？还是拿购买协议中的「Dell得无责地对其出具之行销印刷物、报价单、价目表、出价接受函、发票或其他文件或资料的印刷错误、笔误或其他错误或遗漏进行更正。」来自保呢？ 不知道，「有梦最美」。:) Will Dell really ship the products? Or will Dell save itself by using the Terms and Conditions, which states: “To the extent permitted by law, any typographical, clerical or other error or omission in sales literature, quotation, price list, acceptance of offer, invoice or other documents or information issued by Dell shall be subject to correction without any liability on the part of Dell.” I don't know, but we can always dream. :) However, Dell ‘fixed' the pricing errors the next morning. And in the afternoon, Dell released another announcement [2]: 「戴尔（台湾）的网站系统於6月25日的资讯中出现DELL液晶萤幕的线上价格标示错误。我们正在深入了解整体订单状况，并将直接与顾客联系，妥善处理这个事情。对於为客户带来的不便深表歉意。」 On June 25, the website system for Dell (Taiwan) displayed pricing errors for LCD monitors. We are scrutinizing the overall situation of the orders. We will contact the customers directly to resolve this matter properly. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to our customers. iThome reports [3]: 据消保会公布的资讯，戴尔上周8个多小时标错价期间，系统共涌入2万6千多客户，共4万3千多笔订单，订购了将近14万台液晶显示器。若每台19寸萤幕以当时错误标价每台500元保守估计，8个多小时涌入的订单金额最少7千万元以上，而损失金额若以每台5000元估计，若全数出货损失可能高达7亿元。但实际上也有很多网友以999元订购20寸萤幕，这部份的损失将让损失扩大。既使依消保会所说的，每笔订单依当时标价出货一台，损失也可能超过2亿元。 According to the information provided by Consumer Protection Commission, Dell website received 26,000 visits from customers, who placed a total of 43,000 orders with the wrong price within 8 hours. If the 19 inch LCD was sold for 500 NTD each, the estimated loss will be at least 70 million. If they were sold for 5,000 NTD each, the loss could total 7 billion. But in fact, many online customers also bought the 20 inch LCD monitor that was priced at 999 NTD. This portion of the sale would further increase the loss. Even if Dell does according to Consumer Protection Commission's announcement - ship one monitor per order at the corresponding price - the total loss could still exceed 2 billion NTD. 3C expert Jeremy summarized the event and shared his analysis based on past experiences [4]: 再对照戴尔台湾的声明，推测可能的处理情况应该是：戴尔台湾恐怕会发信个别与下订客户联系，如果不愿意取消订单，戴尔就会负起出货的责任。如果对照更新後的价钱，每出一台就要损失4801元，但没办法，谁叫你已经登出来了，这笔帐恐怕不赔不行。所以有收到订单确认信的人，我想拿到萤幕的可能性很高。 After reading Dell Taiwan's statement, I believe one possible solution is this: Dell Taiwan will probably email every customer who has placed an order. If the customer refuses to cancel the order, Dell will be responsible for shipping it. Dell will lose $4801 for every monitor shipped. And unfortunately, Dell has to honor its words. Therefore, for those who received an order confirmation, I believe their chances of receiving their order is very high. However, after the pricing error incident on Dell's Taiwan website, many among those who placed orders online are not satisfied with the Dell's initial statement. Customers flood into Dell's Facebook page to express their complaints. Dell's page suddenly become filled with messages in Traditional Chinese from Taiwanese users. According to major websites and social networking sites, the main reason for the enormous dissatisfaction has been due to the order reply Dell sent out to buyers on June 26, which contains the following words [5]: 戴尔股份有限公司(台湾)的网站系统 (www.dell.com.tw) 於6月25日11PM至6月26日7AM期间，资讯中出现线上价格标示错误, 现已经将价格更正。由於价格错误，在此期间下的订单将不被接受。我们正在深入调查,待了解状况後将直接与顾客联系，妥善处理这个事情。为此给客户带来的任何不便, 我们深感歉意。 The website (www.dell.com.tw) for Dell, Inc. (Taiwan) made pricing errors from 11PM on June 25 to 7AM on June 26. The prices are now updated. Because of the pricing errors, all orders accepted during this time will not be accepted. We are examining the situation, and will contact customers directly to resolve this matter when we gain a better understanding. We deeply apologize to our customers for any inconvenience. dellt1 An T-shirt designed by irritated painting blogger pigx3s dellt Another T-shirt designed by nokimi This event sparked netizens' creativity. A ballad song by Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou [6] was reproduced with lyrics that mock the situation [7] by Facebook user Ya Chi Liao [8].And, a Dell Music video [9] by designer Even Wu has been pushed(digged) by more than 1100 users [10] on funp, a digg-like website. Gururu suggests [11] that Dell should get someone on micro-blogging to deal and prevent such incident: 由於，台湾市场不大之故，因此， DELL 戴尔公司站在全球布局的立场来说，将大中华区的网站业务部门建立在全球最大的华人市场－中国之中，这是件无可厚非之事。但，倘若 DELL 戴尔公司可以如同在日本的Direct2Dell_JP微网志一样，於台湾市场之中复刻一个的 Direct2Dell_TW微网志（Twitter与Plurk可同步设立），我相信这件事情会完全改观。 Due to the small size of the Taiwanese market, Dell has set up its Chinese division in the center of its biggest Sino-market, China. There's nothing wrong with it. But if Dell can copy Direct2Dell_JP's model and set up a micro-blogging interface, both on Twitter and Plurk, to service the Taiwanese market, I believe the matter could be changed completely. 一来，Direct2Dell_TW微网志不一定要有台湾的负责人员，他可以是香港或其他以繁体中文语系为主的负责人员。当 Direct2Dell_TW微网志中发布此一产品的售价连结讯息时，顾客面对此一超级优惠的价格，必然会有人发言询问。负责人员可以在第一时间内，马上知情并做网站内部系统的修正。 By doing so, Direct2Dell_TW does not necessarily need a Taiwanese representative. The person in charge can be based in Hong Kong or other regions that primarily use Traditional Chinese language. Whenever Direct2Dell_TW publish product pricing related messages, customers could inquire about the sale. Meanwhile, the staff in charge could send a notice to fix the internal error on the website without delay. Not everyone is against Dell. Airline623 does not like the way how many Taiwanese buyers behave [12] in this event: 对我而言，用「网路暴力」来形绘此事，恰如其份。大家扪心自问，当你看到这麽不合理的折扣时，依经验法则判断，理应知道这应该是价格标错了吧？或许用不着你来判断，因为在网路上许多文章摆明写道：「戴尔标错价钱啦！大家快去买！」。 DELL要不要为这个疏失负责？当然要，但当大家采取这种赶尽杀绝的态度，只会让DELL更倾向不愿善意处理的一端。如果我是DELL，看到态度强悍的消费者占大多数，妈的赌烂到了，这时我只要发布一个新闻稿：「本公司网站疑似遭骇客入侵，窜改本公司商品之价目」，你们这群王八也拿我没辙。 To me, it is very appropriate to use the term “Internet Brutality” to portray this matter. Everyone, according your own experiences and logic, when you see this unreasonable discount, you must know there has been a mistake. Or perhaps you don't even need to reason, because various articles online have pointed out, ‘Dell made a mistake on pricing labels! Everyone hurry up and place your orders! Should Dell be responsible for this error? Of course. But if people decides to adopt a merciless attitude, Dell may lean towards a less advantageous settlement for the consumers. If I were DELL, with so many irrational and aggressive customers, I would think, hell, bad luck. And all I'd have to do is announce : “Dear Customers: Our website may have been hacked and items price modified ” Then you son of bitch won't be able to do anything. CGS also questions [13]: 但我想问问这次购买的人，扣掉价格的因素，真的会想购买 Dell 产品的机会有多少？除了这次的价格大杀盘，下单的人买过或用过 Dell 产品的有多少？Dell 咬牙出货的话，真的会赢得这些客户的忠诚吗？还是这些人只是拿到产品後，得了便宜，还骂 Dell 一声呆呢？ But I'd like to ask those who placed their orders, aside from the discount, who really wanted to buy from Dell? Aside from this huge sale, how many of you have actually bought and used a Dell product? If Dell really incur the loss and ship the orders, would it really get customer loyalty in return? Or would those who get the products on sale, after getting a cheap deal, dismiss Dell as simply stupid? Subing, however, thinks quite the opposite [14]: 同样的事情在台湾却是一出叫人厌烦的烂戏，首先是DELL，由事发到现在已经好几天了，有许多下单买LCD的人连一封 email都没有收到，在声明中DELL也只表示愿意与另一个强势者，也就是政府的消保机构协调，完全视消费者於无物。有人或许会为政府的消保单位喝采，但是在这个过程中，我看到的是台湾的消费者完全被当作没有行为能力也没有任何权力的婴儿，只有等待大人出面才能帮我们争取权力。 This type of situation in Taiwan seems like a boring drama. First there's Dell, days after the incident, many of those who placed the orders for the LCD monitors have not even received an email. And in its public announcement, Dell has made it clear that it would only negotiate with the other powerful actor, the Consumer Protection Commission. The consumers are completely sidelined. Perhaps some are rooting for the government agency CPC, but in the process, the Taiwanese consumer has been treated as infants with no ability nor rights to defend themselves, waiting for the adults to solve their problems. Yeager Yu on Engadget Chinese [15] discusses the possibility of “error-price” marketing: 老实说，趁现在热度够的时候，做标错价行销是最赞的了，一来会在网路上流传，二来新闻也会帮忙播报。当然，在预期上来讲，要搞刻意制造的标错价，需要有很大的勇气，因为你没办法确定要砸下多少钱，才会有效果。不过，老实说，对於大公司来讲，对於一个重要的产品做行销，或是特定时机做行销，砸下几百万，是很常见的。 因此，标错价行销，绝对是有机会成为行销事件的可能性。 To be honest, having an ‘error-pricing' marketing strategy while the news is still popular would be great; not only do you get the word-of-mouth on the internet, you also get news coverage on the media. Of course, you need a lot of guts to pursue error-pricing marketing, because you can never know for sure how much money you need to invest to get the desired effect. But to be honest, for any big company, spending a couple million to market an important product or for seasonal marketing is pretty common. So, this price-error marketing can definitely become a marketing event. Willy concludes his analysis [with the following paragraph [16]: 另外,现在大家看到这篇应该会觉得挺讽刺的啊:戴尔顾客决定一切！ 在这次事件中,戴尔会死的那麽惨,很大一部分是因为「微网志」,讽刺的是,dell本身还因为运用twitter推特得当,常常被当作微网志运用的典范,但他这次就死在这上面. In addition, those who are reading this must find this ironic: “Dell customers decides everything!” In this incident, Dell has failed so horribly largely due to “micro-blogging”. Ironically, Dell has utilized Twitter quite well, and has been held up as a model for doing so. And this time it was screwed over by the same technology that it used to promote itself. 3675025478_f9780729eb.jpg EvenWu simulates what will happen if Dell really ships all the LCD he ordered on The Sims 3. Maybe the most interesting post is from Gordon168 who did not bother to order any Dell products because he argues that even with the error price, Dell's products are still too expensive [17](zh) in comparison with other indigenous Taiwanese brands. Dell released their final terms of settlement on July 2 in which Dell promise to give 1000-3000 NTD discount to all orders, but not everyone is OK with that and the debate continues [18](zh). This post is written and translated by Portnoy and Cindy Hwang [19]. Article printed from Global Voices Online: http://globalvoicesonline.org URL to article: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/07/05/taiwan-dell-caught-in-the-web/ URLs in this post: [1] blogged about it: http://fred.ipod.to/blog/?post/1922 [2] released another announcement: http://news.networkmagazine.com.tw/web/2009/06/26/13640/ [3] reports: http://www.ithome.com.tw/itadm/article.php?c=55759 [4] summarized the event and shared his analysis based on past experiences: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/jeremy-3c/article?mid=33245&sc=1 [5] the following words: http://news.networkmagazine.com.tw/web/2009/06/28/13664/ [6] Jay Chou: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Chou [7] reproduced with lyrics that mock the situation: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1116613167577&oid=7706457055&ref=nf [8] Ya Chi Liao: http://www.facebook.com/GeniusKiKi [9] Dell Music video: http://evendesign.tw/demo/999/ [10] more than 1100 users: http://funp.com/t1045642 [11] Gururu suggests: http://www.gururu.tw/DELL%E6%A8%99%E9%8C%AF%E5%83%B9.html [12] does not like the way how many Taiwanese buyers behave: http://www.wretch.cc/blog/airline623/26779674 [13] also questions: http://www.cgs.tw/nucleus/blog/1/item/2602 [14] quite the opposite: http://blog.roodo.com/subing/archives/9354001.html [15] on Engadget Chinese: http://chinese.engadget.com/2009/07/01/dell-lcd-view-point/ [16] with the following paragraph: http://blog.save-earn.info/2009/dell-wrong-price.html [17] still too expensive: http://gordon168.tw/?p=296 [18] the debate continues: http://chinese.engadget.com/2009/07/02/pk-dell-crisis/ [19] Cindy Hwang: http://zh.globalvoicesonline.org/hant/author/cshh/ --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 168.122.81.213