Asda customers who shopped online last month have been overcharged for their groceries, with one claiming to have been charged nearly five times the correct amount, following a computer glitch. Asda – whose parent company Walmart is based in America – was hit by a powercut as a US storm caused a glitch in the company’s computers on 16 August.
The glitch caused a temporary problem on the home delivery website. A spokeswoman said because many customers order their shopping in advance, the overcharging problem first came to light last week.
The glitch was fixed on the day but shoppers have complained of being left short on cash as Asda worked to correct the problem and offer refunds.
Asda apologised to customers, promised to refund the their money, any resulting bank charges and their original shopping bill as a goodwill gesture. Some customers have now received their money, the spokeswoman said.
An Asda spokeswoman said: “As soon as we became aware of the overcharging issue we contacted the customers affected and refunded the overcharge and any resulting bank charges. Our initial investigation has shown that this was an isolated incident, but steps have been put in place to make doubly sure it doesn’t happen again.”