For over 2 months HP has been selling a 17" flat-panel LCD monitor for $199 - less than 50% off the $449 normal price.

Now they say it was a mistake, and not only are they canceling orders in progress, they actually expect people to either pay the difference or return the monitors!

To the right is an actual e-mail from HP (click the thumbnail to enlarge)
There are several places already reporting this news, and this just doesn't look good for HP. They've even resorted to calling customers and leaving voice mail asking for the extra money or the return of the products (Voice Mail Message in MP3 format)

One of the great users on Neowin originally posted a link to the 17" (link now leads to an error page, shockingly) which was selling for $199 since June 30th 2003.

So nearly 3 months later they decided it was a mistake, and instead of writing off the loss they are actually expecting people to pay or return these monitors. I don't think so! I wonder how many people are losing jobs because of this, not to mention the consumer backlash they are about to receive (as well as loads of bad press!).

My brother just got one of them last week, and decided to spread the wealth to his co-workers, all whom have notified that they will not be getting theirs. He's already received his, and he's not stupid enough to return of pay extra for a legal purchase and completed transaction. Price mistakes are common in on-line sales, and retailers do not always have to honor pending orders after they discover them - but they sure as hell have to honor them once the transaction is completed. What they are trying to do is flat out extortion.

Here's the full story over on Neowin

Story now linked to on The Inquirer as well.