Woolworths New Zealand is publicly apologising after mistakenly sending a prize email to 80,000 customers on Wednesday.
The email claimed the recipient had won a prize, however several Kiwis were disappointed after discovering they weren't the lucky ones and didn't win anything.
"Yesterday, we mistakenly sent an email to around 80,000 customers telling them they had won a prize in our Big Night In prize draw," a Woolworths NZ spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.
"This email was only intended for around 1000 customers and an incorrect audience selection meant that it was sent to other customers mistakenly."
The customers who mistakenly received the email have been given 500 Everyday Rewards points in the form of an apology.
"We will be undertaking a full review of this incident to understand what we can do to prevent this happening in future," the spokesperson said.
Customers who were sent the email by mistake have taken to Facebook to share their frustration.
"I got one, I thought it was too good to be true," one man said.
"I got one. I was so excited," another added.
"We got one too, very gutting," a third added.
Several others have emailed Newshub, complaining about the fake prize.
"Imagine during a cost of living crisis, to receive a email from Woolworths telling you you’ve won $30 of free vouchers to spend at the supermarket, to then hours later be given a email saying 'Just kidding!'" one man said.
One customer said he received an email from Woolworths saying he had won a prize of 4000 points ($30).
"Later that day, they sent another email saying 'Sorry we made a mistake'," he said.
"Surely they should own their mistake in full and give the people they say won the 4000 points? Is this legal?"
One woman said she was "outraged" and the supermarket's response to the mistake was "atrocious".
"I was pretty stoked and thought 'Wow that’s cool, I spend a lot there and haven’t ever won anything from them before,'" she told Newshub.
"I shouldn’t have got too excited. A few hours later I got another email saying they had made a mistake and I wasn’t a winner!!!! Because they had made the mistake they would like to give me 500 points as a sorry. This is equivalent to approximately $3.90!
"I think this is atrocious. The differential between the consolidation amount is also atrocious!"
