Amazon.co.uk pulls down the shutters on bargain hunt

iPAQs for £7.32, no more

Amazon.co.uk has pulled down the shutters on its site this afternoon after advertising HP iPAQ Pocket PCs at prices almost too good to be true.

This morning Amazon advertised iPAQ H1910 Pocket PCs for £7.32 or more advanced iPAQ H5450 Pocket PC models for £23.04. Even adding postage and packing costs the offers were a real bargain and it didn't take long for the offer to go viral. We received five copies of the offer (available only to people in the UK and Ireland) even prior to trying to buy one ourselves.

Hey it might be a mistake on Amazon's part and, judging by various precedents, it unlikely that Amazon would be bound to fulfil loss- making orders. Nonetheless it might be fun arguing the toss, we thought.

Alas half way through our order the site was taken offline, to be replaced by a notice saying Amazon.co.uk was "temporarily closed".

A notice on the site states: "We're sorry, but our store is closed temporarily. We expect to be back soon. If you would like to be notified when we reopen, please leave your e-mail address below and we will be happy to let you know."

Meanwhile Amazon.com remains open. Somehow we doubt we'll find any bargain Pocket PCs there, more's the pity... ®