Programmer Causes Unexpected Winnings: 11.000 Euros in Damages!
Customers love sweepstakes. No wonder, then, that many companies rely on them to increase their popularity and get the word out about their products. In addition to the known data protection risks, the organisation of a competition entails further dangers that are difficult to assess. Something can quickly go wrong, especially with sweepstakes that run via newsletters, social media or company websites. That’s what happened in this real exali damage event. We have summarised for you in this article how the distribution of winnings via an app cost a programmer dearly.
We have also summarised this article for you in the following video:
Sweepstake for Online Wholesale Customers
Major events such as the football World Cup are a popular occasion for many companies to hold sweepstakes. A company from the sanitary sector also came up with something fun for its customers. Anyone who ordered promotional products of a certain goods group online during the World Cup was automatically entered into the competition. There were numerous non-cash prizes to be won, such as iPads, e-bikes, table football or drinks for the football party. The winners were drawn at random via the company app. And this is where the exali-insured programmer came in.
Programming Error Makes for Many Winners
He was commissioned by the sanitary company to program the app. In the process, however, he made a crucial programming error. The result: Customers who had ordered products other than the promotional goods and therefore didn’t actually take part in the competition were also drawn as winners by the app. The end of the debacle: There were significantly more winners than prizes!
In order not to cause resentment among customers who had already been notified about winning and not to suffer any loss of image or a shit storm, the company decided to distribute all the prizes. Customers who only became winners because of the faulty programming would also get their prizes. The customer billed the programmer for the resulting additional costs, who was ultimately responsible for the unexpected flood of winners due to the error in the code. So in the end, it was the programmer who lost out, because the damages he had to pay amounted to around 11,000 euros!
Professional Indemnity Insurance: An Asset for Programmers
Fortunately, the programmer had a trump card up his sleeve, namely Professional Indemnity Insurance taken out through exali The latter paid the 11,000 euros in damages to the company (minus the deductible) and the programmer was off the hook.
In the event of a programming error or other professional mistakes (e.g. copyright infringement), IT freelancers are well protected with Professional Indemnity Insurance through exali. If a damage event occurs, the insurer checks at its own expense whether the claim is justified, defends against unjustified claims and provides compensation payments that are justified.
Do you have questions about optimal insurance as an IT freelancer? Then give us a call! You can always reach our customer advisors from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (CET) on +49 (0)821 80 99 46-0. You are also welcome to send us a message using our contact form.