Althouse: "Man orders size 14.5 slipper and gets size 1,450 after 'mistranslation in China.'"

October 19, 2011

"Man orders size 14.5 slipper and gets size 1,450 after 'mistranslation in China.'"

The slipper is the size of a grizzly bear.

29 comments:

edutcher said...: Hate to see what happens if they start making Trojans there.; 10/19/11, 8:55 PM
Psychedelic George said...: And all beclaws of an error.; 10/19/11, 8:57 PM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/19/11, 8:58 PM
DADvocate said...: Hmmm. That's my size, but I don't wear slippers.; 10/19/11, 8:59 PM
DADvocate said...: Start shootin', Ohioans!

I've been blowin' away anything that moves. So far I've got two starlings and a muskrat.; 10/19/11, 9:00 PM
KCFleming said...: He should keep it.
You know what they say, big feet.....

Impress da girls.; 10/19/11, 9:02 PM
traditionalguy said...: The Chinese are showing off.

You'd think they would have accidentally made them smaller at 1.45 since the women's foot fetish that crippled Chinese women.; 10/19/11, 9:13 PM
MadisonMan said...: If he paid normal price for it he got a bargain.; 10/19/11, 9:13 PM
Tyrone Slothrop said...: There's something very fishy about this story. Did he pay a standard catalog price, say $50, for his giant slipper, or conversely did he think something was amiss when they wanted to charge him (I'm guessing) $350? Where is the other slipper in the pair? I ain't buyin' it.; 10/19/11, 9:13 PM
Sal said...: Start shootin', Ohioans!

Don't look at this sad and disturbing photo of dead animals.; 10/19/11, 9:20 PM
Toshstu said...: Looks like a sleeping bag a kid would really like.; 10/19/11, 9:26 PM
madAsHell said...: I deal with the Chinese engineers daily.

My daughter lives in China.

None of this surprises me. They have forgotten how to think!!; 10/19/11, 9:51 PM
coketown said...: Oh. That's funny. The same thing must have happened with the US government. We asked them to buy $1,000,000 in Treasuries and they ended up buying $1,000,000,000,000.

Whoops!; 10/19/11, 10:02 PM
Wince said...: That guy in Ohio was like the Jim Jones of exotic animals.

Or, Kent State: 49 dead in O-hi-o.

Kinda.; 10/19/11, 10:09 PM
A. Shmendrik said...: Out of range error.; 10/19/11, 10:14 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Tyrone Slothrop,

Where is the other slipper in the pair?

Well, I think it's the item on the floor on the left side of the photograph at the link. Yes?

wv: exilit. Read as you like.; 10/19/11, 10:29 PM
ic said...: Hoax.

How much did he pay the Chinese for his slipper? Do you mean the Chinese charged him the same price for size 14.5 and size 1450? Who in the world knows how big a size 1450 is? Why one slipper?; 10/19/11, 10:31 PM
Carol_Herman said...: First, he can get a fortune for this on eBay!

The other thing? He only had to pay for one shoe that only measured 14.5. This is such a costly error for the manufacturer ... you can only imagine the LOSS! Plus, the extra shipping expense!

On the other hand?

If this is the "first sample" ... the manufacturer should make more. And, sell them as bed rolls.

I definitely would not send this back for a refund!; 10/19/11, 10:33 PM
AlanKH said...: If he doesn't want it, I coudl use it as a guest bed.; 10/19/11, 11:35 PM
hoyden said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/20/11, 4:23 AM
Toad Trend said...: I too find the story doubtful. Too many questions, in terms of cost and difference of size.

Generally what happens in manufacturing when an order appears that is this much out of proportion is a 'hold' followed by a phone call or inquiry with the customer.

Its too easy to propagate bullshit on the 'internets'.; 10/20/11, 4:35 AM
Amexpat said...: Could be it was the same company that did the Stonehenge set for Spinal Tap.; 10/20/11, 6:23 AM
lemondog said...: Publicity for sleeping bags. Latest product line.; 10/20/11, 6:26 AM
Fernandinande said...: The coolest is still the Server Translate Error Restaurant; 10/20/11, 8:37 AM
alan markus said...: About 30+ years ago, I recall reading in Playboy about a lawsuit between a U.S. importer and a Japanese vendor. A huge order of sex toys (I think it was artificial vaginas), and specified "flesh" colored. Importer wound up with a ton of "yellow" colored products that he couldn't sell.; 10/20/11, 8:58 AM
John Bragg said...: 25 comments and no one has mentioned "MArch of the Wooden Soldiers"?

Santa: "What's this?"
Hardy: "100 6 foot toy soldiers"
Santa: "Let me see that! It says 600 1 foot soldiers! I can't give these to the children! You're fired!"

Sigh. I guess my dad is old.; 10/20/11, 9:03 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: I used to have a gigantic combination end wrench on my wall at my office. It was a custom order and was supposed to be 2(two) 3/8" end wrenches and was misread at the manufacturer as a 2 3/8" wrench. HUGE!!!

It is extremely well made, beautiful, gigantic and totally useless. We wondered what the guy milling the tool thought at the time. "WTF? whatever they want I guess."

I used it as an example of how important it is to listen and communicate with my clients and with each other.

It always gets a good laugh.; 10/20/11, 9:35 AM
RKearns said...: Finally, news we can use.; 10/20/11, 12:00 PM
Methadras said...: edutcher said...

Hate to see what happens if they start making Trojans there.

For the chinese, their magnum size will be about the size of an almond.; 10/21/11, 12:19 PM