A recent online shopping blunder has left a New Zealand mother "howling" with amusement after a custom-ordered T-shirt from Temu arrived with an unexpected and literal printing error. Courtney Couper, who spent £3.96 on a personalised tee for her son, had intended for his name to be printed on the front, with the back of the shirt left completely blank.

The issue arose during the ordering process on the Temu website, which required users to fill both the front and back customisation fields before checkout. Unable to leave the back section blank, Courtney decided to add a specific instruction for the seller, writing a message explaining her desire for "nothing on the back." She candidly admitted to laughing at the time, musing on the remote possibility that her instruction might be taken literally by the printer.

To her initial shock and subsequent amusement, this is precisely what occurred. Upon opening the parcel, Courtney discovered that her private note to the seller had been emblazoned in big, bold letters across the back of her son's T-shirt. "I was in shock," Courtney recounted. "At the time of writing that message to the seller, I actually laughed to myself thinking, imagine if they printed this message on the back. I never thought they actually would; I thought my instructions were really obvious."

Despite her initial disappointment, Courtney couldn't help but be entertained by the "epic fail," deciding to keep the shirt as a humorous memento for her son to wear around the house. She highlighted the importance for other parents to exercise caution when ordering personalised items, particularly when aiming for blank sections, speculating that a machine, rather than a human, might be processing such custom orders.

Fortunately, Temu quickly rectified the situation by issuing a full refund to Courtney after she reported the mistake. A spokesman for Temu acknowledged the incident, stating, "We understand it didn't meet her expectations and appreciate the good humour she brought to the situation. She was given a full refund, and we hope to have the opportunity to serve her again in the future." The company also reassured customers that they are covered by a 90-day money-back guarantee for items not as described and that their customer service team is available 24/7 for post-sale concerns. Despite this incident, Courtney remains a fan of Temu for most of her purchases, noting that her other custom orders have typically gone smoothly.