Buying on the Internet.

Dontcha just love it when you place an order on an Internet firm, only to find out when they confirm the order, and shipping details, that the items you ordered are not ex stock. No mention when you are looking, or about to place the order. You only find out later.

hmv.co.uk (for vinyls I ordered for my son) and amazon.com (for Western DVD's I ordered) and 2 that have got me lately.

I ordered on Amazon.com on 23rd March and an email from them the next day says the items will be shipped (an estimate only) between April 8th --> April 18. Two weeks, to over 3 weeks later, from the date I ordered. Obviously not in stock.

hmv.co.uk mailed 2 out of the 4 vinyls ordered (in separate consignments almost on the same day) and no indication when the other 2 will be available, if ever.

It really p*sses me off. How about you? Bazza

 

Amazon is one of the worst for crap like that. Amazon actually farms out a lot of the sales stuff and depending on who they farmed your order out to, you may never see your stuff.

And that sucks.

 

I guess I'v been pretty lucky when it comes to internet shopping I'v yet to have a problem other than delivery,I can imagine the kind of problems you could run into getting hard to find stuff,seems like all they've done is take your money and then try to find someone who sells it

 

I love internet shopping!

I love internet shopping!

I normally hate shopping, going through stores never to find what I want, overpriced stuff, out of stock, long queue at the checkout, rude sales people etc... I just don't do shopping very well. I prefer sitting in the pub waiting for my hubby while he shops!

I have only great experiences from buying online. I prefer to shop from within the EU, when buying from Amazon.com it usually takes a long time to ship it overseas, and I risk getting taxed extra when it enters the EU. I have still shopped from there on a few occasions, when what I wanted wasn't available from .co.uk.

Following are my "mishaps":

Once I ordered a tv-series from amazon.com, and when it didn't show up after 4 weeks I contacted them. They found out the parcel was lost and sent me a new one. The new one arrived one day before the original parcel, and then I had 2, an extra gift for someone.

Once I ordered "used item" from .co.uk. When it didn't arrive after the estimated 3 days, I emailed the seller. He sent me a thousand apologies, he had been on a business trip abroad and just come home. 2 days later I had what I ordered.

These are my worst experiences! Did I tell you I love internet shopping?

 

Internet shopping has it drawbacks but it also has its humorous points too.

When my first son was 2 years old we decided to get him one of those pedal police cars from the Early Learning Center for Christmas. We ordered via the internet, as I was too sick to go to the store, and in plenty of time before the deadline. It came up "out of stock" so I made a few phone calls, and they said they would do what they could, but it was likely no more stock until the New Year. Time went buy and nothing - so I made a few more calls and gave them a hard time about it. We were having it delivered to a neighbor, so my son did not see the large box it came in, and the next day the neighbor came to my house...not once....not twice...but THREE times to tell me the police car had arrived!!!! We were thinking about starting our own street police force we had so many of the things! We also considered races up and down the street for the under 2's LOL.

It was no wonder they had no stock if everytime someone ordered one, THREE arrived. Trying to get them to take them back was a whole 'nother story. I had to threaten them with storage rent to actually get them to come and collect.

 

LOL.......I've just now figured why my son has always wanted to be a cop roflmao......he's 16 now.

 

I'll only buy from reputable sites I trust, so yeh I don't trust Amazon, but play.com are brilliant for that sort of thing. However, having said that they sent me a wrong item last week but replaced it and that arrived today, funnily enough.

 

My only question is that with some people buying from Amazon is that are you ordering from Amazon themselves or one of the other sellers in the "New/Used/Collectible" section. I have thought about buying something from there, but never got around to doing it. I guess it's just a feeling I have.

 

Personally, never had any problems when buying from "private people", in the "used" section. Maybe I've been lucky, and I can't say I've been an obsessive shopper either, I've done it a few times. But I would not hesitate.

 

I've been lucky. Most of my online buying has been on ebay.

 

I've purchased tons of stuff online - from eBay, once from Amazon. Never had a problem getting ripped off - but there have been delivery delays which are uncalled for, I feel. But a minor problem, overall.

Most of what I buy online are computer parts - and for those I generally use a business based in Texas - www.directron.com . I have had very good luck with this outfit, and have spent tons of cash online at their site (shhhh - don't tell the wife . . . lol).

I was apprehensive about butying online at first - but if you think about it, it's not a lot different then using a debit card at a local store in many respects.

 

According to a Swedish survey a few years back, you were far more likely to get ripped off in an ordinary store than on the internet.

I have worked at a cash point, so I know what I'm talking about. I would give the wrong change back, or put in 10 bags of crisps instead of 1, or make some other mistake at least once a day. And considering how many got caught and fired, apparently some were dishonest on purpose. I'd like to know how many of you really check the receipt after you've been shopping!

Also, this survey mentioned that card number theft was far more common in restaurants and stores than online.

This was a few years back, I don't know if this has changed since.

 

Theres a lot more variety and better prices online

I tend to find sites that I like (range and price)
and stick with them.

That way I feel my credit card details are actually safer than if i use them in the local shops.

bigbazza, you were obviously pretty keen on getting your vinyl. :cool
I wont buy anything from the UK just because of the exchange rate.

I have had stuff turn up from the U.S. in 3 days a couple of times.
But I have only just received the LCD I ordered 3 weeks ago from the neighbouring state.

Little bit of luck involved sometimes

 

When people express concern about giving out a credit or debit card number on line I tell them a story I heard on the news a while back where someone got into the main (whatever it's called ) in American Express and had access to all the card numbers. They were honest enough to alert the company

 

Number 1 son is the vinyl fan. He has hundreds, valued in the $1000's as he is an amateur DJ. At least you can buy what he is after in the UK, and the landed cost is around the same if it was available in a retail store here. Bazza

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Just received an email from Amazon.com saying my order was shipped today March 30.(Yesterday USA time).
Beats their earliest previous shipping date by 9-19 days.
Very confused confused Bazza

 

Internet buying has certainly changed things as I can now source stuff from a wider area and catalogue more easily. I've had no trouble from Europe, US. AUS, Shanghai, HK RScomponentsHK are significantly cheaper than RS in the UK. Amazon and EBay Uk seem able to reach out interationally.
Howver it is harder to get stuff I don't like to buy sight unseen, such as shoes, because real shops kepp lower stock levels these day to compete.

There is a fellow strine who need your sourcing advice Bazza

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=121795

Studio T

 

I've just now replied to him. Don't think I can be of much assistance on Hardware. :cry Thanks for the headsup. Bazza

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I love internet shopping! But I'll never purchase anything through Buy.com again. About a month ago I placed an order for a Samsung DSLR camera. They had it for the lowest price around so I jumped on it. My order went though, I received my confirmations, and received shipping information the next day. A few days later, I gen another email saying that my order had been canceled... I called their tech support and no one over there has any idea what they are doing. I don't mind talking to people with an accent or whatever, but when you are working phone support and you can't understand me, and I can't understand you, AT ALL, you need to find another job. I finally gave up on the regular tech support and found the number for their corporate office. I got a hold of someone there who was at least capable of pulling my records. I explained to them that I had ordered the camera and did not wish to cancel yet for some reason I received a cancellation confirmation.

According to them, I knowingly ordered the camera when it was out of stock and I was placed on a waiting list if they were ever to get more.... Yeah, that's why I was charged and received shipping information..... When I called BS on their part, they said they had 'proof' in the form of a screen shot of the time I placed my order, of the page. Little did they know I also took a screen shot and saved the whole page showing that the item was indeed, in stock. I asked to see their 'proof' but they didn't comply. I offered to send them my screen shots, complete with dates and time, as well as the full page I saved to my desktop but they said I was the one in the wrong and would have nothing to do with it.

Soo much wasted time on the phone because they can't get a simple order right... I will never purchase anything from there again, and I've advised my friends and family to do the same. All a company has to do is screw me over once and I'm threw with them.

 

Screenshots are terrible proof, they can easily be altered. Back in may high school days, i got caught adding network games to a public shared folder. Well they had there own screenshots to prove it, but i made up my own too to disapprove it. The principle, when presented with both evidences, mine tampered (he didn't know that) and there non tampered, he couldn't put me in any trouble because i had conflicted evidence proving its easy to fake a screenshot even though they knew mine was faked it showed that theres could easy have been faked as well.

 

All they had to do was be honest about it, not that hard is it ?
If that happened to me, and they explained that they had run out of stock and would fill the order as soon as possible; I wouldn't have a problem.

If they want to screw you around, they have to realise theres a lot of competition online.

 

That's all I was asking for them to do, but they gave me the run around. I even asked if they would honor the price I paid I for the camera when they received more in stock. They said absolutely not!

I made sure that the next time I called them, I let them know how unhappy I was and that I've advised friends, family, and coworkers not to purchase anything through them. I even filed a complaint with the BBB; however helpful they are. rolleyes

 

The only thing the Better Business Bureau is for, if your a member and get too many complaints they kick you out. Can't you picture it, they march in and take back you membership plaque?

 

I know! Horrible isn't it!?

I just wish consumers had a stronger recourse against companies other than word of mouth. I've gone through the BBB several times over the years and there really isn't anything they can do. I've never had any of my problems 'solved'.

 

Can you contact someone higher up or a main office? That will usually get someone's attention.

 

I was able to get an office number for someone at their corporate headquarters in California. They were a lot more helpful and courteous than the customer support which is located in India, or so I have read.

Even after talking to someone there, I couldn't get anywhere. The secretary I talked to was sweet as pie though. She gave me the name and direct phone number for their supplier of the camera and suggested I tried them to see if they would sell me one outright. Of course they wouldn't because they don't sell to individuals; I completely understood that, but was worth the try.

In the end, they wouldn't honor the sale, even if they came back in stock. If I wanted the camera I could have bought from one of the retailers that sell through buy.com but it was considerably more expensive than Buy had it listed for. I contacted everyone on their list for a price match, but they all thought I was crazy.

Oh well, I guess I wasn't meant to have it. I went out and bought a new processor, motherboard, and memory instead so I don't feel too bad about the whole ordeal.