Why I never buy things off the Internet

[luvmarypoppins]

O.K. Am I the only one here who does NOT buy things from the internet. No I have never bought anything from e bay. Our familys total purchases from the internet in the last 3 years are probably 3, well today as usual I lost my faith in this mode of ordering merchandise. Middle ds had a birthday. I gave him the amount he had to spend. He picked out various things from a paintball co, website, not one we had used once before. Well its been 10 days and no merchandise, how long does a poor kid have to wait for his birthday present. He picked this place because it was $10 less than our usual place and stayed within the budget, called the co. like 3 times, you never talk to a human, just an answering machine for a voice mail or recordings like our computer is down, call at such and such a time etc. So I left a voice mail cancelling the order, called the cc company. they said it was a pending charge and not officially on my statement yet. My poor ds is so dissappointed and I have wasted my time on this mess. The co. is like paintball now or pbn5. Dont order from that place for sure if you have a paintball loving kid in your family. Our local store just marks the stuff up so much we dont buy from them.I guess I will chalk this up to lesson learned.

 

[chadfromdallas]

Thats why you use places like www.bizrate.com and www.resellerratings.com before putting your money in strangers hands.

Be a smart shopper and keep informed. So far, I've had nothing, but great experiences shopping online(mainly computer parts).

 

[shatzjsl]

I shop on the internet at least once a week. Have been for about 5 years. The only problem I ever had is going on right now with Amazon. Sorry your son hasn't gotten his stuff.

 

[mommytotwo]

Thanks for the info. My husband is into paintball and have purchased a couple of paintball items online but luckily he didn't have any bad luck with the two individuals he had purchased from.

 

[GEM]

I can honestly say that we buy pretty much EVERYTHING other than groceries online. I seriously can't remember the last time we actually went out to a store and purchased a gift, books, music, or anything else. We got ALL our baby stuff online. I even got almost everything for my wedding online. We live in a small town and the nearest major shopping areas are hours away, so it works great for us. I think, in all that time and with all the hundreds of orders I've placed, I've only had one or two problems. To me online shopping is the best thing ever invented!

 

[KathyTX]

I buy from internet vendors all the time. Electronics, clothing, books, music, housewares, you name it. I used to do lots of my grocery shopping online, but they pulled that service out of my area for now.

The key is to know who you're buying from. Just like I wouldn't place a telephone order and give my credit card info to a place I've never heard of based on an ad in the back of a magazine, I pretty much always deal with reputable companies that I already know or that I can check out. (Places like EddieBauer.com, Amazon.com, Dillards.com, LandsEnd.com.)

For a small specialty item or vendor, I'll do a little online research to try to find out what others have said about them before I trust my personal information in their hands.

Any fool can put up a web page, so know who you're dealing with before you trust them with your money.

 

[totalia]

I've never had problems buying things off the net.

 

[ballroombelle]

We shop virtually quite a bit, too, have for many years-but always reputable companies. Never a situation.

I'm sorry he had to wait so long. And not being able to speak to a human, that can be unsettling.

Was there any indication that the item might've been on backorder? Were there options for delivery that listed how long the order might take to process and ship? Was there an e-mail confirmation upon purchase? Sometimes order pages can be cluttered with lots of info that would've allayed your fears about having to wait the 10 days. I'm confident you would've most likely received your order, just not in a timely fashion.(though you may or may not have been warned of that when you ordered)

If you found this vendor through the Yahoo shops or the like, maybe put some critical feedback in and that'll warn others and perhaps they'll get their acts together.

 

[pw2pp]

I have bought TONS of stuff online. Almost all of my Christmas shopping for the past 2 years has been online.
I agree that you should buy with large, well-known companies but I have taken my chances a couple of times with smaller companies. Really haven't had any problems.

My 2 favorite on-line stores are Amazon.com and Overstock.com

 

[Aimeedyan]

I've never had a problem, either, but I never work with unknown companies - I research companies I've never heard of alot, and also ask on boards like this before placing an order.

I'm glad you used a credit card and could cancel it.