May 2006
|
Web shopping
You don’t get to examine an item closely, of course. And entering your credit-card number on an unknown site can take some courage. “With the Internet, you don’t know if that flashy Web site you’re looking at is a multinational organization or some kid in a garage somewhere,” says Lauren Weinstein, co-founder of People for Internet Responsibility, a grassroots organization focused on Web fairness issues. Even official seals of approval from TRUSTe, VeriSign, and the Better Business Bureau are no guarantee that you’re dealing with a reputable company. Those symbols can easily be reproduced, although they may not connect you as they should to the official sites of the certifying organizations. Scammers aren’t the only problem. Many high-volume brick-and-mortar retailers that operate online impose policies for Web purchases that might make you cringe if you took the time to read them. You’ll find, for example, that you have fewer protections shopping at Circuitcity.com than at a Circuit City store. Here’s how to protect yourself when shopping online: Find the gotchas. A site’s “terms and conditions” detail loads of protections--for the retailer, that is. You might discover that everything is sold “as is” or that you must abide by rules of a distant state, where you agree to go if you sue. At Target.com, you’ll find that you assume the risk of loss or damage to merchandise when the shipping firm picks it up, not after delivery. And many sites have disclaimers that seem to erase protections you get in stores. Nearly every site we checked, including Amazon.com and Walmart.com, disclaimed so-called implied warranties, unwritten assurances that products will work properly and last a reasonable amount of time. Many sites also disavowed responsibility for damages you might suffer when using the product. While common in manufacturer warranties, such disclaimers are rare in retail stores. Some states, including Maine and Maryland, ban all disclaimers on implied warranties, but Web sales remain a legal question mark because they often cross state lines. To protect yourself, consider buying big-ticket items in a store. Check return policies. Some sites charge restocking fees as high as 25 percent, and others don’t accept returns of opened merchandise. We found several smaller sites, including TheBuzzElectronics.com and Knives Plus, that won’t take returns of some defective products. Also, if you return items that came with free shipping, chances are you’ll have to pick up the cost for the return trip. Some sites, such as Rainbow Baby, will deduct the original free shipping charges from your refund. Retailers such as computer and electronics merchant Super Warehouse make you eat shipping costs even if a product is defective. Guard your privacy and security. Read a site’s privacy policy. It might tell you that the site sells customer data, which means your e-mail In box could get jammed with spam. One trick is to set up an e-mail account exclusively for buying online. If your Internet service provider doesn’t offer multiple accounts, create one at a free e-mail service such as Yahoo’s. As for security, when entering personal data, make sure you’re on a Web page that triggers a security icon such as a closed padlock on your browser, which indicates a secure connection for transmitting sensitive information. Unfortunately, that doesn’t guarantee the site is legitimate or that someone can’t steal your information once it’s in the retailer’s database. Pay with the right plastic. When you pay by credit card, your liability for unauthorized purchases is $50. Also, you can dispute charges for items that arrive broken or aren’t what you ordered; you can’t do that with a debit card. Also, debit cards may not cover fraudulent charges if you don’t act fast enough; even when they do, money will be missing from your account while you sort out the problem. Some cards tout “zero liability” policies, but watch out for exclusions, such as some PIN transactions with Visa’s debit cards. Another strategy is to use “virtual” card numbers. Citibank and other issuers offer the disposable numbers, which limit how much retailers can charge your account.
|
