Shopping online has never been safer, that's a fact. However, having said that, there are still a lot of unscrupulous web sites on the net, just waiting to catch you out.
We have compiled a short list of
Do's and
Don'ts points to consider before you trade with a web site.
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Choose the right sites.
Ensure you buy from web sites that have been recommended by friends or in magazines. You can also check a list of reputable dealers at TrustUK, which is backed by the DTI. www.trustuk.org.uk
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Use the correct payment method.
Use a credit card when you can. They tend to give more protection than debit cards for online payments. All credit card supplier should refund your money for a single items costing more than £100 if they are faulty or simply do not arrive.
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Know your rights.
If you are buying from a UK based company (or to a lesser extent one based in the EU), you have the same rights when you buy online as you would if you shopped in the high street. Goods must be of a satisfactory quality and advertising must not be misleading. You can check your full rights by visiting the Office Of Fair Trading at www.otf.gov.uk
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Proof of Purchase.
Always make sure you print out or take a screenshot of the order confirmation screen once you have paid for your purchase using your credit or debit card. File this safely as you would do when buying from any high street shop. You now have proof of purchase and can be emailed or copied later if your order does not arrive. Most websites will ask for an email address which will be used to email this information to you. Even so, you cannot be too careful when spending your hard earned money can you?
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Customer Services.
It's always a good idea to make sure the website you intend to shop from has
contact details or a telephone number displayed for their customer
services. Just to make sure that the number displayed is valid, it would
be a good idea to ring it and see who answers it. If a website has a customer service department
that you can contact by telephone in addition to the usual Contact Us
web form, this is a reasonable indication that the website is reputable.
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Returns Policy.
You must always check the returns policy of the website you are about to
make an order from. If the goods you ordered are damaged, arrive faulty,
are the wrong colour, the item(s) don't fit, or they are not the one you wanted,
as in any high street store, you’ll want to be able to rectify the
problem and be happy in the knowledge that the website has a good returns policy. So, check the website for these details or contact
the websites customer services department.
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Check for Contact details.
By law, web traders are required to provide their full postal address before you buy from them online. Always check this and make a note of the address before buying.
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Insure Your Purchases.
Always check to see if your orders are insured for their journey. If items are sent through the regular service mail then they are not insured and you will have no comeback if anything goes wrong. If paying by credit card such as Egg, Visa, Barclaycard or alike, all purchases should be covered against loss or damage, but it is worth contacting your particular credit card company to verify this.
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Accepting Deliveries.
Before you actually accept your goods, it's always a good idea to thoroughly check the packaging of your order. If the product has been damaged in transit, DO NOT accept it. Have it sent back with the delivery person immediately and inform the website where you purchased the goods.
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Foreign Electrical Purchases.
Make sure any foreign electrical items that don’t use batteries either come with the required power adapter, or you are in possession of one already. Plugging in the appliance with the wrong adaptor could have a
disastrous result.
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eMail Personal Details.
Never be tempted to send your credit card or personal details using email. It may seem quicker or more convenient, but DON’T. This is extremely insecure and easy to intercept. Sometimes this happens when you change your credit card number but your online account is still using the old one. Inform the website that you would prefer to go through their secure server, even if it means opening a whole new account. The company should then update your new account with the old order history. There are quite often scams and hoax emails and spam from unscrupulous people who try to extract credit card details by email by falsely claiming to be a representative from a company.
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Don't Overspend.
Never order large amounts from a website you have never used before. It’s good advise that you start relatively small. You then get a chance to test the ordering and delivery process until you are happy and confident about the service being offered.
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Insecure Site.
Never give your credit card or personal details to an insecure site. You will know if the website is secure because it will display a padlock sign at the bottom of your web borwser window and the website address will start with https:// instead of the usual http://
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Being at Home.
Don't arrange to have your purchases delivered to your house if you know you are not going to be there. It just means a trip to the local depot during office hours, the cost and inconvenience of, which might render obsolete any savings you have, might have made. This advise of particularly relevant to Grocery deliveries. If you have a helpful neighbour then fair enough, but make sure to inform your neighbour not to accept any items that are damaged on delivery.
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