Avoid Getting Scammed
Did you ever purchase something big online and wonder if it was a good idea? You might be saving a couple bucks, but the best deal ever can turn into the biggest mistake of your life pretty quickly. What are you going to do when that 2 thousand dollar TV is just a jar of pickles when it shows up at your house?The good news is that there is a lot of buyer protection out there, some better then others. Educate yourself before you buy, and you will save a lot of headache down the line. There are a lot of things you can do to prevent from getting scammed, the easiest is to just stick with Amazon.com.
Why Amazon and not E-Bay?
When you are shopping on Amazon you are going to be buying from Amazon itself. When you are shopping at E-Bay you are buying from an average guy, a scam artist, or a small time reseller. E-Bay is an AUCTION SITE, and not a store. It is like going to a flee market to buy untested electronics that usually work, but that one time they don't you will be out of luck. A lot of resellers clearly list in small tiny font that returns are NOT accepted under any circumstances.E-Bay claims to have buyer protection, but there are entire websites dedicated to people getting screwed by Pay-Pal (E-Bays currency system). There are horror stories how people have to wait months for a refund, have their Christmas Funds frozen, and much worse. The first step in scam protection is to simply not shop on E-Bay.
Amazon has a simple return and exchange policy. You can go to your orders from pretty much anywhere on the site, and it will list everything you bought. It will also let you print a return slip, and the button is big and visible. There is no jumping through hoops to return shoes that do not fit, or dealing with resellers individual return policies.
General Tips: Shopping Safely Online
- Make sure your computer is secure
- Do NOT use public computers for online purchases
- Have a up-to-date virus scanner
- Check the web address.
- If you are buying from Amazon.com, then make sure the web address starts with "http://www.amazon.com/" after the / it can say whatever
- When you are logging in and placing your orders the web address will add an "s" to http
- It will change from http to https (The S stands for secure)
- Use and Updated Browser
- All new browsers will automatically tell you that you are at a fake site that is impersonating a real one
Shipping Costs
Pretty much everyone has over-payed on shipping before, and they think they still got a good deal. The truth is that shipping should be free if you are paying more then 25 bucks, or at least very cheap. The way commercials make money is by charging you 7 8 bucks for shipping and handling. E-Bay also charges a lot, but it depends on the reseller.The cheapest shipping is always going to be Amazon.com with free shipping on most orders over 25 bucks. Retail stores like Wal-Mart, Sears, Sams Club, etc offer free shipping to their stores for pick up. Overstock.com offers 3.95 shipping for your entire order.
Refunds
Did you order something that you don't want for whatever reason? With Amazon.com, it is easy to receive a refund. Log into your account, click on your orders, find the item in question, click the big return item button, and follow the instructions. That's it. No hassle, no waiting hours or days for a reseller to email you.Those of you who are using E-Bay need to contact the reseller and hope they issue you a refund. If they do not, then you can follow the procedures for being scammed below.
Scammed
There are two options for those who are scammed. You can go through the website you purchased the item in particular and try to get them to issue you a refund. For example, with E-Bay you would want to contact the seller and Pay-Pal. This can take a while, Pay-Pal is known for not having a speedy refund policy. In Fact, it can take 6 months of disputes to get a refund in extreme cases. Then there is option two.Call your credit card company and begin charge back procedures. Most credit card companies will allow you to make two of these a year, and they will take over investigations. The thing with this, though, the item you purchased must not be as advertised, a scam, or broken. If you sign for a package, claim you did not receive it, and then begin a charge back, then you will go to jail. That is considered mail fraud. Those of you who were scammed should also contact the police and the post master. The post master will put you in touch the the postal inspectors who are dedicated employees who deal with mail fraud.
