Safe to Shop online with a site I've never heard of - Tips?

M

MacKer

Guest
Hi,
question for yiz-

having successfully survived shopping online with Amazon & Tescos, I'm now prepared to try spreading my shopping wings ;)

Question is, how can I evaluate whether a site is safe to shop from before I start handing over my credit card details???

So, any suggestions as to how I can check whether a site is safe to use? (assuming here that the site is not also a major retailer such as tescos!!)

thx
 
Re: Safe to Shop online with a site I've never heard of - Ti

Have a look at

Search Google for terms like "safe online shopping" and "credit card fraud".
 
Re: Safe to Shop online with a site I've never heard of - Ti

Thanks - I've just had a look at safecard and the first thing it says is -

"Know with whom you are dealing. Try to find out as much as you can about the merchant before you purchase anything"

- thats really where I'm not sure where to look/what to look for, any ideas?
 
RE: Safe to Shop online with a site I've never heard of - Ti

FYI

There are also some tips on online shopping from the ODCA - here:

[broken link removed]
 
Re: RE: Safe to Shop online with a site I've never heard of

- thats really where I'm not sure where to look/what to look for, any ideas?
Click to expand...

Google again. Word of mouth. Recommendations or warnings here on AAM and elsewhere. Common sense.
 
Google and othe resources

When you are googling be sure to search the usenet archives on the 'groups' tab-you can learn a lot about customers experiences with various online shops there.

You might also find consumer reviews on the following sites helpful:

www.dooyoo.co.uk
www.ciao.co.uk
www.epinions.com
 
on the site itself...

From looking at the site itself you can check certain things:
- all personal details should be transmitted securley (via SSL). The little padlock in internet explorer.
- the site should describe their returns and customer complaints policy. Know what you should do if your order is late/wrong, before ordering.
- they should also have a privacy policy (i.e. what do they do with your data).

In the past, with a new site, I used to go through the shopping and order entry with fictional data, canceling at the end, to satisfy myself with the sites security and general design.

HTH
 
and..

on top of all the other good info given, post the site here.
Theres a lot of knowledge and experience buying online amongst the contributors and visitors, you should get some recommendation, whether good or bad.

Im an advocate of using AIBs online transaction facility for every internet transaction. Lets you generate a unique card number for a once off specified payment based on your card details. Check their website for more info at aib.ie
 
Re: Safe to Shop online with a site I've never heard of - Ti

I usually steer of sites/companies that don't respond to pre-purchase queries that I have as I consider it a bad sign. Probably not necessarily true but there you go...
 
Re: Safe to Shop online with a site I've never heard of - Ti

Most internet sales sites will use a third party to deal with credit card sales (such as eSellerate, or Digibuy etc.) Make sure that the third party is reputable.

Speaking from the other side of the fence (as an online merchant) I would suggest giving such sites the benefit of the doubt. Maybe try an order for a small amount if you're unsure. Not everyone is a criminal.

0 - Interesting you should mention that. I've noticed that when ever we get a pre-sales query, a sale rarely follows. I answer emails immediately. Maybe I should just hone my sales-chat.
 
Online Payments

If your paying by credit card then you carry no risk.

All credit cards have a chargeback facility, whereby you can get an automatic refund of any charge. It's up to the merchant to prove the charge is genuine.
 
Re: Online Payments

Hi Crook - I don't think it's quite that simple, or that it is correct to say that the cardholder carries 'no risk'. The terms & conditions of the card usually give the bank to right to debit the account where you have authorised the transaction. So if, for example, you are pressurised into signing an authorisation at one of the timeshare/holiday club sales meeting, the 'chargeback' facility doesn't really apply as you have authorised the transaction. Your dispute then becomes a civil dispute with the merchant.

If you put yourself in a merchant's shoes, would you really accept credit card transactions in the knowledge that the consumer could simply chargeback the transaction any time they weren't happy. This would be a charter for widespread rip-off of merchants by consumers.
 
Re: Online Payments

0 - Interesting you should mention that. I've noticed that when ever we get a pre-sales query, a sale rarely follows. I answer emails immediately. Maybe I should just hone my sales-chat.
Click to expand...

It wasn't me anyway. I'm naturally a bit of a skinny malink. ;)
 
Re: Online Payments

Have to agree with Crook.
If you query a charge on your credit card and the merchant has no slip of paper with your signature on it, then you can just say it wasn't you. Always works when the goods were delivered to a different address.
CC company will refund you your money if the merchant is not able to show a SIGNED slip with your signature on it.
When the CC company also tries to charge you the first 50 Euro for a fraud, ask them for a copy of the signed slip and when you show them it is nothing like your signature (unless you are unlucky and have a fraudster with a perfect copying technique), they will NOT charge you.
Also go down the delivery route if you run into any problems.
You will find in a lot of fraud cases involving CC, the goods are delivered to bedsits, apartments etc on very short leases
and not the address on the CC!
 
Re: throw away credit card numbers

I agree with car, AIB's transact online is great way to control how online merchants use your credit cards (e.g. max transactions and expiry dates). Because your using a temporary card number you don't have to worry about someone hacking into a merchant site and stealing your credit card details.
 
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