I have been making purchases online for the last few years and have never had a problem. Therefore, I have been a big proponent of [tag]online shopping[/tag] because of the convenience and the fact that the prices after shipping costs are frequently better than the brick and mortar stores.
But, recently a couple transactions are causing me to doubt the online shopping world. One was an [tag]ebay[/tag] purchase to buy a set of speakers, which was from a seller with hundreds of transactions and a 100% positive feedback score. The other was a memory stick for my PC from [tag]newegg.com[/tag].
The short story with the speakers was that the seller listed the item and didn’t have it in stock. I did not receive them until about a month and a half after I paid for them. I saved maybe $15 by purchasing them on ebay. About a month into it I would have much rather paid the extra $15 to have them right away and not have to deal with the hassle of the phone calls, emails, etc.
My memory stick arrived and didn’t work. So I paid the shipping fees to ship it back and ultimately received the working product that I ordered about 2 and a half weeks later. Not bad, but after the shipping fees I could have gotten it cheaper at Best Buy. Which, in this case, would have been more convenient as well.
I know, from experience, that these are rare occurrences, but I must say it will cause me to think twice when I am trying to save five bucks by purchasing online.
Anyone have any thoughts?
