I share the following true story not to alarm anyone or put you off online shopping! I am a huge fan of online shopping -- it saves me time, money, and energy every single month (especially since I'm in a wheelchair).
Shop Safe - It's not hard
I am telling this story just to make you aware that you need to use normal common sense and caution online, just as you would in a physical store. It's fairly easy to determine whether an online merchant is legitimate, and fairly easy to see whether a legitimate online store has a good reputation and satisfied customers.
If you plan to purchase from a store you don't know, or haven't heard of, take those five or ten minutes to check it out before you place your first order. It is a good investment that can save you a lot of headaches and frustration (and money, too).
The True Story of a Near Miss
I came across an online store that sold "hard to find" TV series and movies. I was excited; they had a series I had been looking for a LONG time! The site looked very good -- nice design, good graphics, well-organized, with professional-looking "security certificate logos".
But then I started to wonder how they could supply something that was not available anywhere else . . . If a series has not been released on DVD, then it's not released, so how could they supply it?
Checking out the website
So, I clicked on one of the "security certificate" graphics and discovered that it led nowhere -- it was fake. Then I looked at the address bar on the checkout page and saw that it was not a secure ordering page, even though the site said it was (there was no "https" at the beginning of the url - the "s" indicates a secure internet connection; and there was no padlock on my browser to indicate a secure connection page).
Then I looked for a physical address, contact information, and contact person (something required by law for an online merchant as far as I know), and there was none. I don't think there was even an email address; and email is not sufficient in any case.
By that time I knew the site was fraudulent and I had no intention of buying anything (I must admit that I gave up reluctantly -- I really wanted that series!). However, I was curious to know what they were really "selling" and whether other people had run into trouble.
People who got burned
I googled the site name, and lo and behold! I found a string of complaints from people who had ordered off the site. Those who did receive something found that they were getting poor quality copies of programs that had been ripped off TV; someone recorded stuff and duplicated it on DVD to sell. Others received nothing, or partial programming of incomplete series.
Those who tried to contact the "merchant" to complain, or get their money back, obviously had no luck. There was no one to contact, and no place to contact them. Fortunately, they did report their experience for the benefit of other people.
The moral of the story is: if it looks too good to be true, it probably IS too good to be true! Nobody sells something for nothing, and "hard to find" items that cannot be found ANYWHERE else are definitely suspect.
Shop safely online for great prices on the Cuisinart Griddler GR 4
