My Dad picked up the recent issue of Smart Money (November 2007) for me because it has an article titled Hassle-Free Web Shopping where it discusses why the online shopping boom has slowed down. I was curious if you agree with the 2 main reasons for the slowdown that Smart Money documents.
- Iffy Customer Service - In your experience, has online customer service slipped in the past couple years? I have had 1 bad customer service experience from 1-800-Flowers.com on a Thanksgiving centerpiece that I ordered last year that did not arrive, as promised, before turkey day. I had to essentially argue with a customer service rep as to why this was not OK. She blamed UPS and did everything possible to not accept responsibility. Finally, I talked to her manager and my account was credited but they would not give me my money back. For this one bad experience, I have probably had 30 online transactions go smoothly and received excellent customer service. Your thoughts? Does bad customer service keep you from shopping online?
- High Shipping Costs - I don’t get this one, my experience has seen an increase in the number of stores offering free shipping coupons. Also, I have used free in-store pickup quite often when ordering online from many stores. Best Buy, Comp USA, and Circuit City have done this with success. Your thoughts? If an online store does not offer free shipping are you willing to pay for shipping in exchange for the convenience of shopping online?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Consumer News1 Comment
1 response so far ↓
I have had few problems with customer service after buying online. My problem with online shopping has always been shipping costs. Free shipping coupons and credits are usually only on high purchases and being a frugal shopper that shops clearance and discount racks I rarely spend much in one visit to a store. Then the shipping cost outweighs the money saved on getting a sale item. I rarely shop online because of this. But I do like to patronize stores that are now offering free shipping and returns all the time — like piperlime.com.