Probably like most anyone that will read this column (if anyone actually does), you have spent more than a couple of dollars buying things online. Some of you may have even purchased your first items online back in 1995 when I first entered my credit card online. (Yes, that was before sites were sending credit card information securely, but also long before the flood of hackers out there were trying to steal it.) While over the past few years I have had some good luck purchasing items online, I also have had some bad luck, too. Recently, however, I had an experience that was the worst shopping experience I have ever had.
shopping cautiously 1 february, 2002
by johnmichael patrick monty monteithFirst let me preface this by saying this is not a piece to badmouth the companies in question. Yes, I will never be using their services ever again, but I am not encouraging you to do the same. The point is to give you a heads-up to avoid the same mistakes I made, and to not necessarily believe commercials that you see on the boob-tube. Of course, I do not believe you will change your shopping habits due to my problems, nor should you. But, it can not hurt to hear how online shopping can go dreadfully wrong:
Like everyone, I have purchased items on eBay and had them not come out quite as expected. On one occasion I was even the subject of a scam on eBay, too, where the seller raised the price of his own item by bidding on it to make me pay more. I have also purchased other items from supposedly reputable establishments that turned out to be bad. I purchased DSL service from a company and never heard from them again. I purchased a computer that never worked and the manufacturer refused to fix. I ordered an antenna that was nothing more than Home Depot parts.
Fortunately in almost every bad experience I have had, my credit card company has backed me up. While I could have lost thousands over the past few years on Internet purchases, my credit card company (specifically, MBNA) was always there to help me out. In fact, of all of the credit card companies out there, they have often been a model of how a credit card company is supposed to work in those situations.
Well, even though my service with MBNA had been wonderful, I was lured by all of the promises of American Express commercials and how they were THE credit card company for purchasing online. How they would stand beside their customer during any event. How their credit card had 'smart chip' technology to keep bad things from happening to me. So, I signed myself up for American Express Blue, and away I went putting all online purchases on my new card.
Here is where the horror story began:
Last August my family decided to fly back East for a surprise birthday party in October, so like most Internet junkies, we went to the web to purchase tickets. We decided to purchase our tickets from Orbitz, placing in the boxes when we wanted to leave and return in October and paying with the AmEx. When the confirmation page came up we realized that somehow their system gave a different return date than we selected. We are still unclear whether it is a bug in Orbitz system, or simply it's way of being helpful if our criteria was no longer available, but the tickets that came up were the wrong date.
Within seconds of getting the bad confirmation we called Orbitz and told them the predicament. Their answer was that they have no control over it, and we needed to talk to American Airlines. They could neither change the dates nor cancel the tickets. They did confirm that they canceled what they could from their company, but the tickets were still on order and would be shipped to us from American Airlines.
We called American Airlines, and they said since it was a mistake on Orbitz's system, we needed to talk to them. There was nothing they could do. The tickets were not refundable from them, and they could not change the return date of the flight.
We returned to Orbitz who said there was nothing they could do since all they are is an intermediary between the two.
So, after numerous phone calls and hours of our time wasted, we said, 'this is why we got the American Express anyway - we will just refuse the tickets when they are shipped and have AmEx cancel payment.'
Maybe I was being naïve when I thought American Express would back me up? Maybe I was naïve thinking that one of these three companies could work out their mistake? But, clearly someone made a mistake, and I was going to be the one paying.
The tickets were shipped to us, but we refused them. In fact, they were shipped twice, both times refused. If you were under the impression that a company could not charge for a product that was never received, guess again. Apparently the airlines are an exception.
The bill showed up on my account, and I told American Express the story and they removed the charge. A month later the bill showed up again. I called up American Express again, and they removed it again. The bill showed up a month later. Same process happened two times more before American Express said they were closing the case, and I would have to pay the bill. I asked them about their advertising saying they back up their customers in cases like this, and the gentleman on the phone all but hung up on me.
Obviously this was right before the awful event of September, so my bad experience with American Airlines could be chalked up to being the financial victim of an airline that decided to abandon customer service in their financially difficult times. American Express also might be swaying their customer service in favor of the airlines for the exact same reason. I cannot think of a reasonable excuse for Orbitz, however.
Today, I am far more wary of online shopping. When I purchase something online that costs more than I can just give away, I think twice. Perhaps three times. A considerable number of companies online are nothing more than a catalog of products for which they do not support or stand behind in any way. Take a look at Buy.com, Insight, CDW, Orbitz, Expedia, or any other major online shopping store and you will find companies that simply sell-through for other companies or warehouses. Yes, some of these online companies stand behind what they sell - but don't count on it.
Even more troubling is that you should also not count on your credit card company to back you up if you get ripped off. These credit card companies make most of their money from the selling corporation, which means the relationship between American Express and American Airlines is considerably more important than the relationship between American Express and the card holder. If it comes down between their word and your word, you will be the loser.
This is also the reason that buying through normal retail chains, where you create your own relationship with a human being, is generally much safer. I have worked with many travel agents, and when a flight was booked wrong, it took nothing more than a thirty second phone call to have the flight switched. While even a travel agent is a pass-though of payment to an airline, most stand behind what they sell and can change any item along the way. Online travel agents? Most are nothing more than web catalogs.
Clearly it is your own experiences of online shopping that will shape what you purchase online and what you purchase retail. Were I to read this horror story, it would not effect how I purchase things online. Still, you have taken the time to read my rambling nonsense to the end (bless you), so hopefully you will take a little of this story to heart and be careful the next time you enter a credit card number online.
