How a slip of the tongue cost me hundreds of $$
March 2008
You may have been shopping on the net for a while, I've been
using the net since 1993 and shopping on it for goodness knows how
long - I was born to shop online! Not only is the
internet my job it's also a passion which see's me surfing and
trawling the Net on weekends and at night when good people should be
in bed.
My experience has led me to create the "Golden Rule" of
internet shopping, I'll tell you more about that later. You
are reading this story because I didn't apply my own golden rule.
We were looking out for some cheap hosting to help one of our
customers who had asked to extend their hosting. It was 2nd tier
data so they didn't need the top-tier facilities we supply with our usual
hosting plans.
We found a company based in California that seemed to
fit all the criteria, we knew someone that had used their services
and I took a good look at their website. I was a bit rushed that day
so I went ahead and placed the order with GISOL,
via their website. The form said they would telephone me to confirm
the order.
Next day I received the telephone call to confirm the order. There
seemed to be some problem with the company credit card and
while it was a little strange that the transaction was
rejected I wasn't concerned and said I would use my personal credit
card. The salesman said he had a better plan for me, just $49
instead of $95. Now I wonder - better for who!?
The upshot of all this is that my credit card was charged with
$2,200, where I was expecting $95. Having switched from an online
transaction to a telephone transaction I have no record of what I
agreed to. 3 weeks later and we are still battling it out with he
help of
Visa.
What a nuisance!
Credit card purchases are an everyday part of our lives.
To stay safe:
- Keep a low limit on one of your cards specifically for
internet transactions.
- Check out companies before you buy from them. The integrity
of the company is more important than the technology.
And now I add to this list
- Take extreme care when confirming purchases by
telephone.
Choose NZ companies where possible. You have more come-back.
Audrey's Golden Rule
The rule I didn't apply (because I was too busy!) is to research
a company on Google by typing in the company's name with the words
FRAUD or SCAM eg
Both of which would have returned a long list of people who had
the same thing happen to them.
Remember I am an expert at this stuff and I was tricked - be
careful and do your research.
Read more about GISOL's
fraudulent schemes.
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