Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Flaw in online shopping.

My recent experience with online shopping in which I ordered from Google Play only to have its designated shipper, UPS, foul up the deal in every possible way, has caused me to question the basic structure of this electronic commerce.

If I buy at a physical store I generally leave with the product purchased.

If I order that same product online, I pay when it ships, including the shipping charge. Two problems:

1. The supplier dumps responsibility onto the shipper.
2. The shipper has already been paid and, as with UPS in my recent nightmare experience, has no incentive to deliver the product in a timely manner, if at all.

Solution: we should insist that we not be charged until we have product in hand.  Or at the very least, the shipper should not be paid until product has been received and the recipient is satisfied with the condition of the product received.

No comments: