Consumer Protection Act of 1987 and Avoiding Internet Scams
Shopping online has become ever-popular, which is great for the consumer – it’s made it painless to shop. Not only that, but a more competitive market linked with low running costs has cheap prices for items.
All the same, as the online market has expanded, so too has the need to be cognizant of your rights as a consumer, and what you should do if you are in receipt of items that you paid for but didn’t actually get or faulty goods. Data is made public online, such as the consumer protection act 1987.
You also need to be aware of what payment provider to use to pay for your items, as each payment gateway has its own terms and conditions. To take an example, Paypal act as an independent arbiter only for physical goods, not digital downloads. Understanding this kind of information is the difference between getting your money back or being ripped of by an internet scam.
Our advice is to do your preparation about the seller : do they show their phone number and postal address? What is the seller’s returns policy? Their terms? Their privacy policy? All these questions need to be answered before you consider making a purchase from the vendor.
Another very issue to think about: how is payment taken? These days, it’s not enough to merely look for an SSL certificate – this won’t tell you how they store your data, only how it’s sent when you make the order. If in any doubt, only purchase from sellers who use 3rd party payment gateways such as Google Checkout, PayPal, SagePay, NoChex and WorldPay.Also you can see what reputation the vendor has with his payment gateway, e.g. check his PayPal account and how many transactions have taken place on this particular account.
