Comments on: Consumers still turned off from shopping online

By: Bubba Greene

Bubba Greene — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 21:18:56 +0000

Chris:
I understand your excitement. I posed the same question a while back. Guess the company keeps it’s plans under wraps. As far as seafood goes, I have NEVER had any better. It is worth the drive as far as I am concerned but having one in Roanoke would be TOPS! Let’s remain hopeful!

By: Mike3

Mike3 — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 03:42:26 +0000

I think many consumers fear online purchases due to potential idenity theft and or bogus charges appearing om their credit cards after tranactions. Liflock does the most comprehensive monitoring of your public records and all credit card exchanges when you register should decide to enroll.Most reputable retailers have secure sites that are fortunately not hacked by scammers.It’s fortunate we can have local retail therapy or select online purchases with the retailers in our nation.Pick your passion wisely.

By: Other John

Other John — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:10:31 +0000

We’ve returned a few items we bought online…through Amazon the process has been easy, and quick…and free. The other returns for online purchases I made we had to pay for shipping and re-stocking for some computer parts from small retailers in Vancouver and Chicago. It stunk losing about $40 on the transactions for determining that the laptop computer I was working to fix had a defective motherboard video processor instead of a bad inverter board, cable, or LCD panel…but the cost was still less than an hour of labor getting it diagnosed…so I didn;t consider it a true loss.

We write 1 check a month for our water bill, since they charge a $3 processing fee for online transactions…but everything we do is electronic otherwise…and I’m growing more and more fond of online buying because of the selection, price advantages (uaually…it pays to check multiple sites), and saving on gas for driving…because nothing has been more frustrating than driving to physical store locations to look for something, only to find they don’t stock the item.

The one negative transaction I can think of was buying a mini fridge from Walmart.com. I had it delivered to the store, but while in transit, the fridge got damaged. They realized it immediately and notified me of the problem, and refunded the purchase price. I would have prefered the option to have another one sent, instead of the automatic refund…but I appreciated that they rejected the item when they saw it was not in acceptable condition.

By: Bill C.

Bill C. — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:42:32 +0000

I’m 64 years old and have been shopping online for years with only one negative incident that I can remember and that was with a small online retailer. My account was credited by Visa.

Online shopping has many advantages over local shopping. Better inventory, lower prices, no frustration or driving. Customer reviews and product research are available. Rarely have I received an item that required return. All major web sites have secured shopping cart connections, I pay with PayPal if available or Visa if not. We still shop at local stores for most clothing, grocery and some boxed items if it’s what we want and the price is competitive.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 17:58:04 +0000

I bought a pair of boots on Zappos yesterday afternoon and they’re on my porch right now – free. Is there some risk to shopping online? Maybe, but probably not much more risk than getting mugged in the mall parking lot or having a signal light cracked. But I’m probably one of the few people who prefers shopping and parking downtown to dealing with the parking lot at VV. Trying to get to Cheddars once, I felt like a mouse in a maze.

By: crooked road

crooked road — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 17:51:00 +0000

SDC – Do you possess any thoughts about the topics you’d like to share? Have you ever shopped online? Do you understand ‘how it works’? Do you fear it? If so, why? What are the precautions that you personally use in the use of your credit or debit cars in everyday life? Do you pay cash for everything? Do you ever write a check outside of mailing bill payments via mail? How do you safeguard your security when doing so? I’d love to hear your input, and I ignore your insults.

Bottom line – time to step up.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 16:15:17 +0000

Returns can be an issue if you’re not careful. Many online vendors charge a re-stocking fee (often 15-20%), and only a handful will cover the return shipping if it’s not a defective item. I usually research my purchases pretty carefully, but recently I had to return an item; the combination of shipping and fees cost me half of the original price!

By contrast, most brick-&-mortar retailers will accept returns in person with no fees, as long as you have the receipt.

By: Ernie

Ernie — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 16:12:56 +0000

I’ve been shopping online for 10 – 15 years. Probably 90% of my shopping goes through Amazon. I have a friend that is afraid of online shopping yet has no problem writing personal checks. Essentially giving everyone his check account number and routing number. I would never use a debit card. Always a credit card. With a credit card bad things can’t happen to your money and the credit card companies will take care of any issues.

By: Amanda Codispoti

Amanda Codispoti — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:48:15 +0000

@Chris: You are the second reader to report hearing that from a manager at another location. I’ve left a message with Bloomin’ Brands (the company that owns Bonefish Grill). If I hear anything I will post it to the blog.

By: Brian - Goodview (1020')

Brian - Goodview (1020') — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:36:10 +0000

I understand my parents’ generation being leary (and mine are lol) of using their personal information online (I’m 43 for the record). However I have been shopping online for over 15 years. I have only had to close a card once because of fraud. The card company handled everything and there was no cost to me. I understand there is a risk (as with anything in life), but I too have heard more horror stories of people having their information stolen when using their card at a local establishment.

I only shop online at retailers with good track records and have easy and fair return policies. I’m less worried about shipping costs because the major reason I shop online is most of what I/we buy, you can’t get locally. This is especially true during Christmas.