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  3. Buying Online Why buy online? It’s little wonder that new buyers quickly learn to love Internet shopping. At the moment,

Buying Online Why buy online? It’s little wonder that new buyers quickly learn to love Internet shopping. At the moment,

admin2010-03-26  96
问题                               Buying Online
    Why buy online?
    It’s little wonder that new buyers quickly learn to love Internet shopping. At the moment, the best deals on the Web are in clothes, books, CDs, videos, flights and holidays.
    Advantages — Buying online does have a number of potential advantages:
     Price: items are usually cheaper on the Web because warehouse and staff costs are lower, and because online shops want to attract and keep customers.
    Convenience: shopping can be much easier on the Internet. It can be done at home, at a convenient time and be very quick.
    Wide choice: Internet shopping allows you access to a wide range of shops all around the world, some of which don’t exist on the high street. Online shops also usually carry a much larger stock.
    Quick delivery: most Internet sites are able to deliver within a few days.
Disadvantages — There are also some disadvantages buying online:
    Delivery: many sites still use traditional carriers and don’t deliver at night or at weekends. Often you end up having to go and collect from a warehouse.
    Costs and returns: adding up transport and, if buying from outside the European Community, tax and duty, can often mean an item isn’t as cheap as it seems. Returning a purchase often means having to parcel it up and take it down to the post office.
    Cost of using the Internet: although online access is getting cheaper, many Internet providers still charge per minute. Browsing around a wide range of shops can take as long as a traditional shopping visit, so beware.
    Buying more: because everything is at the click of a mouse, it’s very easy to buy and spend more than you intended to.
    How to go about shopping online
    Most high-street names now have a presence online. These shops and other well-known Internet shopping sites are a good place to start, It’s best to get used to buying online from a brand you already know and trust.
    Simply search for it under its own name, adding "www" at the start and either ". com" or ". co. uk" at the end. If this doesn’t work, most search engines and Internet shopping directories should be able to help. They’ll also be the place to go if you’re looking for a particular item.
    Most online shops work on the "shopping basket" principle. You tour the site and click when you see something you want. The item gets placed into a virtual shopping basket. When you want to pay for the items in the basket, you’ll be asked to register. You’ll then be taken to a secure part of the site to give details of your credit or debit card. You’re usually able to send a check instead, but this can mean a wait of a week or two, because the company will often want to clear the check before sending you the goods.
    Tips before you buy
    Pay by credit card because this may give you some additional protection. Only use debit cards when you’re dealing with shops you know you can trust. When giving out these details, always ensure you’re using a secure site.
    Do some real-world research as well as Internet research to compare prices. Internet prices may not always be the cheapest.
    Print out your order and keep any terms and conditions in a safe place along with the company’s postal address and telephone number.
    Check the company’s policy on returning goods. If you’ve bought the item from a site abroad, you may find returning it costly.
    Look out for loyalty schemes and email alerts where shops will contact you with bargains or new deals.
    Be careful about spending too long surfing for a bargain it can be addictive and costly.
    Security and privacy
    Security is far less of a problem than it appears if you ensure you only shop at websites that offer secure payment procedures (most do). Here we look at these procedures in more detail.
    These procedures ensure that before you send any credit or debit card details, you’re moved to a secure part of the site where all the information sent over the Web is protected.
    You can check this has happened by ensuring there’s a padlock sign in the bottom bar on your screen, and the site address has changed from one starting with "http" to one starting with "https".
    In fact, there are very few reports of card theft from well-known sites on the Internet. If you want to pay by debit card, check with your bank first: some will offer protection but most will not. Always print out details of your order and payment and keep them safe.
    Once consumers become used to shopping online, their concern often shifts from security to privacy. All online shops gather information about you every time you shop by making what’s called a cookie.
    This is stored on your computer in a special file. They’re the means by which a shop welcomes you by name next time you visit. You can erase them from your computer if you really object.
    Much more worrying are some sites’ tendencies to sell your details to other shops. It’s a good idea to find out what a shop policy is before you buy.
    If you shop regularly online, it will in practice be impossible to stop your details and email address getting out and you will end up with uninvited emails.
    Suitable laws when things go wrong
    When you buy something in the UK from a trader, you’re protected by a wide range of consumer laws. Here we look at those laws and offer advice on how to deal with or avoid potential problems.
    These laws still apply to online sites as long as they’re based in the UK. So check first if the trader is based in the UK. For example, ". co. uk" doesn’t necessarily mean a UK address and ". com" is used by traders in the UK as well as in the US.
    If you run into problems with something you buy from a UK site, telephone its customer services and confirm your complaint by letter or email. Keep a note of who you talk to and copies of letters sent. If you have to send anything back, remember to charge them the postage or ask them to come and collect it.
    If this doesn’t resolve your complaint, use the small claims track in the county court. Leaflets explaining the court procedure can be obtained from your county court office.
    When you buy outside the UK, your rights are less certain. You should be protected by similar consumer laws if you buy inside the European Community but it can be a problem enforcing your rights. This also applies to manufacturers’ guarantees.
When people run into problems and their complaints to the customer services can not work, they can turn to ______.
选项
答案the small claims track in the county court
解析
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