If you follow my Instagram @StyleDestino, you’d be well aware that I am a fanatic online shopper. I’ve been shopping online since 2005, trying out fashion and beauty websites from around the world, and getting them to deliver stuff to India.
THE BLESSINGS – ONLINE SHOPPING
2. No matter which part of the world you are in, its with online shopping that you can get whatever you want, from wherever you want. Sitting in Mumbai, I could get this gorgeous Stella McCartney clutch delivered to me from a small boutique in Italy.
3. Discounts, codes, and vouchers: The best thing about online shopping is not only does the whole world becomes your marketplace, but also it offers you the best price. In addition to the ongoing online sales, always look for discount coupons of the retailer you are shopping from, you may get access to a coupon you didn’t know existed just by taking a few extra seconds for a quick search. For example, if you take a look on the Raise website (https://www.raise.com/coupons/macys), you can find discount codes for Macy’s that you might not have noticed anywhere else. It gives you additional cost benefits. There are many coupon codes and discount code websites for every country. Many stores themselves also provide you with their own promotional codes if you sign up for their email newsletters. Enter the code before you check out to reap the savings.
NIGHTMARES OF ONLINE SHOPPING
1. When you don’t get what you ordered and the money is blocked and the worst thing? The website you ordered from was in London, so sorting it out becomes a nightmare. Yes, I had the worst experience you can imagine with one of the world’s most popular and reputed websites ASOS.COM. I ordered a pair of shoes {and they were quite expensive} from asos.com in September, the parcel arrived in 14 days and it wasn’t the shoes but a shirt that arrived (imagine the horror). When I contacted them they apologised and said they reshipped the shoes but I had to pay the customs duty again, which they will refund. Now the second time around, its the same shirt again and not the shoes. Plus the extra duty which I had to follow up like crazy to get back.
Even the third time I never received the shoes, and they refuse to refund money until I ship back the shirts, they erroneously shipped, first {mind now, I have to return them the skirt they sent by mistake instead of shoes, and pay international postage for it, can you imagine?}. Shopping with Asos has been my worst nightmare. I am on international tour and I can’t manage to ship them the shirt, and because of which my money is stuck and I haven’t received the shoes, and its December already. Never ever shop with asos.com. Asos has really poor delivery service plus very bad customer service – imagine a Company ships you the wrong item {shirt instead of shoes} and that also twice. This means they have no system to check the mistake done once and fix it and that also on international order. The customer service desk is very automated and doesn’t understand the HUGE MISTAKE they have made and have no idea of how to fix the problem whatsoever. They are good at making it all the more inconvenient and complicated for the customer while extorting the money from me all the while. And for their mistake, they offered me 10% discount on the next order. Can you imagine? How cheap is that? What kind of global company of a size and reputation like that does it?
This isn’t the first time I had a problem with shopping online with asos.com. They didn’t deliver my parcel earlier too, took me 45 days to wait for the parcel after which they apologised and refunded my money back. But its been about 3 months and I haven’t received my order, nor my money has been refunded.
2. Another problem with online shopping is that items shown on the website is different from what you actually receive. I ordered a dress online from a UK website. What I received was yellow, while the dress I ordered was actually orange. Plus the fit and style was very different and the fabric in person looked quite cheap. Now shipping them back to the UK was a hassle, so I ended up keeping it and not wearing it.
3. Its not just international online shopping stores that have their share of problems. Some Indian online shopping stores (like Nykaa) have a really inconvenient policy when you want to return an item {return policy}. They don’t refund your money, but only provide a credit note (actually credit code in this case), that you can set off against your future purchase. Plus these credit codes have an expiry. First they send you unsatisfactory product and then they don’t refund your money back. That’s uncool.
Like everything, there are pros and cons of online shopping. So it’s important to be careful when treading online for your purchases. Especially be careful when shopping online from international websites to avoid nightmares like asos.com case. While I had my bad experiences, I wouldn’t refrain from trying it out but will be more careful with my choices.
Here are some tips for safe online shopping:
1. Shop from a secured website: First and foremost it is important that all your online shopping is carried out only from a secured website. Never ever buy anything online using your credit or debit card from a site that doesn’t have SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption installed {this is a minimum security requirement}. The SSL encrypted websites start with HTTPS:// instead of just HTTP://. In addition to the ‘https’ code look for a locked padlock icon on your browser. It usually appears in the status bar at the bottom of your web browser, or right next to the URL in the address bar. Never share your credit card or bank account information over email to anyone even if you receive email from your online shopping website. Also it is advisable to shop from your credit card instead of debit as your debit card is linked to your bank account and a lot more damage can be done if the hackers have your bank details.
2. Use familiar websites: Shop from a trusted and known website rather than what search engine directs you to randomly While online shopping is a blessing, there are many cases of frauds via online shopping. So be careful where you shop from. Check the reviews or people who have shopped earlier from their website before you make any purchase. Prefer websites your friends or family have used.
3. Discounts, codes and vouchers: The best thing about online shopping is not only the whole world becomes your marketplace, but also it offers you the best price. In addition to the ongoing online sales, always look for discount coupons of the retailer you are shopping from, you may get access to a coupon you didn’t know existed just by taking a few extra seconds for a quick search.. It gives you additional cost benefits. There are many coupon codes and discount code websites for every country. Many stores themselves also provide you with their own promotional codes if you sign up for their email newsletters. Enter the code before you check out to reap the savings.
Moreover, before you buy, look for the best price online. Search discount sites for the item you want before buying it elsewhere.
Share your Online Shopping experience!!!!
