Be careful when you buy from BooksOnBoard

[taustin]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Where's the toll free number for live customer support?

I won't deal with a company that doesn't provide one.

So you never deal with smaller retailers, ever? You only do business with big, faceless corporations that can afford a 24 hour staff?

What's MobileRead's 24 hour 800 number?

[robko]

So ... I have to wonder: are e-books really a likely target for credit card thieves? If you're going to buy an e-book from a sketchy re-seller, you'll likely just get an illegal download from somewhere (and if they were going to sell one that's likely where they got it). I understand locking an account if you were going to ship an untraceable valuable product, and I can understand the time delay in responding about it, but really: how often is a $100 (or even $200) e-book transaction fraudulent/charged-back?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by taustin

So you never deal with smaller retailers, ever? You only do business with big, faceless corporations that can afford a 24 hour staff?

What's MobileRead's 24 hour 800 number?

Not online I don't. With the exception of Amazon (and a one-time HP TouchPad purchase), I also make it a point not to buy from online stores that don't have a B&M presence in my area.

I don't buy from MR, so I have no need for CS.

[TechnoCat]

Originally Posted by VicLavigne

However, disputing the transaction with PayPal seems overboard to me, since you were likely to receive your ebooks in less than 24 hours.

Is there a "subtract karma" button somewhere I can use on Vic?

Vic, let me see if I got this straight. They stole his money, which is to say they took it and didn't give him the merchandise, and you want a cooling off period? Would you give the same time to suddenly finding your car repossessed without, as far as you could tell, any just cause?

One problem with PayPal is that it isn't subject to the same merchant agreements as VISA and MasterCard, both of which require the vendor charge the card only after shipping the merchandise. And the Fair Credit Billing Act (Vic - it's an actual law) states that they have broken the law if they failed to deliver in the stated time, which if you read their FAQs, is at the end of the transaction, not two days later.

What they should have done is, upon deciding that the transaction was potentially fraudulent, refused payment until it was cleared up.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by robko

So ... I have to wonder: are e-books really a likely target for credit card thieves?

My suspicion is, no. There's still a local (used) book store near here that takes checks without an ID. When I got my merchant account, I was put in the second lowest risk category (behind only brick & mortar stores) because I was selling books.

Unless, of course, they've been breached, in which both they and their merchant service will be unreasonably paranoid.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Not online I don't. With the exception of Amazon (and a one-time HP TouchPad purchase), I also make it a point not to buy from online stores that don't have a B&M presence in my area.

I don't buy from MR, so I have no need for CS.

That's so sad.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by taustin

That's so sad.

I get all I need from the stores I shop at.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by taustin

That's so sad.

Why is it sad? I can think of a number of reasons to only buy from Amazon and/or sites with nearby B&M stores available.

Toll free customer service is necessary for people with limited income and/or don't have hundreds of "free" cell phone minutes to burn on a CS call. 24-hour CS is necessary for people who work hours that would prevent them from calling during "normal business hours". A B&M store ensures that you will have a person to talk to -- usually during a wider business hour range -- which is particularly crucial for certain hearing disabilities. Ordering mostly or wholly from Amazon is necessary for people who can't easily leave the house to shop but don't have the privilege to take a risk on smaller online retailers (who usually charge expensive shipping for heavy household items).

(I hate to wave my ableism sign around... oh, who am I kidding? I love to wave my ableism sign around.)

[otis1]

A few suggestions.
1) Citicards have a virtual credit card that allows you to give a different one time use credit card number only valid for the amount you specify for each sale - or you can allow it to be used over and over again as a regular credit card with limits you specify.
2) discover has a similar setup.
3) I tend to use the xps printer to screenprint to a file each purchase and anything else related then save it to a purchase folder until received and all ok - or save for future warranty purposes.
I've only a few problems with sellers and with a credit card - there is a lot of protection built in. Cards likes the ones above lessen the risk sI i would never have to change accounts.

Anyway -= good luck and Happy new year to one and all.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Why is it sad?

Misses a lot of opportunities to deal with reputable companies that offer great produces and good service. And that tends to encourage the crappy behavior that people complain out from faceless corporations. Amazon is particularly notable in that regard, in fact.

Originally Posted by anamardoll

I can think of a number of reasons to only buy from Amazon and/or sites with nearby B&M stores available.

So can I. But lack of a 24 hour 800 number isn't one of them. (For me, at any rate.)

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Toll free customer service is necessary for people with limited income and/or don't have hundreds of "free" cell phone minutes to burn on a CS call. 24-hour CS is necessary for people who work hours that would prevent them from calling during "normal business hours".

All of which assumes that you must contact them by phone. Or, to quote a friend's very wise mother, "Instant gratification isn't quick enough." Is it really that critical that you talk to them right now? You can't wait a few hours for an email response? Really?

Originally Posted by anamardoll

A B&M store ensures that you will have a person to talk to -- usually during a wider business hour range -- which is particularly crucial for certain hearing disabilities.

I have never noted that hearing disabilities interferes with reading email.

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Ordering mostly or wholly from Amazon is necessary for people who can't easily leave the house to shop but don't have the privilege to take a risk on smaller online retailers (who usually charge expensive shipping for heavy household items).

Which has nothing to do with whether or not they have a 24 hour 800 number.

Originally Posted by anamardoll

(I hate to wave my ableism sign around... oh, who am I kidding? I love to wave my ableism sign around.)

Nothing wrong with that. But what's the big deal with sending their CS people an email and waiting a few hours for a response? I mean, really.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Where's the toll free number for live customer support?

I won't deal with a company that doesn't provide one.

Are we twins?

I am the same way. The first thing I do is see the "contact" info. If there is no name, address, phone number, and operating hours, I leave the site.

I also read their "about us" page for more information.

Email only correspondence? I move on.

I prefer to shop locally but have used online-only retailers for items not available in my area.

[richrock]

FWIW - all ecommerce sites based in the uk must have one-click access to a point of contact, but that can be a postal address, telephone number, email, heck probably Telex if they've got one set up. If they don't have that, then I'll move on. I know this as fact from my job - I'm a web developer, done a few ecommerce sites in my time.

Any store that is well-set up or deals with me well will get my business. I tested Books On Board with a £3 purchase, and it went smoothly. IMO, not the most intuitive site, and slightly clunky purchasing/wishlist model, but it's worked every time for me. If I had a problem, I'd at least contact them direct, wait 48hrs (longer if a weekend) and see where it goes. No point flying off on one straight away.

Now Amazon... don't get me started on some books I ordered from them... That bad deal cost them a Kindle, even though I'd ordered DTB's.

[CazMar]

I had this happen with my credit card - out on a shopping spree and got a text message blandly announcing my credit card was blocked (no contact number to ring back, no name of the bank !!!). I got home and rang the bank for the credit card I had been using - was it the $600 tv I had just bought? or the $300 of assorted homewares? the GPS navigator? No - it was the $6 EBay purchase I had done the day before. It was a "foreign transaction" and not an Australian thief buying TVs etc that really got them wound up. I then had to ring all the stores to check that my credit card payment did actually go through and provided them with my phone details so they could ring me if there was a problem. The following day this happened to another friend of mine - a very senior government official (same bank). He was also not amused
I wouldn't mind if they had rung to check, but just cutting off a card while I was out? And no number to ring? Crappy service!

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I might have been less grateful if they'd stopped the purchase at the cash register and made me deal with that embarrassment, but they didn't. I had a credit card number "hi-jacked" once, and I don't ever want to go through that again!

Try standing in line in a tiny airport at a foreign country's customs desk and having the credit card company block your transaction [both cards!] for your entry fee and having no cellular reception nor any other way to contact anybody. Luckily I wasn't traveling alone and we had another card, which went through. I wasn't able to clear it up for two weeks and had no credit card! Luckily my ATM card worked and I was able to get cash every few days.

[VicLavigne]

I have had cc transactions held up by at least two online retailers, including Amazon and NewEgg. I had my Humana health insurance policy cancelled because of an overly cautious credit card screening (reinstated quickly enough, but boy was I PO'd) which I attempted to use for recurring payments. I also recently had an online transaction that charged me twice for one order.... resolved but it took about 48 hours to clear to my satisfaction.

None of those incidents felt good, and you can always blame customer service. I don't defend BOB customer service, much as TechnoCat's furious response to me implies. Simply that cancelling a transaction by going straight to PayPal to complain (without waiting any decent amount of time) seems premature. BOB is not a fly by night business, they've been around at least a few years and I'd offer a fair amount of trust that they would do the right thing within a reasonable amount of time (like about 24 hours). If you want to dispute a CC transaction you can do it for up to about a month, and I believe PayPal allows disputes for at least a few days.

But of course everybody has their right to deal with transactions the way they please. I have been a seller on eBay and Amazon, and I have had to deal with a few customers who wanted instant customer service if they didn't like what they received. From my perspective, instant is not always possible.

Vic