June 29th, 2007 by admin

Holiday shopping online has taken a lot of stress out the holiday season with one exception. What if your order doesn’t show up on time? Here are the delivery rules.

Holiday Shopping - Prompt Delivery Rules

The Internet is the fastest growing source of holiday gifts orders. The FTC, however, has received complaints in the past about gifts not being delivered on time. To stop this, the agency has set down rules for Internet retailers.

The FTC has issues directives spelling out the ground rules for making promises about shipments, notifying consumers about unexpected delays, and refunding consumers’ money. Enforced by the FTC, the Mail or Telephone Order Rule applies to orders placed by phone, fax or the Internet.

Delivery Rules

By law, an Internet retailer must have a reasonable basis for stating that a product can be shipped within a certain time. If their advertising doesn’t clearly and prominently state the shipment period, they must have a reasonable basis for believing they can ship within 30 days. Most retailers, however, will promise much shorter times, even a few days if you agree to extra shipping costs.

If a retailer runs into inventory problems and can’t ship within the promised time, it must notify you of the delay. The retailer must also provide a revised shipment date and explain your right to cancel and get a full and prompt refund. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Your Response

For definite delays of up to 30 days, a retailer can treat a customer’s silence as agreeing to the delay. But for longer or indefinite delays - and second and subsequent delays - a retailer must get the customer’s written, electronic or verbal consent to the delay. If you tell the retailer to pound sand, they must promptly refund all of your money.

FTC Takes Care of You

The FTC takes a very aggressive stance towards retailers who fail to deliver orders on time. This is particularly true if a retailer blows it during the Christmas season. Millions of dollars in fines are handed out each year.

Summary

If you order gifts online, keep notes on when you ordered and expect delivery. Also, keep an eye out for emails from the retailer, particularly since they may end up in your spam box. If nothing comes from the retailer, get on the phone and find out what is going on. Taking these steps will keep the kinks out of your online holiday shopping experience.

Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com - makers of writing journals. Writing journals are great Christmas gifts for him or her and are always shipped on time.

June 8th, 2007 by admin

It’s a common fact: there are very few people who don’t love the great prices that they get at Walmart, and what’s even greater is that now there is Walmart shopping online. Yes, the store that has taken the consumer world by storm is now even easier to visit; you can do it without ever leaving your home!

It is very easy to do Walmart shopping online. You simply go to their website, Walmart.com, and start shopping. They make it very easy to browse their site; with specific products lists, prices lists, and convenient ordering and checkout methods, you can get online, order your products, and get offline very quickly. If you have a specific Walmart coupon, you can use it most of the time, even if you are ordering the product through their website. You simply enter the code from the coupon in the appropriate place when you are ordering your product, and you’ll receive an instant discount.

If you are in a hurry and can’t wait for a product to be shipped to you, you can still visit the Walmart website and find where the nearest store is to you. You can even do things on their website such as make a registry for your wedding, find out what is currently on sale, make sure the Walmart store near you has the product that you want to buy, or compare prices on the different products in their stores. Walmart shopping online is fun, easy, and a great way to save time.

You will find this article and more like it at http://www.onlineshoppingnetwork.info