Normally I don’t rant about companies…. well, not publicly. However having some recent bad luck with a couple of companies, I sat back and had a think about what our rights are in terms of ordering and having products delivered online.

Alright, so by this stage I can see a lot of my readers wondering why I don’t just run down to the local shop and purchase something; point is I prefer to have a brown box come to the door so that my mother (or whomever the present is for) starts getting curious. And the point is, shopping online should be safe from errors and glitches.

So, I present to you two separate issues that I have encountered whilst shopping online recently.

CatchOfTheDay.com.au

CatchOfTheDay.com.au did get into contact me, and explained the issue was due to something completely out of their control. Sorry guys for not editing this earlier, but the fact is they were very professional in dealing with the issue and compensated me dearly. COTD is definately the best 1 item a day store available in Australia, so check it out today!

CatchOfTheDay.com.au is an excellent site, founded upon the idea of having one item for purchase for 1 day only, you miss it once you won’t get it again. So, I was amazed when I visited the URL to find an amazing product that would suit my mother perfectly (and no, I’m not saying what it is in case she reads this - for whatever reason). After checking my PayPal balance, I ordered this ‘item’ and chose it’s colours to be Pink. Awesome I thought, Pink is my mother’s favourite colour and this ‘item’ would be excellent.

So, about a week later I receive a parcel with my name on it, and the “CatchOfTheDay.com.au” logo on the side. I thought, perfect it’s come! Upon opening it however I found that they had sent a Blue ‘item’ instead of the requested ‘Pink’ one. Whilst I was a little upset, I decided to send them an email. After sending the email, I received an automatic reply. One week later, no reply from their staff.

From here, I decided to post on the Whirlpool forums in which I feel has greatly contributed to a lot of resolutions in the past. Upon submitting my message, I received a reply from “QQQ” which is one of their staff members. After being told they never received my email, I resent it. The next day, I was told by QQQ that I didn’t sent the message. Well hey, I have the confirmation email if you’d like! I was also told that they had sent the wrong colour, confirming I did select Pink, and have unfortunately ran out of the ‘items’ completely. They also offered my a free postage coupon.

Two replies via Whirlpool’s Private Messenging service (WHIM) and whilst they have been read, I still have had NO response either via the WHIM or via e-mail.

FastWay Courier

Whilst I had never heard of FastWay before, I accepted them as my courier for some products I purchased from another online retailer. This package was sent on Tuesday (18/12/2007), with a 1 day delivery time frame as mentioned on their website. I was estatic that I was receiving it the next day, however angry when looking at their status page to see that the item was in transit between Sydney and Melbourne. Ok, I thought, I’ll give them another day. Today however, and it is still in Melbourne.

I decided to give them a call, and was told that the item would not be sent to me until tomorrow, at 5PM. Upon asking why they had told me a 1 day delivery for a now 4 day delivery, the operator replied “don’t worry.. it’s christmas”.

Conclusion

So, this brings me to my question. What rights do we have when it comes to things like this? Is this false advertisement, one being that they sent the wrong item and the other that they blatantly lied and told me 1 day, when it was in fact 4? Heck, I understand that Christmas is a busy time but at least companies such as AusPost have the decency to tell you that they don’t guarantee it, and have an express 1 day postage that does actually turn up on time.

I thought I’d bring a small mention to some companies I have had excellent service from and fast delivery, these site’s being ShoppingSquare, OnlineVIP and WsTech (and, COTD (I have since purchased heaps of stuff after this post, and I apologise for not letting you guys know earlier)). I’m interested to hear your opinions, suggestions and comments. Leave your comments on the comments form or send us an email!

Yes, it’s that time of the year again. In just a couple weeks, we’ll all be rushing to bed to wait till the man in the red suit jumps down our chimney (or walks through the door with magic dust) comes, and to find presents in the morning.

Of course, for those who purchase gifts for others, such as friends and family, you’ll soon realise that bank will get lighter - much lighter. So, a suggestion before you go shopping is to checkout sites such as EdealFinder.com (Overstock coupon) which allows you to search and download coupons that can be used on products you purchase in-store or online. That way, you can save more money on the items you’d otherwise pay full price for.

So for instance, before you purchase a Dell PC, you can checkout the Dell Coupon page or before you purchase a HallMark card, you could checkout the HallMark Coupon Page! Check out the site and let me know what you think!

So, you’ve heard the news about iPhones being continually locked to only a small number of providers, one being AT&T. However, after T-Mobile was at the centre of legal action taken from Vodafone, they have been forced to sell unlocked iPhones to the public.

However, before you jump up and down with excitement, APCMag.com reports that “it will be selling an unlocked iPhone (presumably version 1.1.2) for €999 or $1695 AUD.” An interesting point however, is that you can cut over 50% off that price if you purchase an unlocked from from eBay - however you run the risk of buying a hacked iPhone, not a properly unlocked one.