How to avoid the hassles of online shopping?

“The most common inconveniences and time losses related to online shopping are spoiled orders and incorrectly entered data,” began Kornél Fülöp, co-owner of the Gamewiz board game online store. Kornél, who runs the webshop that won the title of the Shop of the Country this year, with his wife Dorka, gives customers the most important advice: don’t rush and always read the confirmation email you receive after ordering. If you don’t receive one, it’s a warning sign.

“It’s surprising how often a corrupted email address or phone number occurs. gmail.con and gnail.com are almost typical. In such cases, of course, neither the store’s nor the courier company’s letters reach their destination. There was also an example where the customer entered the wrong phone number, so the opening code for the parcel machine ended up with an unknown stranger, who took the ordered item and took it away.”

It’s also worth checking the order confirmation because in the rush before the holidays, there are frequent side clicks and accidentally left products in the cart. We report such errors to the merchant immediately, preferably by email. Don’t wait until the next day or the next business day, because by then your package may already be on its way and it can’t be corrected – most webshops are open on Saturdays and Sundays in December.

Of course, the store or the delivery company can also make mistakes, as their employees are constantly working overtime at this time, with a much higher load than usual. Don’t wait until the 24th to unpack the packages, check that you really received the ordered product and that it is not damaged or defective. If you do it in time, there will still be time to exchange it if necessary, which webshops will do as a matter of course.

Further risks are the increasing number of fraud attempts before Christmas. In addition to classic phishing solutions that trick courier companies’ letters, criminals are also abusing the names of well-known webshops. On the sites that look like the original, they offer every product with a tempting 90% discount, but of course we will not get anything for our money.

“On the website of a reliable web store, the name of the operating company is listed, we can find a detailed description of the payment and delivery methods and the ratio of positive customer feedback is at least 90-95%. If the reviews are missing, or the text elements and buttons are not in Hungarian, have been machine translated, or they tempt with extreme discounts, then we should be suspicious. In retail, a sale of over 50% is extremely rare, most often only occurs with fake or non-existent products. Where they are offered on every item, we are definitely facing fraudsters”

– Dorka pointed out.

Transparency of product availability and delivery time is important indication. The designation “in stock” usually means that the retailer has its own stock that can be mailed immediately, but “external warehouse” or “supplier warehouse” indicates that the retailer must have the goods brought by its own partner. In such cases, before ordering, make sure that the expected delivery time is within our reach. If the package does not arrive on time, contact the retailer as soon as possible.

During this period, more people choose parcel machines to prevent a courier who shows up at the wrong time from spoiling the planned Christmas surprise. However, their capacity is limited, and in larger cities it happens that there is no free space left and delivery is delayed. “If speed is important, it is better to opt for home delivery, even if you request the shipment to your workplace. And those who choose the automatic delivery service can make things easier for other people if they pick up their package as soon as possible, preferably the same day,” suggests Kornél Fülöp.

The rush of online shopping is still ahead of us: online stores accept orders until approximately December 20-22, with delivery before Christmas. It is worth paying attention to the details so that we can really bring joy with our gift.