Ordering on the internet
[Further Update - 21 July] It was too good to be true! Shentech has turned out to be one of the dodgiest companies I have ever dealt with. I should have read their reviews on froogle. But, as it turned out I didn’t - and so far I am in the process of getting burnt to the tune of over $AUD400. I have had to lodge a case with PayPal in an effort to get my money returned. Let me state this as clearly as I can - my personal recommendation is do not use shentech!
[UPDATE] I finally managed to order online with a company called shentech. It was one of the best shopping experiences I have had! I added the product to my cart, asked for the checkout - was taken to a yahoo orders page, selected PayPal - picked my bank account and I was done! I would like to thank Froogle for finding it for me!
More and more I am finding that people are comfortable shopping online, which is great - but I still think that online retailers (especially the big ones) have a long way to go until the internet is truly an online market place.
I have been trying to purchase a DVD player, a simple enough task you would assume - but I have a couple of problems. Firstly - I am living in Japan and I don\t speak Japanese. The issue here is that I am yet to find a shop that sells a DVD player (or any other electronic device for that matter) that has english language menus / remote. I would even settle for a multi-lingual unit that I can switch to english - but I can\t even find one of them.
Because of my language issue, I decided to shop online. Get a unit shipped to me from the States or Europe - and I will be fine. An easy enough task!… or not.
I decided on a Buffalo CD/DVD player. Yes, I know it isn\t a sony - but - it also playes videos etc off the network. Something which I need over here as there is no English FTA television.
The Buffalo site refers me to a price guide - with linkgs to all the major online retailers. Nievely - I get excited thinking I may have this before the weeks end. How wrong could I be!
I started my trek on Tuesday afternoon. I picked the cheapest online retailer, and went to purchase. I found that their order form only had American states and territories listed, but had a link on the bottom for “international purchases”. What was even better was that they supported PayPal - which is good because it is linked to my Australian bank account. So I fill in the “International” order form - and wait to get to a payment screen.
The next screen thanked me for my order, and then told me that I would receive an email with payment details. I had only three days to make the payment to secure the order, so I should act immediatly. And that I did. Opening my email - I saw the order acceptance and started reading. I skimmed it first - looking for a URL link to a PayPal payment page or something - nothing. So I read it again, carefully this time. Only information on wire transfers. I was getting a little frustrated and confused… I couldn’t (and still can’t) understand why a site would accept PayPal for American orders - but wire transfers only for international.
I shot off an email to their payment support address, and got a response overnight. The respondant informed me that wire transfer was the only accepted method of payment - and re-issued me with the details for wire transfers. I wrote a return email. Let’s just say it is clear that I don’t want to deal with that supplier.
I will save you the pain of reading my next four online shopping experiences, each one progressivly more expensive then the previous. And each - with no automated international ordering system. All of them having to be manually processed, and most not accepting online payment methods.
I am now onto my fifth online retailer, and I am awaiting a confirmation email about shipping costs and a link to a paypal payment site. Their online store confirms delivery to Japan is available and that they accept paypal for international transactions… I will let you know.
