Pocket Change - Shopping Blog

This holiday season I had a mission. I decided to buy products from some of our retailers on Become.com to see what the experience was like. My hope was to have some troubling experiences to help you when the spit hits the fan.

My biggest issue came from BackCountry.com. I ordered two items, one at $65 and one at $20. The package came lickity split in only two days. The only problem was the $20 item was not in the package. It was very poorly sealed and could have been forgotten or stolen; I will never know (unless the lady at the apartment office starts wearing it). I went on to the website where they had a live chat. I signed on and within two minutes I was talking with a live person. I explained that I never received the item. They asked for my shipment number and customer id number and sent another in two days with no questions asked! Way too easy.

As a side note, I know that at least once a month this happened in my store. Most of the time one of our cashiers forgot to bag an item. The unwritten rule was if the item was under $50, then to apologize and give it to the consumer. If it was over $50, then we had to ask for their patience as we confirmed it on our camera system. It makes me wonder what would have happened if the $65 item had been missing from Backcountry.

My only other issue was with PersonalCreations.com. I made the mistake of ordering an item that had a 4 week turnaround time. They still got it to me by Dec 31st (only a 2 week delay). I guess my advice is to read the fine print on when they expect it to arrive…

Other retailers I purchased gifts from were FragranceSupplier.com, OnlineSports.com, TigerDirect.com, Wine.com, and Amazon.com. All of these retailers shipped quickly and without issue.

What a BUST! So, since we are here to help you the consumer, please send us your tales and troubles from this holiday season of buying. We would be glad to give you advice or even help you fight the good fight.

Daryl