shop to it (Online shopping - Comments & Tips)

Member Name: dibuzz

Product:	Online shopping - Comments & Tips
Date:	12/08/01 (24 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use and convenient. , Can do all your shopping without leaving the house, Good for disabled people.

Disadvantages: have to be in for delivery, Need to order early or can be let down. , need a credit or debit card

I first discovered online shopping last November when my youngest son had pneumonia. He was too ill to leave the house for a few weeks and when he was well enough I didn't want him to mix with all the Christmas shoppers as he was still weak and could have caught something else.

I had made a basic Christmas list but as my son needed a lot of attention at this time I wasn't really prepared for Christmas shopping.

I decided to try internet shopping and at first I didn't know where to look so I tried all the big store names. Then I found dealtim and kelkoo which enabled me to compare prices of the things I knew I wanted. I also found shopping sites which listed lots of shops which may stock what I wanted such as no bags, shopping online uk directory and one high street. These sights gave me some ideas for presents which I probably wouldn't have thought of.

I ordered all my presents which saved me a lot of trouble and even if I had to pay P&P I saved time, petrol, parking fees and a lot of hassle dragging round a poorly 5 year old who was still weak.

Most of my orders were straightforward and as we have more than one credit card I just used one for online orders, keeping track of who I had ordered from and how much it was. However there was no problem at all.

Delivery dates differed greatly from a couple of days to 28 days but everything was there by 14th December apart from one thing.

My son wanted a playmobil farm which was in short supply and I had surfed over and over again on all the toy shop sites for days until one day, BINGO, Toys R Us had it in stock. This was 3 weeks before Christmas and I was so pleased. I duly placed my order which was accepted and the money was taken from my account 3 days later. As Christmas got nearer I started to worry. One week before the day I emailed toys r us who replied and promised the order would be with me before the day. However Christmas came and went wi
th no farm for my son. He was so disappointed on Christmas morning as this was the only thing he had really asked for.

After Christmas I again emailed toys r us who replied saying they couldn't trace the parcel so they would give me a refund. I replied saying I was unhappy about this as it had spoiled my son's Christmans but they didn't reply. I thought the least they could do was to write to him amd apologise.

I have used online shopping more and more and managed to get my eldest son some trainers he wanted £10 cheaper than the sports shops.

I will use online shopping again this Christmas but I will avoid toys r us. Generally I was very impressed but this one site let me down.

Summary: