 Stay safe shopping on the net this Christmas |
There may be only just over five weeks until it's Christmas but nowadays there's no need to panic if you haven't started buying your gifts. That's because more and more of us are buying online, from the comfort of our homes, with delivery straight to the front door.
But do you know what protection you have when you buy online?
Breakfast had more on this; we spoke to Susanne Lace, Senior policy officer from The National Consumer Council and Dylan Armbrust Editor of Computer Active Magazine
Click on the link to the right to see that interview
You can also find some links to organisations offering help and advice on the right of this page Trend
One recent survey suggested that up to 30% of us are now doing all of our Christmas shopping online, but as this trend grows so does concern over consumer rights if a delivery doesn't appear, or arrives damaged.
What you need to know
Credit card transactions on foreign sites are not covered by the Consumer Credit Act, which covers consumers for compensation for goods over �100. Some online banks have said they will not honour all debts of internet fraud victims - where customer carelessness led to the fraud - for example revealing your pin number. Consumers have pretty much the same rights buying online as in a shop You should be given clear info about the goods or services, written confirmation and a cooling off period of 7 days in which you can send back the goods regardless of the reason. The exception to this is if the item can be consumed and you have used it.
If goods arrive damaged, contact the trader and they should replace them. If the trader is not cooperative, contact your local Trading Standards or Citizens Advice Bureau. The Office of Fair Trading also produces fact sheets on what to do
Always try to buy from UK based internet companies, and ignore spam e-mails which might appear to have tempting Christmas offers 
One-Minute World News 
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