On-Line Shopping Warning

Cumbria Trading Standards are advising residents to know their rights when shopping on-line and to carry out some basic checks.  This follows a recent complaint from a consumer who purchased goods from an online company he believed were based in Carlisle.  When the goods were delivered they were not as described and had parts missing.  It was only when he tried to resolve these issues did he find out that the company were actually based in Hong Kong.

Before you start shopping on the Internet there are a number of questions you have to ask yourself:-

• Do you trust and know the seller?
• Do they have a UK mailing address?
• The web address should begin with ‘https://’.  The ‘s’ stands for ‘secure’
• Can you contact them if the order goes wrong?
• Are there any hidden charges?

Always check the terms and conditions and remember that paying by credit card can offer greater protection in terms of fraud and non-delivery.

For further information – or if you have a particular problem resulting from Internet shopping you can visit www.adviceguide.org.uk or call the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 08454 04 05 06.  They will refer the matter to Trading Standards if appropriate.