Mind Your Decisions

Online Purchase Protection: Business Card Experience

Recently I received business cards from an online purchase. After checking the quality and looking for misprints, I was satisfied with the cards. But being a paranoid, I wondered if I got all 500 cards I ordered: I mean, if they sent fewer cards as standard practice, what sane business person would spend their valuable time to check? Curiosity and the possibility of repeat business motivated me. So I then estimated how many cards could fit in the box. To my dismay, I suspected the box was about one-quarter of an inch too small to house 500 cards. To be sure, I counted and confirmed I was short-changed about 50 cards.

Although I had been short-changed by the vendor, I was not worried because I followed a couple online purchase precautions.

1. Research the company reviews

It’s obvious enough, checking other people’s experience really can save you from a scam. The company appeared legitimate because a colleague gave a personal recommendation for this company and my own research uncovered only good reviews.

2. Buy on credit card

Using a credit card gives you customer rights under the Fair Credit Billing Act. You are protected against “billing errors” like fraudulent charges, math errors, or goods that weren’t delivered as agreed (in my case, a short-change of 50 cards). The FTC website has useful information on how to contest a billing error.

What about debit card purchases? In general, they are less safe than credit cards. Here is what the FTC says about them:

The consumer protections for a debit card fall under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and may differ from protections for a credit card under the FCBA [Fair Credit Billing Act]. So you may not be able to dispute a debit and get a refund for nondelivery or late delivery. Still, some debit card issuers voluntarily offer protections and solutions to problems like the failure to receive merchandise bought with a debit card. Contact your debit card issuer for more information about particular policies and protections.

I also considered one other safety about ordering business cards online:

3. There is lots of competition in business cards—reputation effects are important

If the company scammed me, it could lose me and my network as customers. If people start believing they are risky, it will be hard for them to keep good business. Reputation is one reason I did not even consider VistaPrint. A few bad reviews turned me away and overwhelmed the good reviews.

What ended up happening

Given these consumer protections, I was expecting a good settlement from the outset. I though of a remedy: I would either be happy with extra cards, or a cash refund for the missing cards.

After I contacting the vendor, I quickly received an apology and an extra two hundred cards as remedy. If you are ordering business cards and are curious who they are, contact me and I’ll be happy to share.

What’s your experience with online vendors? I am especially curious if any one has gone through the process of disputing a bill.

Update: I actually ended up receiving 285 extra cards, a whole 85 extra than they said they’d send. Really not sure if the printing company knows how to count cards.