Christmas Shopping online Volume 2

Welcome to Volume 2 of BellClocks Christmas shopping online. This article is "reposted" from last year. This volume will focus on policy and service issues. These are especially important if you are shopping online for Christmas gifts and need delivery prior to the big day.

Remember to arm yourself with the information discussed in Volume 1 first, then move into this information.

Customer Service

As you shop online you will notice that nearly every business website boasts of excellent customer service. Since the only meaningful judgement of excellent service is the individual customer, we have some suggestions of easy ways to test these service statements.

1. Send an email or customer service request through the site. This may give you an idea of what to expect. No business is perfect, so be patient but expect a reply. If you're wondering what to say or ask in this message, honestly tell them you are testing their service.

2. Another test could be to contact them by phone. Again, be patient but expect a reply. Many businesses (including BellClocks) utilize voicemail to offer a call back service if you leave your information.

Again, we stress some patience this time of year. Nearly every business gets busy during the holiday shopping season. Patience means allowing a little extra time - not weeks. As you receive replies, you can accurately judge for yourself if the service is acceptable. If not, shop elsewhere.

Business Policies

A business policy is any policy under which a business operates. These include terms of sale, return policies, refunds and exchanges, guarantees, price match, and others. Policy statements are very important to shoppers, as they may obligate a customer to certain conditions, much like a contract.

Like contact information we discussed in volume 1, this information should be located in an easy to find location on any online shopping website, and we strongly recommend a thorough review of posted policies prior to making any purchase. A couple of tips:

1. We would advise shoppers to beware of any shopping site with no published policies.
2. Business policies should be specific to the company you are going to do business with.

To explain policies "specific to the company" - if you are shopping at a site any policy statement should be specific to that site, not a statement that says customers are covered under the policy of a third party or the website host.

As an example, BellClocks.com has policies posted here: http://bellclocks.com/policies.html and they are accessible from various areas of our site. These policies apply directly to BellClocks.com.

In closing Volume 2 of our Christmas online shopping tips, we would like to again point out that most businesses of which we are aware are honest in their dealings with shoppers and customers, and are committed to customer service.

We invite you to our last installment, Volume 3 which will be published on Monday 10/30/06, which will deal with "too good to be true" and secure webpages.

Visit us online at: http://bellclocks.com
a Division of Windward Instruments