Customers complainProblems with e-shopping
By Cheung Lok Sze
Electronic shopping may be con-venient and efficient, but privacy, security and quality of service are not guaranteed.
John H.W. Lai, instructor in the Department of Management at the City University of Hong Kong, expressed mixed feelings about e-shopping.
“I often buy electronic appliances through the Internet. It saves me a lot of time, as the purchasing procedures are very fast.”
Mr. Lai said that there is also a wide range of products for him to choose from and he can compare the prices of products with those of different companies on the Internet.
However, there are disadvantages also.
“Online companies often send advertising and promotional materials to my e-mail account, causing inconvenience,” he said.
Hung Tin Yan, chief trade practices officer at the Consumer Council, said customers can report cases to the council if they receive a lot of advertising and promotional materials without their consent.
“However, a company is liable to punishment only if it uses customers’ addresses or phone numbers with their names for promotional purposes without their permission,” he said.
According to data supplied by the Consumer Council, only 11.4 percent of e-shoppers read privacy policies before they order something, and 25.9 percent of customers think that the privacy policies are not important.
“So we need to increase the awareness of the e-shoppers towards privacy. We will do this through education in schools because more youngsters have become e-shoppers,” said Mr. Hung.
Lotus Chan, a Year 1 student studying translation and interpretation at the City University of Hong Kong, is dissatisfied with e-shopping.
“Once I bought a crystal necklace from a local online company, and the delivery was delayed several times.
“After I received the product, I found that it was not the same one as the one shown in the photo on the website,” she said.
Miss Chan immediately tried to contact the company through e-mail, but she did not receive a reply.
“The company didn’t post its phone number or address on the website, so I had no other way to contact it except through e-mail,” said she.
Mr. Hung said, “If there is evidence that the products are different from what customers ordered through the Internet, they can report these cases to the Consumer Council.”
He also said the Consumer Council has requested online companies to provide information such as conditions of transactions, contact methods other than e-mail addresses, and privacy policies, so as to protect customers’ interests.
“However, it depends on the company because there is still no law controlling transactions made through the Internet,” said Mr. Hung.
According to data from the Commercial Crime Bureau, there have been 14 cases of e-shopping swindles, amounting to $3 million, since the beginning of the year.
One authority in the field of information technology cast doubt on e-shopping.
“If I shop through the Internet, I need to submit my personal data like credit card numbers to online companies.
“This will give hackers the chance to get my personal data because the security systems, which are programmed by people, must have loopholes.
“Therefore, I prefer shopping in a traditional way,” he said.
Mr. Victor Wei, professor in the Department of Information Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, said, “In the field of security, there will never be a security system which can be secure forever and against all approaches.”
Mr. Hung of the Consumer Council has this advice for consumers:
“Always remember to choose an online company with good reputation.
“To be safe, it is better not to make transactions that involve a huge amount of money.”
He said customers should contact the Consumer Council immediately if they experience any losses.
“Remember methods of contacting the online companies beside e-mail and only deal with online companies that have security systems,” he said.
