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DeluXMan
Location: Canada
Posts: 330
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 Posted - Thu Jul 24, 2003 3:30 pm |
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I'm interested in getting some up to date comments or experiences with on-line shopping:
Does anyone know how safe it is now to buy from zounds or sweetwater or music123 etc by internet-visa exchange? 8)
Is it safer to phone in the visa purchase? 
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post78
Location: USA
Posts: 2887
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| Posted - Thu Jul 24, 2003 3:56 pm |
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I've purchased many things online with a CC. Just make sure that your browser has at least 128-bit encryption (in IE it's "help" > "about IE") and that you see a small yellow lock on the bottom of your browser anywhere that sensitive information is divulged.
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Answer = 1. Probably.
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MusicConductor
Location: USA
Posts: 1524
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| Posted - Thu Jul 24, 2003 3:59 pm |
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Ditto. I think it's very safe under the conditions that Post has outlined. I'd be more concerned with the privacy policy of the companies you purchase from, as well as their policy concerning getting you signed up on 3,962 e-mail lists.
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twright
Location: USA
Posts: 230
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| Posted - Thu Jul 24, 2003 6:05 pm |
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i agree with the other 2 fellas. i buy online all the time myself. lately, i've bought more online, than in a local store.
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Russ O
Posts: 15
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| Posted - Thu Jul 24, 2003 8:19 pm |
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I got my copy of Cool Edit (v1.2) from zzounds. No problems at all.
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Graeme
Member
Location: Spain
Posts: 4663
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| Posted - Fri Jul 25, 2003 4:13 am |
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Living 'in the sticks' as I do, most of my purchases are made via the 'net - either from within Spain or as far afield as the USA.
If I have any gripe at all, it is with the dealers who are happy to advertise their offers world-wide, but refuse to ship internationally or to accept cards issued by a 'foreign' bank. You usually only find this out at the last minute, after doing all the research into price, etc. and it's extremely annoying. Fortunately, I have a friend in the USA who will purchase what I require and send it on to me.
On the security side, my bank issues a 'cyber' credit card. As far as a seller is concerned, it looks just like any other Visa card. However, I just transfer enough money into it to cover my current expenditure (on a running basis) from my 'normal' credit card.
Should anyone ever rip off the details (and they never have) my loss would be limited to what is currently there - which is usually near to zero, of course.
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William Rose
Location: USA
Posts: 467
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| Posted - Fri Jul 25, 2003 4:33 am |
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That's a pretty nifty system. The "Cyber Card".
FWIW, I've never entered my card or account number into my computer. I always phone those kinds of things in. Just one less place for them to be stored, I figure, although I'm skeptical about anyones ability to retrieve any of it locally much less, remotely.
The big risk you take, as always, is with the merchant. There's just no telling what kind of security conditions your numbers are being subjected to, if any.
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VoodooRadio
Location: USA
Posts: 3971
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| Posted - Fri Jul 25, 2003 4:36 am |
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I've bought quite a bit "online" as well. (Sam Ash, Musicians Friend, Sweetwater Sound, eBay) FWIW, I haven't experienced any difficulties with the transactions. I did receive a damaged item from Musicians Friend and they promptly replaced the item. It was a hassle, but really had nothing to do with the actual transaction/exchange of $$$/Product.
_________________
I said Good Day!
Voodoo
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Graeme
Member
Location: Spain
Posts: 4663
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| Posted - Fri Jul 25, 2003 8:08 am |
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| William Rose wrote: | | That's a pretty nifty system. The "Cyber Card". |
Yes - it's a great idea. When I've made the decision to spend (say) $500, I just load the card with that amount and immediately make the purchase - the money's only there for a few minutes at the most.
| William Rose wrote: | | The big risk you take, as always, is with the merchant. There's just no telling what kind of security conditions your numbers are being subjected to, if any. |
Indeed.
About three years ago, a friend asked me if I would purchase something for him from Amazon. He gave me his credit card number and I bought the item. A month or so later, his card was run up to the limit. Due to the way it works in this country, this was paid automatically by the bank (out of his current account). This happened three times before he found out about it, by which time he was in deep financial doo-doo. Of course, his immediate reaction was that it was the internet purchase which was the root cause of the problem (it was mine as well) since he never used this card much.
However, it finally turned out that he had used it once, at some restaurant or other, and someone there had taken the numbers from the receipt. Turned out it was a big racket and lots of people lost a lot of money through it.
The point of this story is that it doesn't really matter where you use a credit card - as soon as those numbers are handed over - on the internet or the local bar - you are at some degree of risk.
Actually, I tend towards the view that 'net purchases are probably safer than shop ones. There's so much paranoia about the 'net, consequentially, there is a lot more protection built into 'net systems than anywhere else.
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