Shopping online drives me crazy

In response to the initial gripe about it being small deliveries and customer service. I have just spent money on what I would consider two very large purchases of £800 (bathroom suite) and £250 (Xmas present) both companies sub-contracted to delivery companies, failed to deliver and could not correspond to any of my complaints, hence I still have an incomplete bathroom suite which I have been wrangling with the company for 4 weeks now, and will not receive the christmas present in time for christmas now.

Does anyone know of on online shoppuing tading standards or valuable feedback site, because I would sure like to make these companies known to other people.

I am certainly put off internet shopping and fail to see how certain businesses manage to operate when they cannot provide a basic service

Instead of buying on line - go out and get some air. Nothing compensates for actually turning the pages of a book or, feeling and trying on a garment.

Like Lilian, I ordered and paid for goods from Unusualonline.Co.Uk which were not received. I have since found out that the company have gone into Administration and that the Director cannot be traced. BUYERS BEWARE.

I made a purchase on the internet from 'unusualonline' found through google.
I paid through Wordpay and received an email confirmation from both the retailer and worldpay.
That was on the 23 July I am still waiting for the delivery of the goods.
I have tried to contact unusualonline via email and telephone, the number is not in use.
I have contacted Worldpay who are part of the royal bank of scotland, they say they cannot do anything my issue is with the supplier. So they can take your money on behalf of these scammers that makes them part of it.
Also although the site uses the ISIS accredited retailer internet shopping is safe logo,
ISIS withdrew their accredited status from this company in june.
BUYERS BEWARE, CHECK OUT ALL SITES BEFORE YOU PURCHASE. DONT BUY FROM UNUSUAL ON LINE,,,,

As the original griper, I would like to say sorry for having sooooo p****d off certain readers of this gripe - yes, those who would prefer to hijack the Weekly Gripe to use as a political forum, rather than as what it really is - a place to get something off one's chest, have a good old moan, and even a bit of a chuckle...where I thought I could do this without being labelled "totally stupid"...!!!

Some of you need to step away from the keyboard, pull back the curtains, and go out to re-direct that energy put into unnecessary anger where it may have some positive and tangible effect!

Alternatively, go stroke the nearest animal or buy yourself a nice jammy doughnut...

Using the phrase 'rocket science' gets up my tits. oipon jhbUHS HJWUEDHANX BSGWYDGWQ

Are you totally stupid? Wake up? Walk...go on...one foot in front of the other. Before long you'll reach a shop.

There's ONE answer to this gripe, Don't shop at all.

It all only crud made in China.

Whether you buy online or in the shops you are spending money you can ill afford. You are probably buying it using a credit card.

So don't buy anything. You don't really need it. All you are doing is making some fat importer stinking rich.

By buying from the importer you are denying some worker here in the UK a job. Such workers will not be ablke to find homes nor to be able to raise a family. You are condemning them to a living hell on streets.

There's ONE answer to this gripe, Don't shop. Save your money.

There's ONE answer to this gripe, Don't shop online then.

go buy it from the shops, in the cold, and rain, storms and floods.

Queues, crowds, overpriced public transport, Talk about something driving you crazy, if shopping on the high street doesn't drive you crazy, doing it online is a DODDLE.

What I hate about buying from the internet are the lies.

Lies about delivery time. Frequently 24 hour or next day delivery is quoted. That often means it will take a week.

Delivery costs. Surely some of the prices suppliers quote for delivery they've got to be joking. £10 for a small mobile phone? Count the stamps on the next package you receive and look up what you paid. The latter is often 3 times more.

Weekday delivery times where they only quot that they will arive between 9am to 5pm, and don't actually show up until 6pm.

Buying from the internet should be siginificantly cheaper [50% to 70%] than buying from the high street. Internet suppliers who charge the same are ripping you off.

I ordered 1 x memory card a couple of months ago from a company called Memory Bits and they were excellent. I also used to order ink cartridges from a very small home based busines and they were excellent too.

I think some of the larger companies such as Amazon tend to drag their heals - maybe it's something to do with the number of staff / departments involved in the transaction, supply chain and size of warehouses?

The smaller and simpler the company structure surely the better?

It's of no consolation, however, it seems we are slowly waking up to the idea that just because a business is web based it does not mean they won't make mistakes. Why would such a retailer be more reliable than a High Street one? People have their theories about how Web based businesses should be run. But, as ever, the difference between theory and practice is quite different. The consumer will have to change his/her expectations a bit more to the realistic side, then maybe he/she won't get quite so upset when these web businesses fail to deliver. The High Street is still there don't forget, although I tend to avoid it if at all possible.