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Are You Still Using Your Real Credit Card Online? You Shouldn’t.

Posted on July 5, 2010 ·

So iTunes got hacked and some users saw unauthorized purchases up to $600 in their accounts.

itunes hacked

I’m shocked.  Not at the fact that iTunes got hacked, but that users exposed their credit accounts to such extent.  Websites do get hacked, it’s a fact of life.  Users need to change their passwords, consider what other sites may get compromised, and generally think of getting more secure password management schemes – but it’s all too late.  Why not protect your credit card in the first place?

You don’t ever have to submit  your credit card number online.

No, I’m not saying give up the convenience of online purchases – just don’t use your real credit card number.  I haven’t, for at least a decade.  Instead I’ve always used Citbank’s Virtual Credit Card Numbers.  It allows me to generate an ad-hoc credit card number for a specific vendor, either for one-time use or for a period of time with a dollar limit.

There are many other use cases, not just theft / hacking: think of all those subscriptions you just can’t cancel… they keep on billing, and you can’t just shut down the offending vendor, your only choice is canceling the credit card itself.  A major pain.  With a virtual number you go online and remove the particular vendor’s instance.

I’ve been living in the secure world of virtual credit cards for a long time, and simply took it for granted it’s the norm by now – I’m really shocked to see now how few providers offer it.  All I could find (at least in the US) was Citi, Bank of America, Discover, and there was a half-cooked attempt by PayPal, first called virtual debit card, then secure card, but I believe it is now discontinued.

Shame on the Financial Services industry, throw-away credit cards should be the online standard in 2010.  I’m not advocating any particular service (Citi’s implementation – the software side – is outright shabby, but the safety is worth it) but it might be worth signing up for one of these services just for the sake of safe online purchases.

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

Filed Under: Technology · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Helping UPS

Posted on June 19, 2010 ·

I think UPS needs help finding my place, so I’ve printed a map for them:

ups map

They obviously don’t have a map and are trying to deliver my package from Amazon by way of Sacramento, or perhaps a nice coastal trip up to Seattle and back.  That’s the only logical explanation for them to schedule delivery for June 22nd, when the package arrived in San Pablo on June 17th.

Now, with my map they know I’m only 41 miles away.  And I feel good, having saved them all that extra gas.  🙂

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Filed Under: Misc · Tagged: , , , ,
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Office Depot Deceptive Advertising

Posted on January 29, 2010 ·

For being a netbook-fan I admit I am in the market for a super-slim lightweight laptop.  The market has evolved, the current slimbooks are only slightly more expensive than netbooks, and I find the 13.3” screen size an ideal compromise between portability and straining my eyes with the tiny screens.  So I was quite happy to see what I consider a good deal: a HP DM3 for $449 @ Office Depot.

office depot dm3

I found it on DealNews a few days ago, but it became impossible to purchase almost immediately. I tried it for a few days, most recently just minutes ago, but am always getting the same response: no inventory.

insuff stock

The other SKU is available though, for $150 more. It appears the be the same configuration, without the discount.  I tried to tweet up @OfficeDepot, but I guess they are busy handing out cookies.  Finally I had an online chat with Customer Service, which basically conformed my suspicion: the SKU that’s available is the same physical unit, just without the discount.  So here’s the beef (not cookie):

  • Office Depot is advertising a computer at $449
  • The price is listed as effective through Jan 30th, without mentioning any restriction on how many they are selling at this price
  • They do have available inventory
  • They refuse to sell it at the listed price

If this is not false advertising, I don’t know what is.

Finally, see the script of my Customer Service chat:

Office Depot Online Help

Chat Dialog

CSR Gary has entered the session.
Zoli: looking at item# 328626 – says no inventory. The same config available for $150 more under different SKU. But this one says price valid till Jan 30 – so how can I buy it?
CSR Gary: Thank you for contacting Office Depot , Please give me a moment, while I check that for you.
Zoli: thanks
CSR Gary: You are welcome
CSR Gary: Thank you for being on hold
CSR Gary: I am sorry item “328626” is no longer available for purchase
Zoli: Isn’t 808119 the same?
CSR Gary: yes it is the same
CSR Gary: may i have your zip code
Zoli: 94566
CSR Gary: item 808119 is available for purchase
CSR Gary: please do call our customer care
department @ 1-800-463-3768 and they will help you in
placing this order
Zoli: I see the availability online. but it is the identical product for $150 more then the other price, which claims to be valid till 1/30
CSR Gary: Yes
CSR Gary: We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused.
CSR Gary: Is there anything else I may assist you with?
Zoli: It’s not a matter of inconvenience. If your website claims it is avail for $449, and you do have inventory, then you should be sellign it for that price, not $599
Zoli: Otherwise this feels like deceptive advertising
CSR Gary: I am sorry the item is available until stocks last
CSR Gary: I will escalate this issue to the concerned department to remove the out of stock item from the website
Zoli: OK. Thanks.
Zoli: I’m blogging this as a case of deceptive advertising

Update – I guess I should not be surprised:  Office Depot Associates Routinely Lie about Notebook Stock – reported Laptop Magazine almost a year ago.

Update #2:  Did Office Depot really need this:

(Cross-posted @ CloudAve )

Filed Under: Marketing / PR · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Amazon, the World’s Default Shopping Destination (or is it Zamazon now?)

Posted on July 22, 2009 ·

Capture Recently I wrote about PaaS by Amazon – an no, as much as we like thinking of Amazon as the the key Cloud Computing infrastructure provider, it wasn’t about Platform as a Service.  It was about Pasta as a Service.  Yes, I am buying Al Dente Carba-Nada as a subscription.

After all, before it become the uber-cloud-provider, Amazon started in retail – actually, as the company that revolutionized retail forever.

Do you know how many product search / comparison engines there are today?   I don’t.   A few years ago if I wanted to find something online, I probably used those comparison engines – then a funny thing happened.  I noticed that I would end up @ Amazon – direct or via a Marketplace vendor – anyway. Might as well stop wasting time…  nowadays I will still research major electronics, but for less than $100 purchases I will simply jump to Amazon.  They do not always have the best price, but often enough, and the convenience of shopping from a trusted source, safe delivery and excellent service (no-questions-asked refund when my netbook developed a problem)  makes it a no-brainer.

We’re also converting our real-world shopping to Amazon: would you spend a few hours driving around looking for a stupid little spare part, or just order it online, even if shipping makes it a few bucks more expensive?  (i.e. is two hours of your time worth $5?)  I’m clearly not the only one: the UPS truck, formerly rarely seen in residential areas makes its stops in my street every day now.  But back to Amazon, here’s a trick to save on shipping: a lot of products are eligible for Free Super Saver shipping when you spent $25. How many times did you search for a penny-item to buy when your total came to $24.19?   Add the non-immediate purchases to your “shopping list”, then bundle them with a larger purchase next time.

Another option to get free delivery and shave off an additional 15%: Subscribe and Save.  Who would have thought one day we’d be subscribing to groceries?   But it makes sense when it comes to regularly consumed items. I have subscriptions for tea,  sunscreen and several other products that are not easy to find in regular stores, I am using regularly, and the subscription price is favorable @ Amazon.  Subscription does not mean hard commitment: you can adjust the frequency of delivery, skip individual shipments, request immediate shipment and even cancel without any penalty (phone companies better pay attention!).

In short, Amazon has become my default vendor by good price and convenience.  With a few exceptions, and shoes were on of them – until today.  Zappos is (has been?) arguably the world’s best online source to buy shoes.

But it’s not primarily a shoe-seller.  It’s the Ultimate Customer Service company.  Shopping at Zappos means a few things:

  • best price (or close to it)
  • easy sizing
  • crowdsourced feedback
  • painless, no-hassles, free returns (two-way postage included)

In other words not only they have the largest inventory of shoes (the choice is actually overwhelming) they invented the formula for risk free, convenient shopping  – why even get in the car and go to shoe stores?

Well, now it’s all part of Amazon in a transaction just shy of $1 Billion.  Zappos CEO Toni Hsieh assured his employees and customers he would continue to run Zappos as it is.   I believe him – for now, since once again, Zappos is all about service.  They have a better model than Amazon, and would quickly lose customers if Amazon fully integrated them, applying their own (otherwise outstanding, just not Zappos-level) return policies.  And it’s not like there’s nowhere else to run: my personal favorite has been ShoeBuy, which may be a Zappos copy-cat, but it perfected the art: same service principles, and often slightly lower prices.

If Zappos blinks and becomes too Amazon-ized, ShoeBuy will thrive.  Otherwise they better watch out.  And oh..hm… I don’t want to be in the shoes (pun intended) of many current shoe-sellers on Amazon.

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(Cross-posted @ CloudAve)

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Filed Under: Business, Customer Service · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,
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Accessorize Your Algorithm, Amazon :-)

Posted on June 2, 2009 ·

I think this email promo I’ve just received from Amazon after purchasing the replacement filters (first item shown) speaks for itself.  I guess if I had bought a kitchen sink or some furniture, they would offer a house as accessory.smile_regular

Filed Under: Humor, Marketing / PR · Tagged: , ,