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Purchase from Buy.com, FedEx loses package; what can a consumer do?

Found in: Consumer Rights, Customer Service
Thursday
November 6, 2008
2 Comments

I’ve received an e-mail this morning from reader Eric who shares an unfortunate shopping experience with Buy.com. He ordered a hard drive which Buy.com says was delivered on October 30th. Unfortunately for him, no signature was required and the package disappeared from his front porch. This is not surprising, considering it was delivered on Mischief Night. He’s contacted Buy.com and it seems they aren’t offering much recourse to him now.

I just thought I would write since I am chock full of anger, which unfortunately is not how I should be feeling the thursday after election night.

I placed an order (#XXXXXXXXX) for an external TB firewire LaCie drive from buy.com and waited for it’s arrival. Nothing came. Several days after the date that was indicated in my shipping email I tried contacting them and after several false starts- they have a terrible support system- my order was reviewed and I was told I already had the item. That it was delivered, and that since Buy.Com does not request a signature the item was “left outside”. Now my wife works from home, so she’s always home, so I’m not sure how she didn’t hear the delivery person ring the bell. Worse yet the “delivery” date was Mischief night, October 30th, so it’s hard to believe they would leave a 300 dollar item outside without getting a signature.

Buy.com “reviewed” my claim and denied me via an automated email with no option for appeal. After writing them back I was told this,

Per company policy: “Title to goods passes to you upon delivery to the common carrier.” (http://www.buy.com/corp/legal.asp). Basically this says that once a product is in transit via the shipping carrier, the ownership and responsibility of the product has passed from Buy.com to the customer. It is the customer’s responsibility from this point forward to make sure someone is at the delivery address provided to accept the package. If no one is available at this address at the time of delivery, the carrier is authorized to leave the package at the door and the order is considered completed at that time. Basically, the security of the delivery location provided by the customer falls under the responsibility of the customer.

So apparently when you make a purchase from Buy.com you are actually not buying it yourself, but rather purchasing the item for a delivery service that may or may not send you the item. So what is to prevent the delivery agent from keeping the item, giving it to a friend, covering it with glitter and making a puppet friend?

I have tried to file a claim with paypal (what I used to pay), but I was hoping you might have some more information on what my rights are as a purchaser? Also if nothing else, please let others know this policy.

Buy.com customer service has offered no assistance or alternatives in resolving this matter. Here they basically tell the consumer that he is shit out of luck from their end. At the very least, I would think that they should offer to contact FedEx on the consumer’s behalf to assist in the investigation.

Is it the responsibility of e-commerce stores to work with the carrier to ensure packages get to the customer? At which point should a signature be required for delivery? If the retailer is going to offer no assistance in making sure packages get delivered, what other rights do consumers have in this type of situation?

New Jersey to establish prescription drug comparision website

Found in: Consumer Rights, New Jersey, Retail
Monday
August 21, 2006
1 Comment

The supermarket near my house rennovated part of the store last year and put in a pharmacy. Across the street is an Eckerd, one traffic light away is a Drug Fair, about a half mile away is a Rite-Aid, and maybe a mile and a half the other way is a CVS. Throw in a smattering of some other local pharmacies in the town and a Target with a pharmacy nearby. They all share one thing in common – they were all around before this supermarket put in it’s new pharmacy last year – and now, they’re all around after this failed experiment.

This weekend I went shopping and noticed the pharmacy shuttered with a sign saying that all prescriptions have been transferred to Drug Fair. “Due to business considerations”, the sign says the pharmacy has been closed.

running a pharmacy can’t be an easy thing – I’d imagine that there’s an outlay of at least $150k in payroll, minimum, per year. Maybe I’m off base and that number is much higher or much lower, but either way, I didn’t see this phamarcy doing very well. It’s not suprising that this one closed so soon.

But as one pharmacy closes, New Jersey pharmacies are about to undergo a radical change in the retail landscape as Governor Jon Corzine signed legislation that will establish a website allowing consumers to comparision shop for prescription drugs. From the AP:

Under the legislation, the Division of Consumer Affairs will establish and maintain a state prescription-drug retail-price registry that will be updated at least weekly. The Web site, which will be in English and Spanish, will allow visitors to comparison-shop for prescription drugs by name, dosage and ZIP code, the Governor’s Office said. The information will also be available on a toll-free hotline and at pharmacies in the state.

There is a similar website/service in New York (www.nyagrx.org) which reportedly has helped bring prescription drug prices down $17 per prescription.

As a resident in New Jersey, I’m really excited for this service. The Internet has long given consumers the ability to research products and shop for the best deal. As energy prices have risen, so have websites that allow you to find the best gas price in your neighborhood. Putting this kind of information out there, in a very accessable way, gives consumers the information they need to make smarter choices. I believe it also leads to better service, as everyone is now competing harder for the same dollar.

This change will be great for New Jersye consumers, but it will make a very competive retail enviroment even more cut-throat. If this spurs competition and drives prices down, how will pharmacuetical retailers like CVS and Eckerd react? Will this hurt local pharmacies more and give an edge to national chains?

If anyone has any information on how this has actually affected the pharmaceutical retail landscape in New York, and other states that have these comparision web sites, I’d be very interested in hearing about it.