When purchasing goods online it can be quite daunting if the expected delivery date passes without a knock on the door from the postman. You might also be dreading the thought of opening your parcel to reveal a damaged item that doesn’t work and has missing parts.

Thankfully, consumer rights are in place to aid people who purchase online and don’t get what they expect. Here are a few things to consider with regards to consumer rights before purchasing online.

If you are not satisfied with the item you have received after an online purchase, you may be entitled to a refund. In most cases the chance of a refund expires after a certain amount of time, which could be anything from a few days to a whole month. Always check the refund or returns section carefully before purchasing an item online.

It is advised that you use a credit card to make a purchase that exceeds £100. The Consumer Credit Act states that anyone who spends over £100 on their credit card has legal rights, giving you an upper hand should something go wrong with the purchase.

RAND Logistics can deliver items promptly on an international scale, so if you need to ship a parcel to Italy or anywhere else in the world make sure you come to RAND first for a great quote.

Today we’ll be looking at what it is you need to watch out for when purchasing something online in order to prevent criminals from accessing your card details and making transactions in your name. You can significantly reduce the risk of this happening to you in the future by following our guidelines here at RAND.

If you are ever required to enter your PIN number when shopping online, do not proceed with the payment. PIN numbers are only meant for physical card transactions from a cash machine and a physical store checkout. Criminals can easily obtain your PIN number by asking you for it in a transaction, so always watch out for this!

In most cases, websites that you purchase from will require you to enter a security code found on the back of your card. This is the usual practice when purchasing online and doesn’t need to be avoided. Websites are not allowed to store personal information, so if they request this without express permission, think twice before purchasing here.

Finally, many sites will save your card details so that you can make transactions easily in the future. It is much safer to delete your card details and provide them again only when you make another purchase, unless you know the site can be trusted.

If you are sending a parcel internationally this winter, make the most of our services here at RAND and make sure any purchase you make in the near future complies with our guidelines.

It’s our second day of awareness for safely shopping online and today we’ll be focusing on the ins and outs of making a payment online. It’s vital that you are made aware of the reliability of the seller before offering up your card details, so make sure you follow our guide before making a payment.

The vast majority of online shopping sites will encourage you to purchase items by adding to an online shopping basket. Sites like this are usually major outlets and can be trusted. Always read the terms and conditions before making a purchase as all shopping outlets are different. This process usually occurs before you’ve made the payment. The final step is always making the payment from your credit or debit card, so keep this in mind when shopping online.

Another indication that a sites online shopping option is reliable is if they use PayPal to process a payment. PayPal is a secure payment option whereby you sign up and register your credit or debit card details. Any payment you make online is activated by PayPal using your account details.

Finally and most important of all is the security protocols when making a payment. Whilst it doesn’t happen all the time, usually you will be greeted with another layer of security before processing a payment. This is another password associated with your online transactions, often used by Visa and MasterCard for added security.

The above steps are commonly associated with making a reliable payment online so always make sure that you analyse the payment process carefully before submitting your payment. If you are planning on shipping a parcel to an online buyer in the near future, make the most of our services here at RAND. We ship internationally making our service ideal for any online seller.

This week we will be looking at the safety measures that go hand-in-hand with online shopping. It’s extremely important to make sure that you are dealing with a safe and secure website when purchasing items online, whilst you also need to become aware of suspicious behaviour during online sales if you want to avoid a bad online experience. Today we are focusing on how to identify a secure site to shop online with.

Many websites from fast food restaurants to major electrical outlets make use of the efficiency and practicality of online credit. However, it’s vital that you know how to identify a secure website before providing your credit card details. A site is secure if they possess a small padlock in the address bar, whilst the ‘s’ at the end of ‘https’ stands for the word ‘secure’.

Never jump at offers that seem unrealistic. Most sites that let you trade over the internet with other people struggle to identify scammers, so think twice before purchasing what looks like a 50 inch plasma TV for £50. You can back up your knowledge of the site you’ve encountered by using Google or asking friends and family about it but if you’ve got your suspicions, don’t take the risk.

Need to send a parcel internationally? RAND can provide you with a safe and secure service that gets your parcel from A to B in good time. Contact us today for more information about the services we offer.