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Over the past more than a decade and via various methods of payment, I have purchased goods over the Internet both personally and on behalf of ‘corporate clients’. Over the years I have seen the landscape ‘move’ as it were until we have chip and pin + CV numbers.

In all honesty I suspect that because it becomes a normal activity, buying over the Internet, it becomes all too easy to get a bit blasé and today, I was confronted with such a situation and although I do not yet know how this will all turn out, I thought that I might share this as far as it goes thus far because we are all responsible for reducing credit card fraud.

Another Camera Body

For reasons that are hard to explain and although by no means a “Twitcher”, I have become fascinated with photographing some birds on the Somerset Levels and in particular, Herons and Egrets. Now at the same time and because of my love of the local sky and landscape, I am torn between extreme wide angle lenses for landscapes and telephoto ones for wildlife.

True and in the latter case, I know that I have to spend at least £800 for an extreme (but cheap) telephoto lens but also and whilst my Mum is alive, my time on the Levels is limited and if you want great shots of a Heron, you need to at least match his patience, they stand still a lot. However, my time currently is limited so all pictures are ‘snatched’ in a sense with no chance to swap lenses and therefore…

I decided that what I really needed right now was another camera body so that I could have a wide angle lens mounted on one camera and the other with a telephoto, just put one or the other to your face…

There Are Technical Things…

I will not bore you with the process that I went through at the purely technical level on deciding exactly what camera body I would buy apart from it being a Canon because all my spare lenses are – Canon !

I decided that at the right price and given that I am not able to spend on pure ‘Fancy’, realism always intervenes, I wanted a Canon 450 body to go with my Canon 40D – same generation. However, as the 450 has been superseded by the 500D at around £600 for body only and a different ‘chip and generation’ etc., I wanted a keen price for the 450D body. The thing to understand is that there are no huge profit margins in hardware of any kind, whether PCs, Mobile Phones or Cameras and consequently the prices from one supplier to another will always be similar.

Average Price

The average price for a 450 Body was around £450 including VAT (local sales tax) but, excluding delivery which would likely be another £6.50 – £12, so really, around £460 delivered. I don’t know whether because it was no longer “The Hot Product”, my suspicion was suspended for a moment but when I found a web site offering it at £418 including VAT and delivered, it seemed like a fair deal rather than a ‘stunning one’.

I would explain here that towards the end of last year and as the recession was starting to bite, I picked up a Canon IXUS camera from Amazon that was a totally stunning deal and within a fortnight doubled in price back to its ‘proper price level’ so real “Deals” can be had from time to time but this one was to me just a ‘shave’ rather than a ‘big deal’.

The Deal

I ordered it over the web and as is typical with any new supplier, you have to create an ‘account’ which involves your postal address and phone numbers and usually, your “method of payment”, all fair enough. Deal done and the various confirmation messages one expects and thus far fine until “The Phone Call”.

Over Time

Having watched “on-line payments” evolve over the years, not a lot surprises me including, the these days random follow up checks to confirm identity and correctness.

However, today I got a wake up call !

Having placed my order and supplied the details by which it would be paid plus, the confirmation emails, I then get a phone call from an Oriental Lady wishing to confirm the details of my order which is fair enough until…

The first point is that she has reached me upon the land line number given which, with the Post Code, ties up with the geographical area and asking confirmation of the email address is fair enough to but then ..

She wants the Card Number and CV which although I have been out of the front-line game for 5 years, immediately triggers alarm bells. Subsequently I have emailed the Company cancelling the order and instructed my Credit Card Company not to pay it although they the supplier, has already registered a charge for £418 against my account.

That bit I don’t care about, it was the deal I agreed and if the goods turn up in appropriate condition, I will be both delighted and feel that I had an “OKAY” deal but, not a spectacular one.

Why ?

Buyer Beware. I have bought loads of stuff across the web and with my ‘regular suppliers’ have never had a problem, they are business people doing “business” and you can totally rely on them including, when things go wrong to sort things out. The problem lies in “newer companies” and in particular those who lack a British Cultural understanding.

The Lady who phoned me may be genuine, I am used to the odd random ‘confirmation follow-up’ and she may just be both unaware and untrained in terms of her job. However she may also be the girlfriend of someone who works within the company and her boy friend sends her potential ‘Marks’ so that using their credit card details, she can buy stuff over the web on other people’s credit cards and that possibility determined my view.

I cannot imagine a “confirmation phone call” requiring the CV – “Customer Not Present” number because that is a confirmation between the credit card company and the supplier that it was “You” who ordered the goods being required unless for totally evil purposes why would anyone need it post the transaction ?

The Next Few Days

Although not totally flawless, thus far I respect CapitalOne as a Credit Card Company and have total confidence in their ability to deal with the situation they have been informed about.

For the supplier, we can all have a problem with any one deal and let us be fair, the customer is not always right but in this case and as soon as I have had ‘doubts’, they have been signalled up immediately and explained to both them and my credit card company. The next move is to send both a link to this blog so that there can be no mistake about what is required.

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