Unreliability of electronic purchases

During the time of dial-up internet, I had on few occasions, made internet purchases of toys and books which I had either delivered at my doorstep or shipped to a foreign address to be handcarried by a relative on her way back home. The transaction entailed keying in a 16-digit credit card number [encrypted, to “ensure” safety] and the merchandise would soon be on its way. How convenient, I thought. Internet purchases were not only quick, reliable and safe, but the goods also often turned out cheaper even with the added shipping costs. Indeed the internet, coupled with the credit facilities of a VISA made life as a homemaker somewhat more exciting for me back then.

With the arrival of stores with better inventory, some even offering book order service, my “need” to order merchandise online lessened. I did not buy anything for a while until a year ago when I attempted to buy a techie gadget with instructions to ship it to a US address to be carried by a friend home, like I used to do. As almost a week passed without my credit card company verifying the purchase like it always did, I called the company’s 1-800 number only to get a curt reply as “they did not accept credit cards issued in the Philippines” for purchases in excess of $50. With no further explanation than company policy and unaware of what was then happening in the world of e-commerce, it did not make sense to me. To my knowledge, my credit account did not have a history of fraud. But where was I supposed to complain to? To the credit card company? (They were not even aware of my purchase transaction with the Internet seller). I don’t remembering bothering much about this thought but it certainly made me think of e-commerce as unreliable.

As a consumer who belatedly learned about fraudulent big-time purchases made using stolen credit card information, I never before realized how unsafe they could be. While pushing for the adoption of ICT for individual and collective commercial growth may be good on the one hand, the move may not be sustained in the long run without laying the legal groundwork in the form of government policies and regulatory measures addressing the safety of electronic payments preferably with a tamper-proof verification system to make them safe once again. And since internet involves reaching out to the global market, policies providing for remedies in case of fraud must be established to maintain “acceptability” of credit cards in e-commerce because the suspension of the credit facility of consumers from an entire country hampers the reliability of e-commerce and discourages the market that fuels the business. Until regulations and remedies are put in place, how can we expect businesses, especially the small to medium-sized ones, to bother investing in expensive technology when weighing the promise of a better business [in general] against the promise of headaches due to lack of mechanisms protecting both businesses and consumers, makes it seem like it is not worth it? Before these basic constraints are dealt with, I am afraid we can only dream that our local industries seriously consider integrating ICT into their businesses.

-Marichelle B. Recio