Online Purchases: Are they really convenient?

A few days ago, I bought a pair of 3-inch stilletos via Facebook.

Ordering was super fast and easy -- all thanks to Burger King’s free WIFI and my awesome typing prowess. I merely filled up an online form , clicked the “Order” button, and viola! My shoes were on their way from Singapore.

Paying was a different story altogether. As I entered the bank (to deposit payment to the seller's account), I was greeted with a horrifying sight of a ridiculously long que. Things would have been tolerable had numbers been distributed and seats been graciously provided. But, no. Everyone – young or old, male or female, in slippers or in heels, were standing there for an hour or so. To make things worse, there was only one teller open. Paying was so anti-climatic that I came home grumpy and exhausted.

It was then I asked myself, are online purchases really convenient?

Yes, most of the time.

I am not a newbie when it comes to online purchases. I have booked dozens of airplane tickets as well as concert tickets (may it be Gary V's or the San Miguel Orchestra's) online since college. For the past two years, I have ordered school supplies through www.nationalbookstore.com.ph and have them delivered right at my doorstep. In fact, last semester, this website spared me from the trouble of checking out every NBS branch for a 100-page Corona notebook. I sent a flower bouquet for my favorite tita’s birthday, red roses for my mom on Mothers’ Day, and white tulips for a departed relative in GenSan via www.flowersexpress.com.ph. I even bought groceries without leaving the house through Rustans’ online services. So far, these transactions made life convenient for me. Perhaps what made my latest online purchase difficult was that it wasn’t paid via credit (ie. credit card). I literally had to go out and deposit my payment somewhere. Perhaps that day was also a sorry mix of bad luck and bad timing. Either way, that bad experience won't keep me from buying (maybe another pair of heels) online. :D