When it comes to online shopping, many consumers complain about false promises from retailers, hidden costs and inadequate data and fraud protection. This emerges from a Forsa survey commissioned by the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations.
In detail, almost two thirds of all respondents (65 percent) feel that they are not protected, or not well protected at all, against misleading advertising or hidden costs when shopping online.
Poor level of protection of personal data complained about
Almost as many complain about an inadequate level of protection for their personal data (64 percent) and inadequate protection against fraud or dubious providers (60 percent).
On the other hand, the majority of consumers feel that their rights regarding cancellation and returns when shopping online are rather well or very well protected (71 percent).
Delivery times too long and poor customer service
And what specific experiences have online shoppers had in the last two years? The biggest problem areas cited here were longer delivery times than stated (55 percent), difficult customer service (51 percent) and poor product quality (49 percent).
A good fifth of online shoppers (22 percent) said they had not had any problems with their purchases online in the past 24 months. For the representative survey, 1,503 people aged 14 and over were interviewed by telephone.
Don’t blindly believe price promises
When it comes to price promises or discounts, you shouldn’t rely on the information provided by a retailer alone. In general, consumer advocates recommend that you always compare the current prices in different shops or with the help of price search engines before making a purchase. It’s best to always use at least two different price search engines.
Fraudulent retailers and fake shops, which brazenly copy popular shop pages, can be uncovered with the help of the consumer advice center’s fake shop finder. The following always applies as basic protection in online trading: Never pay in advance.