Buy.com - controversial practice..

[Lagerhead]

what is the huge deal about card numbers anyway? You go to a gas station, you could be handing some meth hed your card number. . .

This is illogical. By the same reasoning we ought not to lock our doors because, after all, they can be knocked down. Anyway, retail sales are increasingly moving to customer-swipe technology to reduce this particular threat.

Even so, this has little to do with the OP's point, namely, whether the vendor is acting with integrity.

The "big beal" about card numbers is that they are avenues for theft and fraud. There are trust relationships all along the electronic payment chain and occasionally one or another will be breached. It's an imperfect world, but most of the time -- billions of successful transactions every day -- it works.

 

[Slates]

I don't really follow the uproar either.. a lot of places that I shop online have "offers" upon checkout.. whether its for $10 off your next purchase, "free" magazines, etc. If I were to select any of those offers, I fully expect that my credit card information would be utilized to pay for them (in most cases it says so).

Just to test, I bought a gigabit switch from buy.com 2 weeks ago and didn't find the process confusing at all. I just said "No Thanks" to the offer and it was done.

Now, if I start seeing a reoccurring charge after saying "No Thanks", then I will have a beef. Otherwise, just read the stuff on the screen, its important!

 

[TXFlatLander]

Buy.com has been doing this for years -- weird that this is news on cnet.com. I just use Google Checkout (or Paypal) by clicking on the Google Checkout button after clicking "Proceed to Checkout". No nag screens or offer screens. The only thing you have to do on the Google Checkout page is change the shipping from the default Standard to Budget so it ships for free. My CC isn't shared with Buy.com and it is just one screen. Google Checkout keeps a history of every purchase I have made with Buy.com and every retailer that accepts it. It is nicer and faster than Paypal, IMO, though I have nothing against Paypal.

 

[Steve]

I understand all of the points on both sides and I have to say that for me at least while I don't think it is the best thing for buy.com (or any etailer) to hookup with these types of marketers, it would definitely not be a showstopper for me to use buy.com when I wanted to. I think people need to really read and understand the issue in depth. This should really be a no brainer for educated tech savvy folks like us. There is nothing being done here any different than you see on Go Daddy, a bunch of other retailer and even communication companies. The bottom line simplicity of it is to simply click no thanks and move on, no cc data shared, no complaints, nothing. Just one simple mouseclick to avoid the nightmare. But, if you don't read, or rush or just start clicking, then yes you can get yourself into trouble. It reminds me of the people I hear complain about software subscriptions on the iPhone or direct from cell companies. Telenav comes to mind. People are told at several points it is a paid subscription service to use the app, but people click Ok anyway then complain when they are billed a monthly service fee. Sorry, but I put the blame back on the user if they can't read a simple statement and click the proper button. Now, OTOH, sure even the best of us make mistakes and click something by accident - but if you do you should go straight to the seller and inform them to reverse what you did.

So while it may not be my favorite and most respected store, if buy.com happens to have a deal or product I want to take advantage of, I would not hesitate. But I also would be sure to click on the No Thanks button when I check out, its really that simple.

Spammers and all types of marketers are going to continue to come up with all kinds of creative ways to get our $'s. It's up to us to be careful and understand what you read and what you click to agree on. Sometimes its easy to just click away without reading and thats what usually gets us in trouble.

 

[Monk]

There is nothing being done here any different than you see on Go Daddy, a bunch of other retailer and even communication companies.

Godaddy does not supply your personal information, to include your credit card number to other companies - It is not a matter of something being presented to you at checkout - It is a matter of what is being presented to you is NOT from the same company that you originally intended to do business with.

Sorry, but I put the blame back on the user if they can't read a simple statement and click the proper button.

If you can't click the right button on the site, and you end up getting charged extra money for something you didn't intend to buy, that is indeed a user problem - However - temporary insanity / stupidity / laziness or whatever - isn't a very good reason IMHO to justify a company giving away your personal and credit information to someone who should not have it. Also - It isn't a matter of an errant click, you type in your email address -

People are not understanding, apparently, that company "A" is giving your credit card to Company "B".

From the article:
"Apparently, many consumers are unaware that for years now, e-tailers such as Buy.com, Orbitz, Fandango, and hundreds of others have given Web loyalty programs, also known as post-transaction marketers, access to their customers' credit cards. Some online shoppers don't realize that when they enter their e-mail addresses into these ads, they are opting into the programs and authorizing the charges."

Many of y'all are smart enough to avoid the pitfall, and that's good - But don't you know people, not as smart as you, who might fall for it? I'm no politician whose job it is to watch out for his constituents - but I do know wrong-doing when I see it.

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

Don't miss the point here - What the point is, is that THEY ARE SHARING YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER with other 3RD Party entities!!!

It isn't just buy.com that's doing it either.

Couldn't agree more. credit card information should NEVER be shared. As a matter of fact, other information about the customer shouldn't be shared either. It's a matter of if not written (ours is written) but at least implied trust between the customer and the vendor.

 

[harperjn]

That's some shady stuff there! I just make sure and click "No Thanks" for any of that crap.