With the holiday season in full swing, some shoppers are finding e-commerce to be more painful than helpful.
Customers are telling stories of pathetic customer service, out-of-stock merchandise, botched orders and late deliveries.
Some are even biting the bullet and heading out to brave the crowds at one of the local malls.
Internet shopping took off last Christmas at an unexpectedly rapid pace, but there were plenty of glitches that left customers frustrated, irritated and uncertain of doing business there again.
This year, online merchants had their sights set on providing better, easier to use service, but so far, things haven’t been much different than last year.
“I bought a shirt for my dad from Banana Republic, and it never came,” said Chris Esterly, an Institute of Tecnology senior.
“It was supposed to be here two weeks ago, but we haven’t seen it yet. Banana said they sent it through UPS, and UPS lost it. They haven’t reimbursed me; they haven’t sent another shirt. They haven’t done anything,” he said. “It sucks.”
With Internet sales expected to make up about 10 percent of holiday purchases and more than 10 million new people expected to shop online this year, e-sellers know they can’t afford to falter.