Missing orders on the increase.

ever since I agreed to replace one back November

[Essex_boy]

Now I may be paranoid but I rarely get orders going astray, they are low value and bulky so you really wouldnt bother cheating me.

However back in November I had a parcel vanish, so I offered to reship a similar order free of any charge.

Guess what happens next?

I get shed loads of orders that disappear in the mail.

Ive never heard of this, but are there sites out there where you can post URLS of ecom sites that are easy to rip off?

Weird thing is, many of the missing orders come from people claiming to be Dr's of some sort or other.

[jwolthuis]

I'm not aware of a website that lists gullible eCommerce sites.

I insure every package that leaves my dock, and add the cost of the insurance into my shipping rates.

The customer takes ownership when it leaves my hands, and any damage or loss is reimbursed by the carrier.

[Essex_boy]

Well yes thats an idea but the items are so cheap....

[jsinger]

I'm not aware of a website that lists gullible eCommerce sites.

Neither am I. "Nigerian" gangs may share tips among themselves but I've never heard of such a thing otherwise.

Our missing orders are about 1 in 10,000 and I wouldn't be quick to blame the customer for those few.

Anyone know of the existence ecommerce fraud "tip" sites?

[budgie]

I'm not aware of any sites like that either, but perhaps you can find a pattern in the claims, like similar areas, products, times of day etc? We certainly get the occasional lost parcel, but we're talking a fraction of a percentage of the total orders. You could check merchant databases like Cardaware (in the UK) to see whether similar claims have been made for those people, in which case you could cancel the order before it goes out. You may need to start sending things recorded mail for a while so you can track them - the 70p or whatever it is extra is surely cheaper than resending the order?

[ytswy]

Here's an old register [theregister.co.uk] story about card fraudsters using irc channels.

[ytswy]

Here's another old article [csoonline.com] (very long), this one about DDOS extortionists, who also apparently form communities over irc.

The point I'm making from these links is that these kind of criminals do seem to communicate with each other over the internet, although I'd guess rarely if ever using an actual website. Both the articles imply that this isn't just between people who already know each other, but that they form communities - and share information - with people they meet online.

[Sreekanth]

In case you are suspecting some kind of organised fraud it is always better to take precautionary measures like the following:
- Restrict buyers by country using IP address etc
- Use Address verification services to compare shipping and billing address of credit card

These can to some extent help you prevent fraud if any.

[Essex_boy]

All of these orders come from the states, oddly enough Id say within 200 radius of New York, all have respectable titles Dr etc, all relating to not receiving half the order.

One complaint today, (I sent 4 jars in two packages, received both parcels, one was fine the other had a jar missing and one jar had been opened!

Ship to other states Texas, California and all I have no trouble with.

All very odd.

[edited by: Essex_boy at 5:42 am (utc) on April 4, 2007]

[Sreekanth]

Do you use different vendors to ship within your state as compared to shipping to Texas etc? If so maybe that explains it?

[dial_d]

Why not just track the shipments?

I had a customer once complain they that their package got lost. I sent them a very polite email with a link to the USPS site that showed that the package had been delivered to the address they provided.

I never heard from them again.

[ispy]

Once again...
You must send your shipments signature required. If you do not do this you are waiving your rights to defend yourself in a chargeback situation. It's similar to telling the post office you don't need insurance. If it breaks you pay. Well if you get a dishonest customer without the required signature service...you pay.

[Essex_boy]

Update: Just found an affiliate who'd changed URL's they run a site on getting 'free stuff' if you get my drift.

Ill give them something for free if I ever meet 'em!

[jsinger]

Are you saying your "affiliate" is instructing visitors on how to rip off commerce sites or recommending sites that are easily ripped off?

[Patrick Taylor]

The customer takes ownership when it leaves my hands.

That's an interesting concept.

[Realbrisk]

"Ive never heard of this, but are there sites out there where you can post URLS of ecom sites that are easy to rip off? "

Yes, there are allot of them ,you should Google card-able sites and you will get all the works.

You should watch Chris Hanson show regarding fraud

[msnbc.msn.com...]

for future prevention tips you should join Merchant911.org its free

[Essex_boy]

recommending sites that are easily ripped off? - Thats the one! Ive deleted the URl now but when looked it talked about how my cart could be exploited as the payment process is two step.

It may not be noticed that the 'customer' hasnt paid but the order has been processed.

I got caught like this years ago when I first started in ecommerce, so im a bit wary now and only ship according to the processors emails.

Sad really, im not shipping high value items at all.