Sir Tim, who dreamt up the web 20 years ago, said he bought a Christmas present from an online shop. It was only when the present didn't arrive that he realised he had been conned.
GaryK
1:33 pm on Mar 16, 2009 (gmt 0)
Why didn't a smart guy like him stop right there?
"The moment I called the 0800 number listed on the website, there was a very polite message saying this number is available if you would like to use it, so a little bit of due diligence on my part would have revealed it wasn't what it was set up to be."
MatthewHSE
9:07 pm on Mar 16, 2009 (gmt 0)
Why didn't a smart guy like him stop right there?
A smart guy like him might have wanted an example case to illustrate his point. ;)
GaryK
12:11 am on Mar 17, 2009 (gmt 0)
Does that mean he was, essentially, lying about not realizing it was a fraud until sometime later when the present never arrived? I suppose the whole thing could be a ruse. But it would sure make Daddy Web look like a fool/tool. :)
g1smd
1:36 am on Mar 17, 2009 (gmt 0)
Sounds like he only called the number after the online transaction failed. I mean, if you're ordering through the website, why would you also call the number? I assume that the number once worked, but the number got closed down before the website did.
GaryK
2:35 am on Mar 17, 2009 (gmt 0)
I guess it depends on the amount of the transaction. I've called a merchant before placing a large online order just to see if they were for real and to ask some questions.
But you're right, you could interpret it as he called only when the transaction appeared to have failed.
