7 Terms & Conditions That Can Ruin Your Online Shopping Experience

If there’s one thing Malaysians love more than good food, it’s online shopping. The number of online shopping transactions have been increasing from year to year, with a 161% increase in 2016 from the previous year. That’s a 14.6 million jump up to 38.2 million in just one year.

Malaysia is also leading with the highest penetration of online shoppers in South East Asia. To add on to that, the recent 11.11 sales saw Lazada generate more than RM100 million of gross merchandise value (GMV), which proves that the love for online shopping is showing no signs of slowing down.

But online shopping can be risky for the buyer if you don’t know how to protect your rights. Lazada experienced a number of issues recently, including backend and logistic issues, as well as items being cancelled without notification and no refund as well.

With so many issues being brought up after such major sales, it’s time for buyers to know their rights by keeping themselves informed on major e-shopping website’s terms and conditions and what to expect during your e-shopping experience.

Before your start shopping

Before you start spending, there are a few terms and conditions that you will need to look out for:

Payment plans and fees

Payment is one of the major factors you will need to consider when  shopping online. A lot of focus is put on credit card, but there are other forms of payments you can consider. Here are some of the most common methods of payment:

At the time of writing, none of the above merchants accept instalment payment via debit cards. Maybank seems to be the preferred choice when it comes to payment plans for both Lazada and 11street, while Shopee does not offer instalment plans.

Sometimes you may find yourself paying more than the listed price for the item purchased due to some hidden processing fees. Lazada has a few of those, especially with instalment payments. If you opt for instalment, you will be charged a RM79 fee for each installment payment you make. If you decide to cancel your purchase 24 hours after making your purchase, a minimum of 15% of the total amount will be imposed on top of the processing fee. This does not include the transaction fees charged by your credit card company!

To give you a better idea of these charges, let’s say you buy a TV worth RM1,688 and you sign up for the 12-month instalment plan of RM140.67 per month, here’s how much you can be charged if you cancel your purchase. Despite stating that the TV can be returned in 14 days, but if you signed up for instalment and you cancel your purchase after 24 hours, you will be charged RM253.20 + RM79 = RM332.20 as a penalty.

If you’re opting for Cash on Delivery (COD), which is only available in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Bahru, you will be charged an additional RM 5 per order, with Lazada arranging the best timing with you.

Shipping options

Any shopaholic would love to have free shipping for all their purchases, but free shipping isn’t always a given as it depends on the seller as well as the products. But you may be able to get discounts and free shipping during special promotions, or even when you get discount codes.

If you prefer a certain logistics company, you would be keen to know if the delivery option you want is available to you. So here’s what you need to know in terms of shipping.

Setting up an account

If you create multiple accounts to take advantage of first-time buyer deals, you could be at risk of being caught. Shopping platforms are taking note of such accounts, and you may find your account being restricted or even deleted.

For 11street and Shopee, as your account would be either suspended or limited, it means you still have time to contact the shopping platform to clarify any misunderstandings that could have happened. With Lazada, though, your account will be terminated without any prior notice, so it’s likely that you will lose your account for good. So watch out and use your account carefully!

When you are shopping

It’s time to shop! But wait, there are still some important information you need to take note of during the shopping process. Look out for product warranties, guarantees and even return policies as they play an important role and may vary for different products and sellers.

Other factors include if the item you want will be delivered safely, as well as earning points to be utilised in the future. Here’s what you need to know.

Earning points

One of the ways to keep customers coming back to the side is to reward them.

Earning points with Lazada is a lot tougher if you’re the kind to make full use of vouchers and promotions, whereas Shopee has a limit to how many coins you can earn daily and weekly. With 11street, you will need to keep checking on how many points you’re getting and when it expires as it won’t tell you outright on this.

Delivery warranty

Each platform offers different forms of warranty which is good to know to see if you get the product safely delivered to you.

Lazada mentions in their terms and condition that their warranty period lasts for a year upon the item’s delivery. On the other hand, 11street does not provide any delivery warranty, and they abstain from all responsibilities, so you will need to check with the seller’s exchange and return policy before purchasing anything on the site.

Shopee has Shopee Guarantee that withholds payments to the seller if the buyer does not confirm receiving the item. This warranty lasts for five to seven days, which you can extend once for another three days. If you fail to receive the item within the stated time, you can request for a refund as long as your guarantee is still valid.

The aftersales

This is where most of the problems occur, from receiving damaged items to not receiving the items at all, and even orders being cancelled unknowingly. So, what can a buyer do in times like these.

Refund

Whether it’s because you cancelled the order or the product you received wasn’t what you expected, you may be keen to get a refund but it doesn’t always come in the format that you want. Here’s how you’ll get back your refund depending on which payment you used as well as the timing it will take to receive the refund.

Shipping fees to return item

So you’ve received the item and it’s not exactly what you expected. On top of getting the refund, you will also have to return the item. But does that mean you have to pay for it too?

With Lazada, you can return without any worries of a shipping fee as long as it’s within the easy returns timing of either seven or 14 days. You can find out if your product falls between seven, 14 days or no return available based on the logo shown on the product page.

For both 11street and Shopee, the sellers are usually the ones to bear the cost but there are exceptions. For 11street, the buyer will have to pay the return shipping fees if the reason to return the items is because they changed their mind and don’t want the product anymore. For Shopee, they will decide if there is a dispute between the seller and buyer.

Other factors to consider

For Shopee, a parcel that is lost or damaged by Poslaju will get a compensation of RM100 (for items up to 2kg) to RM300 (for items more than or equal to 2kg). For lost items, make sure you claim for it not more than 25 days from the pickup date. For damaged items, make the claim within three working days of the delivered date.

With Lazada, your return must meet specific requirements and if your reasoning fails to meet said requirements, their customer service will notify and return the item back to you. Sadly, you won’t be reimbursed for the courier/postal fee of that!

No matter how much of a shopaholic you are, and how well prepared you are for possible problems that could arise as you shop online, things may still go awry.

Refunds may take longer than 14 days, your item can be cancelled without warning, and the item you bought had loads of good reviews but it may still turn out not as good as what you expected.

Regardless, online shopping brings forth all sorts of experience that many are still learning from. The best way to avoid further complications is knowing the shopping platform’s terms and conditions and making sure you make a smart purchase that helps you save time and money in the future.