Item Subject: cc:Mail Text
USA Today has a story about a botched order placed online through Harry and
David, the (primarily) fruit mail-order house.  Near the end, it notes:

        Another flaw: Orders entered online take longer to get into the
        system than telephone orders. Why? When you click "buy," the order
        is printed and then hand entered into the main order system.

Ugh.  Talk about an electronic facade.  (Supposedly, they've installed the
hooks "this week" to have the web order go directly to the order entry
system.

      < http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ctg805.htm >


But wait -- there's more.

I placed a couple orders online through Sharper Image.  After the order and
credit card# have been entered, the final screen says they will send two
emails:  one immediately as an order confirmation, and a second 24-48 hours
later to confirm shipment, etc.  It is only with this *second* email that
you actually receive an order#.

That's right:  the order# is not revealed (or perhaps even assigned)
until that second email!  (On that same final screen, they request that
any correspondence about the order include the order#.  Be serious.)
And given that email delivery is not guaranteed....

It turned out that even though I received only one of the four promised
email notices, the first order has been delivered, and I'm "reasonably
sure" that the second is on its way.

But what a crock.  That final screen does not even function as a receipt,
because it is just a generic screen:  no sold-to/ship-to info, no product
info, etc.


I guess I should remember that the whole online shopping thing is still in
its infancy.  But somehow that's not much consolation.

FWIW.

--Glenn