Online Ethics and Company Formation

Honesty is the best policy…

The weather outside may be frightful but some of the online ethics out there at the moment aren’t quite delightful. A major gripe this festive season is hidden costs. You’re happily shopping online, satisfied with the price quoted on the home page, then bang! The checkout displays a bloated, chunkier version of the original.

Now what has happened in this short period from the basket to the checkout? Has the price overdone the Christmas pudding? Too many Turkey sandwiches perhaps? No. You were deceived, that original price was just a front to grab your attention and pull you in. A sure case of “what you see is not what you get”!
What makes matters worse is that this added extra has a name, a reason for being. Be it the fee that the company is being charged to process the order or the old classic, postage and packaging. Whatever the case it raises the same question. “Why can’t this be included in the original quote”? If etailers are so embarrassed about the price that they won’t publish it ‘up front’ why don’t they simply change it?  Surely that’s got to be better for the brand than upsetting customers at the checkout with ‘nasty surprises’!