Shopping
safely online

TWO LEFT FEET IN ADMINISTRATION

Many parents to be and new parents will be very concerned at the loss
of an online organisation, Two Left Feet, that sells baby equipment.

With the news now reporting that officially the Two Left Feet website
is entering into administration, shoppers will be looking for reassurance
and guidance on how to shop safely for baby products.

The links below will not be available for long and if you wish to read
the personal message from Richard Bone M.D. of Two Left Feet and the staff,
please click on the links available below:

Dear Customers, Suppliers and Staff, We are absolutely
devastated to advise that Two Left Feet has been forced into Administration
by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

This will have significant impact on our customers,
suppliers and staff for which we truly apologise. In view of the position
we have been forced into, we have no option but to advise all customers
awaiting delivery of goods or refunds to contact the card issuer that
was used for the purchase through us for assistance and advice and not
to take advice from online blogs or forums, but seek advice from your
card issuer. Administrators will be in contact with customers, suppliers
and staff in due course and is beyond our control or direction.

The business has always been run with honesty to which
please download the attached document,
which highlights the ultimate reasons for our business failing.

Please see the attached message from Two
Left Feet staff.

Please see the attached personal message from Richard
Bone, Managing Director.

We are all truly sorry. Two Left Feet

Two Left Feet were recently featured on Watchdog

Babyworld is a secure, reliable site and we wanted to help
our members to understand the best way to purchase baby products on-line
and what you should look for.

1. Does the website display their physical address
   on their contact details page?
   It’s often nice to have the assurance that you are dealing with a company
   with real “bricks and mortar” offices in the UK.
2. Does the site displays a phone number that you
   can call and speak to real people?
   Similarly a landline number quoted on the website means that you can
   call them if you have any problems.
3. Does the site has display an email address that
   you can contact them on?
   Check the contact page or about us pages on the site that you wish to
   purchase from.
4. Does the site actually have the goods in stock.
   Do they say when the goods will be delivered?
   Many online retailers will take orders for goods that they don’t have
   in stock. Some suppliers are notoriously slow to deliver and so it means
   that delivery of your items could be many weeks away. Babyworld has
   always had a policy of only selling what it has in stock.
5. Does the site have a valid certificate from a
   reputable certification authority?
   Verisign, www.verisign.com
   or Thawte, www.thawte.com
   are leading certification providers. The provide the assurance you need
   that the company you are dealing with is secure, viable and trustworthy.
   The site should display a security certificate when you reach the checkout
   or earlier. Secure websites will also use https:// rather than http://
   in their domain and some browsers will also display a padlock on the
   browser.
6. Does the company have a privacy policy as regards
   your personal data?
   Ideally the company will display their policy regarding the security
   of any personal data that you enter
7. Does the company have a returns policy?
   You should also check the returns policy that the site offers and ensure
   that if you have a problem with your goods or they cannot be delivered
   in time, then you can get a refund swiftly and painlessly.
8. Have you seen favourable or unfavourable reviews
   of the website?
   There are plenty of review sites and blogs where you can look up the
   company’s domain name and see if they have had any adverse publicity
   or whether they have a good reputation for poor service. e.g www.dooyoo.co.uk
9. Does the site use a secure payments system?
   In order for your transaction to be secure the site should be using
   a secure payments system e.g. Worldpay, www.worldpay.com
   or Protx , www.protx.com. These systems
   will ensure that your credit card data used is valid. Many of these
   companies also include sophisticated fraud checking measures that prevent
   your card details being used by someone else. An example of this is
   the 3D secure schemes www.babyworld.co.uk/shop/3dsecure.asp)
   run by Visa and Mastercard. These schemes enable you to create a password
   specifically for your credit card so that you can use your card online
   with confidence.
10. Do you know someone who has used the site before
    and would they recommend the site?
    If you know someone who has used the site and had a good experience
    then the site is probably OK. Some sites will display testimonials from
    satisfied customers but you can always ask around on the blogs and forums
    too.

Date
1st April 2009

Where to next?

• Do you have an opinion about this story? Share
  your views in Discuss, Debate and Deliberate

• Read other recent
  news stories
• For more stories, visit babyworld’s news
  archive