Online Purchase Protection

crispyduck_2

Hi guys

I was hoping to get some help with this.

I'm looking to buy a watch from Japan which isn't sold anywhere else in the world. the manufacturer doesn't sell direct to the public and won't recommend any suppliers.

I have found three retailers based in Japan who are willing to sell and ship me the watch and have all been recommended to me by the online watch community as reputable people.

My fear is that I will buy the item (around £1,000) and it doesn't arrive or when it does it's a fake or something else entirely!!!

So I'm thinking buy it on a CC but which of the myriad of cards will offer online fraud protection up to this amount?

Please help!!

Rafter

Good question.

Because the transaction is outside the UK you aren't covered by the consumer credit act. A high court ruling has confirmed this and it is up to the discretion of the card company whether they apply it.

A number of companies operate an online fraud guarantee including capital one and barclaycard but not sure if this covers overseas transactions.

Which cards do you have? A quick call to their customer service team should confirm whether you are covered or not.

It may even be possible to use some kind of payment on delivery service from one of the major international couriers if you are that worried. But it will probably cost quite a bit.

The only other solution I can think of is a fantastic holiday to japan and pick up the watch while you are there!

Good luck

R.

crispyduck_2

I looked around further after the initial post and feared as much about the Consumer Credit Act, there appears to be a European regulation also but like most things so far unproven in UK law it may take a while and my bad luck to get a ruling.

CC wise I have &More, Amex Platinum and an emergency B'card.

I thought of using one of the intermediary companies but I am getting rather tired and bored and am tempted to go for a generic european Omega instead, even though they are very popular.

Thanks for your thoughts and effort in replying.

B

Rafter

Just checked out the T's and C's on barclaycards online guarantee but it only covers purchases from UK companies so that is no help.

Remember that you may end up paying duty and vat on an imported watch.

Not sure I could bring myself to buy a £1000 watch but hope you can find something that isn't too popular. Have you tried somewhere like dunhill?

R.