[Carbon Neutral Copy]

I have to say that I am staggered at the number of online businesses that are overlooking something as basic as contact details on their website.

I have just spent the last twenty minutes or so searching for a new baby gift for a friend of mine and must have clicked away from over a dozen sites because:

• they don't have any contact details at all
• they have a non-geographic telephone number and no postal address
• they have an email address only.

And so on and so forth.

Or they force me to register before I can find out how much I'm going to get stung for delivery.

Grrrrr.

It's not hard to get right and yet so many businesses are losing customers (I had my credit card in my hand ready to pay up!) because they don't think to display contact details in a clearly visible and accessible place on their website.

</rant>

Vicky

[Indizine]

and it's not just e-commerce, its all kinds of businesses that want your business, yet are reluctant to display an address or local landline number.

So, what would be the main reason one would not want to put down a trading address?

One instantly arrives at the logical conclusion is that either you could be a scammer or you simply work from home. Ok, so you work from home but so what? At least peole can trace you just as they could to an office, etc. all most people really care is that you are traceable.

So, what is so off-putting about putting your home trading address down? After all, for millions of people, a name & address & landline can be got from a phone book so it cant be security really, when you think about it.

One reason that springs to my mind is that people dont actually want be caught up with, should anything go belly up! And if Im wrong and that is not what those web owners are thinking, then its is most definately what the potential customer is thinking!

There are ways to catch up with folk, such as checkng WHOIS for the domain registration address, or writing to the post office for the address of the PO box owner, which they have to give you. But who on earth is going to bother checking all of that out before you order from these people? Exactly! No-one.

A lot of consultancy-type businesses also hide behind a contact form and a mobile or 0845 number yet often these are people who claim to be able to grow your business in one way or another!

As I see it, I will always guide customers to being transparent on their website. I always say, for those that aren't, then those that hide & lose business just means more business for those that are seen to be transparent.

[victoriaK]

I always worry about that on my site, I have my all my contact details in my store info, do you think I should have it more prominent?? Its being redesigned at the moment so I am sorting out my content

[boxby]

I think re the shopping sites it's becuase their resellers, affiliates and dropshippers, and basically they don't want people contacting them as they're busy doing something else, and don't want the hassle of dealing with customers queries.

Poor service for the customer!!

[RawRob]

I didn't put my address on my online shop for a long time because I work from home and didn't want people just turning up. When I realised that it is a legal requirement, then I put it on, and just the other week some people turned up at the door expecting a "real shop" not my house!

I don't have a phone number on my website because at the moment running the business on my own I don't have time to keep answering the phone. And it is always the difficult customers who phone up, mostly not the customers I want. I know this because I used to have my phone number on the website and had some very strange people call, sometimes lonely and just wanting to talk to someone!

I think as soon as the company is large enough with a few more people working for it I will probably put the phone number back on.

Rob

[Indizine]

so why dont you get an answer machine at lest, to take the calls. You can then call back at your leisure and cherry pick those that need calling back ie customers.

Ref the address, you could put - We only arrange visits to our offices by prior arrangement only.

[RawRob]

Originally Posted by Indizine

so why dont you get an answer machine at lest, to take the calls. You can then call back at your leisure and cherry pick those that need calling back ie customers.

Thought about that but would need a second line as I want to answer the phone for important stuff and personal calls.

Originally Posted by Indizine

Ref the address, you could put - We only arrange visits to our offices by prior arrangement only.

I have put that, but the people who turned up were not British and they probably didn't understand that!

Rob

[Indizine]

ok, if you go to the post for Huggy B's website, ive mentioned about a BT 2nd number. £1.75 a month no contract. The calls come through on the same line, just that people ring this 2nd different landline number. The ringtone has a slightly different jingle to your normal landline number so you can choose when to answer. Still, you dont know who the caller is, but combined with an answermachine, could meet both requirements.

BTW with an answerphone you can screen the calls if you have one with a speaker, and pick it up as soon as you realise its someone you want to talok too. If not, let them ramble on if its double glazing calls!

[RawRob]

I just read that post, that's very useful to know, thanks.

Rob

[Nicksyb]

Thats great info Sandra, I never knew that and shall sort a seperate phone number out for when I move