I figured I should start my blog with a helpful topic: How to avoid falling prey to fraudulent Internet merchants.

Yes, you can get some basic information from the Federal Trade Commission's Website, but even if you're familiar with their checklists of what to look for in a reliable Internet merchant, it's still pretty easy to get taken. Fraudsters also have access to the FTC Website and have learned how to make their Sites appear trustworthy to the average Internet user.

Most of us don't think of thoroughly investigating an Internet merchant's Website when we're searching for a good bargain, but that's what the FTC says is the smart consumer's way to shop on the Internet. I don't know about the rest of you, but I check for their Secure Sockets Layer ( SSL) lock (when signing in--or ordering--you should see an "https:..." in the URL address box instead of just an "http:...")--this is supposed to help protect your privacy and your financial information while making transactions online.

I also search the Site for the merchant's return policy, and their guarantees of quality merchandise; along with a real physical address (that I can place into mapping Sites and view), and phone numbers (especially an 800-number) and email addresses with which to contact their "customer service" departments should I have problems.

However, even if you find all these things in place, there is still no guarantee you're dealing with a reliable merchant, and not some fraudulent scam artist. I found this out the hard way, and would like to share my experience with you; in an effort to perhaps save you some of the frustration I've been going through for nearly 7 weeks now.

I was running out of printer ink by the last week of June this year, so I had been periodically checking our Super Wal-Mart for compatible ink cartridges for my HP printer (I didn't want to spend $55 + tax twice a year for HP brand cartridges, as my printer had cost only $100!), and they had been consistently out of stock.

So, like many people do, I turned to the Internet and searched for "printer ink" to find a good bargain on compatible cartridges for my printer.

On Friday, June 29, 2007, I went online to www.InksOutlet.com and ordered two ink cartridges for my HP Deskjet 5150 printer; specifically (1) Remanufactured Black Inkjet Printer Cartridge, HP C6656 at $10.48; and (1) Remanufactured Tri-Color Inkjet Printer Cartridge, HP C6657 at $13.88; totalling $24.36 plus shipping of $6.95, resulting in a total payment of $31.31 on my Visa credit card, through a "direct online order." At the time of my order, both items were listed as "in stock."

I printed out my receipt immediately, and a short time later received an emailed confirmation of my order from the folks at InksOutlet.com.

On Monday, July 2, 2007, I received an emailed notification that my order had shipped--along with a USPS delivery confirmation number--and would arrive within 4-10 business days.

On Thursday, July 5, 2007, I received PART of my order, consisting of (1) Refurbished Tri-Color Inkjet Printer Cartridge, HP C6657. The "packing slip" inside the envelope was really just a "Summary" of my order, and listed both ink cartridges. However, near the bottom of the page, was a HAND-WRITTEN note stating, "Short 1 X 6656 will ship ASAP." This seemed unusual to me, that they would list both cartridges, yet not send both cartridges.

So, on Saturday, July 7th, I emailed the company's Customer Service department at cs@inksoutlet.com, asking them if they were going to notify me of when they would ship my back-ordered black ink cartridge. I was expecting to receive a response at least by Monday (July 9th), but never did.

On Tuesday, July 10, 2007, I tried calling their 800 number, and received this message: " The 800 number you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try your call again in a few hours."

This company is in Gilroy, California, and I live in Colorado, three states away. I could only email this company or call their 800-number to contact them because my local phone service would not allow long distance calls, and my printer was out of ink.

I tried calling their 800-number again on July 12, 2007, and received the SAME message as before. Then, I emailed them, asking about both their "unavailable" telephone number and my back-ordered black ink cartridge. Again, no reply.

Their "policy" on back-orders, from http://www.inksoutlet.com/orderAndShipping.php:

" We do our best to avoid back-orders. Back-orders may be canceled at anytime before the item is shipped. Except for special circumstances, we do not ship partial orders. Items that are in-stock will be shipped within 48 hours. If your orders contain both in-stock and out-of-stock items will be shipped when all items are in stock. Please contact us if you didn't receive tracking number in your e-mail after 3 business days you placed the order with us - that means the items you ordered may be temporarily out of stock."

Apparently, this company did not even follow its own policies! They were simply incommunicado--refusing to answer their phones and emails, and ignoring all efforts to correct their mistake.

By July 17th, I had had enough! After a search of the company name through the national Better Business Bureau ( BBB) Website, I filed a complaint with the San Jose BBB office, which sent my complaint to the company twice--both contacts went "UNANSWERED" by the company. So, what does the BBB do? Nothing. They just closed the case on August 13th.

I've never been known for being anything but thorough, so I also reported my problem to the Federal Trade Commission; and, while they accepted my complaint, they mentioned they don't actually investigate individual complaints. Rather they keep complaints on file to assist other law enforcement agencies in cases of fraud or other illegal activity. Great.

I also went to www.ripoffreport.com and filled out a complaint about InksOutlet.com--to help prevent anyone else from getting defrauded by this Online merchant.

Meanwhile, on July 22nd, I finally found some compatible black ink in stock at Wal-Mart for $13.67, so was able to insert both ink cartridges into my printer, and everything worked well--for a few days. Then, on July 26th, I tried to print some directions, and the color ink cartridge I had received through InksOutlet.com FAILED!

Of course, the first thing I did was try to call InksOutlet.com again, and received the same message as the first time I called them! Then, I emailed them, complaining about both the defective color inkjet cartridge they sold me AND their non-functioning 800-number. No reply once again. Typical.

I even filled out their "RMA number request" form and sent it to them, hoping they'd let me return the defective color ink cartridge. Just as with everything else I tried, I never received any reply.

My next move was to update my compaints with both the BBB and RipOffReport.com.

Then, on August 3rd, I found this neat little USRobotics USB phone (Skype certified) which came with 100 "minutes" of Skype credit in the Super Wal-Mart clearance isle for $10!

I thought, " Here's an opportunity for me to try InksOutlet.com's regular telephone numbers, and perhaps get in touch with someone there!" Heck, the Website even has a Skype "Call Me!" logo, so the call would be free. I should have known better, but, as they say, " Hope springs eternal."

Well, the Skype number rang and rang and rang--and no one answered! So, I tried their office number, only to find it's an automated recorded message: " You are number one in our telephone que; your estimated wait time is 3 minutes." It took me 20 minutes to figure out that this message was just a looped recording, and no one was going to answer the phone!

Well, that really " did it" for me! I went to the FBI's Website and filed a complaint with their Cyber Crimes unit. Even though I've lost less than $32, I still think it's worth stopping this company from defrauding anyone else.

I decided to find out who was behind this fraudulent Website, and for that I went to NetworkTools.com. I ran an " express" check on InksOutlet.com's domain, and obtained everything from who registered the Website to who HOSTS that site on their servers. This information is going to come in handy!

In fact, when I'm finished with this first blog entry, I'm going to email the abuse address at the Site's Web-Hosting company and let them know what the folks at InksOutlet.com are doing to their customers! The least I can do is try to get the fraudulent Website taken down.

If you've read this far, I applaud your fortitude! I just wanted to show how much frustration is involved when you're not overly careful in checking out the Online merchants you want to do business with. Even when their Website appears to have all its 't's crossed and its 'i's dotted, you still have to go the extra mile to ensure you're not going to get stiffed--like I was.

Now that I've scared you away from purchasing merchandise Online--or not!--I think it's only appropriate I tell you that the BBB Online has a list of Internet merchants who are BBB members. Be forewarned, though: This list is very long, and organized alphabetically by company name, not by the product you're looking to buy. But you can always search for the company name on the BBB Site, like I did.

Good luck to you, in your endeavors to find great Online bargains--they're out there; you just have to be careful who you're getting them from!