Cheap and Easy! Appliance Service Manuals Online Product Information and Ordering System

	Is Credit Card Ordering Really Safe? What Does "Secure" Mean?

Much has been written about the dangers of sending credit card information over the Internet. Our business depends on maintaining a good relationship with the credit card processing company, as well as with our customers, so we are acutely concerned about this issue.

Let's cut to the chase: Despite what you read (the media is your friend, Forrest!) the reality is that sending your credit card over the web through an encrypted system such as ours is no more risky, and in many ways far less risky, than handing it to a clerk in a store. You can read why below. We and our service providers have NEVER had a security problem with a web order.

If you are truly, truly uncomfortable with web credit card processing, we have several other ways to order: by toll-free telephone, toll-free FAX, or by snail mail. But since online processing is so much faster and easier for everyone concerned, not to mention being available 24 hours a day, you might want to consider the following, especially if you are in a hurry to get your appliance fixed.

What could I be liable for?

We are very confident that your number won't be stolen. Below, we discuss why. However, a VISA or Mastercard customer who has his credit card number stolen is only liable for $50. And in many cases, this fee is waived. In part, that's what the card fees and high interest that everyone pays provides; a sort of insurance policy against fraud and theft.

In my own personal experience, my mother's Visa card was stolen from her home while she was out of town for a week. It happened to be around Halloween, and the thief cleared about $2000 from her account via ATM, while wearing a Halloween mask. They never got him. Yet they waived all fees; she was not liable for any of it.

Incidentally, the shipping address of your order and the billing address of your credit card must be one in the same. It's one way we have of reducing the possibility getting a fraudulent transaction from a stolen card.

Is your connection secure?

Security is provided on three levels. A potential thief would have to:
1) Intercept the transmission
2) Recognize it as a credit card transaction despite the encryption, and
3) Break the encryption code.

If you are using Netscape 1.0 or later or Explorer 1.0 or later as your web browser, your credit card transactions are fully encrypted and secure. (unless you are using a relay or proxy.)

If you are using Netscape versions 1.x to 3.x, you should check the door key icon at the lower left corner of your browser screen. If the background is dark blue and the key is whole, your network link is secure. If the background is faded blue and the key is broken in two parts, the link is not secure. (Netscape version 4.x has a padlock in the lower left corner that appears locked when the transmission is secured.)

If you are using Internet Explorer, the lower left bar should say "SECURE WEB SITE."

Please note that you will only see this on the last ordering (credit card) page. Securing the page slows down transmission, and is not needed on the rest of the site.

What does a "secure link" mean, anyway?

A secure link means that your browser will automatically encrypt any transmission that is sent. Encryption codes are quite difficult to break.

Sending your credit card over the net is in many ways like giving it verbally to a company over the phone. The people in your house, at the company you're giving it to, and at the phone company could listen to it. That is, if they were in the right place and had the right equipment to listen in. But let's say your phone signal is being carried by wires or fiber optics. They could NOT dig up a line and listen in on the middle of it. At least not without great effort and expense and a high danger of discovery. They would have to break in where the line ends.

On the Internet, that means a person between you and your Internet Service Provider (ISP), or a person at your Internet Service Provider (ISP), the destination ISP, an ISP in between, or a person at the destination company could listen in to try to get your credit card number.

However, at an ISP, this person would have to have "super-user" access (access which is usually only granted to those who maintain or program the machine.) So in reality, the biggest possibility of interception is on your end (at your own ISP's local network) and at the company you're sending it to.

And even if someone managed to intercept the encrypted transmission, they would still have to try to break the encryption codes—a very costly and time-consuming task indeed, and darn near impossible. My guess is that anyone with the talent, money and hardware to intercept, recognize and break that kind of encryption has bigger game to go after than my puny little credit card.

So what's left is that sending your card over the internet is no more (in fact, in practical terms, far less) risky than handing it to a store clerk for processing.

Still, if you are uncomfortable with web credit card processing, the appliance repair network has several other ways to order: by toll-free telephone, FAX, or by snail mail.