HOLIDAY E-SHOPPERS TO GET DOUBLE ASSURANCE AS TWO CONSUMER GROUPS PARTNER TO PROMOTE SAFER SHOPPING ON-LINE
Los Angeles, CA -- (MINDSET NETWIRE) -- November 17, 2000 ePublicEye.com, the leading guide to reliable small and medium sized e-businesses around the globe and WebAssured, the Internet's premiere on-line consumer advocacy group, have teamed up to offer online shoppers the highest level of assurance available on the Internet. ePublicEye s Enterprise Professional membership takes consumer confidence to a new level with a Safe Shopping Guarantee backed by WebAssured and underwritten at Lloyd's, London.
In addition to expanded dispute resolution services, customers are guaranteed to receive payment directly from WebAssured, if participating members fail to appropriately resolve a customer complaint. For Internet companies selling higher priced products, customized products, or services that require prepayment, the Enterprise Professional Membership offers the extra level of assurance on-line shoppers may need to make that risky purchase.
Since 1996 ePublicEye has been developing programs to expand the confidence Internet shoppers experience when shopping on-line. "Enabling consumers to rate merchants and publishing those ratings provides a way for consumers to get some "up front" assurance that they are dealing with a reliable Internet business. But even the best Internet merchants can have service failures and customer disputes. WebAssured dispute resolution puts assurance on the back end of the transaction by providing a cash pay out if disputes are not appropriately resolved by participating merchants," says Errol Smith co-founder of ePublicEye.com. "This program is a significant development in online consumer protection because it offers e-shoppers assurances before and after the purchase. No other program provides such a well rounded assurance."
Travis Morgan, president and co-founder of WebAssured, added, "Online buyers have a right to a safe and rewarding shopping experience. We're pleased to form this cooperative program because it creates an all-around "win" for consumers, for merchants, for ePublicEye, for WebAssured, and, of course, for the future growth of e-commerce."
ePublicEye's Enterprise Professional membership is available only to companies with annual revenues below $1 million a year. The Safe Shopping Guarantee covers up to $200.00 per transaction. Terms under WebAssured's standalone membership vary from these.
About ePublicEye.com
ePublicEye.com is the only global service that allows buyers to rate e-businesses for reliability, privacy and customer satisfaction in 5 languages. With over 15,000 registered merchants, in 76 countries and new registrations of over 1,000 each month, ePublicEye is the leading provider of trust services to small and medium sized business around the world. Since 1996, ePublicEye.com has maintained a focus on building confidence between consumers and e-businesses in this market segment. Pioneers in the use of consumer feedback to promote safer e-commerce, ePublicEye is trusted internationally by thousands of small and mid-sized merchants to continually survey their customers. ePublicEye is the only company offering e-business ratings in French, German, Spanish, Chinese and English, and is uniquely positioned as an enabler of e-businesses worldwide.
About WebAssured - Building Dot.Confidence
Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, WebAssured is the first entity to offer an independent web site certification program and free on-line dispute resolution service. WebAssured has been successfully increasing confidence in dot-com purchasing and helping e-commerce grow and thrive since 1995. WebAssured insures online purchases and offers money-back guarantees for purchases made at participating member sites, underwritten at Lloyds, London. The company invites consumers who have had problems with any on-line purchase to fill out a free on-line complaint form at www.webassured.com. To date, this dispute resolution system has successfully resolved over 95% of complaints filed against member web sites, and 79% of complaints against non-members. WebAssured is dedicated to increasing consumer confidence in the Internet and to helping e-commerce grow and thrive through free-market forces rather than government regulation.
Visit ePublicEye at http://www.epubliceye.com
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