Globeshopper: Once logged in, just fill up an online concierge form with the name, description, quantity and size of your items to place an order. You can edit or delete your orders - before the merchant is contacted.
Comgateway: Fill up a similar online concierge form. Orders can't be cancelled or edited once submitted.
vPost: Fill up a similar online concierge form, but every field is mandatory. So even when ordering a DVD, you have to enter nonsensical data just to fill up the 'size' and 'colour' fields. Otherwise, you will not be able to proceed.
Also, you can't edit or cancel an order. I accidentally ordered the same item twice at vPost. (See No.3)
2 Security
Comgateway: Offers the greatest sense of security. Each time you make a new order, you get a call from an automated system asking for your mobile PIN to verify the purchase. This PIN is assigned to every customer during registration.
Once the purchase is verified, the Web browser on your computer automatically refreshes to display an order tracking number.
Globeshopper: No such verification.
vPost: Users key in a PIN - randomly generated and sent to their mobile phones - at the final payment stage when merchants have accepted the order.
3 Communication
Globeshopper: Has the clearest communication. It sends out only three types of e-mail alerts: order acknowledgement; receipt of goods at customers' US addresses; and receipt of payment. For delivery history (with date and time stamps) and a breakdown of charges, users can visit its website. Customers know for sure where their goods are at any point in time.
Comgateway: Provides no detailed online delivery tracking. Its processes are also confusing.
It regrouped my purchases under US Home Service and Concierge - although I filled up the same online concierge form for all my orders.
The first refers to merchants which accept international credit cards and for customers who want to lump all their buys made in a single shipment. The concierge service applies to merchants who accept only US-issued credit cards.
When the goods handled by its US Home Service did not arrive after 28 days, I sent my queries via instant messaging (IM) and learnt that I did not check-out the items at the merchant's website.
The additional step required is inconvenient to say the least; also, instructions weren't clear. It also did not give a customer hotline.
When queried on these inadequacies on IM, it merely said: 'Our website explains our services comprehensively.'
vPost: My orders were messed up. In an e-mail, it said there was a package-to-invoice mismatch and asked for my invoice number and its content.
I replied, with the merchant names and order numbers from a previous e-mail vPost sent. It seemed to work.
I must commend vPost for detecting my duplicate order and allowing me to cancel the unwanted item.
4 Payment & shipment
Globeshopper: Accepts only Citibank credit cards. Card details are required during registration.
Customers pay when the goods arrive at their US address. Once paid, they will be shipped to Singapore. If users want to pool their buys - to save on freight charges in a single shipment rather than multiple ones - they can hold off payment to a later date.
The holding service is free for a month - the longest period by any concierge so far.
Comgateway: Takes only HSBC, DBS and American Express cards. Card details are required during registration.
Items handled by its concierge can't be consolidated.
Only purchases handled by its US Home Service can be pooled. I did not manage to test its US Home Service as I did not - and wasn't told to - place my orders on the merchant's website.
vPost: Accepts almost every credit card issued here. Users don't need to enter their card details during registration. The trade-off: They enter it later and many times more - 10 times for 10 items.
Like Globeshopper, vPost users can wait for all their purchases to arrive at their US addresses before payment and shipment.
But its holding service is free for only 14 days. Beyond that, a fee of $10.19 per item per week applies.
5 Delivery timeliness
Comgateway: Its concierge was the first to come through with my orders - albeit incomplete. Two items were delivered on Aug 14.
Globeshopper: Goods were delivered on Aug 15 but the DVD from Amazon was routed to the censorship board and arrived only on Aug 19. I was also charged $1.80 by the board.
Unfortunately, the perfume I ordered from Macy's was rejected by the merchant.
vPost: It also could not secure my buy from Macy's. It delivered my other three orders on Aug 21.
6 Price
Globeshopper: Its concierge service is free.
I paid for the three items and $31.34 for their combined shipment. Its one-month holding service was also free.
Comgateway: Customers pay for the price of the goods plus a 5 per cent transaction/concierge fee. Shipping charges for the two items that came through totalled $43.10.
vPost: The most expensive. It charges a concierge fee of $20.38 plus a 5.1 per cent transaction fee for every item. Including a shipping fee of $45.30 for all the items, the extra charges came up to over $100.
Verdict: Globeshopper is the clear winner. It allows you to pool purchases from several merchants and has the longest holding service of up to a month.
This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on 3 September 2008.
