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Online shopping may have traditional retailers worried, especially because of the convenience it provides gift purchasers. But let the buyer e-ware – some online sellers have used their Web sites to add tight limits on resolving delivery problems, so that you and your intended recipient may be left holding the bag. My recent example might be all too typical.

It started with the routine purchase of a book as a gift for a friend. The local outlet of a national bookstore chain checked the computer and informed me the book was out of stock and out of print. “Maybe you can get it on the Internet,” suggested the clerk.

A search on Buy.com came up with another Web site, Half.com, identified on its site as a “specialty company of eBay,” the familiar Web-based auction outfit. I placed an order on Feb. 3, to be shipped directly to my friend’s new address. My credit card was billed the quoted amount, $13.25, on Feb. 6.

In June, I encountered my friend and her husband. I asked her, “How did you like that book I had sent to you?” “What book?” she replied.

That rang a small bell of alarm.

An e-mail to Half.com on June 23 brought no response. My next attempt was to direct a reply e-mail to the order filler, but a machine-generated notice said, “e-mail address disconnected.” Not a good sign.

I called an 800 number listed on my credit card bill and spoke to an actual employee of Half.com. She instructed me to send an e-mail to a “service” address, which I did, asking for the shipment to be either successfully completed or refunded. I received a prompt response:

“We are denying your claim for a refund because the timeframe you were given to report the issue has elapsed.”

Included was a Web address showing the Half.com Buyer Protection Policy that could be found three levels down from the home page. Sure enough, there was a sentence reading, “Buyers have a maximum of 60 days from the date of the order to file a Buyer Protection Claim.” Though this statement does not appear in any of the e-mails I had received at the time of my order, eBay and Half.com considered any statements included within its Web site as constituting sufficient notice to its customers.

How unfortunate that a business with unmatched modern technical expertise resorts to “Music Man”-era ethics. Such businesses follow what I call the Larceny e-Business Model.

No, I won’t go to court for $13, although other thieves have gone to jail for stealing less. But I will suggest that online shoppers carefully monitor the delivery of their merchandise.

Customers who still get no satisfaction may want to share their experiences with the Federal Trade Commission, the state attorney general and Web sites that act as watchdogs.

For my part, I will return to local sellers, who are more likely to stand behind their products and services rather than hide behind the fine print on their Web sites. And when someone says, “Oh, I went online to send Christmas presents all over the country,” I’ll tell them this little story.

Clyde Walter is a professor of logistics and supply chain management at Iowa State University.