1. Most identity thefts and fraudulent transactions occur as a result of phone fraud or someone going through your trash (finding either credit card offers they can apply for in your name, or credit card or bank account numbers on your statements you dispose of). The most common online fraud these days is "phishing" where you get a fake email (sometimes called a "spoof") requesting you to log into your bank, Ebay, Paypal, or other online accessible account for security reasons. The link you click on in these emails takes you to a fake page that looks like the real thing, but is really only a method of collecting passwords and account info to attempt to steal from you or use your good name to steal from others (most commonly on Ebay) See this link for a study about how only about 1 in 10 ID thefts are related to internet activity, and most of these are not related to entering your credit card info on a legitimate website like ATV Outfitters'. See http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/22/technology/personaltech/id_theft/index.htm for details on one of these studies.
    
2. Online purchasing is cheaper for the retailer, and this ultimately keeps prices as low as possible for you. Phone in orders are subject to higher fees from the credit card merchants, and if the bottom line is significantly affected, it can lead to higher prices. It also takes more labor to process the order manually from the retailers end, which adds to overhead costs. This can lead to the necessity of hiring more people to answer the phone for orders that could be done for no cost if ordered online, and this too will affect your pricing on items. Internet pricing is as competitive as it is due to low overhead. Calling in orders that could be ordered online affects that overhead negatively, and ultimately this costs the consumer in the form of higher prices for products.
    
3. Online orders are more accurate. When you place an order online, you see a copy of all items, you can verify the address is correct, and you know the total before any payment is made. When you call the order in, the person taking your order can transpose a number in the address leading to shipping delays, and he/she may misunderstand your order, leading to errors in your shipment. When you order online, you have a copy and know what you ordered and the cost in full. If there is any dispute later on, you have proof of what you ordered and agreed to pay, protecting you. We, as the retailer also benefit, as we have a clear understanding of the items wanted, the address, the shipping method desired, etc. We also have the IP address for the computer that placed the order. This assists us and you in the event of fraudulent use of your credit card to apprehend the persons responsible.
    
4. Online orders process quicker. Phone in orders must be manually entered once called in, and during peak periods can take hours to process, sometimes leading to an extra day in the time between the time your order is placed and when it is delivered to you. Online orders automatically process and almost always ship quicker than phone in orders.
    
5. Online ordering helps when tracking your order. When we ship an item for an order placed online from our store/warehouse, we automatically send tracking info to the customer via email (unless the item is drop-shipped from another location). This helps you know when to expect your package. Phone in orders do not provide us with the email address needed to give you access to tracking info, which can lead to confusion on the time it will take to receive your order.

We strongly feel doing business with an online retailer who does not list a phone number and physical address (not a PO Box) is a risky proposition, since you have no real way to contact the dealer other than email (which is easy to ignore by the less customer-oriented businesses) to remedy any problems or get answers to questions about your order. We are a genuine "brick and mortar" retailer with a showroom and warehouse to serve our local customer base. There are a large number of internet-only businesses that do not operate with any physical location and do not carry any inventory (they either special order in any items after the sale, or drop-ship all items from a distributor to you). There is nothing wrong with this, other than the fact that we have seen literally dozens of these businesses come and go over the last few years, since it is easy to close up shop if you tire of the business when you have no investment in product or a store. To us, this is not really a business for those types of companies, it is more of a for-profit hobby for a single individual. 

We know the value of a happy customer, and do everything within reason to make sure that after every sale, we leave reason for our customer to not only consider us for their next purchase, but also with the hope that they will refer us to friends and other ATV/UTV enthusiasts. Thanks for taking the time to take a look at this page, and for visiting ATV Outfitters!