As Buyers, there have been quite afew issues which at first were somewhat problematic, but NOW seem to have escalated to a point of being ridiculous.
1) Delivery times;
Understandably, with the Covid situation and with the backlog of shipping vessel issues, one expects some delay at some point.
HOWEVER, being in Australia, I have noticed that most of the Asian sellers, regardless of province, have taken this delay issue a little too far.
After making MANY purchases over the last 12months, NOT ONE arrived on time UNLESS it was sent via specified courier.
Now, after checking the postal labels and prints, less than half were sent in good time but somehow got lost for several weeks or months.
However MOST the remainder, were literally posted several weeks before actual arrival.
Meaning if the item was actually packed and posted in appropriate time, the wait period wouldnt be so much of a problem.
As it stands, I CURRENTLY have 4 items not delivered over a 3 month wait period.
Then theres one more item which was defective and after the rigmoral of sending pictures & explaining the defect, AN ENTIRE YEAR has now come to pass and STILL no replacement, even after offering to send the defective unit back.
Now, how does ebay address this??
They dont.. In fact, the customers are at a disadvantage which is actually against the law here in Australia.
Paypal shouldnt have a 6 month deadline from the purchase day to make a claim.
If theyre adamant regarding deadlines, use Australian sales practices & Insurance protections acts, being a 2 year statute of limitations, like every other Aussie operating business or insurer operating in Australia (regardless of geographic location)
I wont go into insurance here, but there are provisions for that within MOST mail services...
Either way, the ONLY reason i use paypal now, is for the insurance cover.
Further, if there is an ongoing problem, that deadline SHOULDNT be from the date of purchase, it should be from the day the issue was RAISED TO THE SELLER, so long as that raising was within 12 months of receipt of goods (NOT purchase date, but when the goods actually ARRIVED).
This ensures goods sold to Australians fall under standard (ie NORMAL) warranty conditions.
Often, one will pay for goods months in advance before receiving
Obv this only covers new items.
Second hand items being sold by a retailer carry a 3 month warranty with a 4 week return caveat.
As per Aus law.
2) GST-
GST should NOT be charged on second hand goods. In fact, its against the law to charge GST twice.
eBay needs to remove the GST from the invoices UNLESS the item is listed as NEW from a retailer.
Remember, if a business is not registered for GST, then it cannot charge GST.
Stop charging GST on SH goods or new goods sold by your average Jo.
3) eBay also needs to STOP locking off the feedback and STOP with the 4 week deadline on said feedback.
This is a ridiculous system when you consider the fact goods HARDLY arrive within their delivery periods.
By the time some goods arrive, there is NO WAY one can leave feedback as feedback time has expired, good or bad, to the seller or to address the issue.
Worse, what was once a good experience, MAY HAVE CHANGED. This happens with positive experiences going back through defective products, return or refund disputes, warranty issues and other problems such as incomplete deliveries .
STOP IT..
Leave the feedback open UNTIL THE CUSTOMER is ready to leave feedback.
Once feedback is left, allow a customer to amend or add notes to the original feedback.
The customer has already been disadvantaged by the delays and incessant chasing of the item, theyre out of pocket, out of time, and its a headache when one is not only dealing with a flawed system, but , more often than not, theres also a language barrier to contend with .
eBay are currently stopping customers voices. Bad postpurchase experience makes it worse and takes away their right to speak up about their experience, be it good or bad.
You'll find this problem is RAMPANT in warranty issues whereby sellers DELIBERATELY waste time to a degree where not only is feedback out of the question, but so is a Paypal enforced refund.
4) Listed items in purchase history are automatically archived, hiding purchases once
a) either a delivery threshold set by the seller has gone over ETA
b) a certain time period has come to pass (usually 4 weeks from my experience)
STOP IT.
Leave ALL items in their respective "purchase history" lists until the user decides to hide or delete the sale info.
Often, Im required to fish back in time just to find an item because a product fails under warranty, and other times, Im forced to log into Paypal and search a purchase there just to find the seller and address an issue.
I understand eBay is trying to look after sellers, but you can do that WITHOUT compromising the people spending their money here.
5) To motivate appropriate business conduct, goods NOT delivered on the sellers OWN delivery time info, incur an automatic refund.
This can be automated a day AFTER the sellers own deadline and if goods are not delivered in time, then a refund happens BUT this auto refund can ONLY happen if the buyer states that the goods arent received and only AFTER they have left feedback.
This way, accurate tabs are kept on dodgy sellers, and once refund is received, put that down along the pick a box sections where they ask about delivery time, and seller communication in the feedback section.
Further, no more than 8 weeks should be listable as a delivery period, else the item itself SHOULD NOT BE LISTABLE FOR SALE.
This ensures that goods are delivered on time, sellers dont balk communications and try to dodge time until the feedback deadline cuts off the buyer (as is the current system) and ensures that the buyer is NOT disadvantaged under ANY circumstance.
A refund should be provided, automatically, when the seller fails in their sale and delivery.
Like ANY business operating in Australia, business operating on eBay WITHIN Australia should be treated as such.
eBay sellers MUST be held to account.
eBay needs to be held to account as they provide the platform for these scammers.
Enough is enough..
There has been so many attempts at scams, and actual sellers STILL SCAMMING its not even funny.
Its bad enough eBay & Paypal fees are so high, but its gotten to the point where buyers are at such a disadvantage if anything goes wrong, that its nigh on impossible to get any amicable remedy.
