Ebay accuses consumer rights group of undermining consumer rights
Bid to silence the ACCC
UPDATING US ON the ongoing Australian Ebay/Paypal saga, a dedicated INQ reader has alerted us to the fact that Ebay has now delayed its decision to force Paypal-only payment on its Aussie users by one more month.
The move comes just days after a statement by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) which questioned the legality of disallowing other payment methods in favour of Paypal. The ACCC suggested Ebay would be damaging competing payment method companies by monopolising the online auction website with its own Paypal.
In response, Ebay Australia apparently sent out an email to all its Australian users saying how disappointed it was with the ACCC’s view which, apparently, “undermines online consumer protection”. Yes, the ACCC really sounds like an organisation that wants to go around sabotaging Aussie consumer protection.
Nevertheless, the company has now stalled its extortionate Paypal plans for a month, in which the firm says it, “intends to work with the ACCC and hopes to achieve a final outcome which has the safety and security of eBay’s members as its paramount objective”. ACCC had better be on the lookout for the men with baseball bats then.
Ebay also said it, “will continue to fight for safety benefits for consumers”. Even though those consumers are responsible adults who are probably more than capable of deciding which payment method to use? Hmmm…. Nice try Ebay, but the Aussie’s still aren’t buying it. µ
See Also
Ebay's
Paypal-only policy spanked by Aussie Consumer Commission
N ot using Paypal is akin to buying heroin on the street
Comments
Dam you to Paypal and back
Paypal/Ebay dont give a "&@%*" about giving help to the people that use there site, I bought what I thought was legitamet $305 Photoshop cs3 software two months ago from a seller in America only to find out when it was loaded and I went to register it with Adobe that it was pirated, the company that was doing the selling, stopped traiding, Paypal/Ebay now say its not there problem as quote ---"Based on PayPal's definition of significantly not-as-described, this claimdoes not qualify for a refund.We found the seller to have accurately
represented the item(s) in question."---end quote and they are closing the case. well no-where on the sellers page did it say that the software they would send us would be a forgery, and we would get screwed but hey I blame myself for reading into the fact that Paypal/Ebay would protect the buyer. It just goes to show dont trust a company just because it says it is approachable, they are just out for what they can get. I have now sent the pirated CS3 to Adobe they can Have a word with Paypal/Ebay. I am so angry that they think they have gotten away with this... well they havent...not yet.
The Market Decides
Poor ebay - they are like a bull inside thier own china shop. The claim that paypal is safe has been drowned out by the chorus of people who have had BBE & BSE using the service - PayPal is not safe to have money in (frozen accounts) and with PayPal it's not safe to link your account (unauthorised withdrawls), as everyone knows PayPal make their own rules when it comes to your money. It's perhaps the most successful legal scam of all time. The best thing that has come out of all this is the rise of what appears to be some viable competition. Australian auction site www.oztion.com.au has seen a membership and sales spike in the past couple of months.Competition
Given that Ebay can successfully force it's own payment method on most of the world, the time seems ripe for another online auction site. C'mon, who wants to be a millionaire?Comprimise
They will likely reach a compromise where PayPal will not be the only payment method, but sellers must offer it.Ripped Off Again By E.Bay
My commient is thanks Australian Goverment for your help against these people,I sold a engine block to Italy $700.00,plus shipping the item which the buy paid $568.50,E.Bay or I call Flea Bay,took there bit of the cherry from the total amount paid,instead of the price paid for block ,Trading Post looks the way to go.paypal? - piffle more like!
paypal does what it likes with no regard for its customers. the irony is that it portays an image that it is wholesome, just and fair! - tommyrot!i have been scammed twice now and both times paypal couldnt care less. they just protected their cut and ignored all other parties. you get an automated computer response and when the dealine expires, the buyer automatically loses!
sounds like the perfect crime!
Not Buying It
Not only are Aussies 'not buying it', apparently we are abandoning eBay in droves... based on comments I see on news articles on this topic...Spam link confirmed
How many others of you can trace the flood of stick-site, pharma, copy-watch, etc. spam you now suffer to your dealing with flea-bay and PayPal?www.freebay.com
www.freebay.com, sounds like ebay but it's cheaper, although not free. does it exist, err maybe I should check that site I just made up in case someone already did that and it's a bit dodgy.Greed gets the better of most people, in the end.
www.bang4bucks.com.au
You want an Aussie site that won't sell out to some big corporation? Try this one. Finally a site that actually listens to it's members and responds with answers that actually make sense - written by an actual human being!They also have reward points for buyers, and do charity auctions to help Pensioners.
Go bang4bucks, go the aussies.