Hi to all the knowledgeable choice people,
Has anyone heard of the two companies I’ve named above? I was interested in a lift chair with heat and massage. I had emailed both these companies to find out if they would deliver the chair into my home rather than leave it in the driveway or outside my front door. Whilst waiting thier replies I accidentally found the most horrendous reviews about the first company, from broken goods, goods not being what one ordered and many multiple complaints about how the company did not address complaints properly or fairly. Being thoroughly shocked, I looked up the second company whose reviews were, shockingly almost identical. Anyone whose read my previous questions to people on choice would know that I am really not tech savvy. In most instances it would appear I’ve been living under a rock. Actually, I’ve only had “tech” for three years and a mobile phone for about four months (something I had to get, more than wanted to get). I mention this so you don’t think I’m a complete idiot when I ask this question, “are reviews fair dinkum and if they’re negative, how do you know they’re not just from people being nasty?”. Secondly has anyone bought from these two companies and if so how was it, Were your goods what you bought and in good condition and if not how was it handled? I appreciate any advice you good people can give. Thankyou.
I haven’t touched either, and don’t plan to.
Crazy Sales (and possibly OzSale) is a online platform. That being, they are an avenue for businesses to market their products on their website.
While in theory it sounds like a good idea, customers often don’t know who ultimately the seller/source of the product is.
They also fill orders in Australia and from Hong Kong (viz. GlobalOutlet). While they say they differentiate where products originate, many customers may not notice when purchasing. They also try to separate their Australian business from the HK one by stating:
Where you place an Order for GlobalOutlet Products to be delivered outside of Hong Kong, you will be the importer of the GlobalOutlet Products in your jurisdiction.
Their terms and conditions try to exclude, through omission products bought from GlobalOutlet, rights associated with warranties, refunds and returns.
This could be why the reviews range from the very bad to very good - and everything in between.
This is the main reason why I chose not to use them. The other being potential finger pointing to someone else when something goes wrong.
isn’t a cheap product and not something I suggest to buy online without testing it beforehand. The couple of dollars saved by buying through a selling platform might not be worth it if something goes wrong.
What is interesting is their website gives good reviews, whilst other websites the reviews are no where near as endorsing. Suspicious to say the least.
I am very cautious about review sites like ProductReview but the results in these two cases are interesting. Both suffer from the one or five stars problem. People either love them or hate them. The reviews follow a similar pattern on both companies. If you restrict the reviews to verified purchase only, Crazy Sales in particular, has terrible reports with four times as many one star as five star reviews.
The good reviews are generic, little detail, often don’t even mention the product, some mention who they contacted by name (why would you have a name of somebody if the service was great and you never met them?). The bad reviews are detailed and specific and frequently scathing, being unable to contact anybody at all, much less get a name, is a common complaint.
Trust Pilot reviews are similar.
Also both companies sell and ship at least some goods from overseas which means no recourse through Oz consumer law. They both have a registered company with ABN and address locally but that does not mean they have local staff or anything else.
My ratings:
Ozsale: risky
Crazy Sales: no way
There is an informative related topic.
Thankyou so much for your very sound advice. I suppose it also boils down to the old rule of thumb…if it sounds to good to be true…
The chairs advertised on those sites are quite cheap and the delivery charges are VERY reasonable. Thats why I pushed to find out if they’d bring it inside. The other risks you mentioned just confirm its not worth it. Again, thanks.
For the type of chair you are looking for, in particular a lift type chair you might like to look for a specialist mobility products store/s in your area.
The products they sell need to be reliable and durable. The ability to try out in store each model and check the features first hand may avoid making a poor choice. One that sounds great in the promotions, but fails to deliver in reality. For chairs we might sit in for longer periods, every one has a different body shape and comfort needs. What suits one may be a lifetime of pain for another.
We have experience of going to several that support our area and purchasing from one. All offered deliver, unpacking, setting up, and assisting with learning how to operate. If one has a problem we found they will come to you.
Again, sound advice. Whilst originally enticed with a much cheaper price than the place you suggest, I need to heed the other true saying…“you get what you pay for”. I have checked a place near me specialising in such items and unfortunately thier prices are in the thousands rather than hundreds of dollars. Buying the former would ensure you get all the qualities you mention but I’m not in the position to spend that kind of money, sadly which led me to check out the cheaper sites. I am glad them not guaranteeing inside delivery raised my suspicion and that I found (or rather stumbled) onto the horrible reviews. Thanks for your insights as well.
Even with the most dependable vendors that would only be likely if they were doing the delivery using their own staff, any other time a vendor will be relying on couriers who are a law unto themselves and do as they please.
In 20 years I have had one courier who was not directly employed by the vendor come past the gate, that was to deliver a roll of netting that weighed over 100 kg and if dropped anywhere else (which is very common here) would be immovable without equipment or four capable lifters. If he had dropped it there would have been an insurance claim that would have reflected back on him.
Hi,
One more question regarding cheaper items. A friend of a friend bought one of these chairs on eBay that was slightly more expensive than the cheaper sites I was looking on. They are very happy with it and said that eBay is much safer to buy from because of thier “If you don’t get what you paid for policy” they’ll refund it. Do you know if this is true, which I suppose would offer a tad more protection?
Hi to all,
I rescind my question about eBay. I just looked them up on a website I found on the choice community space and they have horrid reviews as well. So I found my own answer.
I hope all the lovely people who helped with these queries have a lovely Wednesday, thankyou.
Not quite in the full sense, they have what is called:
It is worth reading as it has limitations and exclusions.
In effect much of it is similar to what is provided by the Australian Consumer Law - Consumer Guarantees. Every business which provides products and services to consumers in Australia is required to meet the ACL requirements - whether they do or not is another topic of discussion.
In effect, if they advertise a ‘lift chair with heat and massage’ and the product has such features, but you find that it does not suit your needs, is uncomfortable to sit in for a long time or doesn’t work as hoped (say the lifting mechanism doesn’t lift high enough for you), this would be a change of mind and sits outside the ACL and the eBay guarantees. This is why seeing, touching and trying before one buys more expensive items, as there is potential that you may be left which a chair that doesn’t suit you needs or expectations.
It is also worth noting that if you pay by PayPal, they also have Buyer Protection which Choice has covered here:
Good morning,
I just want to thank phb, syncretic and mark_m for all the advice that was expeditiously sent to me. As well as all the material sent that will take me a little while to read completely. The choice community is a fabulous site offering information I knew nothing about. I appreciate all the time you guys took to respond to me. Have a wonderful Thursday guys.
Peachy.
I was wondering if you have considered looking for one of these items for sale privately?
Unfortunately you may not get the consumer protections afforded by a licensed dealer, but you would probably save a lot of money. It is sad but true, that often these items are bought for elderly users, and once they no longer need them, family members are looking to get rid of them.My family bought one of these for my grandmother, and she rarely used it in the 2 years she had it. We sold it in excellent condition for a fraction of the new price.
It doesn’t help with your delivery issue either, although some kind soul may help you out.
Good luck.
Hi Suzieo,
Thanks for your suggestion. I had thought of that but I wouldn’t be sure where or who to look for a private seller. As mentioned in my previous posts and I’m not very “techy” or that knowledgeable of sites. Would you have any suggestions please?
Thankyou.
While significant due diligence is required for any private sale, especially those from an online source, ebay and gumtree might be ‘first tier’. Facebook marketplace has more than its share of scammers, but if you are on facebook most communities have local groups including local buy/sell/free that are not on the wider marketplace, and thus possible to establish more trust in the seller. You can find the latter by searching for your community name. My area has maybe 10 groups dedicated to this and that as well as multi 1,000 member general ones.
I’m also not a fan of this type of selling platform where you don’t know exactly where and from whom the product is coming from (differs from eBay & Amazon in this aspect). There are also many others, one e.g. fruugo
Can’t help but anticipate problems with contact if item doesn’t arrive or other issue down the track. However if you really want to go through with a purchase, using PayPal will promptly protect consumer in this regard
Well I buy and sell on eBay and have for a dozen years or more. Any issues I have resolved by receiving full refunds.
Very satisfied but for sellers the commission is high.
Oz sales I have used to purchase European labels such as Desigual with no problems. Sometimes slow delivery but I only buy branded items from them eg Tommy Hilfiger etc.
Have not had to return anything though but I choose and compare carefully.
I also use Catch. Great customer service. As does Amazon
Never used Crazy Sales
I have purchased a electric golf cart, to carry my golf clubs from Crazysales, as well as a synthetic leather “lazy boy” type chair and a large lithium battery operated weed sprayer and found no issues with these purchases and all have been excellent value (generally from China and often half price compared to local products) and very well made. The chair was left outside on our large front porch, when it was delivered.
Hi east golf,
Thankyou for your input regarding crazy sales. I’m glad you’ve had no issues with your items you purchased but I am going to err on the side of caution. There are just way too many bad stories via the reviews for my liking. To be fair there were some positive feedbacks but they were very scarce. Have a good Friday.
I have used Crazy Sales.(and Kogan)
You get some good stuff at very good prices. Sometimes you dont.
Crazy Sales support is not fantastic in the sense that if you want to return a product that is not quite right, you will need to pay the postage back. Fair enough. They seem to work on tight margins
