On October 25 I purchased a 3m x 3m Gazebo from Patioslife.AU online. This should have been delivered in 2 - 3 weeks but it is now February and nearly 4 months after ordering with out any sign of a delivery occurring.
The one communication delivered by them without prompting was an automated invoice/receipt which arrived very shortly after the sale. Since then, there has been no communication with the company unless it is a response to my asking where is my gazebo. Each time an approximate delivery time is given but never met as it just keeps getting pushed back further and further.
By January I had had enough and requested cancellation of the order with full refund so I could purchase elsewhere. In the emails they agreed to this but continue to pushback with apologies, overly detailed reasons for the delay and offering incentives not to cancel (such as free festoon lighting, 3% discount on purchase etc). Iām done dealing with them and just want my money back so I can purchase elsewhere and complete my backyard renovation.
I have now sent six consecutive requests for cancellation which they push back on urging me to wait longer (despite stating they would give a refund if that was what I wanted). The six emails all have a very similar structure and wording making me now think I may be actually communicating with an AI bot. I have looked at Australian Consumer Law and particularly this extract.
1. The āReasonable Timeā Rule
If a business doesnāt specify a delivery date at the time of purchase, they are legally required to deliver the goods within a āreasonable time.ā What counts as āreasonableā depends on:
The nature of the goods (e.g., a custom sofa vs. a pair of socks).
The distance involved (international vs. local).
Any external factors (like global shipping delays).
2. Failure to Deliver is a āMajor Failureā
If a supplier fails to provide the goods within a reasonable time, or by the date they specifically promised, it is treated as a breach of consumer guarantees.
Your Right to a Refund: If the delay is significant, it is considered a major failure. In this case, you are entitled to reject the goods and demand a full refund.
Replacement or Repair: For minor delays, the business might offer to remedy the situation by fast-tracking the delivery or providing a replacement, but they must do so within a reasonable timeframe.
In an email dated November 4 they actually stated they āguaranteed delivery by Christmasā which according to ACL meets the criteria for a ābreach of consumer guaranteesā.
However, hereās the problem. The company portrays itself as Australian on its website (even has āAustralia Day salesā) and has the letter āAUā prominently in its name. There is also a Sydney address on their website for their warehouse ā¦but this is not an Australian company I have found that their offices are located overseas. This I discovered when (with no prior warning) my purchase attracted a $47 Foreign transaction fee (out of the UK) on my credit card. Also, emailed responses to their customer support centre usually arrive around 2am to 4am AEST.
My question is with a company not fully (or at least have its offices) in Australia, how does the ACL work in that situation? Am I still able to lodge a complaint and what would be the procedure?
The ACCC provide some advice about buying online here:
While the Australian Consumer Law should apply in theory, to enforce the ACL for a business located outside Australia is near impossible. This is because the jurisdiction of a law canāt extend beyond the borders of Australia, unless there are foreign treaties or other instruments in place.
You can still lodge a complaint, but, if the complaint is successful, it is possible that you still may not be in a different position to that you face yourself at the moment. That being, the business is ordered to refund you your monies, but, as being outside Australia the business ignores the order.
It is worth checking to see if you are still within the chargeback period of your card issuer. Some banks have up to 180 days, and you may still be within this period to lodge a chargeback. You appear to have enough evidence to support and chargeback request should it still be available.
If a chargeback isnāt possible, the likelihood of receiving a refund is limited to non existent.
Posting within the community however will allow others to see your experiences and hopefully dissuade them from making a purchase with this business.
They are definitely not an Australian company or a business based in Australia. Some foreign sellers/businesses use the terms āAUā, āAustraliaā, Australian capital city names, Australian animal names etc etc to give buyers the impression they are Australian. They also search online for a suitable address to use, to ensure if a potential buyer does a search, the nominated address looks credible. This is done deliberately as it is very persuasive technique to increase sales as one when buying believes they are buying locally from a local business.
My guess is the ābusinessā is located in eastern Europe (inc. Russia, or the Baltic States) or Asia (possibly China). This raises concerns as the website could have been set up to harvest personal information and payment details (such as credit cards). It might be worth discussing this risk with your card issuer, especially if you paid by credit card.
It is worth noting that the same business operates in the US and the UK. It is likely there will be websites in other languages as well.
Reviews for each of the above sellers is polar, that being, mostly compromised of very positive 5 star reviews or very negative 1 star reviews. This suggests they might post favourable reviews online to counter all the negative views, which might represent the true nature of this business. It is a common tactic of shonky (and sham/scam) businesses as it is done to mislead consumers and give impression the business is safe to buy from.
Digging a bit deeper, it appears to potentially be Chinese as the owner is Qinghua Long. The parent company is Purple Leaf Pty Ltd. Possibly no surprises that there are also Purple Leaf AU website (also selling outdoor furniture), with additional websites in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and France.
This makes sense for a Chinese seller. It is very difficult for Chinese to set up āwesternā payment systems with China and likely to use UK as the āaddressā for payments purposes. Payment is likely to be through an online payment provider (e.g. Shopify, SquareUp etc) as these may have different requirements to say a business payment system set up within Australia.
Thank you for all the valuable information you have supplied. I have submitted a chargeback request with my credit card provider and will place an update here for the benefit of others when I receive an outcome.
This is an update on my interactions with Patioslife AU.
After six consecutive emails where I requested cancellation of my order and a full refund, I was met each time with a response where they (again) apologized and requested I wait a bit longer. They even tried to sweeten the deal by offering a 5% discount and/or festoon lights (upon delivery) if I continued waiting. After now being over four months and still no firm information on a delivery, I gave up communicating with them and lodged a chargeback with my credit card provider. After their investigation, they agreed in my favor and just short of five months I have finally been refunded (no thanks to Patioslife).
I would warn everyone thinking of dealing with this company to look at the growing number of 1 star reviews online (not the 5 star reviews that populate their own website) before making a purchase. As have others, I too have now added my voice by placing a complaint with the ACCC regarding this companies actions.
