Ron Gully’s Blog

We have been importing from China for nearly 10 years and for a good deal of time Alibaba was the best place to source products.

Not Any More!

Eight of the last ten times we have tried dealing with Suppliers (Gold Suppliers) on Alibaba they have either scammed us or attempted to scam us.  We didn’t lose much, because we are careful, but go to the Alibaba forums and read about their suspicious companies and you will see thousands and thousands of ripped off Companies and individuals.

here are a couple to wary of

HK DONGYANG SUNNY INDUSTRY via Kevin (XINGLEI WANG) and

Shenzhen Evergreen Digital & Technology Co., Ltd - Alan Yuan

It also seems Alibaba wants to know nothing about this.  Repeated offenders still run their scams. 

Shame on you Alibaba

Oh… I gotta write it because eBay really bugs me. 

Recently they have introduced a new feedback system.  Sellers can no longer leave negative or neutral feedback. 

This is a potential nightmare for eBay sellers; even now many buyers try to use feedback as blackmail … such as the product you send does not have all the components, please send them or a partial refund… when they know it does… they have everything but know they can try to pressure you for something more. 

Well once this new feedback system is in place there going to be rampant attempts at blackmailing sellers.

Ebay needs to remember who its clients are.  Its clients are the sellers - Sellers are the ones that pay them.

Nevertheless this allows websites like http://www.bidmate.com.au (BidMate online Australian Auctions) to prosper.  BidMates conditions are 5000% better than eBay for both sellers and buyers.

Most of eBays problems stem from lack of security.  For example they allow free email account to be used, when it is common knowledge that over 90% of all online fraud involve a free email account.  BidMate does not allow free email accounts.

This post will get bigger later as I have a lot of bees in my bonnet about the no ethics company called eBay

While the Rudd Government has promised to apologize to Australian Indigenous people for alleged, “past wrongs committed against Indigenous Australians”, I do not agree and I specifically disassociate myself from any upcoming apology.

While there are significant legal implications implicit in such an apology, there is also the fact that I have nothing to be sorry about.  I believe that Australia has done its share for its indigenous people and it’s about time that Indigenous people did their share for Australia and for themselves.

So Mr Rudd, LEAVE ME OUT OF IT!

Well, he seems articulate enough and from what I gather a family-centric individual and only time will tell if this is enough to weather the storm that is part of being a national leader.

I’ll put further comment and any person judgement aside for now.

And… I guess no one is really that interested.

Mmm.  Well I am.  After ten years of prosperity we are now at the cusp…do I leave it on cruise or do I light the burner and see if the fire makes us or breaks us?

It seems as if I have no choice as the polls indicate an incendiary ahead and if that’s the case lets do with it all we can.  What will happen?  Maybe interest rates will rise, the dollar will fall and small business owners will be fighting to survive but even so something may be gained as it is at fluxing moments that great deeds are done, fortunes made and lives changed.

I will look for the oportunity, as an Importer, Home borrower and small business owner, to make something from the, it seems inevidable, changes ahead.

About 18 months ago I purchased a Philips 190B 19″ LCD monitor for my personal use, and I was quite pleased as I got a quality name for a nice price plus it came with a “no dead pixels” guarantee.  When I got it home I was happy to see the excellent build quality and when I tested it, sure enough, there were no dead or hot pixels.

However there were slightly lighter spots on the lower part of the screen; I ummmed and arrred and decided to keep it even though I, also, discovered the no pixels out guarantee was only for 30 days, but since I had a lot of experience with LCD monitors and knew, generally, if they are going to exhibit hot or dead pixels it’ll be pretty quickly.  Sadly not returning it was a mistake…

After two months I noticed the screen was developing uneven brightness that was especially noticeable with light colored text.  I phoned their service center and was informed that these issues did not constitute a warranty matter.  Over the next year or so this issue fluctuated making image editing virtually impossible, and to cap this off now it has hot and dark pixels appearing… not a few… but hundreds - what a complete disappointment.

These are my observations and opinions only - so don’t sue me but I will never ever buy another Philips product again and I will not recommend their products or their service to anyone.

Earlier the Prime Minister John Howard went to the Governor General and dissolved Parliament and thus the date for the Australian Federal election is November 24 2007.  It’s an important date for our country as we must decide if there is a reason to change our government leadership. 

No matter what pundits for change may have you believe – their rhetoric goes like this, “John Howard is focusing on the Past and not the Future….”  It is incongruous not to consider the past when deciding our future path, because it is the historical perspective that teaches us what has been successful and what has not.

I feel these people are trying to say, “Pay no attention to how well the country has been, recently, run, pay no attention to how badly the Labor Party ran our country, pay no attention to our errors or our successes when making this important decision” What a foolish sentiment and especially foolish as it seems to have emanated from the mouth of the opposition leader.  

Mr Rudd, It’s “not time” for you, now, or ever as far as I’m concerned.

I was going to be gentle on my first entry but as circumstances have unfolded, I feel it’s necessary to say something about Australia’s upcoming Federal Election.

There is an old axiom that states that you shouldn’t fix something that is not broken and I think that it holds for Australian Politics at the moment.  John Howard, Australia’s current Prime Minister has been in power for more than a dozen years and has presided over an unequalled prosperous time for Australia.  With elections due to be held within months, the governing Australian Liberal Party is so far behind in the polls that nearly no one can imagine them winning.

Public sentiment appears to revolve around the feeling that “it’s time” for a change; and indeed the opposing Labor Part may even use this catch phrase as it did in 1972.  But I urge all to recall or to study the result of that 1972 overthrow of the incumbent Liberal Party.  A then prosperous Australia, almost immediately, entered, what I consider, Australia’s darkest era of modern times.  In the space of a couple of years we almost became bankrupt.

 It is time alright – time to think clearly about whether we can afford another mistake like 1972.

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