Showing posts with label stores. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stores. Show all posts

The Buying Problems With Online Only Kogan

Retail: Kogan is more expensive after dealing with return issues which are very common for this online only store. Noting it specializes in cheapies.
You may think that buying from Kogan's online store in Australia is wise because you can get some low priced bargains.  When all of the pitfalls are considered it is obvious that purchasing goods from Kogan is more expensive than getting similar goods from nearby retailers, even if they are $50.00 more expensive.  And that is all there is in it, say for a new laptop for example.  Note shipping cost!
Kogan with his cheap trash laptops
Go on, throw your cheap trash Ruslan!

If you get a faulty product from Kogan the company will make it extremely difficult to solve the problem.  They will not under any circumstances give a refund even though Australian consumer law is broken in the process.  They will insist that you pay the return freight cost with expensive tracking that will cost you at least $60 for a wonky laptop.

The best option is to pay with PayPal, always!  This is because PayPal has control over Kogan's bank account and can repay mistreated consumers whether Kogan says yeah or nay.  You can also take Kogan to the Small Claims Tribunal.

Furthermore, The company blatantly lies in its advertising.  There is no way the computers they sell will last 10 hours on a battery charge - they have the same specs as those with a 4 hour life in other stores.  If you set the display to full brightness, Kogan's factory settings override it and set it to dull down when you unplug the power lead.  The screen is so dark it is unusable for any computer work.

An official complaint is ongoing with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to make Kogan behave more appropriately to Australian consumers.  Why should trustworthy buyers have to put up with being taken for a ride by this self-proclaimed "greatest gift to Australia" artist?  I do not want to get personal, but I have an artist of a different type in mind!w
◆ Retail by Ty Buchanan ◆
 Australian Blog
●
            Australian Blog ★  Adventure Australia
ALL BLOG ARTICLES· ──► (BLOG HOME PAGE)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CRAFTY KOGAN
It costs more to buy from Kogan and it sells only cheap stuff articles news politics economics society anthropology historiography history sociology people nations country asia europe africa u.s. south america central Mediterranean eastern western interesting funny technology free news sex
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Insect Population Measured by DNA Analysis of Spider Webs

Spider webs are advanced pieces of evolutionary engineering. They are also collecting vats for what lives in the neighborhood. The DNA of what a spider had for dinner remains on the web for months.
Black widow spider catching a lizard on its web
Silk from spiders webs is in demand for potential pest management, conservation, biodiversity monitoring and biogeography. It is a natural source of accumulated data and analysis of it is informative. If the DNA makeup of a web changes then something is wrong.

In the tests, black widow spiders were kept alive by feeding them with crickets. When a spider died its DNA remained on the web for 88 days. In the wild, the net of the web catches insects, small animals and flora debris.

Going out and getting some web silk is proving to be a valuable way of monitoring changes in spider populations, particularly when new species move into an area. Importantly, an eye can be kept on those on the endangered list. The method is only good for small animals because large ones
take the whole web with them.
◆ Biology by Ty Buchanan ◆
●
            Australian Blog ★  Adventure Australia
ALL BLOG ARTICLES· ──► (BLOG HOME PAGE)
DNA FROM SPIDER WEBS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
#black   #widow   #spiders   #silk   #insects   #hunt   #prey   #food   #dna  
free black widow spider catches a lizard in its web dna analysis testing method research articles news politics economics society anthropology historiography history sociology people nations country asia europe africa u.s. south america central Mediterranean eastern western interesting funny technology
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Firms attempt to Circumvent Australian Consumer Laws

This country has longer "proving" times for consumers. It means that a product must do what it expected to do for longer than in other countries. The public is well protected here.

Fisher & Paykel a New Zealand company recently lost a court battle because it did not exchange faulty goods. Clearly, businesses do not like the protection laws. It is not only foreign firms like Apple that are ignoring or trying to circumvent Australian consumer laws. Harvey Norman, a large chain of franchises, has had five of its stores fined for not abiding by the law.

Companies continue to fight to the High Court where all cases so far have been lost. The law is very clear - a product must serve its primary function for a decent period of time. If it doesn't, a refund or exchange for a new item must be given.

Because firms are wasting court time the fines are increasing. They have reached $32,000. Besides the fines, stores are ordered to display signs setting out consumer rights and staff must do a compliance program.
Business by Ty Buchanan
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Society by Ty Buchanan
     Australian Blog★                         
ALL BLOG ARTICLES· ──► (BLOG HOME PAGE)
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Economic Theory No Longer Applies

For the first time economic theory is being challenged by the Internet. Economics has always put forward the premise that the consumer was all-knowing, in that the "going price" for products was known. Of course, in the past this has been a lie. The demand curve was absolutely false. Buyers did not know where they could get the best price.

Now, potential buyers can go to a store, try on a particular brand of clothing to find the correct size, then go and buy it on the Internet. Some shops are charging for such browsing. This will only drive consumers away to another store.

There isn't much doubt that there are too many stores in the market selling the same goods. This is a problem caused by local councils allowing shopping center development even when it is contrary to local planning laws. Councils are too easily influenced by cashed-up big business.

As chain stores move into populated centers of rural areas the future looks bleak for the corner store. The days of local monopolies of one grocery store, one fruit shop, a chemist and a fishmonger are well and truly gone. It is no wonder the majority of small startups fail.

We cannot turn back the clock. The consumer is currently very informed about price if not quality. Economics never did include quality into its theories. It cannot easily be defined.  With oligopolies taking over small rivals economics is no longer relevant. It cannot be applied any more. The idea that prices fall to clear the market of "surplus" products was never real world practice. Shops have always operated on a percentage mark-up.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Economics
Australian Blog★                        
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Your Dog Could Be Taken

People want dogs. They really do. Apart from pit bull crosses used for fighting, pedigree and cute dogs are also being taken by "admirers". There was a time when you just tied your dog up outside a shop and when you came back the pet was still there, but not today. Do this and you may never see your beloved friend again.

When thieves in the UK break in to steal your car keys they are likely to take the family dog as well. In the US dogs are stolen from parked cars and when they go for a run in the park with their owners.

Microchips are no deterrent. The new owners never take dogs to places where chips can be scanned. Unchipped dogs are resold. Some are held for ransom money to be paid.

Introducing laws making microchipping compulsory only works when dogs reach a shelter, and this only happens when the new owners have lost interest in them.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Society
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Australian Busiesses Must Move to the Internet

Australian retailers are in a corner with people turning to the Internet to make purchases. With rents near zero for Internet sellers and high rents for retail shops the odds are stacked against local stores.

Travel agents are the ones hit the hardest. It is so easy to buy an airline ticket online. Next are bookshops. They cannot compete with Amazon, though some Australian bookshops are selling online as well. Pharmacists are up against large cut-price online sellers in the US. However, chemists can still rely on the highly subsidized cash cow called the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Some Australian businesses are becoming paranoid. A woman was accused by a bookshop proprietor of making a list of books to buy on the Internet. A sports retailer asks for a deposit before customers try things on.

Things are changing so fast. Major stores in the US are allowing goods purchased online to be returned at city outlets. Australian businesses must make the move to the Internet now, or they will go to the wall.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Internet
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )