Hi Buster....In Oz...Ebay have already been defined by one consumer affairs tribunal hearing as a 'Service Provider'...it was determined in that case that no money has to change hands for that relationship to exist......(The old Venue argument didn't work)......Therefore, under any of our State's F/Trading guidelines, they would no doubt be similarly categorised, irrespective of their UA. (See Evagora V Ebay - Vic V-Cat database).
Further...Oz has agreed to implement Unfair Consumer Contract Laws in Every State, which gives consumers the right to dispute Ebay's/Paypals convoluted take no liability UA, that has more twists and turns than a black snake in a bush fire.
As for police, well, after a huge precedent study by Comslaw in Mellbourne in 2006 called 'Going Going Gone', assessed the level of consumer fraud on Ebay, it was concluded that Ebay profited by fraud and hence, the reason they do nothing to clean it up.
Shortly after this study was released, an Online Auction Police Reporting initiative was started. In it's first year, it was found that half of QLD's fraud originated from 23 recidivists who signed up under one ID after another to defraud thousands. Such is Ebay's non existent member verification.....Make up dodgy details and bingo...access to a Nation Wide Platform of potential victims.
In 2008, Oz Ebay members witnessed five of the biggest frauds on record.....4000 defrauded in one scam alone by EBS, while Ebay did nothing.....over 700 negs later and an outstanding account of over $200,000.00 owed to Ebay, the seller account was STILL not shut down until we stirred the media up and forced Ebay into it. Meanwhile the owners of that account had hit the frog and toad to China a month earlier?
In the same year thousands of holiday makers were also defrauded with dodgy holiday deals in QLD.......not sure how that all panned out. I think the perpetrator was charged, but of course not ebay, which is bizarre when you consider that their indifference to verification practices aided in facilitating his crime spree.....?????
One thing that has come to light recently however, is that Paypal/Ebay are in breach of our Anti Money Laundering legislation, especially concerning their lax verification & hence security, and they have been told to straighten up and fly right or else....they'll be fined. So when it comes to verification practices, Ebay seems absolutely determined to ignore our laws, all forms of crime mitigation or consumer protection, arguing they are a venue and hence, have no duty of care....bullshit !!!! Their day is coming.
I believe that Ebay should be made to operate in the same manner as every other business in this country. Verification of sellers would be a good start. Phone access for all consumers would be another. At least then, if a seller defrauds, they are completely traceable by Police and can be prevented from signing up again. At this stage, Ebay don't assist police in investigating anything, crying 'Privacy Laws' whenever it suits their purpose. So, the cost and time involved in chasing up a petty consumer fraud is prohibitive for police. Basically, it's about time the Consumer protection agencies and Policing agencies worked together and imposed regulations on Ebay in terms of its anonymous marketplace. Perhaps if they were implicated in these frauds for facilitation and failure in their duty of care, we might get somewhere in terms of making them and dodgy sellers accountable.
