09. Why I Dislike Carousell

Hey guys, can't believe it's been more than a month since I last posted, 2015 is passing way too quickly! Now I'm on my semester break so I'll be filling this space up more - already have a few posts drafted and a long list of places to visit over this break :)

You may have noticed.... there a change in the url - piccolo basically means small/little in italian and ann is my middle name. Felt that his url represented me more personally! Also, standing at 1.55 I am pretty small..... Piccolo also happens to be this creature in dragonball Z and a flute.

Disclaimer: the contents of this post are based purely on my personal thoughts and feelings. Do use your discretion before making any decisions based on the information in this post. 

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In reference to my most recent Instagram post (@gwyn1612) whose caption read, 'UGH I'm so done with Carousell and the buyers/sellers there who seem to have the pride of Thor and audacity of Loki to stir shit up once behind the barricade of the world wide Web. I'd much rather pay thrice to get my item from the physical stores. If you really need to sell/buy at a fraction of the cost, go to Shopee they've got discount codes and a system whole lot better to protect your interests.'

I'm not being paid by Shopee (wish I was haha) to say any of the following in this blogpost, I just genuinely feel this way about Carousell. 

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The obvious reasons are the people on Carousell - those who try to negotiate well beyond logical sense, who enquire 101 questions and end up not purchasing the item, who claim it to be 'brand new' 'defect free' and when you receive it it's the opposite, who provide incorrect measurements, who want you to meet at the other end of Singapore - people who don't read descriptions...... the list goes on.

My concern is with what the app is doing to make the online shopping experience a better one.

If you read my previous posts, I was scammed and taken as a fool while waiting patiently for her account to be suspended (how many more did she scam in that time frame?), I later found out that she created ANOTHER account to do her deeds. Isn't there a way Carousell can track accounts based on I.P addresses and stop one person from making multiple accounts? I ain't a tech prowess, but there has to be a way? 

While we're on the same topic of said scammer creating multiple accounts, why are the people on Carousell so filled with the notion that they're invincible and can get away with doing such things over and over AND OVER again with no repercussions? PRECISELY cause there aren't any consequences. 2 weeks to get an account suspended, that's probably all you get - a suspension. Nothing's stopping them from creating a new page to do the same ol' thing!!11!! And customers are left to believe that Karma will do the job and get back at these assholes one day. 

I took the liberty to read some of Carousell's community rules (last updated 2nd October 2015) - several of which is particularly noteworthy. 'Be a responsible seller and buyer' Treat others as you would like to be treated. Blablabla 'Scammers will not be tolerated and we'll be taking action against them, including assisting in the reporting of fraudsters to the police' - really tho, the police? 

'Do not be rude' If we receive valid complains about your conduct, we will send a warning and will not hesitate to suspend your account.

'We do not have a seller refund policy' 'Please reach out to us and we will take action ASAP. This may include removing listings or even banning users' 

'You might find yourself wanting to post a screenshot of the offending account on your profile to blacklist them, however, that might not be the best way to solve this problem.' Apparently, singling out users is harassment and violates their guidelines. I'm supposed to entrust them onto Carousell's team to flag and remove them 'ASAP'. If I waited for them to do that, about 4 other people who contacted me based on my post and listing on Carousell warning others about her scamming, WOULD HAVE FALLEN VICTIM. 

And the pattern here is: do something bad, you'll be suspended/warned/banned.... For superheroes hiding behind the facade and barrier of the world wide web that isn't enough to scare them away from creating multiple accounts. We live in a society where we assume everyone would be responsible for their actions and we're all naturally ethical individuals who would not dare to pursue misconduct. That's not true. 

Do I have a solution? No. At the very least, if you can't stop people from being unethical, ACT FASTER. Don't wait for 10 people to be scammed before you suspend said account, don't wait for someone to inform you 3-4 times about an account before looking into the matter..... 

Do I have an alternative? Yes! Seeing as I buy alot, I do need a platform to sell my things... and maybe purchase a lego or two to fuel my boyfriend and I's hobby. Shopee SG is a relatively new app that does the same thing as Carousell (sell and buy in a matter of half a minute) but is so very different. I've only recently started using it a few days ago and I'm LOVIN it! Of course it's going to take a while before I find out if it's truly safer than Carousell... but of all the deals I've made so far, of which all are successful, there's this thing called the 'Shopee Guarantee' which is when Shopee holds the payment till you confirm you have received the order, only then will payment be released to the seller.

You can even disable 'buyer-seller self arrange' and strictly deal via post or chat them up personally if they'd prefer to meet up only once payment has been in through the app's system. 

I absolutely love these little improvements and ideas that make me feel safer and that my interests are looked after. Plus they have codes almost all the time to give you discounts ($10 off minimum spend $20, $7 off minimum spend $10), what's not to love?

As they say... one man's meat is another man's poison. You could hate Shopee and love Carousell and vice versa OR completely are thrown off the realm of online shopping ever again due to bad experiences. I've learnt the hard way that if I want to buy/sell online (particularly clothes) there'll be risks and implications that apps are not able to control. I've also learnt that if you want to be penny wise pound foolish and save a couple of dollars here and there, you'd pay the price (ha ha get the pun). I'd much rather go to the physical store and make my purchase rather than have faith in humanity over the interwebs, it's gotten to that point :/ E.g Who likes to be told ptp is 16 inches and fits uk8 but when you receive it, it looks like it could fit a tween (uk4-6) instead?! However, legit websites like asos, pomelo etc do a good job and those websites would probably be the only places I get my clothings online from now on.

xx

New post up tomorrow!