Jaron

I was made aware of OzBargain's entry on Product Review via a negative review on the OzBargain's Chrome extension. As an early adopter and long time user of OzBargain, I feel…

compelled to write my own review to defend the website's reputation.

1. The low rating score of OzBargain on Product Review does not reflect the usefulness of the website. I mostly use Product Review to research potential business I would like to deal with, or leave negative review for business I had very poor experience with to warn others from engaging with them.

I imagine that's how most people also use this site, hence the mostly very negative and low rating of most business listed on this site.

2. At the same time, I'm surprised at the low rating OzBargain has received on this site. A website setup to help people save money. Who would be against that?

I spent about half an hour reading the recent negative reviews. They range from, this site restricts free speech to it has no moderation. One person even said that the site is pro Beijing but also allowed general Western leftism. Someone complained about having a negative experience promoting their business on OzBargain. Another person complained about the website promote cheap Chinese goods.

Below are my responses to those people.

- OzBargain is primarily a website to help you save money, so take advantage of the deals that applies to you, and ignore the rest, including the comments and discussions. The majority of users on the website do exactly that. They don't spend time arguing with strangers on the internet.

If you choose to engage in the comments, people have the right to downvote your comment if they don't agree with them. Don't call it lack of free speech just because you are used to living in an echo chamber.

- Similarly, I don't believe OzBargain is pro Beijing, or Israel, or Palestine, or vaccine. The general user base are more woke and left leaning. It's call progress. We want to leave the world a better place than we found it. You are welcome to spout your anti-vax conspiracy theories, just don't be surprise if you get down vote. I don't recall seeing the OzBargain moderator banning anyone for posting their anti-vax opinion. They leave it to the community to vote those comments up/down.

- OzBargain is a website to help user discover bargains. It's not a platform for you to promote your business, unless you have a genuine bargain to share. The users come first.

- I estimate about 5% of the deals are cheaply made Chinese products. The rest are expensive, high quality Chinese made products like iPhones, plus a wide variety of products and services that has nothing to do with China. Again, if the bargain does not apply to you, move on.

I subscribe to their RSS feed. I probably see hundred of deals each day. I bookmark a few, but I only jump onto a deal about once a week.

- To the person who got banned for making a post, asking how to block ads on OzBargain. The website make money from showing ads and affiliate fees (when the user is not using their own affiliate services). You are supposed to do your own research, or ask this kind of question elsewhere. Imagine going into McDonald and complain that their prices are too expensive, and ask loudly "How do I get McDonald for free?" You think McDonald won't throw you out?

I have been using ad blockers for almost as long as they have existed. Many people on OzBargain also use ad blocker. No one has ever been banned for using an ad blocker. Just don't be stupid about it.

Can't go wrong – Soft, comfortable and a nice fit. I wore mine all day without any issues. I especially like the extra support around the waist which I have not seen in my other undies.…

Buyer beware. Does not honour warranty – I helped arrange a Solar System Installation for my parent in October 2011 via Green Engineering. The system have a 5 years warranty. I recently discovered by looking at my…

parent's previous power bills that the solar system has stop working since November 2015. I emailed Green Engineering scans of the bills and contracts. They said we have to pay $800 for a replacement system as it's out of warranty.

My understanding is that the warranty guarantee that the product would work within the warranty time period. In this case, the electric bills show that the system stopped working within that warranty period.

Not as described and/or poor quality products – I bought a screen cover for Nexus 7 (2012). Got sent a Galaxy Tab screen cover with a Nexus 7 (2013) sticker on top. Size and placement of camera/speaker are completely off…

between the three models of tablet.

Bought a micro USB cable + 2 iphone cables for a friend (before the screen protector arrived). Very poor quality. Loose connections.

Will never buy from these people again. Cheap price, fast shipping Cheap and nasty

Cannot use voucher on some items! – I cash out my credit card reward points to get a $50 AlwaysOnSale voucher. Went to the website to find out that I can't use it to buy everything on their website as stated on my…

reward program website. Fair enough as AOS have the condition on their checkout.

They offer free $10 and $15 vouchers for new customer. Can't be use on most products.

Had a look at other items on their site (that are not movie tickets, theme park tickets, magazine subscriptions and phone cards), most of what I want cannot be pay for with my voucher. But you don't find that out until you put the voucher in. The kicker is that the voucher would mysteriously works if you add a second item in. The catch is that no matter the value of the second item, shipping cost would add at least another $10 to your purchase. Yep a $2 drink cooler cost $9.95 to ship.

Shipping is charge per item.

Wish I had read the numerous complaints before hand.