Shoddy dealings

I was disappointed for my daughter, whom I was talking to yesterday. She has moved into her new house, which she loves. She needed a couple of new items, one of these being a fridge. She found what she thought was the perfect one, on Market Place, Gold Coast’s buy, sell and exchange site. It was transported to her home, where she was asked to make sure it was going. It was, and the deliverers left. She was busy at work for the next few days and didn’t realise that her fridge was actually not working. It was not until her father came to stay, that this was pointed out to her. The light was still going and I think this was the reason Renee thought it was working in the first place. Thinking there may have been some quirky little key to getting this to operate, she messaged the buyer. But those messages have gone unanswered. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it was a cheap fridge but Renee paid $800, money she desperately still needs. Very disappointing.

There seems to be more and more of this type of thing going on over there. Renee also had difficulty with the furniture removalists, which I talked about in a previous blog. They had quoted her a reasonable price, but when they turned up, the price they wanted to charge her was four times the amount of the quote. Fortunately, she was strong enough to get rid of that lot and find another who could come on the same day.

Is it the economic climate that is making people act in more underhand ways or is it something else? I don’t believe Australians are as hard off as we are over here but perhaps some sectors of society are. Renee noted that the furniture people were shoddy looking, perhaps drug addiction is forcing this or maybe it is that some of these people have come to Australia from other countries and are perhaps bringing their ways with them. Whilst we are generally honest in our dealings, others may not feel the need to be so.

I tried to be positive with Renee and suggested the fridge’s problem may be something simple. It would certainly have helped if Renee had had some reassurance from the sellers that it was going perfectly when they last used it but their lack of response suggests they may have done the dodgy, as Renee would say. I think she will arrange for someone to look at it. Hopefully all of this won’t cost her too much. With a service fee on top of the $800, it is already shaping up to be an expensive fridge and that’s not counting repairs, or the possibility she’ll need a completely new one.

It is so disappointing that the trust Renee had in people is slowly getting eroded. The next perfectly honest and genuine person to come along will probably be met with distrust. What a shame.