noviceBuilder said:
I had to abandon my shopping cart on recycles-ebike.com for the following reasons:
- No SSL whatsoever. This means everything is sent in the clear (name, address, email, username, password, etc)
- No business address. "Store Information" at the bottom of the page is clickable but it triggers no action. The map pin is inactive, so no map. Normally there should at least be an address in ToS and privacy policy, but not on this site.
- When looking for an address or some indication of jurisdiction in the ToS, it says jurisdiction is in the "United States" with no reference to a state. If in the US, it should declare a specific state of jurisdiction. This also means there's no indication of which state secretary to query to see if there is a real business.
- I tried to email them at support (at) recycles-ebike.com but it was returned with "<2824793632@qq.com>: host mx3.qq.com[203.205.219.57] said: 550 Domain may not exist or DNS check failed".
Some folks here mentioned having success with Facebook. Personally I do not (and would not) use Facebook. It's not a good mechanism for a business to rely on.
The
whois information shows points of contact in China, and their US-focused site (eco-ebike.com) has masked their whois records with a proxy in Canada.
@eyebyesickle After a brief look at your posting history, I don't think anyone in this forum would suspect you're doing anything dodgy but IMO you should consider addressing the issues above because they raise red flags to shoppers who simply encounter the site by searching around out in the wild. I'm not sure why the lack of HTTPS, but if it's too much cost or hassle to get that going then a simple short-term remedy is to deploy an .onion site, because Tor inherently gives a secure tunnel that makes SSL unnecessary.
Yeah, its an outdated site... the platform has problems, and a new website is being made to replace it, but the parent company primarily sells through other outlets, and are in no hurry.
I see alot of other Chinese sites with very similar issues, and alot of the addresses posted are fake on those, FYI. ReCycles Ebike is primarily a direct from manufacturer shipping/logistics coordinator. I know you don't like Facebook, but many companies are using Facebook or other social media for customer engagement, and responses are real time instead of waiting on email. Since your email didn't go through, I would wager you are sending through a server that is not commonly utilized, one that perhaps even Gmail would reject... because that issue is not typical. There is also a number to call if other methods would not working or preferred.
Now, about your statement "and their US-focused site (eco-ebike.com)" - Eco Cycles/eco-ebike.com is a US owned and operated company, which merely helps with support. How did you come to the conclusion that this is a Chinese companies US focused site?
Anyway, as you said, nothing dodgy going on at all, just an outdated website, and methods of contact that you don't prefer. I don't prefer Facebook or the phone either, so I don't blame you. I do appreciate the advice, but this is not my website, and while I advised them, I merely provide support. I was trying to update it myself, but the platform is a mess, and in Chinese, without a workable translation possible. So, I stepped back from that, opting for replacement. I am trying to get them to switch some info in the meantime though.
Anyway, I just wanted to stop by and say something, as I have noticed you are stating in multiple places on the forum that Eco Cycles is the same as a couple other companies (recycles ebikes, Ebird, etc) - a Chinese company focused on US sales - and this statement is not accurate at all. Eco Cycles provides support for multiple Chinese and other International ebike/part manufacturers and distributors, to be clear. I'm happy to clear anything else up that may be uncertain.