Safe Buying Tips
Important - Please read carefully
1. Always purchase from a registered Australian company or business that is based in Australia and displays it's ACN (Australian Company Number). A domain name ending in ".com.au", the letters "AU" or the word "Australia" in a website name, may give the impression that the website is an Australian business, when in fact the business or company maybe located and or registered in another country.
2. Watch out for websites who make out they are giving you something for free, when in reality your paying for it through higher prices. One of our competitors claims on their site, that they have the best warranty because it includes free screen breakage cover. What they don't tell you is that they have inflated the price of their rugged phones to cover the cost of a replacement screen and then some.
3. Check a websites feedback, testimonials and their associated businesses. Customer support is everything. If you are about to buy a new phone, you need to know that the company or business you are buying from will stand behind their product and their warranty obligations.
4. Be extremely carefull of drop shippers on various local and overseas marketplaces selling cheap phones. No drop shipper making a $50.00 profit on a rugged phone is ever going to be able to refund you $600.00 if your phone is faulty or needs to be replaced. Most of those drop shippers will not have access to spare parts for the phones they sell either. Be alert and don't risk it!!
5. Watch out for overseas based drop shippers whose advertising can lead you to believe that you are buying from an Australian business. Some of our customers who had previously purchased phones from sites they believed were Australian, soon found out that they were dealing with an overseas based drop shipper. Some people experienced major issues such as receiving the wrong items, not receiving the item at all, item returns not being accepted or auto-rejected at the border, no local customer support and genuine warranty claims being rejected . Don't risk it!
6. Websites offering "1800" or "1300" numbers may look like they are in Australia but they could very well have a redirection on these numbers that get answered in another country.
7. Buying from an Australian business or company gives you a lot of protection in relation to your purchase. If you purchase from an overseas company or business and something goes wrong, their promises about service and product warranties are not binding in Australia and are worthless. This could end up costing you a lot of money. It's just not worth the risk!
8. Buying from an Australian company that offers proper local customer support is worth its weight in gold if you have an issue with the item or product you purchased. Don't risk it, buy from a trusted registered Australian company like ours.
9. Watch out for overseas businesses whose Australian websites display an ABN and not an ACN, as this simply means they have registered for GST. Many overseas companies will register for an ABN to meet invoicing requirements. Having an ABN does not mean they are an Australian registered company. Don't risk it!
Rugged Phone Store Pty Ltd (ACN 630 104 031), the owner of this website, is a GST registered Australian company (ABN 24 630 104 031) based in Melbourne and is 100% Australian owned.
