OLX announced today a series of measures that, to be completely honest, amaze me and show that there is still responsibility at the company, although many Romanians want to take advantage of the Coronavirus to make money from those who cannot buy what they have need.
OLX it was filled with ads from speculators who bought food, disinfectant products, etc. in bulk, only to sell them at a higher price, which of course shows the lack of humanity of some, but OLX says that it also found the solution for them, the deletion announcements.
OLX it had not only speculators who sold products bought in large quantities at an overpriced price only to contribute to the emptying of stores and to speculate on them, but also the announcements of transporting people to Italy, the country that is most strongly affected by the Coronavirus.
OLX probably they will have more work in the next period, but maybe everything I say now will prove to be a proof of the fact that they care about people, and not about the profit made from promoting ads.
Here are the measures announced by OLX:
- We banned all ads that included Italy-Romania transport offers, as a result of the traffic restrictions information issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- We have banned the sale of masks, antibacterial gels and other medical products related to COVID-19 and have assigned a dedicated moderation team to monitor the topic 24/24.
- We have banned any misleading ads that use the virus in the wrong context, and we constantly scan systems to make sure that fraudulent ads are completely blocked.
- We've disabled more than 1.000 ads with overpriced products, fake products, or ads that mock the crisis or seek to profit from it.
- For your own safety, the entire OLX team is working from home.
In the same way, the people from OLX also have recommendations for people who still want to sell something on their platform:
- If you need to buy / sell products on OLX, take all the recommended safety measures during this period: limit viewings or physical inspections and replace them with product inspection video calls as much as possible
- Avoid crowded areas where you are exposed to direct contact and/or interaction with large numbers of people and use courier delivery as much as possible
- Limit as much as possible any direct contact with other people through gestures such as: shaking hands, touching faces with hands
- Keep a significant distance of at least 1,5 meters from other people you meet
- Strictly follow the personal hygiene rules recommended by the authorities and use the protective mask only if you have flu or cold symptoms
