Merchants angry they’re not getting payments from Ensogo

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.

For businesses selling online, getting on Ensogo’s marketplace is a way to boost their sales. Now some of them fear just the opposite happening as the ecommerce company allegedly withholds their payments.

Woon Kam Loong, a merchant selling electronics and home appliances on Ensogo in Malaysia, submitted RM1,776 (US$452) in payment claims on April 6 for items purchased by Ensogo shoppers, but he hasn’t received a single cent.

“There’s still no news [about the payment] at all,” he told us during an interview on April 28. “We are unable to contact anyone from the company, nobody is picking up our calls or replying to our emails.”

Kam said he knows at least six other sellers on Ensogo from his country who haven’t been paid.

He decided to pay a visit to Ensogo’s office – only to find it closed.

Ensogo is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with a market capitalization of US$60.8 million. Shoppers on the site pay Ensogo for items they buy on the marketplace, rather than giving the funds directly to the seller like on eBay. Ensogo then wires the money to the merchant.

Kam and two other merchants reached out to Tech in Asia on separate instances about the matter. They claimed Ensogo has failed to remit customer payments to their bank accounts weeks after the deadline.

Usually it takes seven to 10 days for the company to handle their “fund withdrawal” requests and wire the money, they said.

To make it worse, the merchants said they’re left wondering whether payments will ever be made.

Wall of silence

Law Wei Hong, a merchant selling sport accessories on Ensogo in Malaysia, said he has a pending claim for RM20,950.40 (US$5,334) worth of sales.

Here’s an account he gave Tech in Asia:

Since March 31, Ensogo Malaysia has broken its promise to make the payment. On April 6, I was meeting with Ensogo’s head of fashion and the team to discuss Hari Raya promotion. In the morning of April 7, I was informed by the team that Ensogo was going to stop onboarding local sellers and that the team was fired by Ensogo as well. The company fired a lot of staff and it stopped operating its customer service hotline. On Ensogo Malaysia’s Facebook page, I saw some merchants complaining that Ensogo still owes them. A person called “Chong” called me up and he mentioned he would handle my payment. But the payment has been delayed for three weeks now.

Delayed payments

Getting out of daily deals