Aliexpress dispute woes

I’ve ordered some Liitokala chargers from the LiitoKala Official Flagship Store on aliexpress. The payment was made through alipay. I’ve used a temp/virtual mastercard to make the payment and I don’t think the system I used offers any protection to the buyer.

The package was selected for checking at customs, and to clear customs I’m required to give a TIN (taxpayer identification number), among other documents. The problem is that the seller, or someone else along the way, made a mistake labelling the package and used the wrong name for the consignee. Because of this I can’t collect the package from customs, since I can’t present a valid TIN from that person.

I’ve contacted the seller and tried to explain the problem, asked for them to check the info used for shipping the package but I never got an appropriate response. So, I opened a dispute asking for a refund and explained the problem and uploaded some scans of the warning letter I received from my local postal carrier (they handle the customs clearing process) where can be seen that the package is addressed to the wrong person. Aliexpress has been stalling, asking me to wait (20 something days so far) and to check with my local postal carrier or to try to collect the package from customs.

I’ve used the live chat several times and the person on the other side was always very polite and always assured me that the problem would be resolved. It wasn’t. Now, the “Case management team” is claiming that the package was already delivered. The thing is, they’re using a different tracking number to make that claim. The buyer protection period is almost over and I see no way this will be solved positively by that time if I just wait.

Has anyone been through a similar situation? How did it turn out? Is there something else I can try to make them understand the problem? Some other channel I can use other than the live chat or the messages on the dispute page?

Any help is appreciated.

I recently lodged a dispute with them, 2 weeks after the buyer protection period, and got a full refund, including postage.
I think as long as the dispute is initiated before the period has run out your protection is guaranteed, in my case I could prove that before the period ran out I had already asked the seller to extend the period and he agreed (but didn’t do it) so I got the full refund.
My package still hasn’t arrived, ordered 22 July.

Aliexpress steps in to mediate after a week or so, looks at the evidence from both sides, and makes a ruling. They can only stall so long, they have a deadline.

First relax
Just present your case clear
In this case, they give wrong tracking number, make one pic:
Left your number, right their, red arrows text field: wrong tracking number

You provided correct TIN, the vendor used wrong
Make pic
Left your TIN, right what vendor used, red arrow, text field: ”
“wrong TIN used by vendor”
Make it very easy to see the mistakes
Rinse and repeat, make sure your two pics and short message is always last so every time vendor reacts, you do so as well

Just to 2nd what was posted above:
I have previously (successfully) filed for a refund after the deadline. It was decided in my favor.

Virtual payment methods almost always offer charge-back facility to protect the customer. Since they are using the card schemes available on the market (i.e. Visa, Mastercard, …) they have to be compliant with existing regulation. Check the smallprint for your VCC and see what they can do. Even if the temp card was deleted (you could do that i.e. on Entropay) the charge-back would go to the main card in your wallet or could go back to your initial funding source (“checking account” or funding credit card).

(edit: charge-back services typically require a fee with those ePayment services, so it might not be worth it in some cases)

Thanks for the comments.

I’ve edited some images to try to make thing clearer. I’ve also edited my message to be more concise and clear (at least I hope I was). Now I’ll just wait and see.

Don’t mix the seller’s communication with AliExpress communication. Provide all the necessary evidence (tracking they gave you, screenshots of the tracking they provided in your order page, etc) and reject all seller proposals that don’t satisfy you (so far all seller proposals I’ve got are “cancel dispute and wait”, so I’ve rejected them all)

Once AE steps in, it’s very likely they will resolve in your favour

Yeah and even if AliExpress says that they made a decision, you can see that as worse case if you not like it and decline, again posting your demands and proof.

I don't know how anyone actually filed a dispute after the deadline. I tried to once and there was no button left. Although I think I had verified receipt, and that may be the thing to avoid. But having filed before the deadline, it should be fine.

I just want to thank everyone for posting with your experiences and advice. I did have to reply with the same arguments and proof over and over again, editing the images to make the relevant information stand out, but they finally resolved the dispute in my favour.

It seems to me that they were just stalling until the package was sent back by customs to the seller. I could be wrong, but the timing seems right.

Anyway, thanks again for your support. Cheers!

congrats! thanks for sharing the outcome with us.

It can seem like too much fuss for low priced items, but what is at stake is peace of mind, rather than $.
Looked at from that point of view it is worth following the process, also a learning experience.
The cancellations/refunds/resends I have had have all been successful and I feel much more confident about ordering from the big 3 (Ali/GB/BG)

They must realise that future business depends on resolving these things to the customers satisfaction.