GearBest is Gear_Not_Best

I have a Gearbest’s customer for over two years now and have ordered multiple items overtime.
Recently, I have ordered a notebook, it was worth about $1000. I have paid with Paypal and order has gone thru.
The next day my order has been canceled and refunded.
It was strange, because obviously, item was not out of stock and there was a flash sale running.
I have opened ticket and asked CS about why order has been canceled.
Then it has gone out of hands.
First, CS rep told me that order has been refunded because they wanted me to pay with Western Union.
It was 2017 and Western Union wasnt even present in my country and I have asked CS about why I cant pay with Paypal which I have used for years.
I was told that I cant pay by Paypal for such a expensive item.
I have asked whether if “expensive item” is considered to be an item which cost over $500 and CS confirmed it.
“Yes, for more than 500 USD, we have no way to accept Paypal or Credit card
All with be bank transfer or western union.”

Thats sounded fishy to me and I have opened second ticket asking the same question - why my order has been canceled.
Second CS told me another reason
“Please be notified that this order was cancelled and refunded as we’ve received a message from Paypal/card issuing bank that this transaction was unverified, and we cannot accept unconfirmed transaction.”

Thats a plain lie and I am using my Paypal account daily and its obviously verified.

It was time to ask CS rep here, on BudgetLightForum about my order.
I have asked gearbest(http://budgetlightforum.com/user/10960) about the same.
She has then asked Gina(CSgearbest http://budgetlightforum.com/user/12006) to check out my order.
Here is her reply:
“Please be notified that this order was cancelled and refunded as the item is not available any more.”

Item was and is still available and next reply from Gina confirmed it:
“Please be notified that this order was cancelled and refunded as we’ve received a message from Paypal/card issuing bank that this transaction was unverified, and we cannot accept unconfirmed transaction.
If you still want to place order on Gearbest, please pay for your order by western union.”

Another fake excuse to refund my order.

Well, maybe they really do have limit for expensive items that cost over $500 and just dont accept Paypal from anyone, right?
I have placed another order two days ago. It was athletic shoes for $20 and the next day my order has been refunded again without any explanation.

Now, for all the BS and fake excuses that I have experienced in the last few weeks, I had to bring this stuff here.
Secondly, I have already requested account deletion since company like this doesnt deserve a single order.

Their reps are active here and I invite them to counter my arguments and finally tell me why they have canceled my orders and wasted tons of my time.
It doesnt make sense to turn simple order into a drama with all of the fake, time wasting games.

My experience with Gearbest would never let me buy an item for $1000,- from them.

My most expensive item was a Convoy L6

For small items, sometimes i take the risk, but it’s a gamble.
More expensive ones, i use the registered and insured option, so if it gets lost (which happened 3 times with me) they will resend the item for free (after a lot of trouble)

As Yokiamy mentions we often think it’s a gamble buying from Gearbest but think about things from Gearbest’s perspective for a moment: it’s a gamble for them every time they sell something! Payment gateways are heavily weighted towards the purchaser and companies like Gearbest suffer from fraud a lot. It sounds like they’ve decided they can’t afford the risk of using payment gateways like Paypal for +$500 items.

We all make different decisions but, personally, I wouldn’t take the risk of not using a payment gateway for a +$500 item. With the volume of sales and low margins they have, I’m not surprised if customer service can be chaotic.

A couple of points.
1)Ebay and many others decide to take “risk” and accept order over $500 via Paypal, but there are other issues in this case.
GB gave fake reason to refund order. They did it twice, first via ticket and then here via PM. Then they said that there is a limit on payment with Paypal, but that info isnt available anywhere on the website.
2)I have placed $20 order which was refunded yet again, while previously it was because of exceeding “$500+” limit.

Thats their company and they can email me and tell me about the real reason, but thats NOT ok to lie about limits or whatever.
And finally I had to know that I shouldnt place any order since any order will be refunded.

Paying with Western Union is a one way road - kiss your money goodbye.

By the way, you shouldnt buy “insurance”. If item is lost then they have to either refund or resend it. Thats according to Paypal rules.

You might be correct, but it’s not worth the hassle

They even mention it in their terms and conditions;

For a smooth delivery and peace of mind, we strongly recommend that customers purchase shipping insurance during the checkout.In the event that your package has a shipping issue, Gearbest will send you a replacement package free of charge. If the item is no longer in stock, we will offer you a refund option.
Any orders that do not have shipping insurance will not be the responsibility of GearBest and the customer takes full liability for their package during the shipping process.

If the item is no longer in stock, we will offer you a refund option.
—————
Yes, but it wasnt the case for one of my items. I have purchased insurance for it and it was lost, they have offered 50% refund and no replacement.

Any orders that do not have shipping insurance will not be the responsibility of GearBest and the customer takes full liability for their package during the shipping process.
—————
Still, Paypal wont accept it as an argument if you open case. They have different stuff written in their TOS.

They should stop accepting payments via Paypal if they want to make customer the only responsible party.
IMHO, not fair.

Just because your PayPal account is active doesn’t mean you have gone through the verification process. PayPal always resolves disputes in favor of buyers, GearBest’s policy to not ship high dollar items to unverified accounts is a common way for sellers to protect themselves from scams.

Thats an assumption. My Paypal account is verified and again, its not about high dollar item only, but $20 item as well.

Forumuser, did you ever file Paypal dispute with Gearbest?
Looks like your account is blacklisted if GB refunded your $20 order.

I have also not had the best experience with gearbest and have only bought items that were only shipped to Brazil from them (Utorch UT01, for example) or a didn’t know better about other stores. Most of what I bought arrived way after the estimated date and when my nitecore tip did not arrive for over a month after estimates, they just had me talking in circles for a long time until finally agreeing with a refund. I’m hopping for a better experience on Banggood, but so far all my purchases are all recent and still not arrived (but not late). AliExpress has the best policy by far in favor of customers, as most items are eligible for refund if they to not arrive, the down side is that their prices are a bit higher than the other 2, their coupon system is very clumsy and badly developed, and you can’t have deals offered to us like madmax’s, trevi’s, etc

They are probably denying buyers who have filed disputes or chargebacks before on purchases. There are chargeback insurance companies that tracks this information and stores employ them to protect themselves from such buyers. Seems like the new hot thing on the horizon for Internet merchants as protection in the aftermath of PayPal disputes and eBay’s money back guarantee and rampant chargebacks.

I have never had problems. We would need to hear the Gearbest side of the story to know the truth.

‘Recently, I have ordered a notebook, it was worth about $1000.’ - ‘A fool and his money are soon parted.’ :person_facepalming:

‘Their reps are active here and I invite them to counter my arguments and finally tell me why they have canceled my orders and wasted tons of my time.’
No offence, but this isn’t the Gearbest complaints forum, and what’s more it isn’t even about a flashlight…… seriously I think you should take your complaints to a more relevant forum!
You basically joined to whine about Gearbest and use the power of a forum you have never been on or have any interest in, nice :person_facepalming:

sorry but i would never in my life buy something for 1000$ or even close on gearbest… but strange u cant pay with paypal… limit is way higher then that if any?