If there’s a problem, Banggood also sucks. In late December, I received a seriously defective Astrolux MF01S from Banggood. I provided Banggood Customer Service with all the information they asked for: pictures of their shipping label, SKU code, batteries used (new Samsung 30Qs), and five videos showing the light malfunctioning and the side switch not working. Banggood refused to give me a refund or pay for return postage.
After opening a PayPal dispute (which was an ordeal since I purchased the MF01S using PayPal’s “guest checkout”), I was told I’d receive a full refund if I returned the light to Banggood using any shipping method with a tracking number.
I mailed the MF01S to Banggood on January 6 via USPS First-Class Package International Service with tracking number. The package reached China on January 12.
I still haven’t received a refund from PayPal or Banggood. My credit card company (Chase Amazon Visa) refused to give me a refund since I can’t prove the package was delivered to Banggood. USPS First-Class and Priority Mail tracking numbers don’t work inside China (and several other countries). So I’m out $80 for the flashlight and $23.50 for return postage, all for a defective product which I proved (with 5 videos) was useless.
Banggood has a facility in the U.S. (in the Los Angeles area) and it carried Astrolux MF01S flashlights. If I’d been allowed to ship the package to a U.S. address then the return postage would have cost less and the USPS tracking number would show delivery. PayPal, however, required me to ship the package to an address in China. UPS quoted a price of around $150 to ship the package to China; FedEx wanted over $80.
In the case of products ordered from China, IMHO PayPal provides precisely zero “protection” since the expense of return shipping, with a tracking number that works inside China, will likely cost more than the purchase price. I find it incredible that Chinese merchants can ship packages to the USA for a couple dollars and USPS will scan the package all the way to delivery. Yet if you mail the same product to China, even paying 20 times as much for postage, China Post will not scan the USPS tracking number inside China. I submitted two negative product reviews about this defective MF01S and, predictably, Banggood refused to post them. Several people have received defective Astrolux MF01S flashlights (some owners made YouTube videos on them), yet out of 123 reviews on Banggood, the company has failed to post a single negative review.