A couple of months ago I ordered a USB powered light from GearBest.com. It was a $2.89 light that appears to be a knock off of the Xiaomi Utility LED that I have and use a lot. After a month without it showing up I contacted them and reported the problem. They told me that it wouldn’t be considered overdue until two months had passed. I thought OK no big deal it’s not something I have a pressing need for and I did have my Xiaomi. Since then I found them at BangGood for less than a buck, ordered a couple and have already received them. Later after more than two months had passed I contacted GearBest again about the missing light. They replied with this.
Dear $Customername,
Iam sorry to hear you haven’t received the items yet.
In order to resolve it,please kindly confirm the following points
Please reconfirm your delivery address :(My shipping info was here and correct)
2)Please contact your local post office in charge of your area ,stating your name and address.
In some cases, Post office may require customers to collect parcels over there.
Kindly let us know the results.
Once we receive both details above,we will offer you the right solution.
We will do our best to help you.
Thank you for your collaboration.
I live in a small town with a understaffed Post Office. There is no one there to call and ask if I have a package, so I had to make time to actually go to the Post Office. This took up 20 or 30 minutes of my Saturday morning, for a cheap two dollar light. I’m frustrated that the required me to actually try and track down a package I payed to have delivered to my door. Any of us who order online have occasional problems with missing items but no one has ever required me to this in the past.
So my questions.
I’m I wrong to be upset about having to go and ask my Post Office? Has anyone had other online or mail order companies require this?
This is a “standard” request from many sellers I have seen before. In some cases post offices “mis-handle” packages or “mis-place” them. I personally have never had that experience because of my close proximity to larger cities and infrastructure (and DHL has proper delivery centers, not just affiliates or mom& pop shops)
yes, sometimes a shipment gets lost - this is frustrating and disappointing. But if the value of the item is low… at some point it might be best to cut your losses and ie file a claim via paypal.
So far I have received all goods from overseas sellers.
Yeh, GB threw that at me one time to check local post office. BS. I guess in some remote rural areas that could apply but most of the time NOT.
This is my second post this week in reference to GearBest Bullshixxx Slow Shipping. I have batteries coming from them right now and If I ever get them no more GearBest orders for me. Period. I've had two other orders earlier this year that took PayPal threats but I eventualy got them....but the SLOW SHIPPING from them is a deal breaker. I would rather pay a little more and get it from someone else.. So, so far I've had 3 orders that took FOREVER...no more... Live and Learn.
Cool, I don’t want to be an unreasonably customer. I’ve ordered from gearbest in the past and have always received my item. I don’t doubt that they sent it. I even understand being ask to wait a while longer. I ordered some plastic battery cases from a marketplace seller on Amazon. After the delivered by date set by Amazon past I contacted the seller and was sent a replacement. While waiting for those to arrive the first showed up. I ended up with two sets and felt bad. These Chinese sellers are not making themselves rich on my tiny orders. Big smile
If other people think this is a reasonable request, I will be more than happy to admit I’m just a hot head for being upset. I really do mean this as a question about policy and not just a rant against GearBest.
Yes, need to chill a bit.
As mentioned, that is standard practice for many online sellers, I get that msg every time I report that something is not here in time, even from ebay sellers.
I understand that 30 minutes of your saturday morning is of priceless value but if they would just blindly resend or refund every order without tracking no. everyone would ask them to do so regardless if he actually received the package or not.
Your next msg to them will be something like:
“I went to the post office, they checked and my package is not there. Please advise about future steps in solving this issue.”
And then they will say something like: “Ok, do you want a resend or refund? If it is refund you can choose to be refunded as a store credit or to your paypal.”…
And that’s it, no need for tensions whatsoever…
I don’t blame them for the shipping speed. I would have paid for faster shipping if I was in a hurry. As far as I know they did their part in getting it in the mail in a timely manor.
Shipping from overseas sellers usually takes time. Even orders on the same day won’t necessarily end up at your door on the same date; these giant warehouses have smart logistical systems in place that route the items in ways we would never understand with logic.
Packages might get…
- delivered to neighbors
- or the wrong house
- misplaced or re-routed inside and to another warehouses or delivery centers
- get ground shipping instead of air mail
get the special treatment from your customs team because there was an alarm or it was picked randomly or for any other reason.
Once I ordered an extension tube and it got picked up by customs because it looked like a silencer! That alone took 2 weeks.
Actually once the package arrives to the US and it gets handled by USPS is no longer the seller’s fault. Several occasions I had packages misplaced or mishandled by USPS, but never lost.
Usually when you buy single items that are shipped in an envelop it has greater chance of getting lost, this is why I order several items at the same time so it ships in the bag and always pay for tracking.
I always wondered how these free shipping method worked, sending a $2 item overseas for free, that’s incredibly cheap and one simply cannot expect it to work every time.
That extension tube wasn’t a big deal and I got it after a they had a look. But customs agencies have to be very careful these days because so many customers buy edged weapons online. And many countries I travel to (ie in Europe) have very strict laws governing these items.
Once, I was coming back from work and was in a big hurry to go to toilet but there was a package in my mailbox
You know where this leads to
Anyway, while I was sitting there, doing my business, I ripped the envelope to check what goodies I received but, instead of usual stuff that I receive there was a sexy womens underwear inside, honestly I was disappointed, only then I took a look at the envelope and of course, recipient was some unknown to me person not even close to my address.
I don’t mean to be rude but why did you really feel the need to actually go down to you post office just because GB wanted you to?
GB’s response is pretty standard. They want to try every possibility, every delay before maybe, perhaps being forced to give you credit for it. “Refund? What does refund mean? Store credit is just as good!”
How many post offices just throw packages in the corner instead of delivering them or at least sending you a note that it could not be delivered due to some issue? We do not need to waste our time to go down to our post office and ask “Would you mind checking the corner again for a package for me that you were too lazy to deliver or notify me about? It’s cheap crap from china, not something you would be interested in stealing, probably just in the corner.” And if you post office does do that you likely already know, already checked.
I just tell them I checked with my post office in my initial message to them about a missing item, before they even ask. One less thing for them to say to try to delay.
