videotaping yourself opening a dodgy order.

Buy / Sell Budget Dealer Experiences
1

Okay, I’ve given this advice several times, last time here Banggood is A FRAUD BE CAREFUL!!! - #31 by Lightbringer , and had to do it again.

I ordered 2 laser pointers for s&g, and got an envelope this morning. Ummm, felt only 1 tube in there, not 2.

Drag out the cellphone, start rolling, video the package beforehand, squishing it down to show the 1 bulge in there, then opening up the envelope, dropping out the 1 tube (wasn’t imagining!), and then showing the empty envelope.

Put in a grex at AX to the seller, no reply yet but will see what he/she/they say.

Otherwise, I’d have zero proof, and could just be claiming anything, maybe get a 1buk refund offer, etc., and at least this way I got video proof.

Ironically, also ordered from AX some small doodads, 11 of each (10 for projects, 1 to play with), and only got 20 total, not 22 total. So they must’ve read it as 10 each instead of 11 each.

Envelope looked pretty stuffed, so no “suspicion” to start videoing, but dunno if they’ll send 1 each extra, again, probably just offer to toss me a buk to make me go away. Only 50¢ each board, so that’d actually work out, but I wanted all the ones I ordered. Now, any one I play with will end up going into a project at some point.

Anyway, I gave that as advice and stick to it, and practice it myself if I feel the need to. Should be always, sadly, but most cases I got exactly what I ordered, so it’s easy to let down your guard.

2

It's even happened to me with SImon. I ordered two SS bezels for the C8 and only one came and told him about it and not to worry, but if I order expensive parts in pairs or more, I will take your advice and make a habit of doing it.

3

Strange. Simon usually doesn’t do these kind of errors.

4

I am actually afraid to spend more than a few bucks on AE or GB. If I need several items I would feel more comfortable ordering several times.

5

I think with the small items they don’t want to make waves. Fasttech shorted me a clip . Ordered 2 but only 1 in package. They asked for a picture of the package and promptly sent a second one.

6

I am not afraid for ordering 100$+ worth of things on Aliexpress/Banggood.

I take absolutely no risks however: I take pics, look if anything is damaged externally, test out the thing I ordered, test it if the specs are accurate, etc.

I also try to buy from known sellers, like UGreen, RD Tech, Sofirn, Convoy, HK Goldway, etc.

TLDR: Do everything you can to protect yourself.

7

Package was not opened so it came that way with only one bezel. Simon is always on top of everything but he can't control who packs what, that.s why I was saying it can even happen with a solid seller like Convoy.

8

Same happened to me with a driver. Ordered a few of a certain type, got one that was a 1×- or 2×7135 driver instead of the one I ordered. Asked to send a pic (after already having been opened :smiley: ). No problem, keep the one you got, we’ll send a replacement.

FT’s pretty good about that, from my happily limited experience when things go wrong.

9

A lot of things I got have been from “no-name” suppliers. Things like usb charging boards, boost converters, power-resistors, etc., little doodads like that to just lego together into bigger things.

But yeah, ABSOLUTELY test them as soon as you can. I ordered some 2000K car-bulbs from someone on AX just to grab the LEDs from them, figuring “how can they screw that up??”. By sending 6500K ones, that’s how. By the time I poked’n’prodded them, and was horrified at the Angry Blue™ light filling the room, it was about 2 days over the piss’n’moan time-limit.

10

Yep.

By reputable and reliable sellers, I meant about those that have a good reputation, those that respond to your messages, willing to give data sheets, additional pictures, have high ratings, willing to do small discounts, etc.

Rewarding good behavior is why I usually pay more for quality stuff. It’s always going to be cheaper in the long run.

11

Yep, everyone’s entitled to a screwup every now and again, as long as they make good on it. I don’t go screaming or hollering at ’em or anything, but ask nicely if they could make good on it, that’s all.

In my case, by my ordering 11+11, odd numbers instead of the usual 10 each, I figured someone just got “10” in his head and that’s what he picked. No problem, but I’d really like to have the extra 1+1 instead of a buk refund. If I’d order a couple more I’d get stuck with shipping, even if it’s just a token amount.

But the laser? Absolutely. I’m only getting half my order, so I really want a replacement.

Never ever had any screwups from AX, but now bam!, 2 in a row. Odd.

12

Bit of a followup…

I heard back from the laser people, and he/she was really nice about it. I had a problem with the side-switch on the laser I did get, thought it didn’t work, that the instructions for battery-direction were wrong (gotta do it pointy-end away from the emitter), etc., but you just need to squeeze it really hard to actuate.

Explained that in a followup message, and the person was profusely apologetic, sent 2 lasers (which makes sense, yeah), and tracking code, etc. Wow, nice!

I feel bad, though, that with the double-whammy, one missing and the other with a flaky switch, that they pretty much got double-bit on the order.

Okay, sending 1 instead of 2 is a mistake on their end (new guy, lots of screw-ups apparently). But the other’s beyond their control, ie, a defective switch thus a defective laser.

But I’m wondering if a video showing the flaky switch would let them get credit from their supplier. Figure they’re already running on razor-thin margins, so any little bit can help.

The other one that sorted me 2 boards, I haven’t heard anything from yet. <shrug/>