AliExpress is a joke

Hey guys
Just wanted to share my experience with AliExpress customer support
Short version: they are worthless and VERY biased toward the seller

I ordered a P20iX, payed more than a hundred dollars, received a Tiki ( keychain flashlight), tried talking to the seller (Nitecore official flagship store) they didn’t answer at first so I opened a dispute with the clear claim of receiving the wrong product, sent pictures of the box, label and products, the answered it was not valid because the box was not empty
Tried talking to a human on customer support, the robot don’t let me go trough saying I already placed a claim and they have 48h to respond

The store seller now wants me cancel the dispute before doing anything and after cancelling to make another order paying a dollar or so with the promise to send the right product.
Only problem is that if he doesn’t (I will only know this after 20 something days when I get the new package) I won’t be able to dispute the previous order again because the 15 days I have to dispute will expire, and if I dispute the one dollar mew order the max I can get back is a dollar.
Awesome right?
Who am I to say what you should do with your own money but I thought you should know the risk

Sad to know your experience Renato :zipper_mouth_face:

So far I had 2 issues only with AE, 1 was solved and the other one was not, but it was a cheap flashlight.

Did you pay through PayPal? If so, maybe you can open a dispute through PP and they will probably get reimburse your money. If done by other means, maybe it is harder.

Can you show us the store you bought from? That would be interesting so that we can avoid it from now on!

And…espero que a sua situação seja resolvida em breve :wink:

Good luck :+1:

This doesn’t help you with this case, but it is best to always pay with Paypal on aliexpress. The Paypal option is not presented unless you remove all the other forms of payment from your aliexpress wallet/payment methods. AE does not make it easy to deal with them unless you are giving them money. It is sadly part of the price we pay for doing business with them.

I've never been ripped off on AliExpress.

I have found many great deals on AE and AE has always sided with me, the buyer, when I had a problem.

By the way, OP, you should have never paid a dollar or so with the promise to have the right product sent.

That's just asking to be scammed.

eBay’s the opposite…Biased towards the buyer. Maybe I need to start selling on AliExpress :smiley:

Do not cancel dispute.
Mike

Yep, I agree with this.

This is the store
I trusted them because they have almost 99% rating

NITECORE Official Store

It’s unlikely that Ali will judge in buyers’ favour at 100$+ and with such reason.
Ali is biased towards buyer, but only at small orders, or with shipping related reasons.

I’ve had some packages stuck in China Post with protection period expiring and seller asked me the same thing- to place another order, don’t pay, then he will modify price to 0.01, then pay and he will reship. That seller was honest and he did reship.

I see that you are from Brazil. They give really nice coupons to Brazil, like $60 or something like that. I would just buy stuff with coupons.

I never said I paid, that’s why I kept the dispute opened and came here to warn you.

I’m not asking to be scammed, I’m trying to do the right thing here thanks for your empathy

Okay, I misunderstood.

I'm glad that you didn't pay.

I’m done with Ali regardless of the good deals. Some sellers use a BS package tracking system that appears to show package delivered (however USPS tracking says package isn’t even in the USPS system).
When I start a claim, Ali says no refund or replacement, package WAS delivered, but it wasn’t.

I have never ever had any trouble with AliExpress.
There are quite a lot of sellers I don’t trust, but with a brand like Nitecore?

There is of course a chance that this one dollar will be used to cover up for “a deal”
and sending you the correct light. Numbers of payment equals number of lights.
But they have given you very little proof of why you should trust them to do so.

You payed a lot of money for a keyring light.
I think there was a mix-up somewhere and the seller won’t admit it.
Stick to your story and stick to your plan. In other words: stick to your dispute.
Sellers quite often opt for going the extra mile to keep the Ali Company happy.

BTW have you tried to give them one, or no, star because of sending the wrong light?
I mean, you have an account, you placed an order, so you are entitled to do so.
Sellers who wanna stay “on board” with Ali act very nervous for loosing just one star.

Thanks! That one is risked from my list :+1:

And I agree with others: do not cancel the dispute!!!

I never spend more than $50 on AE unless they have paypal option…

Keep sending them messages everyday and do not cancel the dispute. The only reason this is a difficult claim is because they believe you’re trying to scam them, but they don’t have a way to verify that the correct product was sent out.

Any weight on the shipping label? A keychain light should weigh less than a P20iX.

I’ve had disputes resolved in my favour but I’ve found the amount of messages, photos, frustration and time it takes you wonder whether it was worth it. You kind of persist because what’s right is right. But on large I’ve had more good experiences than bad. Just stick to the dispute and don’t accept the many petty offers they will put up until your happy with the result.

I have this scenario right now, but with FastTech. They shipped my package and then provided a USPS tracking link. Well, that linked number wasn’t recognized by USPS. I assumed it would once it reached the USA. That never happened. So I went to 17Track.net. The tracking number is valid by them. In fact, it shows the package has now been delivered. I presume our doorman service received it. I contacted FastTech… and they ignored my statement about the tracking code not recognized by USPS and instead wanted to confirm that someone signed for the package. Unfortunately, I can’t confirm it right now—away from home.

I had heard of something like this happening from AliExpress. Apparently sometimes when USPS is the delivery carrier, there may be a different tracking number depending upon the originating carrier. Other times, it should be the same number. Well, there should be some kind of “handshake” between the systems such that the “converted” number should be accessible to the consumer. I have seen it work before. But this past time with FastTech, it did not. It’s very frustrating, because with such a case, if there was ever a delivery issue with the end carrier (e.g. USPS), there’s no way to even open a claim because they don’t recognize the tracking number.

This is an EXCELLENT point. All standard shipped items have a designated weight (ounce/gram) unless you use a higher cost flat rate. Clearly a lower cost & lighter keychain flashlight being the sole item shipped, it is a stark contrast to the heavier P20iX.

One thing I like about FastTech is that they take a photo of the package with the label prior to being dropped off with the carrier. That’s their proof of mailing. Such a different product would end up with a lighter indicated weight and even a smaller package.

Very good point, that’s what I’m trying to prove, the label I received says it weights 0.35kg which is much more than it really does in reality, the keychain plus the box with packing and bubble wrap were actually at about 0.2kg, but the label says 0.35kg

I’m trying to find the weights it should really have if it were the P20iX box but there’s no information on the total weight with box and accessories anywhere.

Flashlight P20iX: 116g
Battery:75.5g (NL2150i)
I can’t find the weight on the rest (plastic holster NTH20, USB-C cable, adapter for 18650 batteries, manual, lanyard, original box…)???

I guess it should be more than that but not by a lot

Unfortunately the package weight was “overestimated” and the box was actually too big for just the keychain, they could have sent in an envelope. Either they didn’t have an envelope or smaller box and “guesstimated” weight or …

It’s smelling like something is wrong here

i have always had aliexpress refund things to me, usually without returning the item

what helps a lot is, upload pictures and movies on the dispute form

and use short clear english in describing things for them

wle