The main reason why I wanted to first bag was it had more usable zip pockets and the other one didn’t. Now, I’m currently going through a dispute process where I am entitled to a partial refund, but, without going through the AliExpress arbitration process yet (privately discussing compensation with the dealer first), he’s only wanting US$5 when I was US$10. I came up with that number because:
1. It wasn’t the bag I ordered
2. I believe, the practical aspects of the bag I got, is an inferior product despite the “higher” price
Thoughts?
I am thinking that if I can’t get the US$10 as a counter-offer, I’ll leave it to AliExpress to decide on what’s best. Note that, his offer of US$5 is based on their “profit” being only US$6 on the item. If I got what I ordered for in the first place, he wouldn’t have been in the position to make a loss on the item…
Went ahead with the dispute after he didn’t respond to any sort of counter-offer. Asked for a US$15 partial refund - around half of the price of the bag. So far, I haven’t had much luck with AliExpress’s dispute process. They seem to side with the vendors more than the consumer (who would have thought, right?!) when the vendors are really being hard-headed admitting they were in the wrong.
I guess this is the main reason why I am starting to get over buying lights (or anything for that matter) from online Chinese vendors. The hassle of when something goes wrong, it starting to wear thin on me.
I had a knife not arrive, $23.50, I was expecting a battle with the vendor and AliExpress. Anyway I put in a dispute saying the knife hadn’t arrived. The following day I got an email from AliExpress saying that they had settled the dispute in my favour, no drama, no fuss just a full refund.
I have re-ordered the same knife from the same vendor as I think it was genuinely lost in the post.
This is the second time I’ve had to raise a dispute, the first time was a pair of scissors costing less than $10, the tracking showed it as out for delivery in Northern Ireland. If I was any farther from Ireland I’d be getting my feet wet as I live on the east coast of England!
After I explained and showed a screen snip of Google Earth pointing to the delivery and delivered places I got a refund straight away.
These are the only two times things have gone bad in forty or more transactions.
The sellers get some sort of punishment if aliexpress has to get involved so they usually first decline a dispute to get more time and convince me to end the dispute and get a resend/refund later. I never do this, I just point that out and wait until the deadline. Often they refund me than.
This happened exactly like this last week with the 2.7$ zoomie which was DOA with plastic pill…
Just make an offer if he declines it, make a dispute and mark the full refund spot. They always make an offer for partial refund, but if you don’t find it okay just say this in the comment and point out that the mistake is on the seller side. After that wait…time is on your side.
The seller came back to me and accepted my US$15 partial refund counter-offer. Maybe I should have been more ruthless and went for the full refund? My very first dispute with a seller in AliExpress I did go down that route of a full refund (printer ink set that did not even come close to producing correct colours) and that didn’t go my way at all. That was why this time, I took a more lenient approach despite the fact that the seller may have been out of pocket after the partial refund.
Nevertheless, the end result was I’ve now got a bag that is similar to the one it is replacing in terms of functionality, for around US$20.
Thanks for the suggestions gents. I may go full consumerist mode next time this happens - well, at least I hope there isn’t a next time.