Yes, I did PM that member and have heard nothing on that end either.
UPDATE: I have escalated my paypal dispute to a claim, I have never done this before but GEARBEST is ridiculously bad at customer service. I don’t know what the deal is with the culture of poor customer service in China, but they will never get my business again. They take days to respond to my ticket, DELETE my ticket history!, then give near unintelligible responses to my questions.
If you receive an item that does not work properly out of the box, you should be able to return it without this hassle. None of this partial store credit bullshit, just send me a light that works or refund my money! Your stupid company cuts it’s nose off to spite its face. Had you taken care of this like any decent company would, I would in kind continue to give you my business. Now you have just pissed me off, for $34!
I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER DAMN THING FROM THESE IDIOTS AGAIN.
relax
just folow these simple rules when buying from China and you’ll be fine
1 order and forget (it gets there when it get there, no worries for the frst 45 days)
2 make a video of the unpacking
3 folow the system of the vendor (gearbest, open a ticket, do not send emails, AlExpress, send messages in the system)
4 for th shops who lose money if they refund you (gearbest/banggood etc) make screenshots of the tickets and their replies in case the “dissapear” you can prove certain promises
5 as they will repeat themselves so should you repeat your troubles, just try to find the simplest way of saying it, like if the receiving end reads though a translation site…uhm, well yes, you know this to be true most of the times dealing with China, so keep it short, simple.
6 enjoy the cheap goodies that do arrive!
7 in case of mistakes, know it will take some time, so relax and take the steps needed, and yes Paypal claims is one of the steps that could be needed.
I allways make a full screenshots of my tickets and orders, even of photos of packet before shipping… just in case…
This should, besides being a sticky in all subforums, be the first comment in every thread that in any way mentions any of the chinese vendors… maybe people would relax a bit then? 
edit: That wasn’t meant as a jab against the OP I might add, just in general.
Just unpacked an Astrolux S1, and surprisingly enough (well, not really), they forgot the 18350 tube. I did remember to record the unboxing though, so off to the CS we go! That’s BG though obviously. Haven’t had the misfortune of getting stuff that doesn’t work from GB yet, I do realize it’s just a matter of time though.
Little story 
So i asked 2 different people from GB if they have an item in stock - one person by chat and one by pm
Both answers were , yes we have it in stock , order now and we will ship it in 48hrs
So i placed 2 orders for 2 different items - Britney zoomie and UF 1226
I didnt ask about Britney and it gets shipped in 48 hrs but 1226 is processing for next 5 days
I got pissed off because it feels like i was lied to or was really lied to just to order something from them
On 6th day i told them to change the order if they dont have the light in stock
I told them to send me Opus BT and put rest of the money in points and they told me they dont have it in stock even if their website shows that they have it in stock
By then i knew they dont have it 1226
Day 7 i see that 1226 droped from 35 that i paid to 25 dollars so i send the ticket telling them to charge me 25 and refund 10 to my PP if they have the light in stock by now or cancel the order
The answer was that the light is ready to ship and they cant do 10 refund and they have to charge me 35 even if the light is 25 now
So i told them to cancel my order and do full refund
6hrs later i get email that GB refund my money
To be honest now i will order somewhere else even if it is 10 bucks more
I have raised a ticket with Gearbest over an item that shipped 2 months ago (64 days to be exact) that has not arrived.
Gearbest have told me that they have definitely sent it & that I must wait 180 days (6 months) before it can be considered “lost” !
I wonder if that is because then it will be too late to open up a case with Paypal? I have been lucky with all my orders from GB so far, but stories like this is… rather annoying. I’m usually quite patient with the Chinese sellers, but even I would go straight to Paypal if I got that answer from one of them.
The ad says shipping time 7-25 days ?
Straight to PayPal.
After 6 months, you purchased is no longer covered by PayPal, so I think you know what kind of games they are playing here
After messaging Gearbest again I have now received this message
“Thank you for your message.
I understand you wish to receive the items as soon as possible.
Kindly note, that most package will arrive at destination within 25 business days. If it was returned, it takes 25 business days to reach us.
However a smaller percentage of the order can take up 3 months to arrive due to weather, holidays, and peak season etc.
Please rest assured your package is still on its way as we ship to your country every with this shipper. This is why we have set this timeframe. Once it has been exceeded, please recontact us with all the details.
Please free to contact us on 2016-04-13 if you haven’t received the package.Then we can resend or refund to you based on our company policy.
Thank you very much for you patience and understanding”.
So they are now asking me to wait another 5 weeks.
That is 14 weeks from despatch to get to me, obviously better than the 26 weeks they previously told me to wait but still a lot longer than the up to 25 days to arrive their advert stated.
I have already received several items that were ordered after this one which did arrive within their claimed 25 days delivery period.
Should I wait another 5 weeks or involve paypal now ?
Here’s a site that might give you an idea of how long packages might take (average, min, and max).
The ad on Gearbest said delivery time 7-25 days & Gearbest have said up to 25 business days but can take up to 3 months.
I have been waiting 65 days of which 47 have been business days.
I think I will give them the benefit of the doubt & wait till the end of next week, which will be 52 business days, & if it has not arrived by then involve paypal.
You are kind to them. Let them know you choose to wait 1 week and then start a dispute/claim
Well they have now closed my ticket ?
I have still not received the item !
I posted a complaint earlier. I learned that if you file a complaint before their delivery expiration date, they will delete or close your tickets. Their expiration dates can be ridiculous but once this date was reached, my ticket was handled quickly. I have bought a ton of flashlight related stuff from GearBest over the past year. There were times when I was quite frustrated, but over time everything has worked out. For me at least…
You know, this kind of stuff is why I take it directly to the manufacturer if I have issues with GB-sold items. I’ve had far better fortune with that, and in my case (two Olight torches with issues, both handled in one singue request) I even received an additional reply from GB.
I have had lots of stuff off GearBest with no problems & have had things arrive that were ordered weeks after this item.
I also have another order from them that hasn”t shown up.
I am convinced that both these orders have been lost in transit somewhere so I have now raised a paypal dispute.
I also have an Aliexpress order that is approaching 3 months since shipping that has not arrived.
Gearbest have today confirmed that they will re-ship the item FOC.
I have another order from them that hasn”t arrived yet, shipped out 2 months ago, but 2 orders made on the 12th & 14th of this month are already with me ?
I assume CNY must throw a major spanner in their works & result in some orders being lost.
My Aliexpress order arrived Wednesday the 23rd, that one took over 3 months to arrive.