a new low for Gearbest (resolved)

[dthoang]

I have had my share of bad experiences with Gearbest and stuck with them patiently and got most issues resolved after protracted negotiations. And I now select a shipping method that has tracking.

Now Gearbest has gone and pushed me past my tipping point.

On January 7, I placed an order for 2 of the 4 pack of Samsung ICR18650-26FM for $10.39 each for a total of $20.78. I also ordered some storage boxes for the cells. On January 14, I received a shipping confirmation for the storage boxes without the cells. I also got a message that a support ticket has been created to inform me that the 4 pack of cells is sold out and I had two options: store credit or exchange for product(s) of equivalent value.

Their website shows that the 4 pack is out of stock and the price increased to $11.80 per pack. However, the 2 pack is in stock at $5.80.

I replied to the support ticket to ask them to send me 8 cells since they had the 2 packs in stock. Their response is that they changed the order to 4 of the 2-packs and that I owe them a price difference.

I responded:

Why would there be a price difference for the same quantity of 18650 cells? I do not understand this. I ordered 8 cells for a set price. Now you want to increase the price after I have already paid? That sounds like dishonest to me. Doesn’t it to you?

If I agree to sell you 2 packs of 4 of something for $10 and say later that you are out of the packs of 4 but will sell me 4 packs of 2 for $5 more. How would you feel? Cheated? That’s how I feel.

I have been a loyal customer and also a BLF forum member. If this does not get resolved with no extra charge, I will discontinue doing business with GB and will let everyone in BLF know about this.

I PM’ed the Gearbest account here on BLF and asked for help resolving this support ticket. I have not received a response.

Today they sent me a Paypal invoice for $2.42. I demanded that they send me a full refund by Paypal.

This is the last straw. Gearbest will not have any new business from me. It does not matter how cheaply they advertise their products when I know they can refuse to ship and demand extra money.

January 19 update

The case was resolved with a Paypal refund issued.

Here are parts of my conversation with May, the GB rep here.

@May

Hi dthoang，
I’m really sorry reply late, because the weekends, and Last Friday I have meeting， too busy to miss your message

As you are our honored customers in BLF, I will take care of you, I will communicate with our cs again to see if they could change your 2 pieces of 4 piece to 4 piece of 2 piece, please allow us 1-2 business days

Beg your understanding, our cost price for 2 pieces of 4 piece version and 4 piece of 2 piece version is different, so our cs reply you with that answer before

Best,
May

@I

I had requested a refund and it was processed promptly. I understand the reason for the actions taken. Your CS rep followed procedure strictly so she is not at fault. I would say that the procedure is not flexible and that is the fault. It seems common sense to me that a 4-pack of cells gets quantity discount over a 2-pack. What I did not understand is why a 4-pack would be out of stock when there is plenty of stock on 2-pack. But that’s a shortcoming of your order system.

May wrote back

@May

you may noticed ths sku numbers for 2 pack and 4 pack are different, before we take the batteries to our warehouse, update the quantities of the products into our system, they are all sticked sku numbers, it’s a way to make stocking be clear and in order, and 4 version is sold fast than 2 versions, so that’s why it happened

So what happened with the stocking was basically an artifact of their inventory management system. That I can understand. However, the fault is that their customer service is not given the authority to change the order to accommodate the situation without changing the price. They can change the order from 2 of 4-pack to 4 of 2-pack, but they can’t change the price to be equivalent.

Of course, I am unhappy that I am not going to get the cells I wanted, but my faith in GB has been somewhat restored. I will continue to take precautions like paying for tracking. But I will limit purchases to mainly BLF group buys.

[raccoon]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but for GearBest...

that's a new high.

[dthoang]

+1
LOL

[BanglaBob]

None of this surprises me. At all.

[zelee]

Someone shift the gear from best to worst

[Andrew2007]

Reverse - backwards!

Surely they can use some common sense in dealing with issues like this?

[djozz]

Not surprised, it is nothing but business as usual: giving their standard response and any reasoning by the customer is not read in the first place, so it makes no difference if your argument is making sense or not. The two-pack is a different item with a different price, period.

Stick to telling them what you want (like: demanding a refund to Paypal), don't ask from them to think, the Gearbest customer service is not allowed to think, let go care for the interest of the customer.

[DanielM]

oh where art thou defender of gearbest…

[FmC]

@DanielM

oh where art thou defender of gearbest…

How can you say such a thing? ;)

[raccoon]

@DanielM

oh where art thou defender of gearbest…

bugsy36

bugsy36

bugsy36

...

(He usually shows up when I do that.)

[bugsy36]

You rang ?

[zelee]

@bugsy36

You rang ?

Here he is :bigsmile:

[borked]

Bahahahaha GearBest, stuffing up the simplest of human tasks, as usual.
For those interested in my saga, they just figured out I have insurance on my purchase and supposedly refunding me.
Good riddance to them, go spend the refund upon what I wanted elsewhere, that is, if they ever do refund me.

[Jack_Kellar]

Not surprising, not startling, but definitely impressive.

More and more I feel justified in my resolve to pay a bit more for purchases on Banggood, Fasttech and HKEquipment. Migraine medicine is expensive…

[Bort]

@raccoon city

@DanielM

oh where art thou defender of gearbest…

bugsy36

bugsy36

bugsy36

…

(He usually shows up when I do that.)

i think you meant to say beetlejuice

[cfy7]

It’d be nice if coupon code “BLF” worked at Gearbest, then they could see you’re a member of the forum when they try to resolve problems. Then they could have Karen fix it or something.

I liked pilot dogs post that shows a shipment of batteries, and a case that came. In the same package but ey didn’t put the batteries in the case…

I’ll order lights from Gearbest, but after all the stories on here and pictures of some terrible looking batteries, I will not touch their batteries.

[pilotdog68]

I have been a “defender” of gearbest in the past, but really I’m just tired of the constant “gearbest is horrible” threads all the time. I can’t be the only one. We get it. Can we move along now? Or at least just use the official gearbest rating thread?

[raccoon]

@Bort

i think you meant to say beetlejuice

I have two Betelgeusian friends. They might defend the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation after downing a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster, but they would never defend GearBest. :crown:

[Yourrid]

I’d would request store credit for the amount you paid, which it sounds like they offered to do. Then go place a new order for the 2 pack cells.

Seems to be a common “bait and switch” to me. I don’t understand why the Chinese love doing this to people. I would imagine that you’d get your teeth knocked in if you tried that in the States.

[SawMaster]

@BanglaBob

None of this surprises me. At all.

Me either. Business as usual for GB, one should not really expect anything different from them. Now if it were a well-respected retailer playing this game THAT would be newsworthy and despicable. This is still despicable but par for the GB course.

Phil