AliExpress Sofirn Official Store doesn't ship orders and doesnt respond

phouton · 2019-12-23T04:04:34.000Z

Well, I’ve been patient, but now I’m livid. Frustrated with Sofirn’s lack of response, and absolutely furious with AliExpress’s useless customer service, false allegations, and delay tactics.

Placed two orders with Sofirn on AE on 11.11. Both advertise a guarantee “Delivered before 12/7 or full refund.” Clear, right? Hold on…

Dec. 7 rolled along and still no package, so disputes were filed for both orders for refunds.

Sofirn’s only response to the disputes was to reject the refund and ask me to wait. I rejected that proposal, and simply asked the guarantee be respected. Since then, no communication.

On Dec. 12 AE ruled one order’s dispute valid and issued a refund. A few hours later, the other order was ruled invalid allegedly due to it being detained in customs (false), without providing evidence.

Kicker: both orders were shipped together with the same tracking number! How can one be valid and the other invalid?? Customer service continually dodged the question saying case management team would respond.

On the AE dispute, I provided a screenshot from the postal service showing the package was processed through customs promptly, plus mentioned the other order’s dispute which was judged valid.

On Dec. 22, AE finally replied to the dispute with THE EXACT SAME INVALID JUDGMENT as on Dec 12, claiming the package is detained in customs. Literally copy/paste. No evidence. They either did not read a word I wrote or ignored it outright.

Note that every AE judgment starts a 5 day timer for more negotiation, which is useless with a non-responsive seller, plus an additional 48 hours for AE to respond. This means each exchange takes about a week, making it a perfect tactic for wasting time and running down the clock. Customer service can’t seem to do anything other than repeat what is already known and issue “speed-up” tickets for case management.

The main question they repeatedly ask is whether the package has been received. They ignore the fact that any eventual delivery is irrelevant to the on-time delivery guarantee!

Claiming customs issues is clever because that falls under the buyers responsibility to clear it or pay taxes. There is NO indication of that being the case here. I confirmed this from the tracking and by calling the post office. The package arrived in my country on Dec. 4 and was processed through customs on Dec. 6. It seems the local postal service lost my package, at least temporarily, since the target delivery date was Dec. 11, which still would have been past the on-time delivery guarantee. Now they have suddenly found it and it is expected to be delivered within the next couple of days. Let’s see…

Sofirn is giving the silent treatment, AliExpress is playing dumb, and everyone is wasting time and failing to respect their own word: the Buyer Protection on-time delivery guarantee which they specified. Beyond frustrating.

Previously I might have been willing to be accommodating, but given the behavior displayed, I will not let this go. I will continue to insist the guarantee be respected in the dispute. I will also keep an eye on the approaching deadline for a credit card chargeback as a last resort.

It boggles my mind how such a straightforward case is still an ongoing issue. Even with a precedent!

rngwn · 2019-12-23T04:46:09.000Z

I wonder if AE itself is also part of the problem.

I noticed that many AE seller that I have similar issues with, replied to me as if they have never talked to me ever, even though I have asked them many time about items failing to deliver. Edit: Well, not just the one that I got issues with, but that also happens when I do the inquiry on the product. Like wtf, why do I have to repeat myself from the start everytime we talk.

I wonder if the sellers gets to see the chat history that occurred on the previous dates at all.

One more thing is that AE has two separate chat system (i.e. old vs. new) which contains a totally separate history. How seller responds to me is also totally random and that might also be the cause for missing information. Oh and sometimes the buyer’s and seller’s name are not even displayed properly.

TheAuditor · 2019-12-23T08:55:15.000Z

I raised disputes on my two orders, then one actually showed some movement, and then showed up So I cancelled that dispute, and AE agreed with my second dispute and I should get a full refund. I wonder if the 2nd order will still show up?

Rayoui · 2019-12-23T09:26:06.000Z

I think it’s poor business practice for a seller to issue false tracking information. That said, I have never failed to receive an order from Sofirn in a reasonable (for an item shipping from China) amount of time. I generally just ignore the tracking information since it’s essentially useless anyways. The items always show up eventually.

Phatster · 2019-12-23T09:34:54.000Z

I have tried to contact Sofirn aliexpress store for 3 weeks. No answer and shipping shows cancelled. I just asked that is SP33v3 in stock or not. No answer in 3 WEEKS! Today I made a dispute and aliexpress refunded me instantly hence the abnormal shipping status. After the refund I got an answer from Sofinr ali store. “Yes in stock, please order now”.

Dr.Phillip · 2019-12-23T15:18:30.000Z

Ok guys, I just wanted to give you a likely final update about what happened to me, I also updated the first post:
My refund request was denied. After I submitted a request for a refund sofirn provided AliExpress with a tracking number that says that the items were shipped on 3.12.2019 (I bought and paid for the items in stock on 11.11). AliExpress rejected my refund request because they shipped it, they didnt care the order was shipped after more than 20 day from purchase. Some of the items were supposed to be christmas gifts (I bought differnt ones few days ago locally). Now I know they will not arrive before christmas and they didn’t even provide my with partial refund, or any show of good faith for violating AliExpress rules (shipping so late after purchase). AliExpress gave a resolution that they will have a look at my complaint again in 10 days from now if the items don’t arrive by then. So I will have some items I don’t really need after new year. I think I personally am done with sofirn (in my opinion the way they treat customers is very detestable and their business practices where they lie to you and ignore you after you pay are borderline fraudulent) and will be very careful about purchasing from AliExpress any expensive things in the future. I will stick to ebay and amazon where the purchase protection is more aimed at the customer, not the seller. So that concludes my Sofirn AliExpress experience. The rest of the items I bought on 11.11. AliExpress sale from 6 different vendors (all small items) were shipped amd arrived on time.

Fedos · 2019-12-23T16:50:28.000Z

The only reason I buy anything on Aliexpress are the prices. Often times 5-6 times cheaper for things like cables and other small things. SP33V2 on Amazon Spain costs 53,88 euro vs 20,32 on AE.

Making this not even a choice.

But I get how if you want a thing “By Christmas” it’s unreliable.

hank · 2019-12-23T16:55:54.000Z

I wonder if this recent nonsense is fallout from the “trade war” going on between the US and China.

I had a package, not a Sofirn item, show on tracking as delivered to an obscure California town that Google tells me is a customs inspection hub; it checked in but never checked out.
I trust my item is now serving valiantly in homeland defense.

phouton · 2019-12-24T00:05:28.000Z

At long last, my two Sofirn 11.11 orders arrived in the same package today, 2019-12-23, well past the guaranteed on-time delivery date of 2019-12-07.

Aaaaand one of them is missing the battery (both flashlights were ordered with batteries). It’s just one aggravation after another. At least that order has already been refunded after AE ruled in my favor for that dispute.

I will still be pursuing the refund promised (on the other order) by the delivery guarantee.

I try hard to remain objective with respect to Sofirn’s products, but now every time I see that name, unfortunately it evokes a negative sentiment due to these experiences. It’s sad because so much effort goes into creating what seem to be decent products, and yet these preventable issues add up to create a very negative image. And that is not easily forgotten.

Dr.Phillip:

My refund request was denied.

Sorry to hear that. See Article 26 of the Dispute Rules:

Where the Seller fails to ship the products within the agreed shipment time, the Seller shall obtain consent from the Buyer before shipping the products. The Buyer and the Seller may reschedule the shipment date as agreed. If the Seller has not shipped the products at the time of receipt of the Refund application, the Seller shall liaise and negotiate with the Buyer, and arrange for shipment again upon mutual agreement, or ask Alibaba.com for a resolution.

The only problem I see is if you didn’t file for refund before they actually eventually shipped it. In any case, I suggest to keep at it. It might not be worth the time and frustration for a single incident, but at least it will show that people will not put up with this kind of treatment.

phouton · 2019-12-25T01:26:40.000Z

Today I got another AliExpress dispute rejection on the basis that my package was delivered. I was writing an update to my dispute reiterating that the delivery guarantee was not fulfilled, when 20 minutes after the first email, AliExpress judged my claim valid due to the delivery being late. At long last.

It seems if you stir the pot enough, you get extra attention. I recently started getting emails (which does not accept replies; they bounce) from a dedicated customer service agent due to having chatted with customer service so many (5) times about this issue. That agent indicated I will get a full refund processed within 3 days.

I still can’t believe how long it took for such a straight forward case. But all is well that ends well. Merry Christmas.

Phatster · 2019-12-25T02:51:13.000Z

Got my refund from Ali. Got a message from Sofirns ali store that contained a coupon code. I was courious and checked the code out. With the new code my order would have been a bit over 10% more expensive than the first order that they did not ship… So they did not even try! One starred the crap out of that store!

korpzgrinda · 2019-12-25T04:39:15.000Z

Just to let people know, the LT1 that I ordered from ali on November 29 as a black Friday special has arrived today December 24. Less than a month from click to door is actually pretty good from China.

I did however, order a BLF C01S from Sofirn 3 days earlier than the LT1 and that shows as still at a sorting center in China. So I guess the delivery times can vary greatly.

BOMBAY · 2020-01-07T16:49:00.000Z

Sp36 which I ordered on 11/11 still did not reach me, the tracking number has been stuck for a month in the city of Urumqi. And what did Sofirn do? He extended the delivery time to 31.01. What will be 31.01 if the parcel still does not arrive? Probably Sofirn will extend the delivery time once again.

Dr.Phillip · 2020-01-07T16:52:29.000Z

BOMBAY:

Sp36 which I ordered on 11/11 still did not reach me, the tracking number has been stuck for a month in the city of Urumqi. And what did Sofirn do? He extended the delivery time to 31.01. What will be 31.01 if the parcel still does not arrive? Probably Sofirn will extend the delivery time once again.

I received my sp36 today. Also bought 11.11. there is a screw (something metalick) loose and clicking around in the glued head. I am afraid to put batteries in and turn it on not to short the pcb…. Check yours when you receive it

BOMBAY · 2020-01-07T17:04:14.000Z

Dr.Phillip:

BOMBAY:

Sp36 which I ordered on 11/11 still did not reach me, the tracking number has been stuck for a month in the city of Urumqi. And what did Sofirn do? He extended the delivery time to 31.01. What will be 31.01 if the parcel still does not arrive? Probably Sofirn will extend the delivery time once again.

I received my sp36 today. Also bought 11.11. there is a screw (something metalick) loose and clicking around in the glued head. I am afraid to put batteries in and turn it on not to short the pcb…. Check yours when you receive it

thanks, I will check if he ever reaches me of course.

korkfoto · 2020-01-07T21:12:26.000Z

After a 3rd tracking number (first 2 were fake), I received an another extension time for my SP36 delivery and the message that the seller sent the parcel. I asked repeatedly Sofirn what is the matter but they won't answer.

longuylander · 2020-01-18T20:13:08.000Z

It seems Sofirn is having the same problems shipping from their new website as well. I ordered an SP33 V2 with a 26650 battery. With free shipping and a ten percent off coupon, it was under $21, which made me quite happy. A couple of days later, a shipping number was provided.

Two weeks later, I realized I had not received any information about the order. The shipping number still said that the shipping label was created, but the package had not been provided to the shipping company yet. I contacted customer service, and they responded that they did not have the stock currently. I could wait or cancel my order. I chose to cancel my order, but in the process, lost the ability to use the ten percent coupon again. So even from their own store, they are selling lights they do not currently have. At least I did not get the run around of being lied to upon contacting them.

Phatster · 2020-02-18T21:25:05.000Z

I just came here to tell about my order from Sofirns new website. It has been over a month and I have not received my light. I swore after the Aliexpress fiasco that I will not buy anything from Sofirn again. Well I went and tried their new website and two days after my purchase I got “your order is on the way” -message and a tracking number. This tracking number has not advanced anywhere… ordered the light january 13th… seems like they just give you a fake tracking number YET AGAIN! When I asked about this I got a new tracking number that seems to have gone to USA… I live in Finland. I don’t know why Sofirn hustles people. 2 orders I have made from Sofirn and they both have crashed and burned completely! THAT COMPANY IS A JOKE!

Swabs · 2020-02-18T22:51:20.000Z

I just finished a PayPal dispute for $91 against Sofirn Store, because a label was created on 01/11/2020 and no activity since then. Sofirn never replied back to PayPal, so I was refunded my $91.

longuylander · 2020-03-04T13:24:57.000Z

I ordered some of those 26650 batteries that they were promoting through Sofirn’s site. They told me they shipped on February 28th. The tracking number they gave me was a USPS number that, as of yet, still does not exist in the USPS’s system. I emailed them yesterday about the possibility of having been given a false tracking number and they have not responded to me yet (it has been 24 hours).