“…repairing the phone myself.”
:weary: butt pucker :person_facepalming:
To the OP…I know it’s not what you want to want to hear but the Gearbest warranty page does say “Customers must pay the shipping fees for returning the item to GearBest , while we will cover the shipping fees to send the repaired item back to the customer”. I recognize that I might be in the minority but if that’s the stated policy then it’s unreasonable to expect Gearbest or any other seller to provide either a total credit or new phone unless the defective phone is returned to them.
The warranty work is really provided by the manufacturer while Gearbest is acting as the middleman. I know that people are conditioned now to expect unlimited returns on items but that’s not something companies have to do. They are obligated to follow their stated policies though.
Personally I think their offer of $50 is not unreasonable given that you’ve had the phone for 8 months and you’re not returning the phone. The old saying, and understanding when I was growing up, was caveat emptor.
Maybe you missed it, but they already have his phone.
They are unable to repair it.
They are trying to offer him $50 and still have his phone.
GB is not an authorized retailer so OEM warranty is void
and phone will not be sent to OEM for repair.
Hum…I missed that part where they have his phone. That being the case then they should make good on fixing or refunding it. How much is shipping back to Gearbest? It has to be pretty substantial.
My smartphone is very important to me. This is why I only buy them locally from a reputable dealer. It’s worth the extra money knowing that you will be taken care of if you have a problem while the phone is under warranty. I wouldn’t trust gearbest as far as I can throw them for anything more than $30.
Chinese vendors often have no problem saying whatever they feel is necessary to make a sale. The standard is can you prove I’m lying when every situation is unique. Therefor my reputation doesn’t suffer from my point of view and I have no loss of self respect.
Truth is not a primary consideration when the person in customer service is trained. And that person is a lowest level employee who may be gone tomorrow. He has no idea what his future is. The $50 offer is pathetic when you include in your cost for the phone the return shipping. But this is a lesson in the value you receive for your original investment.
I’d escalate the negotiations with the inclusion of your additional shipping costs.
Ask to communicate with your CS rep’s supervisor.
Include a copy of your correspondence about warranty with the manufacturer.
Ask about how they get phones repaired under warranty. Point out this is an easy repair.
Eventually ask for the phone back in addition to their highest cash refund offer. Try the repair with ebay parts when you get it back.
I bought that same phone elsewhere last year. Luckily still works great. Maybe GB and Xiaomi are fudging because it is a fake Xiaomi. Normally legit Xiaomi stuff is very good quality.
expensive device with useless support in china only?
forget it.
doesnt matter how nice they are if this is what you have to deal with.
i would be safer with a used phone from craigslist than to deal with this nonsense.
xiaomi FAIL!
+1 My friend works for Verizon and sold me an LG smartphone last summer. I have had a few minor problems and he replaced the phone both times! :+1:
I could not imagine buying one over seas and the frustration that would likely follow if something goes wrong.,and just to save a few dollars. I rarely buy anything from China. If I do it is usually parts under $10 w/ the exception of a TN42 holster[$21] I just bought from HKE.
Try writing back to Xiaomi, include a link to this thread and point out that stuff like this will be the kiss of death to their reputation when they eventually expand their sales network to the US and Europe. Ask them to either honour the warranty directly or use their influence with Gearbest.
Many of us here are sources of advice to friends and family on technical stuff. Imagine the conversation:
“Have you seen the new phone at Carphone Warehouse? Made by somebody called Xiaomi, has an amazing spec for the price. Is Xiaomi any good?”
“Don’t do it, I bought a Xiaomi phone off Gearbest a few years back. Piece of garbage, failed after 8 months and neither Xiaomi nor Gearbest would honour the warranty.”
“Wow, that’s bad. I’ll just upgrade my Moto G to the new version, then. Thanks, man!”
Also kind of curious why you came to a flashlight forum to complain about a defective cell phone. You created an account just to post this a few days ago and have no other contributions or mentions of flashlights on the forum. Are you just using us to get google search results?
^
Good detective work!! He joined 1 week ago today[4.23.2017] and ALL 6 posts are on this thread!
We may never see him again. 
We will see if he posts elsewhere.
Glad someone else said it so I wouldn’t have to. 
Buying from overseas suppliers is fine, as long as you’re willing to eat the cost of something going bad. They work on their bottom-line, pushing stuff out from 3rd-party suppliers and simply acting as intermediaries. To return something as defective, you’ll have to send snapshots, videos, then send back the doodad and maybe be offered a refund. Aggravating. So you play the odds and hope you don’t lose too much.
Warranty? Forget it. Even here in the states, there are hole-in-the-wall stores that’ll sell gray-market Nikon lenses and cameras, which are legit but NOT covered by any Nikon warranty. Only way you can tell is by serial-number and other identifying numbers on the boxes… and that’s after you bought it and received it.
So… no disrespect intended to anyone, but you’d have to be out of your mind to buy a smartphone, tablet, laptop, ANYTHING pricey, from an overseas outfit, anywhere that you can’t storm into the store, plop the box down on the counter, and demand “Gimme my money back!”.
And that’s a pretty good figure. I guesstimated my own cutoff point would be 25-30bux.
I feel so used…
Funny, but with all the threads about knives and kitchen-sets, this thread felt right at home.
I was thinking that myself why would someone buy a cell phone from China. Especially knowing the problems gearbest cs is known for with much much cheaper items.
I remember back in the day friends going down to mexico to buy computers and big screen TVs for a fraction of the price of US prices. But that’s a whole different story.
the op rolled the dice and got snake eyes.
the only good from this thread is to be aware of total lack of support if buying something like this from a chinese vendor.
and be prepared to toss whatever it is.that means super cheap stuff only.
It appears the OP signed up, and is using this flashlight forum to get google search results. Right or wrong, he has no interest in contributing to this forum other than his personal vendetta. I’ve deleted all my posts.
More like Snake Bitten!!!
Discovered this forum from google search, but I believe that by sharing my story I help my self to understand the situation better and others to learn how to act in similar enviroment.
Posted on many other places, as I wrote above, my interest is to both share and help myself, don’t see any wrong doing here.
[quote=Lightbringer]
Respect your opinion, yet I believe this rhetoric irrelevant.
What is the logic behind deleting your posts? Bad CS reputation should be shared and not hidden, other way it serves wrong service manners and not customers.
End of replies —————
Summary and more sources:
Links from other places where I tried to post stories and get inspiration:
- reddit gearbest sub -
0 replies - reddit xiaomi sub 10~ replies
- imgur post - 1 reply
- Xiaomi MIUI forum - 1 reply
- Xiaomi EU unoficial forum - 0 replies
Most active conversation was here and I glad for your suggestions, thank you for support it actually helped.
Here is updated support log:
As always your inputs are most welcome.
From my POV support offer is more acceptable now, unless more creative approach can be suggested.
@wkc,
How could you say this:
"Posted on many other places, as I wrote above, my interest is to both share and help myself, don’t see any wrong doing here."
You had 6 posts when you quoted me and now you have 7 which is the one right above! Where are these other posts?!!! Not in this forum! 