“Is DHgate.com a scam website?”, “Is DHgate legit?”, “Is DHgate a trusted site?” — I noticed that some people were asking the same questions on the Internet. As always, safety is the biggest concern for online shopping, especially for cross-border online transactions. I hope my illustration below can help clear your doubts—if you are one of those who asked the question.
1. As an officially registered wholesale company based in Beijing, DHgate has been serving global buyers and sellers worldwide since 2004. A scam company can’t have been existing for such a long time.
2. By far, the page rank of DHgate’s website has grown to 6. As we know, Google will never credit an illegal website with such a high page rank. Also, when you search for “wholesale” or “China wholesale” in Google, you will see DHgate ranks top on the first search result page. This means Google has recognized the huge traffic and authenticity of DHgate—Google tends to place the most-matching websites with the search terms at the top of all related search results.
3. DHgate used to be the PayPal’s largest client in the Asia-Pacific region. Unfortunately, they terminated the cooperation with Paypal in 2012. Anyway, the site provides a wide range of payment options for customers from different countries or regions. Besides, they have developed a payment system of their own called DHpay, just like the famous Chinese online payment solution provider Alipay. In particular, we encourage you to consider credit card to make the payment there to best protect your interest.
4. As a transaction platform, DHgate has an Escrow buyer protection system. All payments made by buyers are not sent directly to individual sellers’ accounts. Instead, DHgate holds the payments until buyers confirm that they have received the orders and are happy with them. So you when buy items on DHgate, you can be confident that your money will not be taken without getting the order you place. Also, if you are not happy with the order received and you open a dispute against the transaction, DHgate will not release the payment to the seller until the dispute is solved between you and the seller.
5. I myself worked for DHgate as soon as I graduated with my M.A degree. My working experience there was really amazing and I met lots of friendly and hard-working people there. Even though I quit the company two years ago for personal reasons, I am always willing to tell the true stories about them for those who are interested in using the site for shopping but concerned about issues like safety. Even now I am still keeping close touch with some old colleges who are still working there. I can tell you that this company is definitely not a scammer and I would be more than happy to share every detail about them as long as it is not beyond my experience or knowledge. Nevertheless, when you decide to shop at DHgate.com, do remember to do some research on the sellers. That way you can avoid dishonest sellers or scammers and find the best suppliers to cooperate with in the long run. Checking the feedback profiles of the sellers is one of the key approaches, just to remind you.
Actually, a close look into the complaints about DHgate on the Internet shows that, the most “DHgate scam” comments came out simply because of misunderstandings. Below is a very typical example I’ve found from the discussions about DHgate:
Many buyers mistake DHgate as a seller who sells and ships purchase orders to buyers. Some complained that DHgate sent items in wrong sizes, colors or styles. It was a huge mistake. DHgate is a transaction platform, aChina wholesale site for small and medium sized merchants, bridging millions of global buyers and Chinese sellers or manufacturers. They do not send orders to buyers themselves. Instead, they provide information and transaction service to both buyers and sellers. That also explains why you are able to get the lowest prices for the items you want—when you buy a certain item, you can find the lowest price from the perfusion of sellers.
I believe that, as a rising e-commerce star in China, DHgate.com should value its credibility very much. Their services may need improvements in some aspects, but they can’t be scammers. Here I should remind you that, when you shop on DHgate, you need to check carefully the credibility of the seller from the seller’s feedback profile. Also, always remember to contact the seller to make sure the item has all the specifications or functions as described. These two actions will greatly reduce your risk shopping there.
I think y’all scammed me out of my money for my bday dress I ordered my dress April 4th and my dress still isn’t here my birthday is this Saturday I’m very much pissed off I need to talk to a live person
I have been getting the runaround from this company for over a month now. They can’t seem to follow simple instructions like: refund my money.
Do not use this website, it is a scam. You order something and they tell you it’s not in stock and then don’t give your money back.
Hi Stuart,
Please elaborate more details about your concern and send us the order number so that we can check the order details for us to see how we can assist you in getting a resolution. We are committed to giving a refund as long as our refund process is followed.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate in chatting with us by clicking on ‘Online Chat’ from our Customer Service page: http://www.dhgate.com/contact/contactUs.do
Sincerely,
Sil
DHgate Customer Service
Hi Garrett,
Let us know if you have any issues with your orders so that we can immediately assist you in resolving any issue. We do care about our customers and this is why we have a Buyer Protection program. DHgate is committed to giving a refund as long as our refund process is followed.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate in chatting with us by clicking on ‘Online Chat’ from our Customer Service page: http://www.dhgate.com/contact/contactUs.do
Sincerely,
Sil
DHgate Customer Service
So, nice of DH to go above and beyond patrinizing these hard working people/customers by responding to these allegations with canned reponses as if they are actually trying to help. If you are blind you can see that something in amiss and smells of crook and dishonesty. But keep those responses coming and you’ll get what you have coming to you wrapped up in a sweet little return package from the USA.
To DHGate…. f you have any questions, please do not hesitate in chatting with us by clicking on ‘Online Chat’ from our Customer Service page: http://www.dhgate.com/contact/contactUs.do… is a joke.
All they do is make promises that someone else reneggs on…then send you links to buy more crap like the garbage you’re still trying to get resolved. DHGate are the worst buying experience I’ve ever had… and now have to get Governments and media involved because all they do is talk, promise, pretend and do nothing. Doesn’t matter what you say, what you do…they are CRIMINALS… that simple
Rest assured. Every ‘customer service promise’ is absolute garbage. All they do is make promises then make excuses why you should wait a few more days, then change the reason every day. Seller, Mediators, Customer Service….they have no respect for customers or any intention to deliver working products or refund when they promise. I now have to get the government and media involved because these jokers do nothing but make excuses . They never ever reply to any contact…even when they say “{ You’ve done everything you need to do, don’t worry, it will be fine, we will make sure”…then straight away someone else tells you the opposite , implies you’ve done something wrong and tells you to wait a few more days…this goes on for months and they ignore every request every time. SCAM SCAM SCAM. DO NOT BNUY FROM THESE CRIMINALS
Hi Scott,
We are sorry to hear about your experience. Please send us the order number pertaining to this issue so that we can check the order details. We are committed to giving a full refund as long as our refund process is followed. The refund time frame depends on your bank’s processes, we cannot intervene on it once the money is sent out on our end.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate in chatting with us by clicking on ‘Online Chat’ from our Customer Service page: http://www.dhgate.com/contact/contactUs.do
Sincerely,
Sil
DHgate Customer Service
My wife and I decided to get an account at dhgate because we thought the prices were better then others on the net. I did a quick look online to see if they were reputable or not. I should have looked into them a bit deeper. Anyways it is too late for us but maybe what I have to say will help others in making this decision.
I guess we should have realized that when something is cheaper something has to be sacrificed. In this case it was the support staff.
Once the item was received we noticed it was not working properly. We contacted the seller and they got back to us sometimes not always. We then had to escalate this to arbitration because of the lack of communication and not being able to resolve this issue.
I talked to support 3 times about this each time the chat wait was close to an hour except for the last time. 25th in que got to number 1 spot and got disconnected. Had to connect to chat again both times added up to 2 hours waiting for chat support to even talk to us. WOW that is the first time in my life I had to wait this long for support via chat.
After talking to the rep for another hour (3 hours in total) the conclusion she had was to contact the seller and ask for more money then what was proposed to us in the partial refund. I guess she could not read or choose not to read the part about how the seller does not always get back to us.
Seeing I wasted so many hours; and with tech support being so busy I will do my part and help them by canceling my account so there is one less person they have to support. Hope this helps dhgate.
I do not need dhgate to respond you had your chance when this item was in arbitration now leave it to the public to decide if they want to do business with you or not. My account will be deleted once I receive my refund.
BTW people refunds take by Visa 10 to 15 working days. Didn’t take that long for them to take our money.
http://help.dhgate.com/help/buyerhelpen.php?artid=54D090922A6A2320E053796415AC94F1&catid=3301#help_php-searchmiddel-1
Hi George,
We understand the importance in getting a resolution on this issue. Please send us the order number so that we can check the order details for us to see how we can assist you in getting a resolution.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate in chatting with us by clicking on ‘Online Chat’ from our Customer Service page: http://www.dhgate.com/contact/contactUs.do
Sincerely,
Sil
DHgate Customer Service
I ordered a costume from Dhgate, received no costume but then was told it was delivered. When I mentioned this to Dhgate they wanted me to prove it wasn’t delivered, but I’m not sure how to do that without any tracking information. In my experience, this is a scam. I won’t use them again.
Hi Rev,
We understand your side on this issue. Sufficient evidences are needed in order for us to mediate on the issue successfully and give you a favorable solution. We checked the messages from the analyst and you accepted the $50 partial refund and was processed.
For your future reference, you may upload the videos on YouTube if you do not want to use Dropbox and send the link to the analyst.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate in chatting with us by clicking on ‘Online Chat’ from our Customer Service page: http://www.dhgate.com/contact/contactUs.do
Sincerely,
Sil
DHgate Customer Service
Hi Anthony,
Please reach an agreement with the seller for a refund since the money is no longer with us. We will need the seller’s confirmation for a refund in order for us to process it.
We are committed to giving a refund as long as our refund process is followed. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate in chatting with us by clicking on ‘Online Chat’ from our Customer Service page: http://www.dhgate.com/contact/contactUs.do
Sincerely,
Sil
DHgate Customer Service
Long story short: I ordered a dress, received it, it had a stain on it. I messaged the seller and after back and forth they agreed to refund the item.
I sent it to the address provided, which turned out to be incorrect (even though it was in the original package as the “from” address), so the package came back to me and meanwhile DHgate closed the whole order, even though I send it back to the seller right away!
I can see in the post office tracking system that the seller has received the item, however I haven’t heard from them since and haven’t received my money back either. They are clearly hiding from me as any reliable person would refund in any case.
Dhgate is no longer replying to my emails and I am absolutely furious how this can happen, and how they can’t help the customer by blocking the seller until they have refunded, or something? The bottom line is that the item WAS DAMAGED in the first place and now I’m left with no dress, nor my money!!
I sincerely hope everyone will try to avoid this “service” as best as they can because I feel, and actually I am, ROBBED.
The seller is Songjia668, please do avoid at all cost.
order # 342662146
Placed over 24 orders about $2300 First couple of orders Excellent quality as described with tar traps but then every order had at least one or two defects defective chamber thumb piece were not glued on missing pokers Seller Smoke Toy always came through with replacements so when I received this order 342662146 ALL 10 HAD NO TAR TRAPS AT ALL!!! Sent seller pictures said he would send replacements no need to send back defects! OK cool BUT then DH Gate wants a video and you must sign up for dropbox which Norton flagged as bad site! pictures were proof enough tracking number! I email support send multiple pictures of defects and tell them seller waived return and I was never given an address to ship back! Now support only gave me $50 when order was $78!! Totally learned my lesson here! Avoid this wholesaler like the plague! I have found several reputable wholesalers that have same products! Why would you ripoff a repeat come back buyer??? $28.50 really worth losing a good buyer DH Gate?? I will tell and place reviews where ever I can about my terrible ordeal with this seller and wholesale place! Good Reddens!
NINE MONTHS
We have been waiting for a refund from DHGATE for receiving a counterfeit garment with a sleeve coming out at waist height and one at shoulder height.
We have spend hundreds of hours on online chat before we were blocked,
we have tried contacting DHGATE via facebook page but we were blocked…
we tried contacting DHGATE through their internal message service – all we get back is we are sorry for your bad experience with DHGATE.
The seller said we could have a full refund months ago and its DHGATE that fails to make the payment – despite having an escrow service (laugh) and a policy regarding counterfeit items.
I have sent over two hundred emails to the following addresses:_
customer_service@dhgate.com, service@dhgate.com, sellersafety@dhgate.com, dispute1@dhgate.com, safetycenter@dhgate.com, drc.kim@dhgate.com, cs-buyer@dhgate.com, wangmengyi@dhgate.com, changwei@dhgate.com, customer-support@dhgate.com, vpc-anny@dhgate.com, media@DHgate.com, patrol@Dhgate.com.
They fail to respond other than to say ‘we suggest you contact the seller’ despite the seller months ago saying yes to a full refund and now simply replying with “.”.
I have tried calling DHGATE international customer service number (at my cost) a couple of time where they put me on hold for in excess of 45 minutes while they review my case….
Never returning to the phone.
DHGATE is the biggest scam on the planet> I have written over two hundred poor reviews about DHAGTE on as many portals as I can find online.
DO NOT BUY anything from DHGATE – if you think the items are poor quality wait till you have to try to deal with their customer service!
Hi Omotunde,
We understand the importance in getting a resolution on this issue. We can still intervene on this issue and you just need to file an After-sale Dispute so that we can mediate. Since you are having a hard time filing a dispute on your end, please send us an email and indicate the order number as well as your evidences and the screenshot of the page showing the dispute is not going through so that we can check more details and assist you further.
Please do not hesitate to contact us through the following link if you have any questions: http://dg.dhgate.com/contact/contactUs.do#pu1403-helptop-contactUs or send an email to customer-support@dhgate.com .
Regards,
Sil
Customer Service Center
DHgate.com
I ordered for a phone worth $87 immediately I got it I confirmed it without testing it. Immediately i did on the same day? I message the seller even sent him a video saying the phone is very hot and pressing by itself but she said I should go and repir it at my local store so. When I got there was told to bring $51 which I told the seller but she as. Been playing me and i tried opening after sale dispute but not working. I think I have been scammed help me. This is my order number 259296785
Hi Jeroen,
We understand the importance in getting a resolution on this issue. We checked this order and you have filed a dispute then escalated it to our Resolution Center. The analyst arbitrated on this matter and made a decision that you will return the item for a full refund and the seller pays for the return shipping cost. However, the dispute was closed because the return tracking number was not uploaded in the time frame specified by the analyst.
To verify, were you able to return the item?
For this issue, we suggest that you reach an agreement with the seller for a refund again. Please ask the seller to send you a message stating “I agree to give you a refund for the amount of $***”. Once the seller sends you this message, please contact us back so that we can operate it for you.
For your future reference, please be sure to fulfill the terms of the agreement so that we can successfully mediate on this issue. We’ve pulled up your communication with the seller and they have advised you to send the package using your post office.
Please do not hesitate to contact us through the following link if you have any questions: http://dg.dhgate.com/contact/contactUs.do#pu1403-helptop-contactUs or send an email to customer-support@dhgate.com .
Regards,
Sil
Customer Service Center
DHgate.com
Hi Maya,
We understand the importance in getting a resolution on this issue. Please send us the order number so that we can check the order details for us to see how we can assist you in getting a resolution.
Please do not hesitate to contact us through the following link if you have any questions: http://dg.dhgate.com/contact/contactUs.do#pu1403-helptop-contactUs or send an email to customer-support@dhgate.com .
Regards,
Sil
Customer Service Center
DHgate.com