When I came across the so called “AliExpress scam” complaint in one forum, I couldn’t help laughing. The angry buyer claimed that AliExpress sent him a wrong item he never ordered. Based on my knowledge about AliExpress, it is no way possible as AliExpress is only a wholesale transaction platform – it does not sell any item, not to mention ship out any item to any customer. Obviously, this buyer was either ripped off by a seller doing business on AliExpress.com or encountered an unprofessional operation carried out by the seller.
In this case, the buyer should report the problem to AliExpress for mediation or contact the seller first to solve the problem. Given such misunderstandings about AliExpress, I think I should share all of my familiar facts about AliExpress, which may help you more clearly identify whether AliExpress scam is a reality or not.
Facts about AliExpress.com
1. An express wholesale channel of Alibaba.com, which was founded in 1999;
2. Officially went live in April, 2010;
3. Mainly serving small businesses, including Chinese small suppliers and global small re-sellers.
4. Accepting PayPal, credit card, MasterCard and bank transfer (TT payment);
5. Offering Escrow service to protect payment from buyers. AliExpress will only release funds to the supplier after the buyer confirms satisfactory delivery of your order. If the buyer is unhappy about the item or purchase, he or she can submit a refund request to AliExpress to ask for a refund or a solution;
6. All orders placed on AliExpress will be processed quickly, mostly within 1 week.
7. Small quantity orders are extensively accepted while for some items, minimum order quantity starts from 1 piece only;
8. AliExpress adopts a set of strict policies to verify each supplier before they are accepted as registered members and start to list their items there. In Chinese foreign trade communities, many suppliers complain that they can’t pass the censor by AliExpress and thus are not able to successfully register with the website.
But as the number of suppliers there is huge, some may willfully escape the verification by difficult-to-spot means. Before you trade with any seller, do remember to check every detail of the supplier, including feedback score, membership tier, item specifications, etc. Besides, in case any problem occurs, make sure to save a record of all communication with the supplier, which will be used as powerful evidence in the event that a dispute between you arises.
9. Once you open a dispute against a supplier, AliExpress staff will take care of the mediation work. However, the whole process may need some time as the platform needs to collect enough evidence to make an impartial ruling. So if you happen to encounter such unpleasant experience, you’d better be patient enough before AliExpress helps you solve the problem.
I personally believe that it’s unfair to spread the “AliExpress scam” voice everywhere while the company is trying its best to help you get through the issue. Nothing is born perfect — AliExpress is still young in cross-border express wholesale business and needs time to improve itself. After all, the wholesale website belongs to the world’s biggest wholesale group and its credibility is unquestionable.
My advice: shopping at AliExpress.com should be cautious to avoid scams committed by certain suppliers – following the guidelines about how to find good sellers there may help you out; before doing enough research on the suppliers, items and services on AliExpress, never assume that the AliExpress scam complaints are 100% true, otherwise you may miss out really fantastic business opportunities; the best way to make sure you are trading with a reliable supplier and will get satisfactory item from the supplier, is to place a very small order to test all the details before you place a bigger order.
In late 2014, I ordered two Android tablets from companies doing business through AliExpress. Shipping through ChinaPost took 3 weeks, just to get it to Vancouver…Then, the items (which were sent registered mail)…went to ANOTHER CITY…were SIGNED FOR by SOMEONE…and picked up by those persons. I checked the Canada Post ‘progress’…and the last step was delivery – TO ANOTHER CITY – 500 miles from mine!! When I called Canada Post, and tried to get the phone number of the post office that the items had been sent to, I was told that was confidential. Finally, I found the delivery post office from info on the Canada Post site, and I called them (after the items were picked up and signed for by whoever it was there!)…and was told that they could not give me any information and that the items were ‘signed for’ by someone with the correct credentials as in their records. That means that the seller INTENTIONALLY sent it to their own ‘contacts’ in the remote city – and I suppose that contact will either return it to China, or sell it with some of the proceeds going back to the fraudulent seller operating on AliExpress. I tried to set up a dispute with AliExpress…but they said that they could not do anything AS THE ITEMS WERE PICKED UP AND SIGNED FOR CORRECTLY!!! What? I’ve had some good experiences with AliExpress…but the BAD ones REALLY turned me off. Oh, eventually, to their credit – AliExpress got my money refunded and kicked the fraudulent retailers off their marketing platform…but the damage was done to my confidence…as well as the waste of time and MY MONEY out of circulation until the refund was finally issued. Buyer betware!
AliExpress “Buyer Protection” is CODE for Scam Seller Protection!
No matter what the policies say on the listing or on AliExpress the seller with always be shown favor, given long extensions to respond beyond policy deadlines, and even given the benefit of the doubt without valid or complete tracking numbers. I have shopped on AliExpress for years now and whenever I have a problem AliExpress never resolves it fairly or according to their Buyer Protection Policies.
What would the whole world be like if you could keep most of people’s money and send them items they didn’t order, at low or no shipping costs because of international shipping policies that favor exports from your country? You could pretend to sell them something expensive then send something worthless or broken instead but still make a great profit. What if you could “prove” you shipped items buy using fake tracking websites or basic tracking that only shows a package was shipped to the buyer’s country without showing it actually went to the buyer? You could send a gift to your family members or other customer that live in the same country as the buyer and just use the same tracking number as “proof” since AliExpress doesn’t care to see if an item got to the actual buyer’s address/city
This is AliExpress. Sometimes you will come out ok if the seller is HONEST but if they aren’t, which MANY aren’t. AliExpress will be of NO HELP to you. Buy with a good credit card only because they will be your only TRUE buyer protection. But here is the NAIL IN THE COFFIN, if you have to involve your credit card company AliExpress with “FREEZE” the order and BLOCK YOU FROM LEAVING THE SELLER NEGATIVE FEEDBACK! So be aware that all negative feedback from people who fought against fraud, is blocked from AliExpress and feedback shown gives the ILLUSION that it is safer than it truly is. They also wipe away negative feedback that was left too! It’s really scam seller oriented!
If you have a negative experience leave feedback else where on the web. People will find it eventually.
Ordered a pair of sandals from this company http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6508788114.html?orderId=65941739618603 and they gave me a fake tracking number and no reply to mails. Finally no goods. Though I sent many mails I did not get any reply. I then tried to extend the time but that too was declined. I think this company is a big fraud only interested in Cheating to make money fradulently.
Yuze Jewelry store Aliexpress
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/216544
FRAUD ALERT. A BIG SCAMMER. STAY AWAY.
I ordered items worth over $300. For 20 days there was no response, no updates on the order. When I asked him, then the Order Detail was updated with a Tracking No of DHL that was INVALID!!
When I told them that I called up DHL and the number is INVALID, they said we will ship by ARAMEX! And then after 20 MORE DAYS, they shipped a package via ARAMEX.
When I opened the package – ALL ITEMS WERE DAMAGED. EVERYTHING.
So I thought Ok, lets see what all is damaged, and when I tally them against my Order, to my HORROR – More than HALF THE ITEMS were MISSING. Everything about this Yuze Jewelry store is FRAUD. INCORRECT COLORS, DAMAGE ITEMS and worst of ALL MISSING ITEMS!!
I opened a DISPUTE with AliExpress, but no avail.
Never gonna order from Yuze Jewelry store again.
Aliexpress is Frawd. Order Number:65690289893134 the pen drive was not delivered for a month. I communicated my concerns to the seller – the seller sent a irrelavant response in broken English(Pretending to understand something else using bad english as an excuse). They closed the dispute without my consent – there has been no refund and Aliexpress has been unresponsive. PLEASE STAY AWAY FROm CHINESE WEBSITES AND COMPANIES. They’ll offer very competitive prices and then rip you once you have paid.
7th April 2015
AliExpress will do whatever it takes to ensure your claim will never be paid. I had a few experiences with them. They work very closely with their suppliers to stack the odds against you. I bought electronic products that do not work (and I mean do NOT work). AliExpress said my explanation is not enough, they want video. Firstly not everybody has a video camera. And what do you show (on video) if the product do not work, except for a blank screen. That is not good evidence for them, they said. And my claim is dismissed. I asked them “how to show on video something that will not work?” – no reply from AliExpress. And if you try to write a dispute complaint, they restrict you to maximum 512 alphabets.
Presently I have a dispute over a CCTV Camera. I received it first week February 2015, today is first week April 2015. It is a WiFi CCTV Camera but the wifi and the LAN connection cannot work. The seller refuses to admit liability even though they admitted “we just buy goods from manufacturer, and then our sales, we are a sales company, there is no Quality Control”. After a lengthy nine A4 pages explanation with photos (uploaded to MediaFire), AliExpress wrote today saying my explanation (evidence) is not good enough, they want video, the ample photos I sent is not good enough. Well, WiFi and LAN are not working, what am I going to video, how to video ????
Since AliBaba (including AliExpress) is now listed in New York, if AliExpress rejects my dispute, I am going to write to the SEC.
I think you guys should all write to the SEC. New York to voice your complaints.
And if you guys want to buy seeds (flowers, fruits or vegetable). DON’T. They send you seeds that will not grow. And you do not have the time to make disputes. Some seeds take months before gemination (well, nothing grew); and by which time the time has passed for disputes.
WOW CHINESE PEOPLE ARE SO DUMB THEY SHOULD KEEP UP THEIR REPUTATION TO MAKE $$$$ FROM AMERICANS. BUT INSTEAD THEY RIPPED THEM OFF. DONT THEY SEE U.S.A IS THE ONLY MARKET THEY CAN MAKE MONEY IN THEIR COUNTRY IS POOR AS FUCK AND THEY WILL NEVER MAKE THE SAME MONEY COMPARED TO HAVING A CUSTOMER FROM OUR COUNTRY.. DUMB ASSES. AND THAT PAGE SHOULD BE TAKEN OFF AND THE OWNERS SHOULD BE SUED.
After ordering many items over a several years I finally got ripped off, laughably for a relatively small amount of money really, but it happens and can leave a sour taste in ones mouth. I had asked to extend the date of delivery due to long delivery times, this happens all the time, the seller simply ignored my request and the sale was finalised after which you have almost no recourse, I have complained to Aliexprss and they supposedly suspended the sellers acct for a week to force a refund, all of which did noting to achieve a resolution, the seller just refuses to answer my messages and I doubt I will ever see the product or a refund, and the amount is small enough that the fees to reverse the charge on the credit card would make the reversal cost me even more than just eating the loss. Too bad.
Aliexpress is a definite scam. I just got 230.00 stolen when i purchased and returned a horrible wig. The vendor used my account to write a fraudulent review and picture then stopped emailing me. The company was “Top Fashion hair Co” and Grace its the seller. I will never buy from this site again and i tell everyone I know, about these scammers. The customer service chat online doesn’t do anything but say they will let their “tallest leader” know. This is the worst site ever, do not waste your time or money!!!!
I ordered from aliexpress all the time. I got scam once since i forgot to check my protection date and never have chance to open dispute. Ok trust me, never order expensive stuff from Aliexpress. I did order $1000 worth from aliexpress but it is from all different sellers. they are all arrive. Do not buy any kind of mac, phone, computer etc because they 10000% replica or dupe! You want to order something daily basic, clothes, jewelry, fashion item here only. I never place an order more than $20 per piece on ali since they are china prpduct, they dont worth that much money! You can have super cute shirt or dress or a pair of shoes for less than $20 which is awesome! Their jelweries are ridiculous cheap and cute. It is like a fun little market, it is not a mall for luxury item. Always watch for the protection date as well.
Ordered some cards for $200.
Seller said he shipped them and provided me a tracking number.
The tracking number never worked, there was no package with that number on China Posts trackinf service.
I contacted seller after 3 weeks and opened a dispute asking for a refund or for the correct tracking number on the original package he claims he sent…. Seller said “Oh, there was problem with dispatching for first package”. He will resend another package… and I should close the dispute. I said no. I just want a refund or the correct tracking info.
Seller said to just close dispute and wait longer… He said I can open dispute and get a refund if the second package doesn’t come. This is a lie, as soon as you close a dispute, the transaction is complete forver….
As of today, My dispute is open and I am hoping I will be refunded through Aliexpress… I also called Visa to talk to them. They said they can do a chargeback if Aliexpress doesn’t refund me…
Buyer beware. Don’t trust feedback like some fools posting here have suggested. You can read for yourself the many stories of people who were scammed and tricked into deleting negative feedback and leaving positive feedback….
Use common sense, expect to find scammers… Don’t trust feeback.
On 3/11 I received a fraudulent charge on my credit card from aliexpress. No order, no email, just a charge for 200+ dollars. I am sick about this, and I will not be shopping with this website ever again!!! PLEASE BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEIVES!!!!
Did they refund the money back whoever been scam or not satisfy with the product. I am curious because i order one just before i see this page.
ALI EXPRESS IS Horrible — I bought several products in one order. It was all garbage. These were tech products and all had errors. The storage devices took hours to save a file and consistently produced errors. I finally threw them all away. One item was used and another one never arrived. I tried to complain but they have a system set up to thwart you. None of the dispute mechanisms work. No one replies to you. I am trying to get my money back but I think the money is gone. ALI EXPRESS IS A SCAM. STAY AWAY. Their website links to the complaint section do not work. You can’t get through to a real person, only a computer chat bot that even lies and tries to tell you it is human. Do NOT buy anything. TOTAL SCAM I feel so bad about the money I lost.
I’ve been doing business with AliExpress for about 6 months now. I’ve placed numerous orders of various value during that time.
Yes, I’ve had some problems, but outside of a couple rare occasions, the vendor very quickly rectified the problem.
Overall, I have very little to complain about.
The key with AliExpress, as it is with any site that reps multiple vendors (eBay, Etsy, etc) is to do a little research into the vendors themselves. Check out their rating and feedback. Start with small orders to see how well they communicate, how they handle the order, how quickly they ship and etc. Once you’ve become comfortable with a vendor, then you can graduate to larger order.
Many of the people above have brought up problems encountered with specific vendors. These examples are not cause to call the entire site a scam. That would be like bashing eBay because one seller bilked you out of an item.
Remember, the site itself only facilitates the sale. It’s the vendors that you will actually be doing business with and, as with any site of this type, there will be good vendors and bad vendors.
I guess the moral of the story is, check out the vendor before buying. Check their rating (I always look for a 95% or above). Read the feedback.
Understand that most of these people WANT to sell you their product and they WANT you to come back to buy more. Yes, some vendors will try to scam you, but those will stick out if you do a little research before pressing the “Add to Cart” button.
So if i buy an item thats 5 dollars, all i can lose (if its a scam) is 5 dollars, correct?
Sellers there are a joke and a ripoff. I ordered some electronics components 8 days ago and the seller hasn’t even processed the order! No response to emails for 3 days! Filed a fraud complaint with my credit card company to recover my money.
DO NOT DO BUSINESS THERE
I made a transaction on ali express for a pair of watches, unfortunately the seller shipped it to a wrong post office (150km away) and expected me to drive down and collect the package. This would not have worked for me as the post office did not entertain my request for facilitating the handover. subsequentlly i asked for a refund that also did not happen. Now when i asked the supplier to clarify he started using un professional language and even went on the extent of telling me to shut up and not to bother him again.
I am totally disgusted seeing this un professional attitude& what is more frustrating is the lack of support i am getting from ali express website for lodging a complaint.I am just being sent to one web page to another….one auto response to another. This website seems to have no measure of checking the service provided by the countless suppliers which it has accumulated.
Product Details : Led driver 1000W 12V 83.3A Single Output Uninterruptible ac 220v to dc 12v Switching power supply unit for LED Strip light
Order Number: 63077256125062
Scam Artist / Criminal ID: Dee Ye
Email: yeboai@163.com
Store: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/1266465
The Plays: Putting a brand new product images. Once ordered.. Send dented and rusty product. Vouch for repairs after product refuted. Pretend and deliberately took a long time to send you service parts. Several months later.. You’ll get the service parts (outer casing / chassis only). Then you will know what is actually placed in the the rusted casing / chassis, BINGO! .. It’s a whole junk ! The whole internal components, PCBs, .. which really can not be used again while that “buyer protection’ already invalid this conman had run away. WOW !! what dramatic play !!
Bought 2 pairs of shoes from alibaba sellers several years ago ( was shipped both smaller size than requested)
Ordered another pair but never received them ( this was when you could pay through PayPal)
Paypal refunded my $$
Paypal now refuses to deal with Alibaba/Aliexpress..wonder why???
Now AliXXXX want a credit card or money transfer??..good luck!