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.
I have a question for anyone who can answer…. Has anyone ever been sent anything from that site when they have NEVER ordered from them? For some reason, we have received two different packages containing Nagaraku eyelash kits, addressed to my home including my phone number, and I’ve never even been to the site, let alone ordered false eyelashes. This is weird as hell. I have no need for false eyelashes, and haven’t ordered anything from over seas in years. Anyone experience this?
Hi ALL OF YOU !
I find none like big cheaters like Ali express joining hand with suppliers.I ordered a shirt order online from aliexpress. Company name OPAL CLOTHING company
id-73899898271139.I received no communication from the seller over the next few WEEKS even though I messaged on several occasions to enquire if the order had been shipped. Finally the good arrived things I received were very cheap looking and poorly made and most important very very small in size. Their clothes are ill fitting, very poorly made, the material they use is not like advertised. It did not list the order information, nor did it provide me with a way of sending back this terrible article of clothing
I filed a dispute to which the seller responded that he will refund provided the item is returned back to his address.I mailed them to explain me the process of returning the good but the seller never responded.Now when I inquired about the cost to ship the items to hong kong it states 34 dollars.
It is practical that no body will return the item back since it costs 3 times the actual cost of good.
It’s a game plan of the seller and the aliexpress is also involved in this fraud process.Customer care at aliexpress is useless of no help.
. I will never again purchase from this company. How stupid is this. For a wrong supply I have to pay the money for no fault of mine. I have been buying things from other online companies for several years now and never had any uisssues like this. I contacted the seller and asked for a refund, but he refused and told that he don’t do refunds. Then I reported that scammer to AliExpress customer service and they said it was not their problem. They said that I need to talk to the seller and when I told them that I already did they said that there was nothing they could do.
Aliexpress is oke, but you need to be carefull.
The following supplier sold me LCD”s worth of 900+ USD, all of them were either faulty or with very bad pixels and contrast. After ignoring my complaints, I have decided to give the supplier negative feedback. After that this supplier was begging to change the feedback into 5 stars for a miserable refund of 40 usd. I thought it was better than nothing so I did, after that, heard nothing from this fraudulent supplier, and no refund.
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/105294
FRAUD.
Like Lizzy B says, it’s really a combination of luck, and a number game. Because of that, I try to deal more with the same sellers rather than a bunch of different ones every time in order to try and reduce my frequency of getting a bad order. I have to admit that when I first started buying from AliExpress, I had the worst sellers and awful orders ever, that seldom ever matched up to their description. But after doing the above and figuring out what I can and what I shouldn’t buy from there, the percentage of bad incidents that I’ve had has gone down significantly (to only about 5%). But at least half the time now, I’m happy with the orders that I receive. 🙂
I’ve made about 110 orders in the last 1.5 years. Of all the orders, 4 of them never came, and even after numerous messages to sellers, it’s always “please wait a little longer”, or they promise that they’ll send a new one…it’s been almost half a year, and no matter how many times they say they’ll resend or to wait, they never show up. And I’ve had similar items to these ordered via Ali, and they showed up in my mailbox just fine, so trust me, it’s not customs, it’s scamming sellers. Let me clarify that I always compare the same items sold by numerous sellers before placing my order, and only purchase from sellers with thousands of reviews, and at least a 96%, so you can’t say that the problem was my not checking the sellers’ ratings. I’ve also had a dozen packages come in up to four months late, all of which disregarded the 60-day buyer protection. Honestly, buyer protection is complete BS. In one of my orders, one of my items was missing, and the seller refused to resend or refund me for it because apparently they don’t make order mistakes….ummmmmm I know what I did and did not receive upon opening the package, and I’ve double and triple-checked my order numerous times before complaining to the seller.
I’ve also received items that are not as described (I’ve spent $100+ on jewellery…never again. Lesson learnt is never buy jewellery or clothes on AliExpress…you’re wasting money on crap you wouldn’t buy from the dollar store…the earrings might look gorgeous, but wait, you receive it and it isn’t smooth metal…it’s rusted tin…and the beautiful earrings you were supposed to receive look nothing like the real thing and are photoshopped onto an Asian celebrity…go figure).
I’ve also purchased two electronics on different occasions: first one worked so well that I ordered another right away for my sister for Christmas – a month later, my machine broke…and about three weeks later I receive the one for my sister, and it’s broken right off the bat. Oops. Message the seller, seller needs proof. Sent one video. It’s not enough, seller wants to see proof that the machines are plugged in. That I place an item on top to show that it’s not working. And proof that it doesn’t operate with batteries, and proof that the batteries are fully charged. Sent three more videos detailing and pulling the cord all the way to the outlet several times; used a battery charge monitor to show that all batteries are fully charged. After all that, seller says that first machine is not under warranty, so no refund…second machine can get a full refund via PayPal. Come PayPal, I received the “full refund” minus PayPal’s transfer fees. And to top it all off…I don’t even use PayPal, and can’t use it with AliExpress. Lesson 3: don’t ever buy electronics on AliExpress.
Here’s my input: buy from AliExpress if you’re buying cheap things that you wouldn’t mind losing to unhonest sellers, or that you’d be willing to wait up to half a year to receive via mail; don’t buy electronics despite savings, as from AliExpress you’ll have a hard time getting anything back, whereas locally, you can always return it to the store you bought it from; don’t buy jewellery or clothes from AliExpress as you don’t know the quality.
What I now buy from AliExpress are items all under $5, max I’d go is $25. If you really want to buy more from a seller, then if time permits, purchase your $25 and under order first, wait for the package to arrive, or if it does arrive; if yes, then check the items and see how they match up to the item description; if it matches, then use your judgement if you want to buy more…if not, then save your money and don’t. Lately I’ve been purchasing cheaper things like stickers, washi tape, nail and Eyelash Extension practice supplies (as I don’t trust the quality to be used on a real person due to the chemicals…buy mannequins and practice on them), false eyelashes (they look natural and are cheap), and some dog clothes. Nothing too expensive, and kept each order under $25 until I receive the package and see if the seller is honest.
In regards to customer service, you get what you pay for: it’s non-existent. And it’s a hassle to deal with either because the customer service will side with the seller in a dispute, and all the orders I’ve had issues with had horrible sellers to deal with. I’ve never had a pleasant experience with a seller when they send a bad order, or when there is a lack of an order.
Anyway, there are honest sellers, and I have received some items in as little as 3 weeks; but I have waited up to 4 months, and in some cases, indefinitely, cause they will never come at all due to being lost in mail, or a scamming seller who never sent the items at all. You also need to realize that there are many scams in China where they’re feeding chemicals to their own people within food (such as fake eggs, recycled oil, or the poisonous baby formula scandal, to name a few), so running into a few money-grubbing scammers on AliExpress is to be expected.
I’m more than happy to order cheaper products on AliExpress, and will continue doing so for the price or convenience of it (because they might not sell it here), or both. Just don’t buy things that are too expensive; be prepared to wait months to receive it; or be prepared to lose the money off of not receiving the order, a broken product, or product that does not match the description.
Like someone said, most of the things we buy are from China; but what she fails to mention is that here we have pretty good quality control and customer service (if the item’s defective, you can simply return it) – China and AliExpress do not.
my ali express account is not signing in…. any suggesstions?
(scam)example dispute aliexpress by 9 euros: http://www.pdf-archive.com/2016/03/28/aliexpress-faussettes
Hi. Honestly speaking I recently make an order for sword on aliexpress although I didn’t received my order but I’m really happy because they transfer my money back to my account .
I think aliexpress is legitimate and trust-able.
Regards
For all you people who had good experiences and think it’s a matter of following some guidelines I believe some of your experience is based on luck and frequency. I made 20 purchases most successful. I was diligent each time. One time I found a store with many excellent reviews so I bought 3 dresses $212. I thought I was home free. The tracking number was legit everything seemed smooth. I opened the bag /package when it arrived and inside the bag was 100’s of pieces of cardboard wrapped in packing material with a invoice that said “3 dresses”. I called my credit card and they are disputing with Aliexpress. Aliexpress & merchant want me to return item and pay to return. Very stressful .
I use AliExpress as lot.
I have used Coupon 1 time.
I have maybe ordered in aliexpress 30 times. Everytime the item come.
But when i used my 5usd Coupon, the item never came, i got refound for what i paid, but not the Coupon… it`s only 5 usd, i dont care, but i belive it`s a scam to make pepole use aliE more.
Hello a want share me expirience with Aliexpress too.//Sorry for my english//
11.11.2015 i bought on aliexpress tablet in value 140.72U$,
Aliexpress give me discount 10$, i make payment via paypal 130.72$ .
Merchant information : New Times Technology Co., Ltd ( http://www.aliexpress.com/store/1890032 ) .
After cca 21 days i received tablet with lower configuration (in value about 40$) and with wrong ship time (i pay for faster delivery 6$).
I started dispute process with merchant , Merchant agree with sending product back to China.
I send back tablet with full equipment and with original container. I payd 20$ for post services with insurance (covering forfeit and damage package).
Merchant received package and uploaded on web video with damaged and dirty package.
I could not verify whether the damaged Shipment received by traders from the post office or destroy it to avoid paying the full amount of your refund.
After opening package tablet had broken display.I requested after the commencement of vendors claim to the post office.
Since he took over the already damaged consignment can I make a complaint.
He denied this and sought compensation for damage to the display.
The complaint was forwarded to aliexpress custom service and ruled in favor of the seller. AliExpress send me back compensation only $ 95.42.
If you look evaluated this seller http://www.aliexpress.com/store/feedback-score/1890032.html cheating This way all customers (some even detect fraud.) AliExpress that tolerates and allows dealers to rob other consumers. …
I bought a pair of “leather” shoes shoes from AliExpress, store Bonus time (Store No.727479):
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-Dropship-new-arrival-loss-weight-women-sneakers-pumps-swing-female-genuine-leather-running-athletic/950220751.html
The description says “Upper Material: leather”
I received synthetic leather shoes. I contacted the seller and they answer:
“This shoes is not leather but also good quality , and we have sold this shoes a lot….”
I tried to return them and get my money back but they didn’t agree. I escalated the case and the AliExpress team close my case because my close pictures of the shoes and the seller admitting that “this shoes are not leather…” was not enough prove that the shoes are not leather.
They also told me that I should have sent them a picture of the label from the product that shows the composition of this. But the shoes have not a single label inside!
I tried to contact AliExpress customer services in the online chat. The person there could understand that the seller saying that the shoes are not leather should be enough prove and he was going to report it to the “deciding team”. No one has contacted me…
Is there anything I could do?
@C Never ever buy any well known brand from Aliexpress. 0% of them is genuine. On Aliexpress you only buy Chinese brand which are a lot cheaper.
What Jerry G said is true.And never buy costly things,thinking you’ll be saving money.Want cheap product,get cheap quality.My advice is to stay below 10 $ for an item/pack,so if an order is lost on the way (it happens),it won’t be so bad,compared to 100 $ orders.Want quality,go to a local store.Oh,wait,i forgot to tell you :most of the things sold in your local store,supermarket,mall,etc (if not all) are made in China,or in an other asian country.You can get a faulty item from the start,let’s say,a samsung phone,because the factories don’t test every single item,just one from a lot,so you’re either lucky or not.Do a little research and have faith that your order will arrive,if not,dispute or just never buy anything.And another thing: there are chinese vendors on Amazon/Ebay,and i distrust more a private seller who sells second hand than a chinese store.
Sorry for my English. I am Italian with a very good feedback on ebay, never had big problems on the shopping site. Unfortunately I had a very bad idea, in late July 2015, after consulting with friends to buy a pair of IP cam 320 €. I chose a vendor, it seemed correct, however it is detected in time a criminal. He sent me a single cam (completely different model no ip cam) the other never delivered .. I wrote immediately. (They have provided false addresses for returning the package, numbers tel nonexistent). I returned to the cam wrong return address, indicated in the package receive (in addition to having paid customs duties on arrival and the shipment cost 50 €). We are in January the package is abandoned because the seller in cahoots with crowds of aliexpress .. Wait terminate the terms of the dispute to receive the money, which aliexpress froze until now .. This is not a market but a honest people Bay of thieves …
No falsehood what I say, I can provide 157 kb of messages and photos relating to the receipt and shipment of products.
Stay away from this market
aliexpress
They are in possession of a license to steal from honest people
Such hate! Unbelievable!!
I have done business with Aliexpress for almost 3 years and have NEVER had any serious problems with any seller, received a different product or ripped off my money. It takes a little bit of common sense and practice to be safe when buying online and it’s not too different from buying from eBay or Amazon.
1) People don’t take the time to evaluate. They don’t take a look at the seller’s rep, check their products’ pictures, or skim through the reviews and feedback. Aliexpress is not good or bad – there are good and bad SELLERS and Ali is but a commerce platform. Many people fail to realize that and that’s where most of the issues start. There really are scammers and bad sellers out there (just like any other country), but if you don’t learn to tell the difference, you’ll end up scammed by them. Because you didn’t take the time to do your research.
2) People are awfully IMPATIENT. I live in the Americas and believing my package will arrive in two weeks time by using plain air mail is downright stupid. This includes all folk who frantically check their tracking numbers every 15 minutes. If you’re not willing to wait, don’t buy from China. Period. I have had to wait as long as 90 days to receive an order because of all the factors that come into play: shipping method, destination, country’s customs and import policies. Every process is different. But people waht their parcels and they want them “NOW”. Tough luck.
3) People don’t understand customs. They don’t realize once an order enters their country’s post system a whole new process begins – package may be restrained, put on hold, pay taxes etc. and it’s out of the seller’s control. Complaining to the seller about a package that was lost by your local postman is absurd and unfair. Again, a little reading of the basic guidelines for international shipping could save a lot of trouble, which isn’t the case because of #2) above.
On a final note, people should GROW UP! Calling all chinese businesses, sellers, and even worse, the chinese people in general, “fakes”, “frauds”, and “POS” is absolutely imbecilic and abusive. Judging a whole nation for ONE simple problem you may even have caused yourself? Then you shouldn’t even using the internet at all. It’s unfair to label honest traders and sellers who are simply trying to make a living just because of one bad experience.
i bought a coat November 29th and after seller lied and delayed coat was finally sent, custom asked for payment proof and invoice, I provided payment proof and seller provided a nameless invoice so custom rejected the invoice, due to delay as I was traveling I canceled order and up till now seller refuse to accept cancellation. Case has been escalated and now seller says they will not accept the returned coat (which I never even RECIEVED) that I must provide another address from another country. (As if I’m the presidents daughter). So that they will send the coat to. This is going against the seller guarantee that states that if item is not RECIEVED in 23days I will get my full refund. Up till now we’re still on it. I CANT AFFORD to lose that money. I already spoke to a lawyer about it and luckily I have enough proof and evidence. Order number:71260834784143. Seller : BF-FUR. (Advice: stay away from this seller. They are trouble).
Placed an order with aliexpress on Dec. 4th / 2015. My CC was charged the full amount on Dec. 9th. I received an email on Dec. 27th stating my order was cancelled for non payment. Aliexpress claims they never received payment, yet my CC company tells me they did. Overseas company so it looks like I haven’t got much recourse. Lesson learned.
Hello, yes, I confirm that Aliexpress is a scam. I am an A3 buyer with about 240 orders. Aliexpress unveil, disclosured about 50 aliexpress buyer in a cc. That as a generic answer that I had tried to fraud them!!! Aliexpress combine generic answers with real ones. I will probably make this public.
But this is how it works they protect the sellers. Doenst matter if they send you the wrong item. Let say you order Lamp A and you get Lamp B, their answer will be, well it is a lamp and you can use it? What is the problem? It is like that. So if the seller wants to lie they do it and they get away with it too. Compare the european standards they do not care about hazards with electricty or anything else for that matter so your house could easily burn down with things from aliexpress.
Well I will go buy stuff from amazon or ebay now. I do not trust aliexpress anymore since they revealed my email to 50 other dissatisfied customer which aliexpress writing this “. We also found that AliExpress Trade Security Department have informed you that your AliExpress account has been terminated because of continued violation”…
We are 50 people who can see each other emails and aliexpress couldnt care less. The only one that has violated is aliexpress.
And again aliexpress has alot of copyrighted items and other things with very low quality. So you need to know how to buy and what to buy.
I have been scammed at this moment of writing by store called Sunshine Age.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Grace-Karin-Most-Beautiful-One-Shoulder-Flower-Bridesmaid-Dress-CL4287/1076564070.html
This is what happened:
1. I selected dress of choice, then paid via credit card.
2. Seller messaged me saying that the size i wanted is out of stock.
3. I replied that I only want that size, and if it is out of stock, I would cancel my order.
4. The trick here is that to cancel the order, you have to put up a “cancellation request” which needs to be approved by the seller. So i did that and selected reason “Item out of stock”.
5. Seller insisted that I must change the reason to “Buyer do not want order” as it will affect their store ratings. I refused.
6. For 3 weeks, they kept asking me to change the reason or else they would not approve my cancellation. I still refused, and to do that would not be truthful.
7. By the end of the 3 weeks, their stock arrived, they rejected my cancellation request, and I got an email that they shipped out the item.
8. HOWEVER the catch here is that they gave me another person’s tracking number. So I went to trace it, called my local post office, and which i got the delivery and contact details of the other buyer.
9. The other buyer had bought the same dress, but different color, from another store called Shenzhen E-Store. It seems that both stores are related as they will give each other tracking numbers.
10. So now, I did not receive my dress, and my money has been taken, and i need to wait for freaking 10 days before I can even open a dispute.
The other buyer was telling me that even if you open a dispute, it is possible that they can delay the case, reject, or cause some other problems for you until your BUYER PROTECTION PERIOD is OVER. That’s when you lose.
Very tricky, cunning, scamming online website.