I will never use AliExpress again

[tecman]

Back in May I ordered a Miniware L1060 active load from Ali.  Everything went well, got my tracking number and waited.  Then tracking showed that the delivery was sent to a local delivery center, followed by "Delivery attempt unsuccessful".  Putting the tracking number in USPS tracking (US postal service), I get "Label Created, not yet in system".  After a few weeks I tried to contact Ali, but was forced to use their automated system "idiot AI" to eventually get a live chat.  I was told that I needed to follow up with USPS.  I contacted USPS who told me that they do not as yet have the item, and therefore have no new information in their system.  I went back to Ali who said I needed a document from USPS that it was not received.  I went back to Ali and USPS several more times.  Ali insisting I needed a letter from USPS and USPS saying we have nothing, and the message/statement on their tracking was the only information available.  Visits and calls to USPS resulted in them only having the tracking info (not received yet) and Ali insisting I needed a document from USPS.  I did forward a screen shot of USPS tracking info and a link to the tracking site, but they insisted I needed a document from USPS.  I attempted (through chat as the only contact) to expedite or get an email address of someone who cared, with the only answer being we need a document from USPS.  In the end it is now 7 months later, USPS is still waiting for the item, Ali not doing anything and me being out $200 !

I had some delivery issues with Ali in the past, but they were resolved with a refund.  Now I do not trust that Ali would follow up with any issue to a customer's satisfaction.  Still to today USPS tracking still shows waiting for the item, and Ali having closed out the order.  Ali seems to have no path to be able to contact anyone to complain, and the "wonderful" service chat contacts do not want to believe the USPS tracking website information.  I can say that from China eBay and BangGood have been reliable suppliers.

Have any of you had an issue like this with Ali ?

Paul

[dorkshoei]

I've been though pretty much this exact same issue.  Fortunately only once out of several hundred AliE orders and thankfully not for a $200 item.  Their package tracking (via Cainiao,  a sister company of AliExpress) has serious issues with respect to accurately reporting final delivery.

In my case the package arrived at A.C.I (Ali Express' delivery partner in California).  They normally then deliver direct to my destination Post Office at which point USPS handles final mile delivery.   Unfortunately A.C.I lost the package.    ACI refused to reply to emails.   Tracking at USPS.com showed A.C.I still had package but Cainiao tracking showed it was ready for pickup.

Dispute was closed with "our tracking shows it's at local post office".  Following up with screenshots showing USPS website resulted in the same rejection.  The low level AliExpress staff reviewing disputes seemingly have no clue what USPS is and/or will only look at Cainiao tracking.   If you go through the "agent dance" you can eventually speak to an agent.   Several years ago they were more competent than they are now.  They opened a case (distinct from a refund dispute) which resulted in a direct email to me "package is at local post office,  if not,  you need to get a lost item letter").  You can't reply to a case. Only go through the agent process all over again.  USPS won't provide a lost item letter for an item that has never been in their possession.

I reopened the return process and went through several rejections with same "our tracking shows it's at local post office" before bluntly stating that they needed to have someone "more senior" review the screenshots I provided else I would open a chargeback with my credit card company who would review the screenshots.  At that point the dispute went into a "document review" state that I'd never seen before.   5 days later they issued refund.   Package never arrived.

I still order from AliExpress but I'm very aware of where they suck and how badly.

[langwadt]

and it is silly when a buyer is required to jump through hoops with a shipping company, because they are not the costumer of the shipping company, the sender is

[tecman]

I am convinced that the forwarder is where it got lost, as Dorkshoei found.  I tried to get Ali to follow up with the forwarder, but was told get a document from USPS.  I have no idea who the forwarded was in my case.  Ir seems that onle the shipment gets to the forwarder, Ali washes their hand of the issue.

paul

[dorkshoei]

and it is silly when a buyer is required to jump through hoops with a shipping company, because they are not the costumer of the shipping company, the sender is

AliE shipping is now pretty complex.  Packages get assigned a USPS tracking# inside China at some sorting center.  If you have multiple orders from different sellers they often get consolidated into a single shipment (by I think Cainiao) sometimes with an updated USPS tracking# which happens without the knowledge of the actual sender.   If Cainiao native tracking properly reported the package status it would be a non-issue, but it doesn't.

[tecman]

Unfortunately the tracking info is gone.  I only have screen shots taken earlier.  No forwarder info is shown.

paul

[schmitt trigger]

Tecman;
Sorry to hear about your loss. 

OTOH, did you ever acquire the MDP-L1060? What did you think of it?

[tecman]

No I never got a replacement unit.  I was just hoping that the original shipment might turn up in some warehouse and eventually ship to me.  Plus I did not want to dish out another $200

paul

[dorkshoei]

Unfortunately the tracking info is gone.  I only have screen shots taken earlier.  No forwarder info is shown.

paul

Isn't the tracking# still available on AliExpress site under orders/tracking?    Using this you should still be able to bring up the tracking info on usps.com

[tecman]

I have the tracking number, and as of this morning I still get

[dorkshoei]

This is a totally different situation. 

It's Singapore mail.  It would enter USPS via normal means, via a USPS ISC, not through a shipping partner.

Are you sure it didn't get replaced with an alternative tracking#.    Is this still what is shown on AliE order page??

What is shown if you track on the cainaro tracking site.

How did you fund this? If via visa/MC I would be contacting them.

[tecman]

On Ali's site, the order is present, and closed.  No tracking info was available.  Putting in the tracking into USPS tracking site yields the message I posted already.

Again from earlier days:

[dorkshoei]

On Ali's site, the order is present, and closed.  No tracking info was available.  Putting in the tracking into USPS tracking site yields the message I posted already.

Sorry i had forgotten they delete all the tracking information once an order is closed.   Another truly annoying AliE feature.

What is shown if you enter the tracking# into the Cainaro tracking site.  Does it resemble what AliE showed.  https://global.cainiao.com

I really would have long ago escalated this to my credit card company.

[bdunham7]

Have any of you had an issue like this with Ali ?

I've had issues like that, but I don't remember if it was ever with AliExpress.  I just call dispute the charge with my credit card company and in a case like this, I'd get an immediate credit and probably never hear about it again.

[tecman]

Thanks for the tip/ling.  I found a new entry, which I can maybe get Ali's attention:

[dorkshoei]

Thanks for the tip/ling.  I found a new entry, which I can maybe get Ali's attention:

I suspect this is another case of the package getting lost within the "drop shipping" and Cainaro's tracking displaying BS.  It's not possible for "Arrived at local delivery center" and "Delivery attempt unsuccessful" to be true if USPS tracking shows they have never received the item.

Like I said, I was finally able to get AliE to pay attention to the above discrepancy by demanding that they escalate to someone more senior and threatening a credit card chargeback if they did not.   However my return dispute was still open.    You may have to just contact your credit card company.   I have heard that AliE may close your account if you file a chargeback but it sounds like that would not upset you.

GOOD LUCK!

[testpoint1]

I never use it, so many fake, poor product.

[KungFuJosh]

I never use it, so many fake, poor product.

Wait... Are you talking about ali, amazon, or ebay?

[xrunner]

I never use it, so many fake, poor product.

Wait... Are you talking about ali, amazon, or ebay?

 

[rhodges]

I never use it, so many fake, poor product.

Over the last year, I have ordered 300 CH32V003 MCUs, and they work as expected. Also 16 strings and arrays of WS2812B LEDs, and they work exactly as expected.

[KungFuJosh]

I never use it, so many fake, poor product.

Wait... Are you talking about ali, amazon, or ebay?

 

And they're all better than TEMU. 😉

[tecman]

Well miracles do happen.  With a great shoutout to dorkshoei, I used the link he provided for the Chinese shipping forwarder, put in my tracking number and found that my shipment was returned to the Chinese warehouse about 3 weeks ago ( posted the info in an earlier post).  I jumped on to Ali, and after hunting around there for some minutes, I went into a "did not receive" screen.  I put in my info and hoped for the best.  This morning, about 12 hours later, I received 2 emails from Ali saying that they revisited my case and are issuing me a full refund.  I checked my bank info and the refund was already in my account !.  They did apologize for "an unpleasant shopping experience".  Still the fact that they did not want to believe USPS tracking info, and that it took 7 months are still examples of very poor customer service.  My experience with Amazon is having a refund a few minutes after you send the return request.  While Ali has some great deals, they are sometimes at great risk.

Thanks again to dorkshoei.

paul

[Old Printer]

Patience is a virtue, but not when dealing with online ordering. Our best weapon is our CC company, vendors listen best when you have them by the wallet. This post has been a good reminder to me, thanks to all.

[dorkshoei]

Paul.  Well done. I'm really glad it worked out. 

AliE can be truly maddening. There is a subreddit that can be helpful in figuring out how to deal with AliE.

[Deni]

I have mixed experience with Ali - some low cost items (<10$) never arrived and I was never refunded. Once I bought a ceiling lamp which came broken.
I complained and sent the pictures of the package, which was OK, and the item itself. It was obvious item was packed broken.
They simply decided that 50% refund should do and closed the case. Now I am short of 65$ and have a lamp which I can throw into garbage, what I did.
I think I'll never use Ali anymore. As some wise guy said - "I am not rich enough to buy cheap stuff..."

[schmitt trigger]

Paul;
Now that you have solved the issue, do you think that you would take your chances to re-order the same item from AliE?

[tecman]

That's a big NO.  Since I thought the load was a loss, I picked up an Itech 8500plus electronic load.  Suffices my needs.  maybe not as cool as the Miniware unit, but ultimately more useful.  As for Ali, I will look on eBay or Bang Good as a first choice.  If Ali is the only reasonable choice, and the cost is low enough to survive a loss I may give Ali another chance.  Time will tell

paul

[dorkshoei]

I purchased my ITech 8211 from AliE.   Perfectly fine transaction.

I've probably filed 30+ disputes over several hundred transactions. Not lost one yet (100% refund record) including a couple i thought I'd only get a partial.

A hour spent researching how to determine good sellers and how to navigate their odd dispute process will pay dividends when buying on AliE.  Else stick to eBay or Amazon

[ralphrmartin]

I have mixed experience with Ali - some low cost items (<10$) never arrived and I was never refunded. Once I bought a ceiling lamp which came broken.
I complained and sent the pictures of the package, which was OK, and the item itself. It was obvious item was packed broken.
They simply decided that 50% refund should do and closed the case. Now I am short of 65$ and have a lamp which I can throw into garbage, what I did.

I've argued with Aliexpress when a similar thing happened to me, saying their response was completely unacceptable and asking for a supervisor / manager to review my claim and evidence,. I then got 100% refund.

[shapirus]

Glad to hear it finally resolved in your favor.

While Ali has some great deals, they are sometimes at great risk.

It's not precisely about "great risk". In a sense, yes, but it's really more about understanding the pecularities of how it operates and what to do when things go wrong. It needs attention to a lot of details, including the seller's reputation, reviews, how credible the product description and price are (do other sellers sell the same thing? check them too) and much more. It requires experience.
It's somewhat similar to buying on the black market. You can't just assume that everything will automatically be fine.

Once that's in place, shopping on Ali becomes, generally, a good experience. Disputes are usually solved correctly and, often, quickly (again, once you grasp how they work, how to properly specify the reason etc. etc.)

That still leaves room for bad experience, of course. In my personal case, however, and I make dozens of orders per year, I'd say that success rate was probably on the order of 98% in the last few years.

[GigaJoe]

"
I've argued with Aliexpress when a similar thing happened to me, saying their response was completely unacceptable and asking for a supervisor / manager to review my claim and evidence,. I then got 100% refund.
"


Wonder how .....
There is no way to pass a chat robot, as well no phone #

[dorkshoei]

Wonder how .....
There is no way to pass a chat robot, as well no phone #

The reference was likely about arguing with AliE within their return/dispute system.  You don't need to accept an AliE resolution, just reject and you'll go another round with them.

To bypass the chatbot type "I do not understand the Ali agent". It'll get you to an human agent who is unfortunately likely to be utterly useless and you'll understand why the idea of phone conversation is comical.

[ralphrmartin]

Wonder how .....
There is no way to pass a chat robot, as well no phone #

The reference was likely about arguing with AliE within their return/dispute system.  You don't need to accept an AliE resolution, just reject and you'll go another round with them.

Indeed, I did not accept their resolution.

[GigaJoe]

did try just now for pass the robot ... no way ...   2-3 years back someone responding ; now impossible

and for a case - "insufficient evidence" - and you boot out. appeal usually same result.

what would i say for delivery - it has many ways, including "seller method"
apple express, cainao  something else -  for urban delivery they do not use average parcel service, using owns delivery net , similar to amazon.
and "delivery attempt fail" usually driver agent simply screw up to find an address.


ahh ...  you open chat bot window for a long time, 10-15 min,  and typing gibberish ,  then small icon appears below defining chat agent and you have to click ...

[dorkshoei]

did try just now for pass the robot ... no way ...   2-3 years back someone responding ; now impossible

The method I outlined previously works for me.  I tried it last night before I suggested it and again just now. AliE app and desktop browser (Firefox).

[TomWinTejas]

My issue was moreso with the USPS, which was infuriating.  I had a shipment from AliExpress that was marked as delivered by USPS and I contacted USPS to tell them that I had not received the package and had video footage of the entire day proving that they did not deliver the package.  A week later a postal investigator got back to me to let me know that the mailman delivered it to the wrong address and would try to get it back and redeliver.  Another week passes and I had enquire about the status and was told that the package was delivered to a house nearby on the day the people were moving, and the family moving dropped the package off at another post office and now the package is missing.  USPS says sorry, contact the shipper for a refund.  AliExpress says sorry, contact USPS, we delivered it to them and it's not our fault.

It's months later and no resolution.  USPS basically admits they messed the whole thing up, but accepts no responsibility since there was no insurance.  AliExpress says they fulfilled their responsibility and it's all on USPS.

[shapirus]

AliExpress says they fulfilled their responsibility and it's all on USPS.

Interestingly, aliexpress advertises "full refund if not received", which is obviously a false statement. If they claim that, then they must cover everything, including last mile.

[dorkshoei]

It's months later and no resolution.  USPS basically admits they messed the whole thing up, but accepts no responsibility since there was no insurance.  AliExpress says they fulfilled their responsibility and it's all on USPS.

@TomWinTejas

Unfortunate story.   Can you provide more details as I'm curious.

As I mentioned early on I'd been told by AliE to obtain "lost mail" documentation from USPS.   USPS told me they could not provide it since they'd never been in possession of the item (true,  it was lost by shipping partner) but this implied it was technically something they could provide.

In your case did you attempt to obtain documentation to forward to AliE?      Looking at the Missing Mail page on the USPS site it says "A search will continue to run for matches in the Missing Mail system until it expires. If a search request is unable to connect to any matches and eventually expires, then you will receive an email notification indicating that your item was unable to be found. Unsuccessful searches status will change to Expired".     

This doesn't however sound like some formal "lost mail" letter.

[TomWinTejas]

It's months later and no resolution.  USPS basically admits they messed the whole thing up, but accepts no responsibility since there was no insurance.  AliExpress says they fulfilled their responsibility and it's all on USPS.

@TomWinTejas

Unfortunate story.   Can you provide more details as I'm curious.

As I mentioned early on I'd been told by AliE to obtain "lost mail" documentation from USPS.   USPS told me they could not provide it since they'd never been in possession of the item (true,  it was lost by shipping partner) but this implied it was technically something they could provide.

In your case did you attempt to obtain documentation to forward to AliE?      Looking at the Missing Mail page on the USPS site it says "A search will continue to run for matches in the Missing Mail system until it expires. If a search request is unable to connect to any matches and eventually expires, then you will receive an email notification indicating that your item was unable to be found. Unsuccessful searches status will change to Expired".     

This doesn't however sound like some formal "lost mail" letter.

I had e-mail correspondence with the USPS postal investigator which I forwarded to AliExpress and it didn't make any difference.  AliExpress said that USPS was in possession of the package and it was out of their hands, that I needed to get a resolution from USPS.  I can understand their argument, the tracking info shows that the AliExpress vendor shipped the product and USPS took possession, so why should they be liable? 

I just chalked it up to a learning experience.... I am fine ordering $5-10 small parts from AliExpress and have USPS handle the shipping.  But I recently ordered a soldering station and would only use DHL for shipping.   

[KungFuJosh]

only use DHL for shipping.

I'm generally happier when DHL is used shipping stuff from China. DHL express is FAST.

[PlainName]

the tracking info shows that the AliExpress vendor shipped the product and USPS took possession, so why should they be liable?

Aliexpress are liable because they failed to ship successfully. The choice of shipper was theirs; they are the shipper's customer, and they are the only ones that can deal with their shipper not providing the service they expected. As much as you might like to be, you are not the customer of USPS, merely the destination for Aliexpress's delivery.

Having said that, it's probable that Aliexpress did not in fact know or decide that USPS would do the final mile - it is often the case that a sender's local shipper will get the package to another country, and then the default shipper for that country will take it over. USPS is presumably the default for the US. However, it's still Aliexpress's problem because they chose to ship that way, and until it gets to you it is still notionally in their hands. They should hassle the shipper they had the contract with, who should then hassle USPS.

But good luck trying to get them to take responsibility - it is easy to shrug and move on when a problem is in another country and the person inconvenienced is without any means of hassling you.