Buying from AliExpress.com

Paul_Varjak

Here is my tale of woe on purchasing goods from China...

I ordered goods from AliExpress.com on 6th August. The goods were shipped on 9th August and I was sent a DHL tracking number. I checked on the DHL site but the tracking number could not be found.

I e-mailed DHL who reply, asking me to contact them. Before I manage to reply I receive a call (supposedly from DHL) from a 'withheld' number saying my goods could only be delivered upon payment of the customs fee, asking me to pay by credit card over the phone.

The caller appeared to have a Chinese accent and, being suspicious, I said I would call them back. I did call DHL back but they could not locate the tracking number!!

I checked with AliExpress.com and was given another tracking number but when I typed this into DHL site - it had already been delivered to an address in Birmingham - I live no where near Birmingham!

I rang DHL who confirmed that the package was not addressed to me and that it had already been delivered to the Birmingham area. They said I must have the wrong tracking number. They said they could not search based on my address because of the Data Protection Act!

The sender could provide no other tracking number so I went back to DHL, insisting they check my address for any deliveries due. Luckily, they agreed to do this and confirmed there was a package for me and gave me the tracking number, but the description of the goods was not what I ordered and that there was a customs fee of £20.43p to pay.

They said they could not take payment over the phone but I could pay on-line at: https://www.dhl.co.uk/epayments.

I followed their instructions, but their payment system did not work - I typed in the tracking number only to be met with the following incomprehensible message from Internet Explorer...

Object doesn't support property or method 'Load'

Clearly, some sort of error that I though might be resolved by using another browser. I tried both Safari and Chrome but got similar error messages!

I call DHL who say I must be doing something wrong as they have no problems! I repeatedly follow their instructions but still get the same error messages!

I am now contacting the sender of the goods for confirmation.

Paul_Varjak

The original tracking number I got from the sender was: 6900950291. Type this into www.dhl.co.uk and it does not track.

The second tracking number I received was: 7369625992. This does track - but was delivered to an address in Birmingham and signed for by someone called DOAL.

Wait a minute, DOAL? Is that not an anagram of LOAD?

And what error message did I get when trying to pay the customs duty on the tracking number eventually provided by DHL?

Object doesn't support property or method 'LOAD'

Is that coincidence or what?

Paul_Varjak

DHL have now told me that the item destined for delivery at my address is a USB keyboard! That is not the item I ordered - I ordered a tablet computer!

Does anyone know if S.75 Consumer Credit Act protection applies to items bought from an overseas supplier via an overseas Escrow service?

paddyrg

Can you escalate to ALIexpress - the point of them is to provide escrow and simplified handling for trial and retail quantities of goods from the suppliers, they have a name to uphold

soolin

paddyrg wrote: »

Can you escalate to ALIexpress - the point of them is to provide escrow and simplified handling for trial and retail quantities of goods from the suppliers, they have a name to uphold

They are just a venue, there are plenty of warnings about taking normal precautions before delaing with anyone advertising on there.

Might be worth asking on the ebay board (see my sig) about the wholesale forums and post on there for advice to see if anyone else has had problems with the company used and if they resolved it.

Paul_Varjak

paddyrg wrote: »

Can you escalate to ALIexpress - the point of them is to provide escrow and simplified handling for trial and retail quantities of goods from the suppliers, they have a name to uphold

The AliExpress website does have a clear statement that I should contact the seller first to ensure they have provided the correct tracking number. DHL also told me that sellers in China frequently get the dispatch number wrong!

I fully checked out AliExpress and the seller before buying; they have just made some sort of an error in dispatching.

The package I now know DHL has for me may well be the correct product (a tablet computer) or it may be a USB keyboard (as described on the package). I just don't want to take delivery of a wrong item and incur customs charges in doing so.

I have asked the seller to confirm the tracking number, the item dispatched and the description of the goods that was applied to the package when it was sent. If I don't get a satisfactory answer I will escalate to AliExpress under their escrow system and, if that fails, my credit card provider.

Paul_Varjak

soolin wrote: »

They are just a venue, there are plenty of warnings about taking normal precautions before delaing with anyone advertising on there.

It is really just a Chinese eBay with an escrow payment system; in my mind that makes it safer than eBay.

I actually saw a video review of the product on YouTube by someone with a PhD in Computer Science. He had purchased the tablet PC from this very supplier and I also read ALL the AliExpress feedback for the buyer.

I have just checked with my credit card provider and they tell me that I will also be covered for incidental expenses under S.75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. I guess, therefore, I would be covered if I paid the customs charge and took delivery of the wrong item!

dealer_wins

It all sounds more fishy than a Grimsby fishwife's kipper.

gavjbrown

In my experience, its not unusual to have items from China that are incorrectly described on the customs label. Maybe they're trying to save you customs charges.

Good Luck.

Obviously_the_best

Did you use PayPal, because if you did you could open a INR dispute?

George_Michael

I have just checked with my credit card provider and they tell me that I will also be covered for incidental expenses under S.75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Did you advise them that your payment was made to the seller via an escrow service as this may well invalidate your claim under the CCA. (This normally only covers payments that go directly from the credit issuer to the seller).