Buying a phone from Aliexpress

Hoppity_Rabbit

I bought an Ulefone T1 was from the ‘Official Ulefone Store’ on Aliexpress for its seemingly impressive specs. However the apps I regularly used never utilised the full capabilities - the phone reported that on average it only used 2-3 GB of its 6 GB available RAM. I am not convinced this amount of RAM or number of processing cores (8) is required for the average user.

Unfortunately after only 4 months use (in the included protective case) I had to put the offered one year warranty to the test when the screen stopped lighting up.
The phone was securely packaged and posted from the UK on 29th December and received in China on the 16th January. I asked for updates several times over the next few weeks as it would take only seconds for somebody to switch the phone on and see that it was in perfect condition externally but didn’t light up.

On 18th January I was informed that as Chinese New Year was only a month away that staff were very busy and I was asked to be patient.
On 18th February I was informed that Chinese New Year had just passed and staff were very busy and I was asked to be patient.
On 14th March they sent me pictures to show a badly damaged phone with the screen coming apart from the body of the phone and severe scratches and dents around the metal edging. This was not my phone as it was when it was sent back, but how could I prove this - I had neglected to take pictures of the condition of the phone as I was preparing it to be sent off.

I contacted my credit card provider to try and make a claim under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act which means that the credit card company is jointly liable for any breach of contract or misrepresentation by the retailer. But I learnt that as I had paid Aliexpress who then paid the retailer then there was no debtor/creditor relationship and the Consumer Credit Act didn’t cover me. Apparently the same problem arises with the likes of Amazon Marketplace. It was also too late to request a charge-back.

On sending the phone away (even naively thinking that it may take a couple of weeks to get the repaired phone back) - I still had to buy a replacement to use in the interim, who could be without a phone for weeks these days ?

I tried to go back through Aliexpress to open a ‘dispute’ but was now outside the allowed time to do so and this proved fruitless.

I would offer some advice as a result of my experiences :

If you must have a Ulefone phone, these can be bought from a UK seller at a premium - the UK sellers such as Amazon will offer a replacement as they are obliged to under the Sale of Goods Act. Alternatively, there are plenty of phones that can be bought in the UK for a similar price with slightly less impressive specs but that come with a usable warranty. I bought a Huawei p8 lite from Carphone Warehouse for a similar price which came with the reassurance that if it proves to be faulty like the Ulefone, it will be replaced or repaired within hours or days.

Until a more suitable arrangement is in place to deal with faulty products this brand of phone is not suitable to be sold in the UK via AliExpress. I would advise taking the protection of buying locally - either a lower spec phone for the same price or this phone at the increased local price. Do not buy direct from China and expect to be treated fairly.

pmduk

Fair is a subjective word. In the UK we currently enjoy a range of consumer protection laws, which may not be enjoyed elsewhere in the world. Sadly, people only consider price when they purchase, rather than the quality and availability of after-sales service should problems arise.

Jon_01

I think the key phrase there is 'Do not buy direct from China and expect to be treated fairly'. Fairly only by UK standards.
My son lives and works in Hong Kong, there is no consumer protection as we would understand it there and in China. You buy something and it fails next day, don't bother trying to take it back to most of the retailers, they'll just laugh at you.

If you order from Ali, Gearbest, ect you have to understand the way they work over there, and balance that against the price you pay...

boatman

Given that when they received the phone back they didn't state that the phone was in a bad condition, it would be reasonable to say the damage happened while in their care, from what you have said, they are just plain lying.

I would contact Ulefone direct on [EMAIL="service@ulefone.com"]service@ulefone.com[/EMAIL], you'll probably find that the store on aliexpress although authorised is a franchise, also contact them via the facebook page/post a public message and/or other means:

https://www.facebook.com/uleFoneMobile
http://ulefone.com/contact.html
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4ft7RJ1lPpQq9zcwSi7LNg
https://twitter.com/UlefoneMobile

I think they will get the message if you hit them from all directions.

Another one to try:
http://www.alibabagroup.com/en/about/integrity
tradesecurity@aliexpress.com

dm800

I was going to go down this route but this now kind of puts me off.

pmduk

boatman wrote: »

Given that when they received the phone back they didn't state that the phone was in a bad condition, it would be reasonable to say the damage happened while in their care, from what you have said, they are just plain lying.

So? Even if that creates a case in Chinese civil law, what will it cost to fight? You buy from outside the EU, you're playing by their rules

indesisiv

Its quite simple really.
We have consumer protection in the UK, you get that by paying slightly more. They don't have the same laws / protections for the consumer over there. It is more of a buy it and its yours fullstop no matter what.

I have bought a phone on AliExpress and it is still going strong after 5 years, but I bought it in the knowledge that if it went wrong I was going to have to suck it up as the chances of getting it fixed are pretty much zero.

System

The OP was slightly naive.
They bought cheap phone with no enforceable warranty.
They need to move on.

boatman wrote: »

Given that when they received the phone back they didn't state that the phone was in a bad condition, it would be reasonable to say the damage happened while in their care, from what you have said, they are just plain lying.

I would contact Ulefone direct on [EMAIL="service@ulefone.com"]service@ulefone.com[/EMAIL], you'll probably find that the store on aliexpress although authorised is a franchise, also contact them via the facebook page/post a public message and/or other means:

https://www.facebook.com/uleFoneMobile
http://ulefone.com/contact.html
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4ft7RJ1lPpQq9zcwSi7LNg
https://twitter.com/UlefoneMobile

I think they will get the message if you hit them from all directions.

Another one to try:
http://www.alibabagroup.com/en/about/integrity
tradesecurity@aliexpress.com

Hoppity_Rabbit

I agree - just trying to let people learn from my naivety.

boatman

pmduk wrote: »

So? Even if that creates a case in Chinese civil law, what will it cost to fight? You buy from outside the EU, you're playing by their rules

You are quite right, but it might just give some leverage if the op wants to take it further, I gave him a few leads they may wish to pursue.

pmduk

Hoppity_Rabbit wrote: »

I agree - just trying to let people learn from my naivety.

Thank you for your efforts and welcome to the Forums. I'm sorry it was in such unhappy circumstances. Sadly, people are unlikely to learn from your problem, they'll see the price and not do any research.