Advice needed please - AliExpress issues!

SuperCNJ

I've been using Aliexpress for many years now and have mostly had good experiences once I learned to accept that shipping can take some time. Like most customers, I have had a number of bad experiences where either the item did not arrive, was damaged/faulty or not as described. Again, most of the time these are easily resolved directly with the seller but sometimes the seller is not cooperative and does not want to help. Previously I was able to contact a human AliExpress customer service agent via the chat facility which was great but AliExpress have since changed this such that it is now almost impossible to speak/chat with a human agent. Their computer robot assistant is next to useless. 

The problem I seem to be facing more and more frequently now is that because shipping does take some time, if an item has not arrived, the seller will just continue to ask me to wait patiently, by which point, my Buyer Protection period runs out and the time for raising a dispute has lapsed so Aliexpress will not be able to intervene. On the other hand, if I raise a dispute too early, it is rejected as the item can still be showing "in transit" many months later. You just cannot win.

For example, I have ordered some small items that never arrived but when I contact the sellers, they just tell me to wait or check at the post office. They say the same thing for several months until my protection runs out and cannot raise a dispute. Sometimes raising a dispute doesn't help, as they insist on providing evidence, but what evidence can I give that shows I have not received the item? None, and so my claims are rejected. The seller claims the items were sent out so they are unwilling to do any more. I can't contact Aliexpress as there is no real means to do so.

Another example is when I ordered a large toy for my son and paid extra for a UK charger, it took several months to arrive and when it did, I had to pay import duty which is fine. But the charger was faulty, I knew I could get a universal charger here that would work and so I just wanted a part refund for the charger. When I contacted the seller they were initially reluctant to help but eventually told me to send the whole thing back for a full refund. But I would have had to pay the return shipping cost, I would have lost out on the import duty I paid, plus I had waited many months already and my son would be without the toy. In the end, as I couldn't contact Aliexpress and was already outside the protection period, I just had to cut my losses and buy a new charger here. 

I'm just wondering if anyone else has any advice / recent experience in contacting Aliexpress or resolving similar issues as it is becoming quite frustrating. Many thanks in anticipation.

winspiration

I have only ever used the automated dispute system, and have won all the disputes that I have opened (so far anyway), which have been either for non arrivals, or items omitted from multiple purchases of small craft items (now I only usually purchase multiples if I trust the seller).

I keep a close eye on purchases awaiting delivery and if any is nearing completion while the item hasn't shown up, I ask the seller to extend the time, and I'll do that a couple of times. If they don't extend it, or the extra time has also run out, then I'll open a dispute before the 14 days is up after the order has completed and just complete the options to say that it hasn't arrived and that there is no tracking - as you say, there is no other evidence available to be provided. To be honest I don't bother contacting the seller again before the dispute, as there seems little point other than giving them the opportunity to try and get you to string it out until past the time when you can dispute it.

If something is missing from a package (a very regular occurence at one stage), then I take a photo of the package & contents on arrival and also message the seller to say that I've received part of the order and ask if the rest is coming separately (sometimes it genuinely was sent in more than one package), to give them a chance to send it if they haven't already, and again I'll extend the time if necessary. If the missing item doesn't turn up, I'll open a dispute and provide the photos of what I did receive as evidence.

I don't know whether in general it helps that they can see from my account that I always mark the vast majority of items which do turn up as received promptly (including the items which I have had from part orders), as I understand that AE doesn't release the money to them until that point.

SuperCNJ

Thanks for sharing your experience, that's really useful to know. I think because I do buy a lot of items from AE, it is a lot of work to keep track of everything and to remember to contact each seller on time to extend the protection (I didn't know you could do that). I would have thought that AE or the seller should automatically extend the protection if the item hasn't been confirmed as delivered. It seems like they are putting the onus on the customer who I guess generally is more likely to forget to extend. 
But there has been quite a few occasions where the seller either does not respond or just fobs me off, it's these cases where I think would just be useful if I can ask AE to step in to help resolve - which I can't. 

soolin

I am finding the same with some items being very late and running out of buyer protection before being able to open a case. I have found a work round, if seller hasn’t extended the delivery estimate and buyer protection times out then item disappears from your ‘awaiting delivery’ list. However if you go into your items awaiting feedback you can find the item there and usually from there it is possible to open an INR.

SuperCNJ

Thanks for your replies, I am wondering if anyone has had any success in contacting AliExpress? Is there a way to get through to someone human?

soolin

SuperCNJ said:

Thanks for your replies, I am wondering if anyone has had any success in contacting AliExpress? Is there a way to get through to someone human?

I never have been successful , I’ve only ever got the useless bot thing and I’ve been buying on there for years.