Is there an AliExpress Helpdesk

WLM21

In February I placed two orders (my first ever) with two companies on AliExpress.
The tracking information for one item is unavailable and for the other item, it says ready for delivery, but that has been the message for about 3 weeks.
Yesterday I messaged the sellers

First item
They say they can refund me. Great I thought. They asked for my Paypal account, but I don't have that and actually paid by a bank transfer. When I informed them of this, their reply was .. we only refund by Paypal. Annoying if you haven't got Paypal

Second Item
They keep sending me a contact number of the Post Office, but the number keeps coming up as not recognised when I try it. I informed them and they simply send the same information.

The total is only about £12, but I just want my money back.. I'll not be buying anything else on that platform.

Pollycat

WLM21 said:

In February I placed two orders (my first ever) with two companies on AliExpress.
The tracking information for one item is unavailable and for the other item, it says ready for delivery, but that has been the message for about 3 weeks.
Yesterday I messaged the sellers

First item
They say they can refund me. Great I thought. They asked for my Paypal account, but I don't have that and actually paid by a bank transfer. When I informed them of this, their reply was .. we only refund by Paypal. Annoying if you haven't got Paypal

Second Item
They keep sending me a contact number of the Post Office, but the number keeps coming up as not recognised when I try it. I informed them and they simply send the same information.

The total is only about £12, but I just want my money back.. I'll not be buying anything else on that platform.

According to this MSE article:

How does payment work? You pay by credit or debit card. AliExpress uses an 'escrow' payment system, where it holds your payment in an account and only releases it to the seller after you confirm satisfactory delivery. 

It does eventually release the cash to the seller even if you don't confirm you've got the goods and are happy with them though, as long as you haven't raised a dispute – the timescale depends on the product.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/buy-from-china-aliexpress/

Why did you pay by bank transfer? Was that the only option you had?

Have you confirmed 'satisfactory delivery'?

Have you raised a dispute?