AliExpressReviews 8,094

I have seen many bad reviews about this site but I have been using it for many years to purchase Chinese electronics that I occasionally sell.

It's very import to pay attention to the seller's ratings as an indication on how honest and reliable a particular seller is.

Using that approach, I have had only quality products. Some of those phones I have been using as my personal phone and am very happy with them.

10-Aug-15 Update:

I'm still using Aliexpress and am very happy with this site. They have the best deals but you do have to pay attention to the vendor reviews to ensure you will be happy with your purchase.

Aliexpress The Cheater

I NEVER GOT MY ORDER: They build Hi Fi website but they don't know how to track where is the money gone, VERY STRANGE & FUNNY! DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM www.aliexpress.com

The payment for Order *******796 for this item WWE John Cena Salute the Cenation Superfan T-Shirt Package; NEW Cena Green t-shirt+Baseball Cap+sweatbands set
I am visited to my bank (Canara Bank, Jayanagar Shopping Complex Branch, Bangalore – *******. INDIA) and they given me a copy of bank statement print out.
The money US$23.49 is transferred on 15th Oct 12 and OTR number is 0599OTR*******.

They just whack my money without any appreciation.

Posted on
https://www.sitejabber.com

I have ordered, a very cute sweater for my friend. Because it was her birthday. And I thought she would like it. I have wasted 35$ on that sweater. And I Checked the shipping, turns out it was shipped to somewhere else. In Maryland. When I live in New York. I contacted the seller. She swore it was delivered to me. And I took a picture of the shipping it was delivered somewhere else. I checked her store rating and it was a 1/2 1. I waited and waited and still no return of money. Do not buy anything from that site

Received a counterfeit micro SD card and supplier agreed, eventhough I had to pay the shipping cost, which is more than the price I payed for the micro SD!
From http://help.aliexpress.com/file_claim.html
* Full Refund
If the buyer decides to request a full refund, he/she must return the shipment to the supplier. Please note that the buyer is responsible for this shipping cost. Before the buyer sends the package back, please confirm the shipping address with the supplier.
From http://www.aliexpress.com/buyerprotection/how_to_be_eligible.html
* AliExpress Buyer Protection
AliExpress will fully refund the amount paid by the buyer. The seller will compensate up to two times the amount of the order placed.

That wasn't much of a help, since the dispute was closed (and not by me) and I have given up receiving my money:-(

They are a scam. When you ask for a date that they should arrive you get this generic email.

Hello,

Thank you for reaching Increasing Shoes.

If the item you purchased is not on back order, express shipping
Can take up to 4 business days (weekend & holidays excluded).
For back order, items the order will be shipped once the style is
Back in stock.

Best Regards,

Increasing Shoes
www.increasingshoes.com

Also when you are checking the status of your shoes estimated delivery date. They never actually update it. It constently says "order is processing".

Contrary to what the website says the PAYMENT NOT HELD IN ESCROW! Bought of pair of basketball shoes only to be told by seller doesn't have stock. The money had been deducted from my credit card and subsequently less money refunded, I am assuming because of the exchange rate, so I am left out of pocket for the transaction.
1. Seller's advertise goods they don't actually have
2. Money is not held in escrow otherwise I should have my full refund.
3. Buyer left in debt through no fault of their own

I ordered one of their products and it looked like someone already used the item(it did not look new).
I wanted to return the item but what I learned was that "increasingshoes.com" would subtract the shipping cost from the returning amount. Of course I had to pay for costs for returning the item.
By the way, the some kind of chemical smell from the shoes was terrible.
That was a very cheap product compared to what I pad(paid 130 dollars)

The worst place on the Internet for buyers! There are many scammers there. The common problems are:

1. Product not as described: No some functions, other color, materials, etc.
2. Product doesn't work properly, damaged, broken.
3. A seller may cancel a paid invoice and increase a price of a product.
4. A communication with the administration of Aliexpress is very difficult: no contact form, no email to send a message to the administration. Virtual Agent Eva (why not Adam?) is an interactive FAQ. FAQ is not good.
5. An escalation procedure of a dispute isn't suitable for buyers. You may add evidences, comments, messages when it's allowed by administration ("Awaiting my response" status) but the administration may allow or disallow such a possibility.

Enough?

Get rid of Aliexpress!

Your review will helI've used AliExpress and Alibaba a lot. It's not the website thats the problem it's the vendors. You'll find plenty of obviously fake 5 star comments so please treat everything with caution. 80% of the goods are great, arrive fast and have no problem. HOWEVER, if you do have a dispute... you're screwed. AliExpress side with the seller instantaneously and you lose you cash they supposedly hold in Escrow.

SAD BUT TRUE... PLEASE ALWAYS PURCHASE WITH CAUTION AND THE BELIEF THAT YOU MAY NOT GET YOUR GOODS OR YOUR MONEY BACK IF UNSATISFIED. THEN YOU WILL ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE
P others learn about this website.

Please do not review if you are affiliated or have a conflict of interest with this website.

Before committing to a purchase, I made lots of contacts with the seller and they replied very promptly and polite so I thought ok, lets do some business together.

I used credit card to pay because there's a Section 75 of Consumer Credit Act 1974 in the UK to protect customers from being a victim of fraud/bad service etc. However, I still lose out!

I ordered 400 glass door knobs and turned out nearly 100 of them are flaw (like a dent / scratch, wrong cutting etc), I returned 70 of them back via DHL costing me £80 to return. Once they received them they demanded me to pay for the replacement to be sent back to me! I refused and wanted a refund and since then they totally ignored me!

I also go back to Alibaba to check anywhere I can raise the issue with Alibaba. There's no such customer help at all. Also the negotiation with the seller was over 30 days, Alibaba closed my order which made me unable to leave negative feedback or request refund. I looked up and down this useless website and after a long while I find two sentences long answer from FAQ and all answers are helpless.

I raised this case to my credit card company and they rejected my claim. On the transaction it's Alibaba took the payment but the fact is I had the contract between me and Gold Land Wholesale (the seller), they couldn't do a thing.

Therefore if you are reading this you are now warned and if you still carry on buying from there you got noone to blame to.

Good luck!