EEVblog #1248 - INSANE A 0.02% Process Meter for $9? WTF

[thinkfat]

Here's another lie from My Cozy Life:

Dear buyer,
we are so sorry to tell you that we just got the information from the shipping company that your parcel was lost on the way .
we want to resend it for you ,but been told by warehouse the item just sold out .
In order to protect your right ,how about we refund to your paypal ?or would you like to choose other item you like in our store?
sorry for the trouble and waiting for your quickly reply,
nice day .

This is exactly what I expect to receive soon

[TurboTom]

Here's another lie from My Cozy Life:

Dear buyer,
we are so sorry to tell you that we just got the information from the shipping company that your parcel was lost on the way .
we want to resend it for you ,but been told by warehouse the item just sold out .
In order to protect your right ,how about we refund to your paypal ?or would you like to choose other item you like in our store?
sorry for the trouble and waiting for your quickly reply,
nice day .

...sounds very familiar to me... welcome to the club 

[ludzinc]

The version I got:

Dear buyer,
sorry .we just got the information the parcel will been returned to us due to Crucial Defectives of the elements and function .
we need to return all of these items back to theirs factory for a Security Inspection until the issue solved.
in order to protect your right ,could you please tell us your paypal to get the refund back
or would you like to choose other item as replace in our store ?
sorry for the trouble again and waiting for quickly reply ,
nice day

[thinkfat]

The version I got:

Dear buyer,
sorry .we just got the information the parcel will been returned to us due to Crucial Defectives of the elements and function .
we need to return all of these items back to theirs factory for a Security Inspection until the issue solved.
in order to protect your right ,could you please tell us your paypal to get the refund back
or would you like to choose other item as replace in our store ?
sorry for the trouble again and waiting for quickly reply ,
nice day

Yup, got the same answer today, after I asked whether they had really shipped my order.

[Brumby]

My question:

If I order again in the future, will the price be the same?

Has been answered:
Dear customer
if we sell the item,the price will be same
please give your paypal account,we will arrange refund soon
best regard

"if we sell the item" ... There's their "out".

Part of me wants to press on - but I'm getting tired of the games and we all know that whatever story line I'm given, the result will be pretty much the same.

Will sleep on it.

[Kjelt]

If these stores sell something for $0,50 incl shipping then I am going to buy it wait till it arrives then give negative feedback including the previous order.

[all_repair]

Mine is still stuck in transit.  I don't think it is real.  I have just filed a complain to aliexpress online chat service.  They asked me to wait for a few days to file dispute, and actions shall be taken on them if proven true.  Enough voices from others shall help also.

[Kean]

And it's delivered.  To Katherine.  In the Northern Territory.  While I live in Adelaide, South Australia...

Rang Aussie post, they believe it's a fake tracking number and I should ask for a refund....

I had a similar issue with an AliExpress delivery (not this meter) where the package tracking showed it delivered, but to a post office 80km away from me.  I disputed it listing the tracking info, but the seller kept insisting it was delivered.  They then posted a photo of the shipping label as proof.  That actually gave me extra evidence, as the shipping address was incomplete and didn't have my full address or postcode.  There was also a large 4 digit number on the label (an order reference I think) which matched the post code it arrived at by mistake (best effort by Australia Post seeing as the address was otherwise incomplete).  I wasn't able to retrieve the package, so who know where it ended up.

AliExpress sided with me and did a complete refund.  I think if you show the tracking shows a similar wrong delivery you should get the same result.

[Macbeth]

It seems my Cozy Life was out for local delivery on 20/10. Which is a Sunday. The Royal Mail or Parcelforce who EMS parcels get handed over to do not deliver on Sundays.
The Parcelforce website tells me its a valid tracking number format for Royal Mail and to go there. The tracking number doesn't exist on the Royal Mail website.
Also it hasn't left China according to the AliExpress tracking status 

[Macbeth]

Needless to say I still don't have the Cozy Life. As for my other seller, Shenzhen Superdeal, he's getting desperate since I opened a dispute...

"Dear buyer,
sorry for the trouble.

If you do have no paypal, and don't want to choose other item in our store ,
how about we refund you by aliexpress.
In this case, you can cancel the dispute first and reopen a dispute, it would be highly appreciated if you can choose the reason "personal reason" and then inform us?
Please follow below steps:
1-the first section please select return and refund.
2-after that please choose personal reason.
3-then please choose I ordered by mistake or I no longer need the product.
4- then put the amount that should be refunded.
5-then in the last section it ask to specify why I am requesting a refund. you can write that I ordered by mistake.
are these steps okay with you ?

Please advice,then we could refund for you as the platform rule .
thanks for your cooperation.
Nice day"

[luma]

Under no situation should you cancel a dispute with Ali as in most cases you only are allowed to file a single dispute.

Your experiences here are typical - vendors will cajole and beg you not to report their shady actions to Ali.  They'll ask to PayPal you, they'll file fake tracking numbers w/ Ali to make it look like they've shipped things, and will drag on the dispute process as long as possible, all while attempting to convince you to drop the dispute.

Don't fall for it.  The dispute process can take weeks, but I've never had Ali fail to take my side so long as I stick to the process.  Ignore everything the vendor says as they are in damage control mode and will not deal honestly with you.

[Macbeth]

I've had Ali go 50/50 on a dispute for a DOA before. I provided photos of shoddy workmanship and that the item clearly wasn't tested before dispatch. I think the fact the seller used AliExpress as the shipper instead of the usual swung it for him.

[1anX]

Here's another lie from My Cozy Life:

Dear buyer,
we are so sorry to tell you that we just got the information from the shipping company that your parcel was lost on the way .
we want to resend it for you ,but been told by warehouse the item just sold out .
In order to protect your right ,how about we refund to your paypal ?or would you like to choose other item you like in our store?
sorry for the trouble and waiting for your quickly reply,
nice day .

Yep I just got the same, (as in identical) reply from My Cosy Life. It was worth a try to buy the meter, but its a refund for me 

[ogden]

Yep I just got the same, (as in identical) reply from My Cosy Life. It was worth a try to buy the meter, but its a refund for me 

Did you actually get money? In my case when noticed that I want this nonsense to end now with refund, "Cozy" started stalling. They say that servers are under maintenance and they can process my refund only in two weeks or so 

[Electro Detective]

Another update after post #408.
My items are apparently moving again and they are marked as in transit after being under constraint.

Maybe at the airport now but not necessarily on the plane yet, but on paper at least, closer to leaving China.

At this point, what could possibly go wrong!? 

If it's a Brightest Star Electronic sourced shipment,

and the water pirates lost all their boats in that mayhem a few days ago,

they may resort to plane jacking.. 


just sayin 


 

[wilfred]

Under no situation should you cancel a dispute with Ali as in most cases you only are allowed to file a single dispute.

Your experiences here are typical - vendors will cajole and beg you not to report their shady actions to Ali.  They'll ask to PayPal you, they'll file fake tracking numbers w/ Ali to make it look like they've shipped things, and will drag on the dispute process as long as possible, all while attempting to convince you to drop the dispute.

Don't fall for it.  The dispute process can take weeks, but I've never had Ali fail to take my side so long as I stick to the process.  Ignore everything the vendor says as they are in damage control mode and will not deal honestly with you.

I'm no expert with Ali refunds but this makes sense to me. Ali are the only ones with any real power over these sellers. That seems clear from their attempts to avoid refunds done via Ali.

I've put an alert in my calendar to remind me near the end of the expected delivery time and I will be filing for a refund if necessary via Aliexpress.

Sellers that make buyers reluctant to use Aliexpress will not be tolerated for long. Most don't make a distinction between the seller and the platform.

[Macbeth]

Those who got the fob off messages from My Cozy Life can count yourselves lucky. They have clearly ripped me off, and I'm not sure how they wangled it. Apparently they have proof of delivery, despite the parcel being out for delivery on Sunday when the posties don't work, and then today they have proof of delivery (or "It's already cast") despite me being in all day today. The Royal Mail have no evidence of this parcel either.

17track.net


ems.com.cn


The POD time and date is 23/10 at 02:20 - Shenzhen is 7 hours ahead of the UK, so that's 22/10 19:20 local time. It was pitch black out. Guess what? the posties don't work late in the evening either.

AliExpress tracking hasn't been updated with this proof of delivery yet, so its status is still that its in China despite the so called tracking showing it out for delivery on Sunday.

[thm_w]

Those who got the fob off messages from My Cozy Life can count yourselves lucky. They have clearly ripped me off, and I'm not sure how they wangled it. Apparently they have proof of delivery, despite the parcel being out for delivery on Sunday when the posties don't work, and then today they have proof of delivery (or "It's already cast") despite me being in all day today. The Royal Mail have no evidence of this parcel either.

The POD time and date is 23/10 at 02:20 - Shenzhen is 7 hours ahead of the UK, so that's 22/10 19:20 local time. It was pitch black out. Guess what? the posties don't work late in the evening either.

AliExpress tracking hasn't been updated with this proof of delivery yet, so its status is still that its in China despite the so called tracking showing it out for delivery on Sunday.

A few things are confusing here.. the time shown on Track17 should be local time, but then out for delivery at 7pm does not make sense either. Actual delivery time can sometimes be delayed, thats not unusual here.
Also, why does it lose location information after leaving HK. It should say what country/city its in after that point, at least it does for canada.

I've changed my opinion if they are actually claiming things have been delivered 

[RobertPS]

Those who got the fob off messages from My Cozy Life can count yourselves lucky.

Same MO here from the ' Hey, Living store' (EMS). Out for delivery this Sunday and just now shows as delivered ("It's already cast") on the same site as yours. Needless to say nothing has been delivered and the tracking number doesn't track with the local PostNL.

My other order from "My Cozy Life" (TNT) is, if you believe it, still in limbo at the airport and/or Shenzhen ('security return' followed by 'exported directly sealed').

These shops use the same tricks, so probably the same owner(s)/same shop.

[RobertPS]

Also, why does it lose location information after leaving HK. It should say what country/city its in after that point, at least it does for canada.

The second column in the EMS website tracking is the country in Chinese. In my case this does translate to The Netherlands.
I wonder how this fake tracking resulting in a 'Proof Of Delivery' works. Looks like some hack job, or this is not the official EMS website.

[1anX]

Yep I just got the same, (as in identical) reply from My Cosy Life. It was worth a try to buy the meter, but its a refund for me 

Did you actually get money? In my case when noticed that I want this nonsense to end now with refund, "Cozy" started stalling. They say that servers are under maintenance and they can process my refund only in two weeks or so 

I opened a dispute with AliExpress and have asked the seller for a refund. I did not waste my time with My Cosy Life other than to message them for a refund.
The fake tracking claimed it had been delivered and signed for so I went straight to the dispute option. Their tracking info was pure BS and wont stand up to testing so I hopefully will have it resolved shortly!
I advise anyone else with fake tracking info from My Cosy Life or similar to open a dispute and ask for a refund thru AliExpress!

[IanB]

I wonder how this fake tracking resulting in a 'Proof Of Delivery' works. Looks like some hack job, or this is not the official EMS website.

How do you know the tracking number provided is for your package? They can give you any tracking number for any package shipped to any person. There is no way to know which package is being tracked. All you know is that some package is on its way to somewhere.

[innkeeper]

seems like the scam i was informed of in https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-1248-insane-a-0-02-process-meter-for-$9-wtf/msg2735986/#msg2735986 is playing out for many.

I'm gonna let this play out as well just to leave them negative feedback and call them out on the fake tracking number. its not aobut the money, its the principle of it all.

[BradC]

The POD time and date is 23/10 at 02:20 - Shenzhen is 7 hours ahead of the UK, so that's 22/10 19:20 local time. It was pitch black out. Guess what? the posties don't work late in the evening either.

AliExpress tracking hasn't been updated with this proof of delivery yet, so its status is still that its in China despite the so called tracking showing it out for delivery on Sunday.

Hrm, that looks suspiciously familiar, and while I was composing the message the tracking was updated to delivered. Which of course it hasn't been.

[innkeeper]

I wonder how this fake tracking resulting in a 'Proof Of Delivery' works.

Typically they use a tracking number for another shipment, or, they might just ship you an empty box or an envelope. anything to get a tracking number and proof of delivery.

This sound like a scam i posted in https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-1248-insane-a-0-02-process-meter-for-$9-wtf/msg2735986/#msg2735986

once they have a tracking number and proof of delivery, then the sites like Ali express and dhgate will not refund, because the item was received.

I wonder though if theres strength in numbers here. guess it will depend on how many get scammed.