A Hello, an Ali Express Rant and a Dog!

[Mangy_Dog]

Hi I realise there's already an introduction thread stickied above, but I also wanted to have a little talk about an issue I just had with an aliexpress seller....

I hope thats ok?

Anyway Hello, I'm Mangy Dog. I'm a mostly uneducated dog who's managed to mostly figure out this electron thing and I make stuff...

My main background was actually in motion graphics and vfx with some 3D modeling too... In the last 5 or so years I really got hit hard by the maker bug and along with that embedded development.

I'm also running a budding little youtube channel that shows my own project builds.... Am I allowed to post a link?

Anyway I'm far from being a Dave level expert in electronics but I get by most of the time, and what I dont know I look up...

Anyway this little rant bit.... and I wanted to know if others have had this too....

Back in January before the luna holidays (chinese new year) I ordered one of those "cheap" 7 inch lcd electronics microscopes things. Cost about £42 quid..... I ordered it because I have a project coming where I'm going to be soldering tons and tons of little 0402 leds and I wanted to see what I was doing

Im unemployed (and looking for work) so i have to do things on the cheap where possible, and after doing my research and checking youtube reviews, the particular model I picked seemed to have favourable reviews.

So I placed the order and waited...... luna holidays hit.... so i waited some more.... then the virus delayed things more... so i waited more.......... by the 15th of Feburary i contacted the seller on Ali, as the news was things were going to start reopening on the 10th... After a few days i finally got the usual reply. "Hi Friend because of the holidays and health concerns there was a delay, and we will be posting your item in the next day" Several days later.... its still not sent so I message again.... As you can guess this kept going on. And then several more days layer Aliexpresses own dispatch timer was about to time out and literally the last minute they marked the item as dispatched................ But the tracking number went nowhere... So i followed ali expresses rules and waited ANOTHER 10 days and yet still the tracking number didnt show anything... Invalid number/cant be found.... by this point the seller stopped replying to any messages...

After a few more days I put in a dispute with Ali on the item... and after another couple of days the seller agreed to refund me.... No rebuttal, no "Hello friend we have sent the item please be patient" just refunded me.... Which frankly peed me off even more. As it just showed the seller never sent the item in the first place and had just been stringing me along all this time in the hope I might just forget , let the purchase protection time out and then walk away with my money.

So i guess heres a bit of warning people off this seller....
The item i brought is now marked as no longer available...
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000323396578.html

the seller Shenzhen (Ultra-eye-Optics) Ltd.....     So avoid them at all costs....


I realise Dave has a thing with chinese stuff, but for me Aliexpress has really enabled me to really get into electronics as it provided me with a cheap source for parts and components that would other wise cost 10x the amount if i brought locally...
The vast majority of my purchases at ali go without a hitch, but I do know that fake chips exsist, and recycled chips too... Im almost certain ive had some recycled chips in my time... You know it when you get a tape reel of chips and the package markings are different from one chip to another :p


Anyway rant over.....

Hi  

[Zucca]

It's just the nature of dealing with china right now, you got a refund be happy and move on.

[Mangy_Dog]

Oh indeed and with the virus I was giving them plenty of concessions... Im not just being nasty, I just dont like being lied to

[ataradov]

If you want to do things on the cheap, then deal with the system. It is what it is and you can't change it.

[bob91343]

I have had similar problems with AliExpress.  They make me wait for months before resolving a dispute.  In spite of decent prices, I have decided to stop buying from them.

Ebay is better, but still has issues.  They close disputes without warning.

I just bought a roll of solder from ebay and it's not good stuff.  I want to return it but am leery of opening another dispute.