Complaint Review: Alibaba.com Hong Kong Ltd

I have fallen victim to allowing myself to believe that their stateside office was willing to help resolve the problem I originally disclosed. 

In reality - their stateside office is as much a joke as their webbsite is, and in reality they do very little to help or resolve anything.  If you follow this messgae thread, then you know that I was appraoched by Mr. Mark Story, their Director, International Corporate Affairs of the Alibaba Group (mstory@us.alibaba-inc.com) stating he "wanted to help". 

His idea of help was to immediately hand it off to a subordinate who did little more than tout the line I already heard repeatedly from the manufacturer of "wait a bit longer".  She was no more a help than he was - so as the saying goes, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" - and based on the BS I was fed - then the problem with anything Alibaba is a top down issue of lack of integrity or customer service. 

Bottom line here is DO NOT BUY ANYTHING from Alibaba unless you are willing to accept the following:

1)  A documented failure rate of 40% on the products they sell by their own personnel
2)  Their willingness to lose your returned item until they decide to find it - hoping you will just go away
3)  When asking for a refund - they quit returning emails or correspondence (their last corporate response whe advising them of the status was "Sorry to hear that" - then nothing else
4)  Worthless junk they sell with false promises of quality
5)  Long turn times on (alleged) repairs that take up to 3 months to complete on a simple electronic meter (unless of course they are repairing 40% of everything they sell -then it makes a little more sense)
6)  No quality control (the repair they did - was only a partial repair.  Now the meter "beeps" when you turn it on - but the alarm feature still does not function.  Guess they forgot about that one.
7)  Inability to track and inform you of the status of any repair or where it is at in the repair process
8)  return shipments of your product that is shipped back to you wrapped in a paper bag with little protection - not professionally done.
9)  Unwillingness to expedite anything
10) Lame excuses and lies about receiving it for up to 90 days
11) Lies about its repair and testing
12) promises that aren't worth the breath it took to make them

I could go on, but feel that this is more than ample to paint an accurate picture of what you will or should expect if you are one of the unlucky 40% that gets the junk they sell. 

I cannot comment on anything else, as I do not have a working meter to compare it to - so I cannot tell you if any product you do buy from Alibaba will last longer than 10 minutes from the time you take it out of a box.

Bottom line here - avoid this company, group, outlet like the plague - what you get in aggravation far outweighs the cheap price you pay for what they offer and consider quality. 

Buy it and it breaks should be their motto - lie, cheat and steal - but offer nothing in return - except headaches and an empty wallet.  That just about covers it all!  Ask for a refund and see what you get.

These comments are based on a personal experience that is far from over yet.  Next step is to file  formal complaints with both the US and state Governments for consumer fraud.  I would urge everyone else who has had similar experiences to do the same.

I am willing to post every email sent and received from Alibaba, so that all can see what you can expect if you choose to do business with Alibaba and fall into the 40% junk rating.

Went to the site recommended after copying copious amounts of correspondence to include as directed only to be continually kicked back saying that they do not recognize the vendor, while removing the files I put onto the complaint.

The bottom line is this - if it says Alibaba.com then the only thing people complain about is Alibaba.com.  Your name is on it, and you are ultimately responsible for the people you allow on your site.  One would think that if they are allegedly rated as a "Gold" member, then they should have a reputation for their integrity, responsiveness and customer service.  I find none of the above.

All in all I am beginning to believe that caveat emptor applies for anything Alibaba at this point.  

There is no viable way to respond to a complaint if the complaint is not recognized now is there?

Gr8Dane,

I was sorry to see that you were having problems with one of the suppliers that you found on Alibaba.com.  Just to clear up a quick point, though:  Alibaba.com, just like eBay, is a platform that connects buyers and sellers.  We don't sell products or offer merchandise.  We connect buyers and sellers.

That said, I'd like to help.  

The fastest way to get resolution to your problem is to file a complaint using our AliProtect system:  it reaches our customer service people quickly and they can then begin investigating your problem.  Have you used it?  If not, log into your Alibaba account and go here:  http://channel.alibaba.com/complaint/home.htm?tracelog=newschp_help_complaint.  It's pretty easy to fill out the form.

If you do this and do not hear back within a few days, you may also contact our U.S. customer service at 1-888-983-1688 or by email at smallbizhelp@service.alibaba.com.

I hope that this helps your problem and again, I am sorry that you have had problems using our platform.

Best regards,

Mark Story
Director, International Corporate Affairs
Alibaba Group
mstory@us.alibaba-inc.com