Complaint Review: AliExpress

AliExpess is a mess, kind of like an internet representation of a badly run bazaar where you might get pick pocketed and what you pay for might be different to what you receive. It is a good example of why market sites such as Amazon and Ebay originating in the States are far more trustworthy and dependable. Using this site has been a sobering lesson on why we should pay that bit extra for piece of mind and proper customer service / communications.

Trying to buy some items off the site, the process seems quite a bit easier than Ebay, until you get to the payment area with Alibaba's escrow service.

Money was deposited on the first transaction, it has now dissapeared and the order got cancelled by the site, AliExpress' customer service asks for proof that the money was sent, I have given them a reference number from online banking but have not heard much further.

Before the money dissapeared off the first transaction, I tried to purchase another item. This time the money transfer worked, although for some reason an arbitrary amount of money was deducted by Alipay from the transfer on their end (confirmed with my bank, which is actually the same bank company).

Contacts to AliExpress have been so far fruitless - the amount that the website says it received from me was less than the amount I had transferred, so the site had rejected my payment. Then the extra kick to the proverbials came when the customer service representative tells me that I can only get a refund from the rejected payment, at a cost of $20 to me. So I have to pay money to AliExpress to get my own money back due to a mistake on their behalf, with no products to show for any of this, I may as well throw money down the drain.

Trying to work with the bank to get a refund now, but I will not use these guys again.. The headaches are just not worth it. Trying to deal with customer service from China is like trying to perform a circumcision with a letter opener - painful and ineffective.