GearBest: Completely Unreliable, Fake Service? What to do....

iamapineapple on 28/08/2015 - 08:48

Hey,

I made an order for Xiamoi Piston 3.0 and a Xiamoi 16000 mAH battery bank from GearBest on 5th August, and I paid the same day.

7 days later, they shipped the headphones, and 23 days later it still hasn't arrived.
23 days ago I also ordered the battery bank and it hasn't even been SHIPPED YET. THEY HAVEN't EVEN SENT OR PROCESSED THE ORDER (even though the payment went through).
Furthermore, I think they stole my money. When paying, I chose the first available shipping method, and there was a list of extra options for tracking the shipment, if an extra fee was paid. Later on, after the headphones were supposedly 'shipped', I enquired about why I was unable to track my shipment with the details they had provided. They then told me that they had not shipped my item with a method that could use tracking, even though I had chosen and paid for it. They said I would get a refund, but 23 days later, that refund alludes me.

I have been asking customer service why the delay has been so long, and the only cited response is "we are sorry for the delay", and, "your item is under quality checking". What does this even mean? They have told me NOTHING else.

The funniest part is, they offered to a coupon as compensation. Using it in during checkout, it turned out that it ADDED 5% extra to the total price at cehckout :'D. My gosh.

Has anyone else had as bad of an experience as this? Shady customer service, absolutely no information on shipping, deceptively stealing money (through 'fake' tracking options), and not shipping orders. At this point, I do not even expect the headphones to arrive.

Has anyone else had a similar problem, and what can I do in this situation?
Thanks.

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Comments

  • nocure on 28/08/2015 - 09:22
    +2

    Just PM the rep I'm sure he'd be happy to help.

    • iamapineapple on 28/08/2015 - 19:39

      I'll give it a try. Do you think it would work?

      • nocure on 28/08/2015 - 19:41
        +1

        He has been keen to help in the past…it's his best interest to keep his customers happy.

  • RedHab on 28/08/2015 - 09:39
    +1

    I have bought stuff from them. Nothing expensive. They took ~4 weeks just to post the item, plus another 3 weeks slow shipping from mainland China.

  • Uncle Chop Chop on 28/08/2015 - 10:03
    +3

    I've bought a few things from them - dashcams, tablets etc. All turned up within 1-4 weeks, and everything has worked perfectly, so I haven't had to deal with their aftersales support.

    I'd be going down the road of a Paypal dispute though before the 45 day limit expires, or a CC chargeback if you didn't pay with Paypal.

    • MattyAu on 28/08/2015 - 15:49
      +1

      I haven't had to deal with their aftersales support.

      Half your luck, I've tried getting aftersales support from both gearbest and the product manufacturer; I'm using the Paypal resolution center now.
      I'm sure if what you buy works with no issues, it's all good, but don't count on any aftersales support…

    • iamapineapple on 28/08/2015 - 19:38
      +1

      Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, I didn't use paypal. How do I get a CC chargeback?

      • Uncle Chop Chop on 29/08/2015 - 11:23
        +2

        Contact your bank / card issuer. They'll give you a form (at least that's what they used to do).

  • dylanando on 28/08/2015 - 17:40
    +2

    Ordered VR of them 10years ago, just got it. Friend order same day. Received nothing and asked why, Was pretty much told tough luck because he didnt pay for tracking. I wouldnt shop their again.

  • mitcheo on 30/08/2015 - 23:00
    +4

    After taking my money and not shipping my item. I would never shop at gearbest again.

    • Store Repgearbest @ GearBest on 31/08/2015 - 12:08

      Hi mitcheo,

      Could you please PM me your order number? We will check and solve for you soon.

  • Store Repgearbest @ GearBest on 31/08/2015 - 12:12

    Hi iamapineapple,

    Thanks for your recent order with Gearbest and sorry for the inconvenience caused to you.

    I have replied you on PM, could you please check it and solve this issue with us together?

    Thanks for your patience and kind support.

    Best regards
    Gina
    Gearbest Customer Service
    http://www.gearbest.com/

    • Phsyke on 03/09/2015 - 13:24
      +9

      Hey Store Rep,

      No one trusts you or your store anymore. Your service is a joke and your staff can barely speak, let alone understand english. You lie about your shipping times and your stock levels. You won't even provide refunds to people when you legitimately do not ship items out. Do you honestly expect to last much longer on ozbargain? People are sick of you and fed up with the constant lies!

  • Spending2Much on 31/08/2015 - 15:58
    +1

    There's so many of these stories on here, and we still keep getting burnt.
    Is it the allure of a false bargain?

  • iamapineapple on 31/08/2015 - 22:34
    +1

    should have used @mushtato :(

  • mitcheo on 01/09/2015 - 09:26
    +1

    Gearfail has tried to get me to pay MORE to resend my item, or give me a coupon for LESS then what they have stole from me!!

    What an absolute joke!!

    • MattyAu on 01/09/2015 - 14:55
      +1

      You go through PayPal? They refund postage fees up to $45.00 now.

      • mitcheo on 01/09/2015 - 15:03
        +1

        I never received anything to send back

        • MattyAu on 01/09/2015 - 15:12
          +1

          Ah, I see the issue, I'd be lodging a Paypal dispute, marking the item as never received then. Exactly why I always use Paypal.
          In fact, I'm sending back a faulty item that i disputed via Paypal with Gearbest at the moment.

  • Phsyke on 03/09/2015 - 13:21
    +7

    Ordered $122USD of items via expidited shipping for a birthday. 3 months later, no items received and they refuse to issue a refund. I had to eventually lodge a paypal dispute, at which point they immediately emailed me and said they would provide a refund if I closed the dispute. Dispute closed, 2 weeks later, still no refund.

    I reopened the paypal dispute and they actually tried to BLACKMAIL me into closing the paypal dispute, saying they would not be providing any refunds so long as the dispute remained open!! Why would I ever trust a company that neither shipped out anything, AND refused to provide a refund?

    Honestly, Gearbest is the dodgiest and most fraudulent company I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. They lie about their shipping times and stock levels and just flat out refuse to provide refunds. DO NOT TRUST THEM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!

    • MattyAu on 03/09/2015 - 15:27
      +3

      I'd just escalate the dispute to a claim and let Paypal deal with it.

      I just sent something back to them with a dispute open, if i haven't received my refund by the time i need to escalate to a claim, I will escalate it to a claim.

      In saying that, I have received another order from them with no issue…

      • Phsyke on 03/09/2015 - 15:42
        +1

        It's just crazy, you know? No seller should be this inconsistent with their service, let alone their shipping. I really did try to work with them to reach some kind of compromise but it just got to the point where I couldn't deal with their complete lack of customer service.

        It's just sad to me because I really did want them to be a good supplier, yet I can only assume every 1 out of 5 items ordered will arrive :s

        • MattyAu on 03/09/2015 - 16:15
          +1

          Yeah, i know what you mean; they're all good if the sale goes through and arrives ok (or at all), but their after sales service stinks.

      • Store Repgearbest @ GearBest on 03/09/2015 - 16:54

        Hi matthewk85,

        We are very regret that you have return the package. Have you talked with us before you return it?

        Could you please PM me your order number or ticket ID, I will check the return package and solve for you.\

        Thanks for your understanding and hope to hear from you.

        Best regards
        Gina
        Gearbest Customer Service
        http://www.gearbest.com/

        • MattyAu on 03/09/2015 - 17:08

          Hi,

          lodged a ticket before i started anything with Paypal but that proved useless as the resolution steps were "we will contact the manufacturer" please wait 3 days for a reply, when i'd stated i'd already tried contacting the manufacturer; started Paypal dispute and have sent back with tracking as requested by the person on the other end. Once it arrives, I would expect my refund be processed and we can put this nightmare behind us.

          Thanks.

    • Store Repgearbest @ GearBest on 03/09/2015 - 16:48
      -1

      Hi Phsyke，

      I am extremely sorry for the problem you encounter and empathize with your frustration.

      Could you please PM me your order number? I will check and solve for you.

      We wish to apologize for any inconvenience this may caused and hope to hear from you.

      Best regards
      Gina
      Gearbest Customer Service
      http://www.gearbest.com/

  • arislan on 03/09/2015 - 17:19

    Dunno about customer experience, my total of 3 past orders from them have been delivered with no dramas, albeit in all cases I've pretty much forgotten about them. Folks need to understand that sites like these (dealextreme is another) that drop-ships takes a long time to get goods door to door. It is part of the business model to be able to provide items at that low of a price. Adjust your expectations accordingly and you won't be disappointed. Use payment types that has buyer protection and an adequate amount of duration of guarantee (i.e. paypal).

    Customer experience/after sales support, well yea you can gripe about that… but then Aussie retail B&M ain't that good either but its a preference I suppose.

    • pennymiser on 23/09/2015 - 08:42
      +2

      Ordered an item on the 16th of July. There was a minor delay with stocks and somehow they managed to dispatch on the 28th. A month later, the item hasn't arrived. Checked with the Gearbest support center and was told to wait, just because the shipping method that I chose was slow and it would take 15 to 45 business days to deliver after dispatched, with the possibility of even more delays, which they claimed were out of their control. However, on their web site, the product is specified to ship within 3-5 business days and deliver 5-11 business days for the free, flat rate shipping, the one that I had chosen. Given that the item wasn't received as yet on the 10th of September, I ordered the same item from Banggood, free delivery to the same address, with a price difference of less than USD1 (the item is around USD16 at Gearbest). The one from Banggood arrived yesterday, the 21st, and it took only 11 weekdays to arrive. So don't think I'll buy from Gearbest ever again.
      My logic is, if they drop ship, they cannot claim product "On stock" . If they own stocks, their ordering system is faulty, as the system should not allow the order to go thru when a product runs out. They cannot listed the delivery time as 5-11 business days if their shipping should take 15-45 business days.
      If other online retailers can manage to deliver the same product in 11 weekdays, I don't quite understand why Gearbest cannot spend their resources on improving their logistics, rather than getting their representatives to keep on apologising and trying to resolve problems for disgruntled customers.

  • djones145 on 23/09/2015 - 07:06

    Good luck
    Most of the people here have been waiting 3 months

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/211479

    The rep just says it's being sent and wait, up to 45 days lolz

  • punter1 on 23/09/2015 - 07:57

    I also lodged a PayPal claim for $2 led torch that never received

  • DU99 on 24/09/2015 - 21:17
    +1

    i bought a tablet back in August,charged the unit before use,loaded the app's and gave to my wife for here birthday,the battery fail's after 30mins.lodged a ticket,no answer,all it says PROCESSING.If i was OZBARGAIN i would ban them from this site

    • MattyAu on 25/09/2015 - 09:12

      If you purchased through Paypal, lodge a dispute.
      Note that Paypal will refund up to $45 in return postage fees now too.
      I just recently sent back a Kraptop i purchased from them (after lodging a Paypal dispute) and hasn't cost me a cent.

      • DU99 on 25/09/2015 - 09:16

        lodged a dispute last night,i won't be recommending them..

        • DU99 on 02/10/2015 - 09:58

          got a reply from them,via paypal,saying they will send replacement battery.how does one replace a battery on a tablet….

        • MattyAu on 05/10/2015 - 09:03

          @DU99:
          I wouldn't be opening the case of one of their laptop in case they try to claim you've voided your warranty.
          Id be looking to get a refund; get up to $45 back on postage from PayPal. Escalate your claim if they don't cooperate.

        • DU99 on 05/10/2015 - 20:16

          @matthewk85:
          i am not silly i will be taking it further..

        • DU99 on 07/10/2015 - 20:58

          @DU99: Have gone to extra step and asking for my money back..i never seen a company like this no replies in any form..

        • DU99 on 09/10/2015 - 09:38

          @DU99: They have offered a partial refund of $14 US what for,the unit is defective..was from day one.

        • MattyAu on 09/10/2015 - 09:48

          @DU99:

          Yeah, they attempted the same with me, I ended up opting to send it back, getting postage refunded through PayPal and, eventually, got my full refund (plus some due to a drop in the Aud since I'd purchased it).

        • DU99 on 09/10/2015 - 13:36

          @matthewk85: i have a email from them now "asking what's wrong"with product,after filling out claim.went thru the same thing.

  • junk3569 on 25/09/2015 - 18:34

    Still haven't got mine after 6 weeks. I am giving them another chance. After 6 more weeks, will complain to Paypal to get my money back.

  • altomic on 05/10/2015 - 19:11
    +1

    bought a media from gearbest.
    5 weeks later it arrived.
    it was DOA.
    started a paypal dispute.
    after a couple of emails gearbest said they would send another with out me having to return the DOA unit.
    5 weeks later a working media player arrived.

    every order I've made with them has arrived (eventually).

    It's unfortunate and unprofessional for them to mess people around.

  • kendo101 on 05/10/2015 - 23:32

    i bought a few smallish items from gearbest recently. They all arrived to sydney eventually, i think it took about 4-6 weeks.
    Unfortunately the most expensive item, the dash camera has since died and no longer turns on. 3 months since purchase. Lodged a ticket which was replied to next day. they offered three options and i chose to accept store credit.
    Its been over a week now and my ticket does not show up when i log into my account. But does, if i click on the link provided to my email address.

    was so dissappointed given i was hoping Gearbest to be a reliable supplier and operator.

    I'm still hoping for them to do what's right. How long should i wait? has anyone gone through the process of credit card charge back on a CBA credit card? any advice?

    thanks

  • fozzie on 06/10/2015 - 16:54

    Gearbest are disgusting. They sent me a faulty ulefone betouch2. The only way to get replacement was to send back. I did (another $20) over a month ago. Now I'm out of $280 and no phone, they keep lying saying no stock (still I had to contact twice to get a response) I will boycott any of their deals and on social media until this is sorted. Don't buy off them.

    • MattyAu on 06/10/2015 - 17:04

      Ask for a full refund then. If you purchased via Paypal, lodge a dispute and you can get the return postage refunded also.

      • fozzie on 06/10/2015 - 17:08

        Thanks, unfortunately I didn't use PayPal (I know I'm stupid). I just emailed rep, hopefully they can sort something quick. I'm very frustrated as you can imagine. I ordered phone with fast shipping and arrived beginning of August. All this has been going on since End of July. :(

        • MattyAu on 06/10/2015 - 17:30

          Bummer, you could always try lodging a complaint with this mob if you're finding you service unsatisfactory: https://www.econsumer.gov/
          I always use Paypal for overseas shopping as ACL can't help you if something goes wrong. Hell, i generally use Paypal for all my online shopping as their dispute process hasn't failed me yet, usually threatening to contact the ACCC and citing the ACL first will get Aus businesses cooperating though. lol

        • fozzie on 06/10/2015 - 17:37

          @matthewk85:

          Thanks very much, I was naive in this case. I always use PayPal, but as I was having problem with paying PayPal, I opted for card…..I will see how things will develop in the next few days and then give a go,to your link

        • MattyAu on 07/10/2015 - 12:56
          +1

          @fozzie:

          Good luck; hopefully they sort their shit out and provide some decent service for you.

        • fozzie on 07/10/2015 - 16:14

          @matthewk85:

          Thanks mate, Gina replied to my message hopefully I can sort my situation soon.

  • Moderatorhamza23 on 07/10/2015 - 20:34

    Just to update users: Due to an increasing number of issues with GearBest, we have today banned the store from all deal posts (both rep and non rep) on OzBargain.

    A member contacted us last week to express their concerns about the store; in relation to this and other threads. It appears quite clear that the majority of members feel it would no longer be beneficial to have these posts on OzBargain. The ban will be an indefinite one, we may review it if we see some evidence of a significant improvement and will be monitoring this and other threads for evidence of that.

    Thanks all

    • DU99 on 07/10/2015 - 21:02

      Guess you can't do nothing about there ad's on the sides

      • Moderatorhamza23 on 07/10/2015 - 21:50

        Yeah we aren't hosting any specific ads for GearBest. If you are seeing GearBest ads on the side of the page that would be targeted to you through Google AdWords (because you have recently visited that website.)

    • MattyAu on 08/10/2015 - 09:42

      Justified, thanks.

    • Maverick-au on 17/10/2015 - 03:16

      I've ordered many times from GearBest and whilst shipping has sometimes taken a few weeks from the time of order I've never had a delivery not arrive within a few weeks of shipping. I know others that have also used them and have never had any problems apart from the occasional slow shipping.

  • DU99 on 15/10/2015 - 19:06

    Have a victory of sorts,got my refunded via paypal.not from Gearbest..

    "Due to the unique circumstances of this case, we're issuing you this refund at no cost to your seller"

  • Umpani on 23/10/2015 - 22:14

    Thankyou OzBargain. I had to place my first ever paypal dispute recently. Hundreds of online purchases including many from overseas. All of them arrived, sometimes remarkably quickly, except one. The one from gearbest. As per many of the posts above, similar experience. Keep up the good work OzB.

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