My First (and Last) Experience with TobyDeals

Absolutely useless business. I ordered a few lenses as part of a black Friday/cyber Monday deal. It's more than 10 days later now and I've had zero response from them about when my order will actually ship.

Their page says 2-3 days but ordering one weekend, and having no update before the next weekend, I sent a message on Friday night saying I'd need to either cancel the order or change the address as I'm going to be away before it arrives based on their shipment estimates. (Would have arrived a couple of days before I left if it left their warehouse on time)

They didn't respond. 2 business days later, I tried again. No response. This is their Live Chat system which claims to "usually reply within a few hours".
I changed it up and went through PayPal and put in a dispute with screenshots of messages, t&cs, shipping time estimates, refund policies. 2 days later, I get an email "We're packing your order and it will be leaving our warehouse shortly."

The moment the notification came up, I went to their site. The order said "Status: Paypal Reversal" or something. I can't remember for sure and I can't check now because a day later, it says "Status: Packing" and Paypal still shows there's been no response from the seller.

So it's been a long time since I ordered, a long time since my first message to them, a slightly shorter time since my second message and a few days since I opened a Paypal dispute and still no response from them. At one point I thought it might just be an abandoned site from a now defunct business but then their banner changed from Cyber Monday to Christmas.

Avoid this business at all cost. They may be cheap but that's likely because they seem to save money by not buying keyboards to type a response to questions. Not even a "let me find out and get back to you."

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Comments

  • A look through whirlpool forums shows there's a few posts every week from different people who have waiting weeks and months for items which they claim are in-stock but are often found to be out of stock months later in Paypal disputes.

  • Read some previous threads, it appears to be a common occurrence. Only use on cheap items you're not in a hurry for, and don't expect customer service/warranties! ;)

  • +1

    Even a quick scan on ozbargain would have highlighted similar feedback and warnings.

    • Yeah, I'm seeing that now. Should have looked earlier.

  • That's one major issue with many dropshippers like TobyDeals, Grey imports and often slow service while they attempt to source something they claim is 'in stock' but isn't.

    https://au.trustpilot.com/review/tobydeals.com

    https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/3qljj2y9?p=-1#bottom

    (Wouldn't be you OP? LOL)

    • haha, how'd you know?

    • +1

      copied and pasted to the big review sites as well. This one annoyed me more than most disputes for some reason.

      I made the mistake (which I've also made before) of seeing the au in their name and that they service Aus/NZ which made me think they'd be better than somewhere like gearbest or androidenjoyed or whoever else runs a similar business.

      • Yes I made the mistake once a while back thinking it was an OZ company but never again.

  • +3

    Every couple of weeks there is another post on here saying Tobydeals delays are unacceptable, and their service is crap.
    That is why they are cheap!
    If you need something on a set schedule, got to JB hifi, or another local vendor with products in stock, not a Chinese drop shipper.
    It seems unlikely they will ship your item if you have opened a dispute, and equally unlikely they will spend time trying to sort you out while they are no doubt quite busy with customers who haven't opened a dispute.

    For what it is worth, when I have used them, the shipping is pretty quick when it actually happens, but the order does go into limbo while they are seeking stock from their suppliers.

  • I was going to order a galaxy note 10 from them and stopped after looking at reviews. Hope PayPal might help you now.

  • +9

    Think its time tobydeals gets a ban from here I think, see far too many of these posts.

  • +1

    Like ordering from Banggood China. One day a package turns up and you say “I forgot I even ordered that 4 months ago!”

  • I got lucky, ordered a Garmin watch that was on sale. Arrived in the specified timeframe

    Dodged a bullet it seems

  • +1

    Not only are TobyDeals slow as shit (took a full month to ship a guitar pedal) but they don't honor their faulty product return policy either. Their policy at the point of sale advertises that they cover the cost of returning and replacing faulty items, but if you actually go to fill in a return form you have to accept a different set of conditions that states you're responsible for return shipping cost, to Hong Kong. Then they get to determine if the fault warrants a refund or not. I took it up with Paypal and they sided with Tobydeals despite having all the screenshots of the different sets of conditions. Avoid at all costs, once burned never again.

    • +2

      company shut down indefinitely now

      • Tobydeals UK is still up. May not have scammed the UK citizens enough yet before they call it a day

  • +2

    "Update to All Customers

    Unfortunately due to recent COVID-19 events, we are sad to announce that TobyDeals AU can no longer in business effective on 19-12-2020.
    Customer Service Team will be in support for answering questions and handling warranty claims.
    Logistic Team will be in support on any active order processing and shipments."

    • Wow they closed shop.

      • copy shop TecoBuy is still up though.

        • Good riddance tobydeals. Probably the only positive thing from COVID. Keep an eye on what other name they may pop up as to provide their all consistent unreliability as a business to Australia. They used to be DWI I believe.

          Good luck to those still in warranty claims or trying the get a claim ( I am one of those unlucky and disgruntled customers)

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