I Think Temu Scammed Me

I recently bought a set of 4 Tesla wheel covers off Temu for about $250

I received a package within a week but for only 1 wheel cover. I raised a case with Temu and they state that the item was shipped and received. I said the issue is that you shipped 1 whereas the item was a set of 4

They said they have a video of the warehouse packing it but can’t send the video to me for privacy reasons. I asked if the video shows them packing 1 or 4 covers and they said they can’t release that information.

Since then they’ve gone quiet even though I’ve updated the case numerous times asking for it to be escalated.

Anyone been in this situation with Temu and have any ideas?

They don’t have a phone number. They said I can do a return but I’m going to assume they’ll reject my return since I’m only sending 1 instead of 4 pieces.

Update 1: not much to report. Provided Temu the weight, package size, photos and nothing is happening. They’ve told me it’s been escalated to a supervisor but they have too many cases to review so there’s no ETA on when I’d get a reply.

Update 2: 7 days on and Temu has agreed to give me a full refund, but states that it may take up to 30 days to process. Set you calendars boys and girls!

Final update:
Refund has been received. I've gone and cancelled Temu and Afterpay accounts as well. Hope this was a fun thread for everyone!

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Comments

  • +43

    If they go quiet for 2 weeks lodge a chargeback.

    • I bought using Afterpay and they don’t allow charge back claims.

      • +7

        Can you raise a dispute ?

        • +1

          I’ve tried but Afterpay doesn’t do them. There’s only one option which is the goods not received

          We're unable to process this request
          Thank you for getting in touch regarding your missing package. acknowledge that this is a frustrating experience for you, and you are understandably seeking resolution.
          Afterpay is not liable for lost or stolen packages, there are steps that we recommend you can take in attempt to resolve the missing package:
          Have you verified order status? Contact the merchant:
          Merchants typically resume responsibility for packages until the status reflects "Delivered" or "Left Notice." After that point, it is the merchant's discretion on if they have the ability or willingness to refund or replace the stolen package. You may find that merchant's address this matter in their terms and conditions or policies (listed on their website].

          • +73

            @chicken8: I like how they're automatically siding with the merchant by completely discounting the possibility that a package is marked as delivered when nothing arrived.

            Lesson learned to never use Afterpay, for me at least.

            • +17

              @Mechz: Afterpay isn't the issue here. Temu is a giant scam.

              • @Jaxy: Afterpay is an issue for me, as I once try to get my money back from a seller that won't reply to my emails for a item that I haven't received. There is no way to contact Afterpay and no way to get a charge back. eventually, I have to call the seller and demand for a refund. So yeah I do have a problem with Afterpay..

            • @Mechz: I used it to shield myself from such things and never have time to check protections afterpay could provide to buyers. If what you said is the case, that's suck and I better avoid using it.

          • +26

            @chicken8: In that case, you could contact the bank that you used to pay (through Afterpay) and do a chargeback/dispute that way? If there are no other options.

            • @hamza23: I'll give that a try. Thanks

              • +8

                @chicken8: if you do this, afterpay may ban you.

                • +22

                  @garetz: If Afterpay scams you, who cares?

                • +12

                  @garetz: They will.. they told me this when i had a dispute they would not do anything about. I told them to F off

                • +7

                  @garetz:

                  @chicken8: if you do this, afterpay may ban you.

                  Lol, as if the OP will want to use afterpay's shoddy service after this experience.

                • +5

                  @garetz: What's the appeal with Afterpay anyway.?????

                  Only ever used them twice due to attached promo's & haven't used them since.

                  No promo, no benefit to me, I'd rather use a CC

          • @chicken8: You can also state you are returning it via afterpay. Just return it with tracking if that possible. Not sure how much that will cost. But after pay isn't the greatest at supporting customers

            • +1

              @maverickjohn: I think you will find that no credit provider is good at supporting customers, just that some consumer credit products (not classed 'pay-day lenders') are not required to provide any real customer protection, so can enforce customers pay when merchants abscond, fail to deliver, or scam the funds.

              Of course the AfterPay Ts&Cs provide all you need to know in this respect. Their declared (ab)uses of data provided by customers is enough to keep me well clear of such corporate scammers. Avoiding getting abused by them is not hard when you simply resist signing up, or at least read the Ts&Cs so you know at least some of what to you might expect when using them.

              • @resisting the urge: I know I was just highlighting the problem in case he pursues.
                I had returned a power supply unit to mighty ape and took over 2 months to get a refund despite tracking. Afterpay never pursued them to provide the refund. So it was more toing and froing. I had to threaten department of fair trading before any action was taken

                • +1

                  @maverickjohn: Maybe if all AfterPay customers took merchant delivery issues to DoFT, consumer credit protections would eventually be extended to include all these Pay-day Lenders masquerading as bulk consumer credit providers.

                  Maybe in about 80 years, as our form of misgovernment is incapable of maintaining its own legislation, and bringing in new laws before disasters mandate it politically.

                  But that assumes the robots are unable to take over, and climate change doesn't wipe mammalian life out by then.

                  In which case, yay! the cockroaches might win vs the robots.

                  • +1

                    @resisting the urge: The average Australian wants a government that does more for them personally like you do, but at the same time demands that they pay far less taxes.

          • +3

            @chicken8: You should lodge as goods not received. 3 covers not received.

          • +5

            @chicken8: Wow I wouldn’t be using after pay if this is the case. Credit card can just charge back.

          • +2

            @chicken8: Thanks for the heads-up. Just deleted the Afterpay app and deactivated my account.

          • @chicken8: You can still chargeback with the bank/card you use on afterpay.

          • @chicken8: See how you go with Temu but the trick here is to do a chargeback on the credit card that you used to pay Afterpay. I went through something similar after buying an item from the Samsung website using Afterpay as the payment method.

            Storytime: I bought something from Samsung; 2 months later & after multiple phone calls and emails to Samsung, Samsung still hadn't sent the item to me and refused to refund me until the item was sent out to me and returned to them which was incredibly ridiculous as they couldn't even tell me when the item was going to be dispatched. I finally had enough and tried contacting Afterpay to intervene as I was getting nowhere talking to Samsung. So I contacted Afterpay and asked them to contact Samsung on my behalf and they wouldn't assist in any capacity so I did a chargeback through my credit card company to Afterpay. My credit card company sided with me less than 48 hours later and I was refunded in full (as the 4 separate payments I had made to Afterpay).

        • Or raise via AFCA

      • +11

        I had the exact same issue with Adidas. Ordered 2 items and they only shipped one item in the box. Contacted Adidas a dozen times and they claimed they warehouse boxed both items. Would not help. I ordered with afterpay. Complained to afterpay who contacted Adidas. Adidas sent them the tracking number of the box, but afterpay could not get their head around that only 1 item was in the box, so they closed the case. Rasied the issue with AFCA and within 2 days afterpay contacted me offering my a refund for the missing item.

    • -1

      If you send back in original packaging - hopefully not damaged, it will be obvious what they shipped has been returned.

      Hopefully you took a photo to support your case.

      • +5

        They will probably claim that only one of the four items was returned though.

        • +7

          Obviously there's video footage of OP putting 4 in but that can't be shared for privacy reasons.

  • +45

    Temu wheel covers… Why would you?!

    • +12

      They can reduce drag by 1/4.

    • +3

      It’s not made by Temu. It’s a seller on Temu and I can’t find this style anywhere else

      • +35

        Of course it's not made by Temu, but Temu isn't exactly known for selling quality gear…

        • +2

          I get that. I wasn't in it to score a bargain. It was the only place I could find this style thats all.

          • @chicken8: Got a link to the listing?

            • +1

              @spackbace: sigh. I've never used aliexpress before. they're more reliable than Temu?

                • +21

                  @spackbace: To be fair, aliexpress have pretty decent service level. I've had issues with stuff I've bought in past that were resolved fairly quickly either by refund or direct replacement. granted they wern't expensive items like the covers OP has purchased here, but they were niche products that you couldn't readily find locally

                • +19

                  @spackbace: Aliexpress is 100% more reputable and viable than Temu

                  • +1

                    @TheFreaK: I am literally spammed with Temu ads everywhere. As I type this message Temu ads started on OzBargain as well :-D

                    • +1

                      @dharmesht: Also Ozbargain is very quick to resell your forum reading history. Every time I’ll read the forum on Ozbargain I’ll get ads about what I read straight away.

                • +2

                  @spackbace: Never had an issue with AliExpress. They offer 7-10 days "express shipping" which is faster than some local eBay sellers

              • +8

                @chicken8: I've had excellent results with AliExpress issue resolution.

              • +3

                @chicken8: I’ve bought a lot of items from Aliexpress over quite a few years and never had a problem, it just takes a few weeks to arrive.

              • @chicken8: I've bought heaps of stuff from aliexpress (dating back to 2016). Mostly hobby electronic parts (chips /sensors /microprocessors/switches etc). I even ordered 90% of the parts for a ratrig v-core which was around $2k from various sellers. Only issue I've had over that time was once they sent a grey bracket for my shed when I ordered black. But it was so cheap I didn't bother disputing it.

              • +4

                @chicken8: At least AliExpress will refund you if there is a problem with the order.

        • They don’t have the style I’m after

          • @chicken8: I keep getting ads for Temu, for things like Boots which should cost $40 but they are listed for $11.97 price. What the.

            Obviously Temu has no qualms with scamming it's customers. AliExpress is "dodgey" but at least they're a HUGE conglomerate that tries to NOT scam it's customers.

            eBay is better, and Amazon is even better, and buying from an Aussie Retailer is the gold standard in terms of probability, service, and overall experience.

  • -6

    HA they won't object return you too lazy to do

    • +1

      Are you sure? I don’t want to send it back and have it rejected then I’d have nothing

      • +2

        why would it be rejected?

        They sent you 1 item, you sent back 1 item

        • +4

          I'm going by assumptions. because the item description is 4 pieces and I return 1 then they'll say it's an incomplete return?

          The issue now is proving they sent one. because if Temu is able to confirm that then they'd send me the other 3 pieces and I wouldn't need to do a return

          • +88

            @chicken8: Tell them you packed 4 in and you have video as proof, but you can’t send them due to privacy reason.

            • @ausdday: In China, privacy means… gweilo lie.

              … a picture, however is worth a thousand whispers.

              OP: Only hope here is to photograph the package as it arrived, video the unboxing, and use that to demonstrate to the vendor that the he or the poor person they paid to pack it either didn't read the quantity required, or pocketed the other 3 and has put them up for sale on ganji or something.

              These require no translation, and can be seen by Temu rep to prove your case. The only thing that can bring the vendor to assist, as you bought these high carbon, petro-chemical additions to your Tesla from a low-cost, high carbon, high pollution vendor in a country that isn't known for applying its own 'consumer law' on behalf of foreign entities.

        • +1

          Judging from past experience, if you return it, the seller will pretend they never got it and/or just cut off all communication

  • is the measured weight marked on the shipping label? do 4 wheel covers fit in your packaging?

    • There isn’t a weight on the package. Only length and width and not depth. So one definitely fits but not 4. But you can’t tell from the package size

  • +86

    Bought Tesla and went straight to Temu for parts. Noice.

    • +2

      Hopefully he’s buying the home wall charger from Temu!

    • It’s the only place that has this style of wheel covers anywhere in Aus. They were actually more expensive than other Tesla accessory stores that sell other styles

    • +22

      And used Afterpay..

    • I am more surprised by Tesla's having hubcaps.

    • The market of Tesla especially parts is larger in China?

  • +6

    Lol

    • +2

      +1
      Lol at buying wheel covers.

  • +3

    erm…so its not temu its the seller scamming u though?

    • I don’t know how it works. But the shipping comes from Temu warehouses and I can only work with Temu and not any sellers directly

      They’re not like eBay where you deal with each store

      • +2

        yes but its the seller who scam you. happen with aliexpress, amazon, and ebay, catch, kogan…

        • So how do I go about this then? I have no way of contacting the seller/store directly in Temu

          • -1

            @chicken8: Not much you can do other than learning your lesson. Not the first time stuff like this has happened with ali/temu

        • I assume this is similar to Amazon marketplace items stored in Amazon warehouses where it would be packed and dispatched by Temu rather than the seller.

      • unlikely. i expect they are drop shipping most of their stuff. you can't keep stock of thousands of items in warehouses. and why would you burn all that capital.

  • +6

    I think the biggest scam is thinking you'll save enough fuel to fund this with hub caps.

    • Save enough fuel? He already paid about $70k for that.

  • +1

    Just do a chargeback, whether you succeed or not is the question. You will probably have better luck through a PayPal dispute if you paid via PayPal of course.

    • +2

      Unfortunately it was through Afterpay and I couldn't raise a dispute

      • +9

        That's a shame. I guess it's an expensive lesson learned.

        Rule of thumb to abide by moving forward, whenever you buy anything from Aliexpress, Temu, Wish (etc) ALWAYS use PayPal. If you're using AfterPay because you don't have the $$$ in your bank account then forgo buying the product until you do. I have never had an issue personally (touch wood) but I still use PayPal as a precaution.

        • +7

          PayPal has pay in four too

        • +10

          Owns a Tesla but can't afford $240 without afterpay. My goodness this person's financials must be in absolute ruin

          • +1

            @Juice-Wa: But it was a high yield investment

            • @reactor-au: haha the Tesla or the rims? OP probably thinks the Tesla produces a high yield in social status and therefore self satisfaction

  • +7

    I love how you have a tesla then decided to go to Temu to buy anything for it.

    They said they have a video of the warehouse packing it but can’t send the video to me for privacy reasons

    not technically a lie. They'd have recordings of the warehouse, but marrying up the recording with when your order was picked and finding the right camera would be a PITA and they aren't doing that. So in effect, they don't have a recording of your package being prepared.

  • +11

    They can't release the video for legal reasons, being that it will expose the cheap slave labour, child workers and illegal working conditions making your sh#tty Tesla wheel covers

    Also that sucks op damn

    • I want to believe that this is just their crappy staff and even crappier customer service processes, but it's starting to feel more and more like a scam.

      Have also found a few more people complaining about similar issues on other forums.

      • +1

        I thought they had pretty generous refund policies, must just be for cheap $1 items that cost them cents per item

  • +4

    did they use Australia Post on the final leg?

    get the dimensions and weight of the parcel from them to help support your claim.

    • +3

      Yup thanks for the tip. I just found a weight on the shipping label. The website only has the width and height but no depth or weight. See how I go. The support has been pretty poor so far. Just cut and paste generic answers the whole time

      • +3

        If the weight on the shipping label matches the weight of 1 cover plus packaging, obviously you have only been shipped one cover, disproving their comments.

  • -8

    A $70k+ car that doesn't even come with alloy wheels???
    No wonder Elon Musk is the richest person in the world!

    • +6

      It does come with alloy wheels and also hubcaps on top for aero reasons

      • -7

        'Aero reasons' = 'Marketing w@nk '

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