Hi All
I recently posted a reply regarding a reolink deal but thought rather than going a bit off topic on that post I'd put a bit more detail here.
Prior to this incident I had purchased a total of 12 reolink cameras and a reolink nvr. These purchases were in aliexpress mainly with a couple purchased from ebay. I had some issues with the non wired solar cameras (2x argus pro 3) - these issues were:
- lag between incident that triggers recording and the recording actually starting (ie so you miss what you want to see)
- inconsistency in recording (ie sometimes the recording would not even be triggered)
- software not providing details on battery charging throughout the day - only data available is the immediate battery status.
I kept these two cameras because I had so much reolink stuff already and just put it down to solar cameras not working as well as poe cameras.
Most recently I purchased on aliexpress and the picture on the listing showed a double pack of the 811a (8k camera with 5x optical zoom + led spotlights)
What I received in the post was a 2 pack of 8k cameras with no optical zoom and no led spotlight.
I raised the issue with reolink on the aliexpress store. They admitted they had used the wrong picture on the listing and told me that I would need to contact reolink directly via email.
Reolink offered to send me the correct cameras if I paid the return postage. I felt this was a bit bs but agreed to this regardless. Reolink then changed their mind and said I need to pay an extra 60usd as well as postage costs. I told them this was unacceptable and I will just return the cameras.
Because I wasn't happy with their proposed 'solution' I elected to return via aliexpress instead because it had free returns. I advised aliexpress the reason for return was I was sent the wrong item and attached photos and was told I would be entitled to a full refund.
It took them about a week to process the refund and then they only refunded half the purchase price. I then had to lodge an appeal and the response I got claimed the returned item did not have 'spotlights'. I informed them that is correct it doesnt and that is why they were returned. I appealed the case 3x with aliexpress and each time got the same response.
I have now lodged an appeal with PayPal so hopefully will have some more success.
So just a heads up, if you get the wrong item you are likely screwed 🤣
Order: https://ibb.co/yhbN1f2
What I got: https://ibb.co/YcYnMq2
What reolink store said: https://ibb.co/jwdgLNT
What reolink support said: https://ibb.co/42tDTs1
What aliexpress refunded: https://ibb.co/K0tX5xz
AliExpress appeal: https://ibb.co/7YL6NBh
I had a similar stuff around with the oclean store and Ali express was beyond useless. The only way to get a proper refund for goods not received was PayPal dispute. PayPal decided in my favour after all the evidence was presented.
Until now my Ali express account still not banned , but honestly I probably wouldn’t mind, shopping on there is really rolling the dice sometimes and it’s basically the Wild West (east) when it comes to customer protections/reasonable dispute resolutions/any expectations of warranty and tech support that isn’t provided by some guy who learnt English passively by watching bootleg Shrek 1 dvd on loop.