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I got banned from eBay as well. I bought a part for my dishwasher and received a counterfeit part. I collected evidence, posted the photos, and requested a retu

I got banned from eBay as well. I bought a part for my dishwasher and received a counterfeit part. I collected evidence, posted the photos, and requested a return. Next thing you know my account is banned. I think the seller reported me in retaliation. I have no idea where to go next time I need something. AliExpress would probably be even worse when it comes to counterfeits.

ComradePhil 4y ago
In my experience, Aliexpress takes claims seriously and is on the side of the customer.
- ______-_-______ 4y ago
  I actually like Aliexpress, but I wouldn't expect them to sell parts for American market appliances. I searched now for the old part I needed, and I see "fits <model#>" and "compatible with <model#>" but not the genuine part. Call me old fashioned but I'll pay an extra $20 for first-party components.
  - userbinator 4y ago
    Call me old fashioned but I'll pay an extra $20 for first-party components. ...which are made in China, probably in the same factories contracted by the original manufacturer. Aliexpress just lets you cut out the middleman.
    - LizardsAreCute 4y ago
      You don't know that for certain though. I'd rather pay extra if an appliance is broken, than wait for a gamble on what may or may not be a decent replacement.
  - markdown 4y ago
    You're old fashioned.
- nyanpasu64 4y ago
  In my experience, I ordered a fake USB3 capture card (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001773724519.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001773724519.html, check the 1-star reviews, also debunked by Marcan at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30906127 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30906127), filled out comprehensive documentation of it being fake USB3 and unable to capture stable footage at 1080p60, and AliExpress sided with the seller. I had to file a chargeback to get money back for the fraudulent product (and I hear chargebacks can be reversed by the seller, not sure if it happened to me).
  - dawnerd 4y ago
    Chargebacks can only be contested by the merchant if they have enough evidence you talk your bank into reversing.
    - thewebcount 4y ago
      For what it’s worth, I have successfully reversed a chargeback. I had a customer who ordered a downloadable product then did a chargeback. I presented evidence that they clicked the unique link for their download and the email exchange we had about the product. That seemed sufficient to satisfy the card processor.
    - Aeolun 4y ago
      This can happen. We won a lot of chargebacks as a seller, but it’s a huge hassle that you really don’t want to deal with.
- commoner 4y ago
  That is absolutely not my experience. During the height of the pandemic, many AliExpress sellers failed to deliver orders. The tracking numbers that some sellers provided showed "delivered" even when the item never arrived. During the disputes, AliExpress would request proof that the item never arrived, which is not possible to provide. Filing a chargeback or PayPal dispute is only an option if you don't mind being banned by AliExpress. eBay and Amazon Marketplace put the burden of proof of delivery on the seller instead of the buyer when the shipment is not protected with signature confirmation. Many AliExpress-style items are also listed on eBay and Amazon at similar prices, and I've mostly switched over after my bad experiences with AliExpress. AliExpress still has a different selection of items, so I haven't stopped using it completely.
- janoc 4y ago
  Ehm, nope. Unless your complaint is a very obvious one (i.e. seller didn't send anything at all or the item has visibly not been delivered from the tracking info), good luck. E.g. I had obviously fake EEPROM chips delivered, they weren't even new (they contained data from the previous use!). I have opened a dispute, posted the evidence that the chips are relabeled fakes - and promptly got it rejected both first time and on appeal. The grunt handling it had absolutely no idea what my complaint was about, I have received my goods, so what more do I want? Fortunately it was only a few euros worth so not big deal - I have opened the dispute mostly to point out that the seller is a fraudster, not to recover my 15€ or so back. Tough luck ... Over the years I had more luck sorting complaints out on AliExpress directly with the sellers because they are afraid of losing their ratings and thus a large portion of business (people usually sort by price and then by ratings). The support staff is hopeless in these cases.
Nextgrid 4y ago
If this is recent, please file a chargeback with your bank. That's the only way to deal with such scum, otherwise they've still won - the scammer got their money and eBay got their commission. The only thing that matters is money and this is why these bans are a thing - it's cheaper to screw some customers over than to have a competent human analyze the situation. Hitting them in the wallet is the only place they'd actually feel it.
- ______-_-______ 4y ago
  The interesting thing is I still got refunded, about a week after my account was banned. Their backend must be a total mess, but it worked out in my favor somehow. If not for that I definitely would have done a chargeback.
  - Nextgrid 4y ago
    > Their backend must be a total mess The URL structures on the website are scary and indeed suggest the backend is a horrible dumpster fire.
    - robryan 4y ago
      Not only a mess but they seem to have been halfway through modernising things for years. They built a new API but are probably never going to be able to get rid if the old one.
    - ranger_danger 4y ago
      Can confirm, been working with many eBay APIs for a while now and it's completely and totally a massive dumpster fire. Most API versions are in the thousands, and there's so many random gotchas and contradicting docs and daily bugs and breakages you don't want to go anywhere near it. Not to mention their only recourse for contacting them about bugs or developer issues is via prepaid premium support, paid only via paypal, in which the link for it frequently goes down too. If you check their dev forums it's filled with nothing but people complaining about all sorts of random issues and never getting real responses.
magicjosh 4y ago
I've also been permabanned from eBay. Buyer for 10+ years, occasional seller. Went to sell something alongside lots of listings for the same thing. Permabanned my account and my parent's accounts as I had logged in from their house previously. No recourse. "Banned without appeal" they called it. "Because of the nature of the ban we cannot tell you anything about it". Many frustrating calls. Years later, my only thesis is it was due to having HTML in my product description, I linked to the vendor website. Maybe that's against the rules or something.
- ranger_danger 4y ago
  >To protect our members, listings or products can't contain links that direct customers to a site other than eBay, even if the link is not clickable.
  - actually_a_dog 4y ago
    I think they mean "to protect eBay's profits."
- astura 4y ago
  >Maybe that's against the rules or something. Maybe you should read the rules for the service you are using?
_adamb 4y ago
I've received damaged products from AliExpress a handful of times and found their resolution team/procedures to be fantastic. You can submit a claim which the seller responds to. If the seller doesn't respond fast enough, AE steps in and suggests a couple resolutions (usually something like a partial refund with no product return, or a full refund if you send the product back). You can then negotiate or just accept one of the suggestions. Absolutely 0 hassle or talking to a person. You click a few buttons and get your money back.
AussieWog93 4y ago
You wouldn't have been banned from eBay for a single return like this. It would have to be a pattern that makes you at least appear like an undesirable buyer.

ComradePhil 4y ago

In my experience, Aliexpress takes claims seriously and is on the side of the customer.

______-_-______ 4y ago
I actually like Aliexpress, but I wouldn't expect them to sell parts for American market appliances. I searched now for the old part I needed, and I see "fits <model#>" and "compatible with <model#>" but not the genuine part. Call me old fashioned but I'll pay an extra $20 for first-party components.
- userbinator 4y ago
  Call me old fashioned but I'll pay an extra $20 for first-party components. ...which are made in China, probably in the same factories contracted by the original manufacturer. Aliexpress just lets you cut out the middleman.
  - LizardsAreCute 4y ago
    You don't know that for certain though. I'd rather pay extra if an appliance is broken, than wait for a gamble on what may or may not be a decent replacement.
- markdown 4y ago
  You're old fashioned.
nyanpasu64 4y ago
In my experience, I ordered a fake USB3 capture card (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001773724519.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001773724519.html, check the 1-star reviews, also debunked by Marcan at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30906127 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30906127), filled out comprehensive documentation of it being fake USB3 and unable to capture stable footage at 1080p60, and AliExpress sided with the seller. I had to file a chargeback to get money back for the fraudulent product (and I hear chargebacks can be reversed by the seller, not sure if it happened to me).
- dawnerd 4y ago
  Chargebacks can only be contested by the merchant if they have enough evidence you talk your bank into reversing.
  - thewebcount 4y ago
    For what it’s worth, I have successfully reversed a chargeback. I had a customer who ordered a downloadable product then did a chargeback. I presented evidence that they clicked the unique link for their download and the email exchange we had about the product. That seemed sufficient to satisfy the card processor.
  - Aeolun 4y ago
    This can happen. We won a lot of chargebacks as a seller, but it’s a huge hassle that you really don’t want to deal with.
commoner 4y ago
That is absolutely not my experience. During the height of the pandemic, many AliExpress sellers failed to deliver orders. The tracking numbers that some sellers provided showed "delivered" even when the item never arrived. During the disputes, AliExpress would request proof that the item never arrived, which is not possible to provide. Filing a chargeback or PayPal dispute is only an option if you don't mind being banned by AliExpress. eBay and Amazon Marketplace put the burden of proof of delivery on the seller instead of the buyer when the shipment is not protected with signature confirmation. Many AliExpress-style items are also listed on eBay and Amazon at similar prices, and I've mostly switched over after my bad experiences with AliExpress. AliExpress still has a different selection of items, so I haven't stopped using it completely.
janoc 4y ago
Ehm, nope. Unless your complaint is a very obvious one (i.e. seller didn't send anything at all or the item has visibly not been delivered from the tracking info), good luck. E.g. I had obviously fake EEPROM chips delivered, they weren't even new (they contained data from the previous use!). I have opened a dispute, posted the evidence that the chips are relabeled fakes - and promptly got it rejected both first time and on appeal. The grunt handling it had absolutely no idea what my complaint was about, I have received my goods, so what more do I want? Fortunately it was only a few euros worth so not big deal - I have opened the dispute mostly to point out that the seller is a fraudster, not to recover my 15€ or so back. Tough luck ... Over the years I had more luck sorting complaints out on AliExpress directly with the sellers because they are afraid of losing their ratings and thus a large portion of business (people usually sort by price and then by ratings). The support staff is hopeless in these cases.

Nextgrid 4y ago

If this is recent, please file a chargeback with your bank. That's the only way to deal with such scum, otherwise they've still won - the scammer got their money and eBay got their commission. The only thing that matters is money and this is why these bans are a thing - it's cheaper to screw some customers over than to have a competent human analyze the situation. Hitting them in the wallet is the only place they'd actually feel it.

______-_-______ 4y ago
The interesting thing is I still got refunded, about a week after my account was banned. Their backend must be a total mess, but it worked out in my favor somehow. If not for that I definitely would have done a chargeback.
- Nextgrid 4y ago
  > Their backend must be a total mess The URL structures on the website are scary and indeed suggest the backend is a horrible dumpster fire.
  - robryan 4y ago
    Not only a mess but they seem to have been halfway through modernising things for years. They built a new API but are probably never going to be able to get rid if the old one.
  - ranger_danger 4y ago
    Can confirm, been working with many eBay APIs for a while now and it's completely and totally a massive dumpster fire. Most API versions are in the thousands, and there's so many random gotchas and contradicting docs and daily bugs and breakages you don't want to go anywhere near it. Not to mention their only recourse for contacting them about bugs or developer issues is via prepaid premium support, paid only via paypal, in which the link for it frequently goes down too. If you check their dev forums it's filled with nothing but people complaining about all sorts of random issues and never getting real responses.

magicjosh 4y ago

I've also been permabanned from eBay. Buyer for 10+ years, occasional seller. Went to sell something alongside lots of listings for the same thing. Permabanned my account and my parent's accounts as I had logged in from their house previously. No recourse. "Banned without appeal" they called it. "Because of the nature of the ban we cannot tell you anything about it". Many frustrating calls. Years later, my only thesis is it was due to having HTML in my product description, I linked to the vendor website. Maybe that's against the rules or something.

ranger_danger 4y ago
>To protect our members, listings or products can't contain links that direct customers to a site other than eBay, even if the link is not clickable.
- actually_a_dog 4y ago
  I think they mean "to protect eBay's profits."
astura 4y ago
>Maybe that's against the rules or something. Maybe you should read the rules for the service you are using?

_adamb 4y ago

I've received damaged products from AliExpress a handful of times and found their resolution team/procedures to be fantastic. You can submit a claim which the seller responds to. If the seller doesn't respond fast enough, AE steps in and suggests a couple resolutions (usually something like a partial refund with no product return, or a full refund if you send the product back). You can then negotiate or just accept one of the suggestions. Absolutely 0 hassle or talking to a person. You click a few buttons and get your money back.

AussieWog93 4y ago

You wouldn't have been banned from eBay for a single return like this. It would have to be a pattern that makes you at least appear like an undesirable buyer.