Help needed with returning items to China

[Greg Kellett]

I recently made an order of USB drives with a company called Shenzhen Megatech Solutions Co., Ltd. who I found on Alibaba. The previous batch were OK, but the ones they have sent me this time are all fake capacity. I have contacted them to explain why they are defective and that I would like a refund, but I have not heard back from them yet.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on what actions I may be able to take in order to get a refund.

 

[GraemeL]

Hello Greg,

It sounds like you did not use an agent?

"Hi Graeme,

Thanks for your reply. I have taken your advice and got in touch with a sourcing agent, so am just waiting to see what they come back with."

If you did not use an agent, your chances of getting a credit for the goods (never mind the cost of the return freight) are minimal. How much value is involved? My inclination would be to move on unless this is significant.

G

 

[Greg Kellett]

No, this is before I got in touch with an agent. Spent about £1000, so not as bad as it could be, but still wouldn't mind getting most of it back!

Just wondering if anybody has any similar experiences with companies who they've found via Alibaba, and whether there are ways of getting refunds.

 

[Lentinus]

Alibaba have an "I got ripped off fund" which you can apply for. http://news.alibaba.com/article/detail/help/101012476-1-what-fair-play-fund%3F.html but also follow Alibaba's complaints route.

The company you mention http://szmegatech.en.alibaba.com/company_profile.html#top-nav-bar is a 2 year gold supplier that risks losing their Alibaba listing, it is possible that they were trading these USB's and they were ripped off.

 

[YoungMoneyChina]

Use your new agent to contact them to resolve the issue, you will have a hard time doing it from behind a computer without any leverage.

I wouldn't worry too much about them ditching the alibaba account, if they have done the same thing to a few people this month, which is more than likely, then it would be worth them buying a new "2 year old gold supplier" account. Last time i looked a 5 year old account was about 3000 usd.

Give them a chance though, like i said ask your agent to contact them and see if they are willing to rectify the situation, it may not be worth sending them back to China due to the value amount so they may just credit the order if your lucky.

Just remember, suppliers might build you up to knock you down. I hear a lot of "the first coupe of orders were ok" stories. Always try to keep yourself covered.

 

[Maple Sourcing]

Be careful at the prices, if they are too good to be true, they are.

I'd suggest you either use a reliable sourcing agent, or hire a QC to do quality inspection before shipment (and before you pay final payments). In either way, there're some extra cost.

 

[Greg Kellett]

Just a quick update for anyone interested.

I have submitted a complaint to Alibaba. They wanted a lot of evidence, such as purchase orders, emails (from the company involved) promising that the USBs would be full capacity, proof of the transaction, and proof (screenshots) that the USBs are fake capacity.

Now Alibaba have confirmed that my complaint is valid and that the other company now have 3 days to respond and find a solution with me. After this point, if no negotiation is reached or if they fail to respond, then Alibaba will take actions against this company. So I'm still waiting to see if there is a resolution.

 

[Greg Kellett]

Be careful at the prices, if they are too good to be true, they are.

I'd suggest you either use a reliable sourcing agent, or hire a QC to do quality inspection before shipment (and before you pay final payments). In either way, there're some extra cost.

Thanks for the advice Aaron. Although there's obviously some truth in the "too good to be true" saying, I still struggle to believe that cheaper prices can't be found out there. There are plenty of sellers on eBay who are selling both branded and unbranded goods, at very competitive prices, which are also high quality products. I know, because I've bought off them myself. Considering eBay and PayPal fees equate to approx 10%, these sellers must be buying them at these "too good to be true" prices in order to continue selling on eBay.

I have contacted a number of sourcing agents (including yourself) in order to help me find these suppliers, but only a handful of them have been able to find anything close to what I am looking for.

 

[WillLoxley]

Just a quick update for anyone interested.

I have submitted a complaint to Alibaba. They wanted a lot of evidence, such as purchase orders, emails (from the company involved) promising that the USBs would be full capacity, proof of the transaction, and proof (screenshots) that the USBs are fake capacity.

Now Alibaba have confirmed that my complaint is valid and that the other company now have 3 days to respond and find a solution with me. After this point, if no negotiation is reached or if they fail to respond, then Alibaba will take actions against this company. So I'm still waiting to see if there is a resolution.

Thanks. Do keep us updated. I'd say if alibaba were smart they'd end up becoming similar to eBay when it comes to disputes.

 

[MOIC]

Just a quick update for anyone interested.

I have submitted a complaint to Alibaba. They wanted a lot of evidence, such as purchase orders, emails (from the company involved) promising that the USBs would be full capacity, proof of the transaction, and proof (screenshots) that the USBs are fake capacity.

Now Alibaba have confirmed that my complaint is valid and that the other company now have 3 days to respond and find a solution with me. After this point, if no negotiation is reached or if they fail to respond, then Alibaba will take actions against this company. So I'm still waiting to see if there is a resolution.

Did Alibaba say what action they will take?

How many pcs were below capacity?

In any event, you will have to return the goods to China, which you will probably be liable for.

What was the claimed capacity and what was the actual capacity?

Can you prove that the USB's actually came from that supplier, as they may say that you purchased them elsewhere. (Chinese have a great way of passing the buck).

I wish you good luck, please keep us updated.

 

[TMGG]

Memory cards and USB drives must be one of the biggest fake items around. Everytime someone has offered me them, I've run a mile.

 

[MOIC]

Memory cards and USB drives must be one of the biggest fake items around. Everytime someone has offered me them, I've run a mile.

Yes, totally agree, its one of the most difficult items to source, as each piece needs to be tested individually to guarantee memory capacity.

It doesn't help when customers squeeze the suppliers to reduce their prices....when that happens, there is only one outcome.................the supplier will probably reduce the memory capacity.

Memory chips fluctuate in price from month to month, so its not an exact science when comparing like with like at different times.

It also has to be understood that for the vast majority of suppliers in China selling online on various platforms, they are buying them in. from different factories and are assuming, in most cases, that what the factories are telling them regarding the capacity, is the truth.

Most don't bother to check the capacity and just sell them on.

The saying................"If it's to good to be true........" ...is especially relevant to memory chips of all kinds, being offered for sale from China.

Of course, there are are bona fide suppliers, and these have to be sourced correctly, but expect to pay the "going rate" for the memory chip you require.

Best of luck.

 

[derekleexin]

Hi Greg, I am Chinese, I am not sure if you have solved the problem, I checked up this company, Shenzhen Megatech solution Co, Ltd, it's not a manufacturer, it's just trading company, but their main business is trading the second hand electronic products when I search on internet with Chinese, which is different description from English. so I guess you may meet cheater.
Actually all your people like to search product from Alibaba, but it's plenty of products out there, price arranges different a lot, even I am Chinese, I don't know how to find the good one, so how can you foreigners can find a trustable one, you might pay a lot of cost on learning like this case of USB.
So I would not recommend people buying directly from Alibaba, you'd better find a agent in China and buy things for your, however, I would also say you can search by Alibaba, there you can see pictures and which one you like you buy from agent, then it can be double verified.

 

[Greg Kellett]

Quick update. Alibaba have given Shenzhen Megatech Solutions Co., Ltd. more time to respond. Email is here:

This email is sent to you regarding your complaint against Shenzhen Megatech Solutions Co., Ltd..

Though we have informed your supplier about this complaint case, we haven’t received any solution proposal from your supplier yet. To assist you better, we will extend this complaint case open time for another 2 business days and contact your supplier again to urge them to further negotiate with you about how to solve this trade dispute within another 2 business days.

Please also be advised that Alibaba.com is an information exchange platform only, what we can do is to encourage both parties to negotiate with each other and get the dispute resolved, which depends on your both parties’ willingness. We have no authority to impose compulsory sanction on any member. Therefore if there is no agreement reached in due time about how to solve this trade dispute, what we can do is only to close this complaint case with one final judgment according to the proofs we have collected from you both parties. And if it is proved that the defendant should bear the responsibility for this trade dispute, then as punishment we will publish this complaint case record on the defendant’s mini-site on Alibaba.com for 90 days. This is the utmost Alibaba.com can do for you.

We sincerely hope that this issue can be resolved as soon as possible.

As Alibaba say, they are not able to force this company to do anything. However, they will publish this complaint on their Alibaba mini site for 90 days.

I'm lucky I only spent £1000. It's a valuable learning experience for me, and I hope this will encourage others to do as much research as they can before buying products either through Alibaba or directly.

In answer to Ron's question above, I think most of them were under capacity by half. So the 8GBs were upgraded 4GBs, the 16GBs were upgraded 8GBs, etc.