The Good, Bad and the Ugly - The Ali Express Seller Thread

[LeeH]

As requested, this thread is an updated version of the dodgy seller thread.
Please post your experience of good and bad sellers on here to save other people the pain that I have just had. :mad-new:

I will update this post periodically.

Bad seller number 1.
Shen Zhen Huafeng Industrial Co. Ltd store 4.
I have been given 2 fake sets of tracking. One of them even had the tracking history of a Spanish address that was delivered only days ago.
I still don't have any valid tracking and have opened a dispute.

Bad seller number 2.
Shen Zhen Huafeng Industrial Co. Ltd store 2
Provides fake tracking information.

Bad seller number 3.
Shenzhen Padshow.
On Amazon but still dodgy.

Bad seller number 4
SMTSEC

 

[atom]

I have bought a few Dahua cams from here, including one directly from them (not through AliE). They have all been genuine Dahua and the service very good. They say they can get any Dahua gear, so contact Jim if something isn't listed.

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/1776152

 

[acvb]

All those bad orders at Chinese New Year times (about a month and a half long)? Rest of the year ok? Did you want a warranty for those cams? Do you have any rights in China? Better buy from local dealers if having troubles.

 

[Dragon]

Are you sure they're really trying to screw you? One of the sellers shows 3 year history with 100% positive feedback. If they're still bad then I guess aliexpress's ratings are completely useless. I've had tracking numbers provided by China sellers before that I could not look up anywhere but the item still arrived eventually. China has some crazy collection of big and small shipping companies and it's very difficult to figure out where to plug a particular tracking number in, assuming companies even bother to update the shipping status online.

 

[LeeH]

The seller I had bother with provided me with tracking from a Dutch postal company. When questioned he said its correct and the info would update. It didn't, and he ignored my emails. I opened a dispute and at the last minute he provided a DHL tracking number. This tracking number was also fake as it was for a Spanish consignment that had been delivered.

By this time I was pissed, so asked for a refund. No answer...

he then gave me more tracking that said 'booked'. I asked for a refund. No answer...

2 days after that the cam was actually collected from the seller. So basically he took over 2 weeks to dispatch and played the system.

FRANK LUI is a lying little toe rag and people need to know that.

So yes, I'm sure.

 

[Dragon]

I hate that kind of thing from sellers. You should give them negative reviews on aliexpress and we'll see if their feedback rating dips below 100% as it should.

 

[atom]

Are you sure they're really trying to screw you? One of the sellers shows 3 year history with 100% positive feedback. If they're still bad then I guess aliexpress's ratings are completely useless. I've had tracking numbers provided by China sellers before that I could not look up anywhere but the item still arrived eventually. China has some crazy collection of big and small shipping companies and it's very difficult to figure out where to plug a particular tracking number in, assuming companies even bother to update the shipping status online.

The sellers get to decide which ratings and reviews are displayed on their product pages. That's one reason why so many purchases remain without the star rating and any associated comment; the seller didn't want it displayed. I don't know if it's correct or not, but I have also heard that sellers can pay AE to bump up that positive feedback number.

 

[Dragon]

The sellers get to decide which ratings and reviews are displayed on their product pages. That's one reason why so many purchases remain without the star rating and any associated comment; the seller didn't want it displayed. I don't know if it's correct or not, but I have also heard that sellers can pay AE to bump up that positive feedback number.

Whaaa? So why are any of us buying anything from Aliexpress?

This article describes the problem more as sellers bribe buyers to leave 5 star ratings by refusing to refund money otherwise and Ali service generally looks the other way or just ignores complaints. But letting sellers choose which feedback to display seems like even Aliexpress's automated framework is a complete sham, if that's true. On the other hand, not all sellers have 100% rating so that implies there are some ways to get negative feedback on there. Based on the comments to the article I linked I think sellers avoid bad feedback mostly by bribing the buyers not to leave negative feedback, not by any flaw in the web site.

Will be curious to see if LeeH can get his feedback posted.

 

[alastairstevenson]

The sellers get to decide which ratings and reviews are displayed on their product pages.

That's just nonsense. Where did you get that idea?
The feedback is purely provided by the buyers.

That's one reason why so many purchases remain without the star rating and any associated comment;

And the actual reason is that many buyers don't provide any feedback, or have not yet received the goods.

I don't know if it's correct or not, but I have also heard that sellers can pay AE to bump up that positive feedback number.

Then don't say it.
Spreading such misinformation devalues forums such as this where members mostly trust those who contribute and share.

 

[atom]

That's just nonsense. Where did you get that idea?
The feedback is purely provided by the buyers.

And the actual reason is that many buyers don't provide any feedback, or have not yet received the goods.

Then don't say it.
Spreading such misinformation devalues forums such as this where members mostly trust those who contribute and share.

It's not nonsense at all. In fact it's even clearly stated in the AE help centre. Maybe you're the one who should be checking the facts before providing misleading information and having a go at others.

If either the buyer or supplier did not leave feedback within 30 days of order completion, the feedback will not be displayed or activated. Feedback will be displayed and activated when both the buyer and supplier have left feedback.

http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/cs6SXdSu

Therefore, if the seller doesn't like the feedback, they can choose not to have it displayed simply by not leaving feedback themselves.

As for my comment re purchasing ratings, I clearly stated it was something I was not sure on. I think people can make their own judgements accordingly.

 

[SquareEyes]

China has some crazy collection of big and small shipping companies and it's very difficult to figure out where to plug a particular tracking number in, assuming companies even bother to update the shipping status online.

http://www.17track.net/en

Is what I use for tracking. Haven't come across a tracking number from anywhere in the world that it hasn't been able to track as reliably as the shipping companies own pages. Can track multiple packages from multiple shippers with one click.

 

[Dragon]

Please add to the bad seller list SMTSEC, aka "China Shenzhen Smart Technology Co., Ltd.", store 1510038. Details are here.

I'm also not a fan of HLong Asia store 1512187, though I can't decide if he's fraudulent or just incompetent. Here's my conversation:

Me:
Can you recommend a lens that will give me around 98 degrees horizontal FOV? I have an HIKvision camera with the same size sensor as the IMX225 cameras I bought from you and it has 98FOV at 2.8mm, but the lenses I bought from you for the IMX225 camera have nowhere near 98FOV when set to 2.8mm - it's more like 60FOV or less. Zooming the lens to 12mm barely zooms in at all which seems very weird.

HLong:
dear customer,
the zoom LENs named vari-focal LENs, if use 2.8mm, can not complete mount / screw deep inside the LENs adapter (IRC filter), should slightly outside / outward on the adapter for widest viewing, turn both two opticals zoom to it's max limit, then adjust / screw outside the LENs adapter.
if use 12mm, the LENs should slightly screw inside the adapter.
i tested this zoom LENs before, compare with a 2.8mm fixed LENs, the horizontal viewing angle very similar.
please let me know which model of hikvision camera your are compare with?
best regards

Hi,
I'm comparing to HIKvision DS-2CD2632F-I(S) where the spec sheet says it has a 1/3" CMOS sensor and a 2.8mm-12mm lens which leads to a 98 degree to 30 degree FOV.
I did try unscrewing the 2.8mm-12mm lens you provided all the way in vs almost all the way out and it makes little difference to the FOV.


hi,
currently, the only one image sensor of 3.0MP for ip camera is from aptina ar0330, sony not have 3.0MP image sensor. hikvision possibly made by ar0330 image sensor
sony imx225 is 4:3 size
aptina ar0330 is about 16:9
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/Aptina-AR0330-3-0MP/1512187_506542623.html
attached the difference.
best regards

After hours of research I finally found the problem. The lenses you sent with the IMX225 camera boards are labeled as 1/2.5" meaning they are meant to be used with a 1/2.5" image sensor. The IMX225 sensor is much smaller at 1/3" so a large part of the image projected by the lens is not seen by the sensor so the FOV appears much narrower than it should be.
You should be bundling this 2MP 1/3" sensor lens with your 1.3MP IMX225 camera boards: http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/2-0MP-CCTV-2-8mm-12mm-manual-zoom-LENs-M12-mount/1512187_32467050766.html

yes, you are right, the LEN has bigger format than image sensor, if it's exactly 1/3" format, possibly will have black-blocks around the screen.
the listed LENs is the same to all my camera boards, including your order, the label may slightly different (different production lots) i only have this one type LENs for all my selling items.

Using a lens rated for a 1/3" sensor on a 1/3" sensor is not going to produce black boxes unless you are buying lenses from a disreputable manufacturer that follows no standard conventions. A 2.8mm, 1/3" lens is going to produce something over 90FOV if the lens correctly matches the old "video tube" standards. You should not be selling these 1/3" cameras with a 1/2.5" lens without full disclosure. If you feel you can't afford to buy the correct lens to bundle with each camera, at least make it clear in your listings that you are including a lens for a larger sensor and that FOV will be narrower than expected.
I would ask for a partial refund but the lenses are so cheap it doesn't seem worthwhile. I will be purchasing correct lenses elsewhere for the cameras where I need over 90FOV.

 

[Dragon]

Therefore, if the seller doesn't like the feedback, they can choose not to have it displayed simply by not leaving feedback themselves.

I can confirm this is absolutely true. I posted negative feedback on a few items and after 3 days, none of the listings show my feedback. This also explains why so few items have any feedback. Even the feedback form is a joke and limits you to 1000 characters which isn't enough to say very much meaningful.

The same fraudulent feedback system applies to the "Item as Described", "Communication", "Shipping Speed" feedback ratings that make up the overall seller rating. I rated those and my feedback is nowhere to be seen on their seller rating details page. This is how some sellers maintain 100% seller rating. I think most sellers have realized that maintaining 100% makes it clear there's something fishy going on so they allow a few lukewarm ratings through to keep themselves above 97%.

Also, the AliExpress dispute system is fairly terrible. I sent multiple pictures showing a camera I purchased had a DC Auto iris lens instead of a P-Iris lens. This was somehow not enough evidence for them, so they asked for more info in broken English that did not make it clear exactly what they wanted. I missed their single email asking for this evidence so they closed my case saying "No valid evidence such as pictures or video's". I detailed my experience here.

I'm certainly not going to use aliexpress again (unless MAYBE if it's absolutely the only source of an item others have said works). Things are so cheap on ali because a good percentage of stuff doesn't work, fails early, doesn't have the features advertised, etc, and nobody is allowed to report significantly bad experiences to warn other buyers, nor does Ali management do anything if you report a product as fraudulent. I'd rather throw my money away in Vegas than risk another aliexpress order. I loathe dealing with dishonest companies.