So you finally got your shipment, but you’re not completely satisfied about quality of goods sent to you? Or maybe your shipment didn’t reach and your tracking number doesn’t work? Just like any other online store, Aliexpress is giving your rights to complain and this portal supports buyers very well, giving you opportunity to recover part or all of your claims in a situation when you are not satisfied with your purchase. It is worth noting that more than 99% of orders are executed without any complaints and are succesfully finished. If however your order belong to remaining one percent, read what you can do when you did not received your order or when you are not satisfied with it and how to contact Aliexpress sellers.
I didn’t receive my Aliexpress order – what to do?
There might be several reasons for this, so before you start dispute, check what is your order status. Here are some common problems with shipping and solutions for these potential problems.
1. Order didn’t reach my address yet
First, check if the shipment is still in transit, entering the tracking number from Aliexpress panel on the 17track.net website. Your tracking number will be typically in format: “CN XXXXXXXXX”, where CN is country of origin, and X is your indivdual number of order. Shipment sent correctly should look like this:
In this screenshot you can see that the shipment arrived at the buyers address, sent from Beijing. If you see only Chinese signs, without your country listed, it means that parcel is still in China and it waits for transit, so you need to wait several days more, but it’s OK, because you should get you order soon. Sometimes it also happens that the postman will leave you no note, that your parcel is waiting at your local post office, so you should check it.
2. Your parcel can wait in the customs
Since this is international order, there is some possibility, that your local Customs Office might want to check it. In this rare case you will get notification from your customs telling you what to do, and procedure varies from country to country – but it typically involves only sending confirmation of your order to Customs Office. It’s more common in Europe than in US, but it still is rare. In European Union only less than 2% parcels are checked.
4. Tracking numer doesn’t work
Chinese sellers always provide tracking number for the shipment, but in some cases it might not be available. Remember also that if the consignment is not tracked (usually with a small value parcel of a less than 5-10 USD), you have to wait patiently. Aliexpress 5-10 days waiting period after number was provided by the seller and if the 17track.net constantly displays a “Tracking number not available”, it means that your order actually was not sent. In this case, do not open dispute immediately, but instead write to the seller by typing a message in the window at the bottom of the order details:
You can use following e-mail template which will hasten contact and simplify communication with seller:
„Hello, it seems that tracking number XXXXXXXXXX is not available. Please check that my order has been sent and provide correct tracking number.”
While communicating Chinese try to use this kind of language – not complicated and straight to the point. Their English is kind of funny but totally understandable and you can easily work it out. Keep in mind that your satisfaction is in the best interest of sellers. Aliexpress quickly removes unscruoplous sellers accounts and even totally legitimate seller might have blocked selling possibility if there are several disputes opened at once. Thanks to this, you should receive reply, that “your order hasn’t been sent yet” or “it was lost by post office”, and with this message new tracking number, this time proper one. If you don’t receive any reply or reply will be unclear, you can open dispute and claim a refund.
5. Aliexpress dispute – way to claim refund for you order
All transactions are made as escrow, which means that your payment initially go to Aliexpress, and portal passes it to seller only after your approval that you got the item, and if you don’t do this for any reasons – seller will get payment automatically after 60 days. This is very safe system, which ensures initiative in resolving disputes is on the side of the seller and that he must try to deliver the purchased goods. This means that disputes are actually rare and sellers are resolving it by refunding costs. However, if you did not get the shipment and tracking does not work or you got the goods damaged during transport, or you don’t like what you ordered, or something is missing in the package, you can and should start dispute.
You can do this by selecting the link “Open dispute” next to the ordered item on your list of orders. You will get to the form form in which you enter the reason for dispute, including evidence – photos, screen shots, and reasons why are you applying for a refund. You can also request whole or partial refund, for example when your parcel is missing some of items ordered.
You can use following sample message templates that are suitable for each case:
„Tracking number isn’t available and seller didn’t send the parcel.”
„I received my parcel, but it didn’t contain following ordered items: ”
In other, more complex cases (for example, your phone is not working properly) just review why you want to receive refund of deposit, in a few short sentences, explaining your case.
[box type=”info” ]Keep in mind that sellers want to resolve your case, because they risk losing their sellers account and sometimes they can simpy mismatch your order or send it to wrong address. For this reason, most often they will admit that you are right and they’ll refund your payment. Settlement of the case on Aliexpress is easier than you think, so be honest and describe your problem in an open and uncomplicated way.[/box]
And that’s it – seller will admit that you are right, or don’t reply you at all in 7 days – but in this case you will get refund automatically. If both buyer and seller won’t agree on the case, after 7 days Aliexpress moderator will evaluate who was right – and if you provided correct proof, you wil get your deposit back. You should receive your refund in a few days (up to 7 days) on your credit card.