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Comment by ComradePhil | Hacker News Reader

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

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.

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.

In my experience, I ordered a fake USB3 capture card (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001773724519.html, check the 1-star reviews, also debunked by Marcan at 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).

Chargebacks can only be contested by the merchant if they have enough evidence you talk your bank into reversing.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You're old fashioned.

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