Would you leave well enough alone?

[Tulips]

I ordered a set of 8 flocked fakies from a seller on Aliexpress.
Long story short, instead of sending me the full set of 8 they sent me 7 + a double. I messaged them asking for them to send me the one I was missing but they refused. We've finally settled on a partial refund but I'm still peeved that I've not got the full set I paid for because there is literally no way for me to purchase just individual figures.

Seemingly the only way for me to get the last one I'm missing is to buy an entire extra set at full price, probably from the same seller (because others with this product have very little feedback). But obviously the same thing could happen again and I'd be paying for extras I don't need. I could of course customise the rest or sell them... I bought the set because I wanted all of them, not almost all of them. 

My question is: would you leave well enough alone?

These are the fakies. I'm missing the lightning themed one and have a double of the fire.
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

[Hannah66665]

Oh no! I got my set from there but I'm not overlay familiar with how Aliexpress works, couldn't you report them for not sending the full set..?
Was it sold by "Classic toy stores" by chance? that's where I bought my set and while I didn't have problems I've been recommending it to people and now I'm worried.  I hope you can somehow get ahold of the missing pony.

[Tulips]

Yes, I got it from 'Classic Toy Stores'. I opened a case through Aliexpress but after it was escalated and mediated by the site they offered me only two choices, the partial refund or send them back for a full refund (postage at my own expense of course).

I've chosen the partial refund but it'll take some time to go into my account after they approve it.

I'm upset about being sent a double, I really wanted the entire set. The worst part was that the first figure I opened was the flame themed one, then the second was the double. So I knew straight away that they had mucked up and instead of being excited about opening the rest I was just 

The seller was completely unhelpful. All I asked was for the single figure they'd failed to correctly send me but they would only offer money. What good is money? There's literally no way for me to buy the one I'm missing. It's like selling someone a book you've torn pages out of, what do you expect them to do?!

I just feel like I'm complaining too much about something small and silly, but it was important to me and now I've got an incomplete set.

[Ringlets]

Those are really cute   I'm sorry you got disappointed though. Unfortunately unless anyone else decides to sell them separately or you do buy another set I don't think there is much you can do if the seller wont send you the missing one . I'm guessing the seller doesn't want to break up sets..but if you got doubles then someone else probably has too 

[bluerose9978]

The good thing is you'll probably be able to sell the extra easily since they are so cute. But you'll probably have to buy the whole set again and sell off the extras.

[NovelNerd]

Is the shipping return super expensive? I would return it and try again because won't you be spending more just buying a new set? I dunno this would be annoying to me.

[ponyqueen]

Bummer! If no one is selling them individually, then you have no competition when you do. If you really want all of them, order the whole set again (maybe with a note to double check that you are getting the right ones "or else") then sell the doubles and name your price! Good luck!

pq

[Tulips]

Well it might cost me less to return the goods for a full refund but this site has such poor customer service that I'm not sure I would even get the refund, my buyer protection runs out in 3 days as well.

UPDATE: So after chatting live with a customer support rep, who was both helpful and entirely unhelpful, I've gone back to my open case and made my final demands. Either I get the one figure I am missing or I get a full refund. It shouldn't be this hard or stressful to resolve the issue, the seller is ridiculous. Literally just find the one they failed to send in the first place, which I provided a clear stock photo of, then stick it in a bag and send it to me. 

[nhal039]

^^ gotta agree with you tulip, i think you have done the right thing, i would have been peeved as well

They are very cute ponies btw

[buddyboymama]

Nope, I think you are right. I ordered a set without incident, but I would have been upset if I had gotten a double and not a complete set. The seller should just send you the missing pony. Heck, I would send you mine, but it has been played with, so it's dirty and possibly rubbed.

[Galactica]

I totally see where you are coming from and your frustration, 

But this is an issue that often comes up when buying from Chinese companies, so much so that I understand finally that it is just how they do business.

Even when I order items through Taobao through an intermediary like Toabao Spree-  the seller often will run out of a particular color or one of the characters and want to substitute with something else.  Luckily with a third-party intermediary- they are aware Westerners hate this sort of thing so they usually check with me first and let the seller know that I want ONLY the items pictured with no substitutions.

When you order things direct - I think it is a good idea to make it clear you want exactly what is pictured with no substitutions.  I really don't think they do it intentionally or to be dishonest, it is just how this kind of business is usually done.

I would be leery maybe of disputing the charge, only because sometimes they will block you from buying from them in the future.  But if you had no plans of buying more stuff anyway, than it probably won't even matter.


** to be clear, I am not siding with the seller, just trying to add some perspective- again I totally get your frustration!

[Tulips]

I do understand that buying from Chinese companies can be a bit dodgy, but the seller specifically sells these as a set so I didn't think it would be much to ask for them to actually deliver what they're promising. Especially if they can sell in bulk. I can understand mistakes, but they clearly have plenty enough stock that they should be able to send individual replacements if they're happy to sell individual sets.

Don't worry, I completely understand what you're saying Galactica. This situation isn't unusual, I just wish it wasn't me experiencing it right now. 

[Tulips]

Well the dispute on AliExpress is a joke. I haven't heard from the customer support about my case in over 2 weeks so I've gone to my bank and they're going to follow it up for me. I'll either get what I paid for or I'll get a refund and wash my hands of this mess.

At least now I know that AliExpress has unreliable sellers and lacks proper customer support. If this was through eBay and Paypal this would have been resolved by now. I could have let it go but it's the principal of the matter. 

UPDATE: 5/9

For anyone interested... I am never dealing with AliExpress ever again and would not recommend the website to anyone.
They did eventually send me a partial refund but their dispute process is absolutely ridiculous with extremely poor communication and excuse after excuse. I had to contact their online help repeatedly over the course of a month to be told that I would be contacted within a week with the resolution, HA! It's only when things go wrong that you see just how reliable an online store really is. I'm glad it's over now, it was such a small issue but it's the principal of the matter. 
Now I just have to deal with my idiot bank, long story... 

In any case here's a shoutout to Buddyboymama who came to my rescue and helped me complete my set! I can't thank you enough! 
visitors can't see pics , please register or login