Gearbest dash cam trouble, am i being unreasonable ?

tomleonhart on 01/07/2015 - 16:20

Hi ozbargainer,

I bought a dash cam off Gearbest on of the deal in May for US$41. Waited a month and the dashcam finally arrived on 25/06. Opened the box and the dash cam appears to be faulty (can not adjust settings, freeze after 4 -5 seconds of recording, red line all across the screen).

I contacted Gearbest and they said because I didn't pay for insurance so I'll need to pay another $20 bucks to get a new camera or they can refund me $20.

I said i demand a new dash cam to be sent out and gearbest can pay for the postage of the faulty one. If that is not possible I demand a full refund and they can pay for postage of the faulty one.

Am I being unreasonable ?

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Comments

  • pjetson on 01/07/2015 - 16:51
    +2

    You were presumably offered postal or freight insurance, not insurance against the device being faulty.

    If the package and/or device shows signs of shipping damage, and the fault can be attributed to that damage, then you are out of luck.

    If, instead, they have sent you a faulty item, then shipping insurance has nothing to do with it. I suspect that they will want you to send the item back so that they can assess it. You can ask them to pay for the postage if the damage has nothing to do with the shipping.

    If you purchased from a local supplier, you'd have Australian consumer laws on your side. You probably still do with a purchase from an overseas supplier, but you won't be able to enforce them.

    If you start "demanding", they may withdraw their $20 offer.

    They may have a Facebook page - have you tried asking there (nicely) for a solution you can live with?

    • pjetson on 01/07/2015 - 17:00

      I just checked their Facebook page. It seems that people don't get answers there - they haven't responded to the couple of complaints that I saw.

      And one particular guy seems to just post "Nice" to everything.

  • ozhunter on 01/07/2015 - 17:06
    +1

    This is my opinion but I think it is mostly in line with consumer law.

    If the product is DOA, then they should give full refund or replacement.

    If the product is faulty within the warranty period, then it should be repaired, replaced, or refunded. The cost of returning a faulty item is at the buyer's expense unless it is excessive; fridge, mattress, oven etc.

    In your case, I think they should give you refund including the shipping as it was faulty out the box. As pjetson said, ask nicely.

  • nocure on 01/07/2015 - 17:10
    +3

    PayPal ?

    • tomleonhart on 01/07/2015 - 17:17

      I'm trying to talk to them first before having to open a PayPal dispute. I always try to be nice but gearbest isn't being really reasonable at the moment.

      • nocure on 01/07/2015 - 17:27

        Don't wait too long , dispute has to be raised within 45days from invoice date.

  • Paul Atreides on 01/07/2015 - 17:25

    not sure if this is accurate, but my understanding is that the buyer is always responsible to ship the item back to them so they can "assess" it. if they determine it is faulty, then they ship a new one to your at their cost, but the buyer in the end is ultimately responsible for shipping the item back to them.

    im not sure the true intentions of this $20 off, but sounds like it'd be cheaper for you (money and time wise) to spend $20 to get them to ship another item straight away. situation sucks, but small chance this may happen with online transactions.

    also, arent paypal doing free return international shipping for faulty items or something along these lines atm?

    all the best with getting this solved

    • endotherm on 01/07/2015 - 20:20
      +1

      https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/home
      "Return shipping costs are now refunded to PayPal account holders. Up to 4 refunds to the value of $45 each on eligible purchases until 31 July 2015. Activate today and start shopping online with more confidence."

      If it's DOA, it's not what you paid for. I'd send it back for a direct replacement. Use PayPal's dime to ship it. If Gearbest are being difficult and trying to shirk their responsibility in replacing it, I don't know that I'd take the risk in doing them a favour. I'd go straight to a PayPal dispute and get your money back.

      If they are amenable to replacing it, take lots of photos showing it's condition after you received it/before sending it, so they can't use the damaged-in-transit/no-insurance excuse. If it gets stomped on in transit after sending it back, you can prove it wasn't your fault.

  • eatwell365 on 01/07/2015 - 22:14

    I bought 2 units. one was faulty. Got half credit back then bought another more expensive unit, again it's faulty. There are also threads from others that their units fail within 12 months. I start asking myself if they are lemons - reject sent overseas - betting on customers will not return. Not happy Jane.

    • Store Repgearbest @ GearBest on 02/07/2015 - 16:18
      +1

      Hi eatwell365, we are very sorry to heard that. Could you please PM your order number? Thank you.

      • eatwell365 on 07/07/2015 - 03:50

        Has sent PM. Will update all on outcome,

        • Store Repgearbest @ GearBest on 07/07/2015 - 16:12

          thanks for your message. I have reply your PM, please kindly check it.

  • Store Repgearbest @ GearBest on 02/07/2015 - 16:05
    +1

    Hi tomleonhart,

    We are sorry for this inconvenience and empathize with your frustration. Could you please PM me your order number or ticket number, so that I can check and solve for you. Thank you.

    As for our company warranty and return policy, you could reference on: http://www.gearbest.com/about/warranty-and-return.html

  • jiakz on 31/07/2015 - 22:37

    Seems a lot of faulty dash cams including mine, they must be making money under their warranty policy

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