Beware GeekBuying! I dont know how they are not banned here considering their systematic dishonest and unethical behavior.
My own experience which I shared briefly in their latest bargain post has 21+ votes, plus I have seen the same experience echo'd by many different people on various other forums.
Essentially it goes like this.
Purchased a Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro Special Edition (kate) 3GB/32GB which had a pre-sale tag on it with a shipping in approx 5 days (cant remember exact time left) countdown timer on the product age.
I purchased the phone with DHL shipping so that once it was shipped I would receive the phone in a few days. My expectation at this stage was I would receive the phone in the next 1-2 weeks.
What happened was this:
The countdown clock "showing time until shipping on the product page hit zero and magically increased again without the phone shipping.
I emailed Geekbuying and asked what was going on and was told phone would ship in another week.
Waiting another week and the countdown clock showing time until shipping on the product page again hit zero and magically increased again this time showing 10 days, without the phone shipping.
When I tried to cancel the order I was given a DHL tracking number and was told sorry it's shipped. I checked the tracking number all it showed was a tracking number was created, no actual physical item was collected or delivered to DHL.
So the idea here is those that havnt been tricked by this before will actually think their item has shipped and just wait longer.
No two ways to put it, they are lying, nothing has shipped, they don't even have stock and the tracking number shows nothing except a tracking number was created in their own computer system.
Then in my case 4 days later they actually ship the phone and it starts tracking on the DHL website. You can clearly see the exact date/time the item is shipped, cant fake (as far as I know) DHL picking up the physical item.
So you wait 3-4 weeks for an item you paid extra for DHL shipping an expected to receive in 1-2 weeks.
Paypal dispute isnt going to work unless its done super early as they will just trick paypal with the "fake" DHL tracking number, by the time that has been worked out they will have actually shipped it anyway.
I wouldn't have ordered from them in the first place if I knew how long it would take to get the phone… Which is probably why they do what they do.
Is it the same tracking number or a different one from what you were originally provided?
With large companies, they get a tracking number as soon as they place a shipping order with DHL. However, that's just an order - DHL then has to come and pick it up. Depending on the logistics agreement they have, this can take some time.
Point being, I don't think they 'faked' the DHL tracking number - unless it changed when it started tracking.