GearBest Great Prices ZERO Service

LAldgatetroll on 23/03/2018 - 10:58
Last edited 23/03/2018 - 11:49 by 1 other user

An experience I don’t want others to share, so I’ll be brief.

Needed a replacement phone, as my YotaPhone 2 was broken, so searched the net and GearBest popped up. The selection looked huge and the prices were very reasonable so I took the plunge and placed an order for a new YotaPhone 2, easy right?

But then the fun began. I received an email from GearBest requesting ID proof of who I was. They required a copy of a ‘utility bill for the last month showing my address’ and a colour copy / scan of my credit card showing at least the ‘last 4 digits of your credit card number, expiration date and your full name’. Right.

So here in Australia there are very strict laws regarding privacy and rather reasonable protection from banks for your credit cards. Naturally I contacted GearBest immediately and advised them that they had gladly taken my money but now request this. I told them that that won’t be happening any time soon, and that I found it a complete bloody insult, and I demanded to know ‘Who they were’. You can imagine the discussion that ensued, one indignant Australian and an offended Chinese ‘service department’ in a chat room.

After some fuss I was allowed to have the ordered phone. It arrived rather quickly and I immediately began to install aps via Wi-Fi. As it took a Nano card I had to request one from my phone company, and that oddly took 1 ½ weeks. When the Nano card arrived, in it went and presto the YotaPhone 2 was working. Then it stopped and then worked, then stopped. I had a faulty phone – Oh joy!

Back to GearBest. I attempted to request a replacement phone as a technician in my city identified it as simply a faulty SIM card reader. What did GearBest say? Please send us a video of the faulty item, Oh how delightful!
So I send a video of the faulty item and show the exact fault. No reply. I send it again, still no reply or acknowledgement of the video! I get onto them in the “Service department’ issuing emails (internal) and get the run-around that I though they would give me.

So I have a faulty phone sold by company in China that promises all the wonderful things we are used to in a Western consumer world, but are incapable of delivering.

My summary; if you don’t want quality, or service or warranty in electronic products, buy from this company as they are cheap, and CHEAP is what you will get. As a westerner you WILL be frustrated by their double speak and false promises and complete lack of honesty when it comes to service.

Its such a pity as I really wanted them to achieve even the most basic level of Consumer service, as their product range was so enormous.

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• 

  Quantumcat on 23/03/2018 - 11:01

  +8

  You obviously haven't been here on Ozb long or you wouldn't have been so surprised.

  • 

    Aldgatetroll on 26/03/2018 - 23:05

    No only a short, while but it’s a great site!

    Trouble is I have been an solid purchaser of oversea items large and small and rarely have any problems. Still GearBest stunned me with their rudeness and outright lying!

    Thanks for your comment!

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  Clear on 23/03/2018 - 11:04

  +7

  There is a simple way of avoiding those ID checks - link your CC to your Paypal account. It's not uncommon for stolen credit cards to be used on China sites, so once a sale exceeds a certain value they want to verify that you match the name on the card.

  • 

    Aldgatetroll on 26/03/2018 - 22:37

    Thanks Have done that!

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  bobbified on 23/03/2018 - 12:49

  I received an email from GearBest requesting ID proof of who I was…
  …You can imagine the discussion that ensued, one indignant Australian and an offended Chinese ‘service department’ in a chat room.

  And give us one good reason they should take your word for who you claim to be? Remember, you're the one approaching them claiming to be someone after you've already done your due diligence. When there's fraud, the funds come out of their profits, not your pocket, so try and understand (to a certain extent) where they are coming from.

  Read a few of the older posts that deal with sellers like GearBest. In short, there's reasons why items are much cheaper. There are many posts discussing issues experiences buying from these sites - and here's a starting point: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/list_of_buying_sites

  Generally, prices are cheap, however, delivery is slow and customer service is slow. It's a trade-off for the much cheaper prices. If the latter two elements are important to you, then do yourself a favour and pay the extra $$ to buy the item somehwere else.

  Hint - unless you're outright getting ripped off, you're not going to get much sympathy here if you whinge about slow customer service/delivery from any of these sites.

  • 

    Aldgatetroll on 26/03/2018 - 23:02

    No your right. Heck who would ever trust an Australian with a Debit Card linked to Visa, linked to a major Australian Bank that has a 'Aa' Moody's rating and (mostly) complies with some of the toughest banking laws in the world?

    Seriously?

    The volumes of customers that GearBest and like companies acquire, are in the millions, well their scale of trading guaranties their profit, their margins are low but profits are very high, certainly in China. I have worked in China and simply stunned by the volumes of sales and the minuscule cost of manufacture. For example the average wage in Shenzhen is less than $AU10/ day. I hired an interrupter for the day and insisted on paying him 5 times that!

    Thanks for your comment!

    • 

      bobbified on 26/03/2018 - 23:23

      No your right. Heck who would ever trust and Australian with a Debit Card linked to Visa, linked to a major Australian Bank that has a 'Aa' Moody's rating and (mostly) complies with some of the toughest banking laws in the world?

      What you've written above means absolutely nothing. Fact is, credit card fraud happens a lot with online purchases. When there's a chargeback, the retailer loses the money. There's nothing wrong with a retailer trying to minimise the risk of losing money.

      The volumes of customers that GearBest and like companies acquire, are in the millions

      If you already know there are that many sales, then you should understand that individual service is not going to be instant. You can't compare the customer serviCe to western retailers, especially in a country where english is limited.

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  pennypincher98 on 23/03/2018 - 13:20

  +1

  Hold on a second, your old phone (a Russian phone I wont pretend I've heard of) broke so you decided to get the exact same thing? I understand its only around $150 on Gearbest - has now been discontinued.

  Also: this phone looks like the worst idea ever, just saying. A low resolution 4.7 inch back screen coupled with a FHD 5 inch display - what is the use of the back display?

  • 

    Aldgatetroll on 26/03/2018 - 22:44

    The Black / White display is perfect for DIRECT sunlight applications, as I worked in the bush, where sunlight is a common occurrence, wow it enables me to read ANYTHING in the daylight. Battery life is also up to 5 days in saving mode using the black and white back screen.

    Unlike a millennial, I could not afford or justify $1,000 plus every year for the latest phone so I optimise $ for features. By the way the first phone broke when it was kicked (by accident) out of my hand onto a concrete floor! Prior to that was absolutely first rate.

    Thanks for your input!

    • 

      pennypincher98 on 27/03/2018 - 06:07

      If you are replacing your $1000+ phone every year you are doing it wrong. Especially when you can get 3 years worth of updates…

      Anyway, if you had a case on it that would've been prevented - but because you've got this double display a case is impossible.
      I get it's good battery life and all that, but that seriously can't be good for your eyes staring at that (and its low resolution) for so long each day.

      • 

        Aldgatetroll on 27/03/2018 - 14:03

        Thanks for your reply, reply. The rear screen is crystal clear. I don't use it all day long but for texts, calls and basic info its great. the front screen on any smartphone is where you do the grunt work.

        First phone was Samsung S2 in 2011, had that phone for 5 years!

      • 

        pennypincher98 on 27/03/2018 - 15:46

        @Aldgatetroll: The difference is the S2 is an actual (ex)flagship, not a half-baked idea…

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  enzioFirenze on 23/03/2018 - 14:39

  that all looks pretty normal to me, like another comment mentioned, it's a trade off, it's cheap which means you have to sacrifice the CS and warranty aspects of it.

  • 

    Aldgatetroll on 26/03/2018 - 22:45

    What a wonderful thing, hindsight is!

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  obiwanmy on 23/03/2018 - 14:44

  +1

  Well,my experience with gearbest has been good so far - had an item which was not delivered (out of 10s of items i bought from) - they refunded me the purchase in full (took around 2 - 3 weeks, no fuss).

  Pity i dont see anymore 99c deals anymore …..

  • 

    Aldgatetroll on 26/03/2018 - 22:46

    The good, the bad and the ugly!

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  kiwijunglist on 24/03/2018 - 08:37

  The video evidence is stanard across all the Chinese internet retailers

  I've had the best service from Banggood and light in the box.

  I find aliexpress is good for claiming refund of it arrives damaged but if it subsequently breaks your out of luck.

  • 

    Aldgatetroll on 26/03/2018 - 22:47

    Thanks that!