Our first transaction with Alibaba was the worst experience we had in the last 20 years in business. We purchased some stock to the value of USD 1200 to try out a factory. About 60% of the stock arrived to us damaged and 10% of the stock was wrong – in other words 70% of the stock we cannot sell and it is going in the rubbish bin.
We then opened 2 claims for the damaged stock, one with the factory (Shenzhen U Decoration Materials Co., Ltd) and one with the shipping company. After multiple emails back and forth, Alibaba said the factory and the shipping company were not responsible for the damage as "the damage was not big and it is difficult to say who caused the damaged". Nice one!
Regarding the incorrect stock that we didn't order but we paid for, the factory actually admitted liability for the mistake in writing but Alibaba said the stock was close enough to what we wanted so the best they could do was 50% refund. Unbelievable!
Throughout this whole experience, it was very obvious to us that Alibaba was on their Country seller's side at all times. And Alibaba simply refused to answer our clear and simple questions about their refund rules and other basic questions that we had. They have a very vague script and they stick to it repeating the same story in every email. Alibaba's service is sub-standard and their impartiality is non-existent. And by the way the Trade Representative, simply closed the case with ZERO refund. What a joke.
If you think Trade Assurance protected you, think again. And buying product from Shenzhen U Decoration Materials, it should NEVER be on your list.
We personally will stay away from Alibaba in future.