Mac C.

I placed a large order on 3rd October, not everything was in stock but I was told the whole order could be delivered between the 13 & 15th of November. The dates came and went without delivery, card saying delivery had been attempted, or attempt to arrange delivery.

Here are extracts from AZ Boutiques replies to my enquires about my order and a refund:

" They [The courier Hermes] only sent us this proof to say that you were not present. Please note that unfortunately these are the risk of ordering online. We may never know what happens to our parcel on their way. "

" We cannot control the way the carrier proceeds. If they did not leave any card, then unfortunately this is not upon our responsibility.As you saw in the screenshot we sent you, they claimed they attempted delivery."

" The carrier is not being incompetent. This is their normal process... they might encounter delay in their deliveries; but they will surely deliver the items."

" The carrier confirmed to us that the parcel is being returned to us. Hence, we are only waiting to get the parcel back first in order to refund you."

" We regret to tell you that it is impossible for us to refund you without getting the parcel back. They do have your parcel but as we told you earlier, they do not prioritised returning parcel and that is why it can take up to one month to reach France. "

" We choose not to refund you as this is our company's policy. We have to ensure that we receive the parcel Back. As per the carrier the parcel is being returned as you were not present during the delivery... Unfortunately we cannot take the risk in refunding you and then later on we do not receive the parcel."

AZ Boutique is clearly of the opinion that the customer should bare the 'risks of ordering online' from AZ Boutique, fortunately I paid by PayPal and PayPal does not seem to share AZ Boutiques opinion. PayPal refunded my AZ Boutique payment a few days after I asked them to. Thank you PayPal. Phew!

Most reviews of AZ Boutique seem very positive, maybe I was unlucky. But why take the risk of shopping with a company who's stated policy is that the customer loose out when they mess-up?

DHGate is a marketplace front for sellers in China. It has ambitions to be the Ebay of the East, but where Ebay protects its customers, DHGate does not.
As a first time buyer DHGate promised me 'guaranteed satisfaction'.
So, I bought a black watch from DHGate but what I received was a brown one of a slightly different model, which didn't work as it should.

I completed DHGate's lengthy disputes procedure, contacting the Seller and uploading photo and video evidence. DHGate's decision was that I was promised a full refund of both the cost of the watch and its return.
I completed DHGate's lengthy return procedure, carefully packing the watch, using an authorised carrier and uploading shipping & invoice photos.

The watch arrived safely in China, where the Seller simply refused to accept delivery, asking the carrier to 'abandon' the consignment. The result? - a technically incomplete return process and my only option to pay again to get back a watch I didn't want or order. DHGate offered only a partial refund of the cost of the watch and NO REFUND AT ALL of the substantial cost of its return. DHGate's justification? - 'this way both and the Seller and you lost something'! Note, only DHGate lost nothing.

DHGate's stance is that that customs is awaiting docutments and are trying to contact the Seller, this is simply not true. UPS Tracking shows the parcel has passed its import scan and I have sent DHGate the email stating the 'consignee refused delivery'; recently I received this confirmation from UPS: "I am contacting you today regarding the above parcel. The receiver has asked to abandon the shipment. I am unable to advise why as customers are not obliged to give us the reason when they request a parcel to be abandoned".
DHGate continues to ignor the above facts in favour of its own fiction to avoid honouring its promisses.

I followed DHGate's instructions every step of the way yet I have lost a large amount of time and money. The only thing I did wrong was to buy from DHGate in the first place.
The Seller advertised and sold a watch he knew he did not have and lost little or nothing, being partially paid by DHGate.
DHGate broke promise after promise, wouldn't even honour on their own dispute decision and have ignored my last four emails.
If DHGate thinks this is guaranteeing customer satisfaction they don't deserve to be in business and will never be Ebay.

DON'T RISK IT - BUY ELSEWHERE!