What gets me is this.
If you got a fucked up cell from Alibaba of aliexpres, what can you do . ?
Nothing. They are in china.
So michael helps by getting a better price , and because he is in the us , he is a target.
So relax everyone, at least we have him battling on our side. Win or loose , it's still better than dealing direct with china .
And yes , I have over $8k invested in all this shit. So yes I have a dog in the fight.
I agree. I am part of the group by and Michael has helped others on previous shipments.
Just imagine you ordered the cells direct from Alibaba vendor. The vendor has tracking that you received quantity of cells as ordered. They may try to lay blame on transporter, courier etc.
Over months I have read lots of posts of people dealing directly with Alibaba/Aliexpress vendor. There is tons of threads of people getting bloated, crappy cells from AliExpress and getting a$30 dollar refund for hours of work jumping through hoops such as:
Option 1 return order to China for refund except to properly package and ship 4-8 cells will cost you as much or more than what you paid.
Then you go to option 2. Do a capacity test on each cell with a non interrupted video 12 hours plus with proper equipment per cell or battery, repeat for all cells, upload to YouTube and then get $30-40 for each cell off ( for all the time to prove they are below spec).
CC over 60 days so charge back is not guaranteed cause you received delivery and same with paypal. Refund is only guaranteed if you don't get delivery.
They are in China. What other option you got. You can't sue the Chinese supplier.
At least Michael is trying to get compensation and cells exchanged. I look at it that Michael is seen as a repeat customer and that they will try to do something to save face. For example it appears the vendor has recalled the cells that were not delivered so those don't have the hassle of option 1 and 2 and may get lucky with replacement cells be shipped (with another 3 month wait).
If you are on your own and only buying 4 or 8 cells, you are SOL dealing with these vendors by yourself. US law / business practices don't apply in China.
The whole idea of the Group buy was to use a larger order to get suppliers to take it more seriously which is why I chose this path. If you don't see this as a plus then order yourself and take your chances.
Years ago when I started to buy from China on eBay, I received advice to not buy anything or spend amount of money that you can't afford to loose. Its like the casino, don't gamble money you need to pay the rent. These batteries are not cheap, I get it but if you want guaranteed performance, with warranty, then buy Battleborn or Dakota from US vendors and pay the price.
We are all gambling on this process to save money and give Michael a chance to help sort this out. When we placed our orders, it took 10-14 days to get a tracking number. If it took that long for the supplier in China to ship out the cells, they are not going to process refunds or replacements any faster than that.
To summarize above this is a bad situation but you don't shit on the only guy that can help you. He tried a new vendor which went bad especially due to number of cells involved.
He has indicated he is trying to help, he can't do any refunds until he gets refunded. He has shown good faith as he has been issuing refunds to those whose orders have not shipped.
Can his communication improve, sure it can, but read his posts, the battery buy is a side business to his main job and he can't be here full time. Also remember China is like 12 hours ahead so you have to be up at night to talk to them as China is closed during the day in NA.
As someone in a post above commented, you push someone to a cliff, he declares this business bankrupt on there you go. I am sure Michael as a independent business man has taken steps to protect himself in this type of endeavor. I don't think he went into this naïve. I do not believe that Michael is trying to screw anyone but you also have to look at the dollars involved and have a realistic look at what he can actually do and the time it takes to do it.
You did not buys cells from Michael battery store, you willingly gave him your money to buy cells from a Chinese vendor on your behalf.
Give him some time.
I got my tracking number on June 19 and it is still not active, so I may be in same boat at some time later on but don't expect North American instant gratification as the rest of work does not work that way. I am getting close to 90 days and it has not even hit North America yet. Am I getting nervous, yes, but what can I do until either the package is declared lost or it finally shows up? I am in this with the rest of you but ranting at the guy is not going to get your money back any faster.
Sorry for the long rant. I don't even know if this makes sense but it does to me.
That is all I have to say, there is a small number that is stirring the pot and I feel we should ignore their flaming and lets see what can be done to get this resolved by taking positive actions like in the other CATL thread of sending Michael pics of the cells etc so he has a case to demand a refund from the vendor on your behalf because that the only way refund will come.