That other platform's name begins with e followed by B and two more letters, the last one being the penultimate alphabet letter...
;-)
Alibaba is just the B2B version of AliExpress.
Yes, being polite and positive pays off.
In the case I described, I explained my situation and -as always- asked what the merchant suggests.
He agreed immediately to refund, but instructed me to file a dispute, so he could get his fees back.
Then the AliExpress platform just did not process the refund transaction...
rin67630: Thanks for replying and giving me some ‘hints’ as to who you were considering purchasing sell through next. My latest thoughts - my opinion is that PROBABLY the safest route would be to go through Amazon BUT if one went that way, it might be tough getting a/the ‘best price’ you were personally hoping to get. I did some checking around on amazon.ca yesterday just in case my order might ‘never arrive’ or something and I needed to order some more, and the best price I could find in Canadian dollars on four cells is probably around $250 or so more than what I paid for my current order. Nevertheless, assuming you could get a price you liked, based on my experiences, I think Amazon would be the least risky.
Of course I cannot be (‘wink- wink’) 100% sure who you are referring to but if it is the same one that you are hinting about, that would probably be my second choice. I CHECKED OUT PAYPAL’S ‘Money Back Guarantee’ yesterday – read the whole thing – and it looks pretty good. About the only thing that they don’t make any mention of or suggest that customers might/probably should think about when placing an order is “What if the merchandise arrives ‘damaged’ AND/OR - for any reason, the merchant wants the damaged goods or shipment shipped back in China?
In the case of Andy at the Off-Grid Garage who ordered through the ‘other Ali’, as I recall he had a couple of cells with VERY MINOR, arguably simply cosmetic damage when he ordered his second order (of 12 cells). He didn’t ‘sweat it’ but he did decide to mention it to his supplier when he placed his THIRD order (48 cells, I think it was), simply saying that (in my words) “He was ‘a little disappointed’ with these two cells). Bottom line – as I recall, on his third order (eight cells I think it was), they shipped him eight cells but only charged him for six!
So yes, it does pay to be nice and polite and respectful.
IN ANY EVENT – it appears that I won’t need to (hopefully) consider ordering a second batch of (four) cells anytime soon because it looks like – FINALLY – the shipment has arrived in Canada!
They ‘made landfall’ in Vancouver at 3:06 AM local time YESTERDAY - Thursday, August 5th, and made their way to Calgary Alberta at 2:31 a.m. and LEFT that facility three minutes later at 2:34 AM. SO… Maybe, just maybe… I might see them TODAY? If not today, on Monday at the latest I would imagine, unless…??? UPS delivers on weekend day?
I may know more after 8 AM local time this morning. Your chance they are now – on this final leg to Winnipeg, ‘coming by air’, I should receive them today. If not – by truck – then maybe, still maybe much later today or Monday or maybe over the weekend.
So it looks like this is all ending well, maybe/hopefully… (That they’re not defective or damaged or anything).
For the record: I placed my order May 7th, and it was shipped May 12th. That ‘works out to’ 86 days or 12 weeks and two days elapsed time from the date they were shipped, and 94 days or 13 weeks and three days since the day I placed my order. Roughly 3 months overall from the day they were SHIPPED.
So bottom line, assuming they arrive in good condition and are not defective, it looks like My Faith in Humanity remains preserved. The Chinese folks – the ‘average working stiff’ – is probably pretty darn decent and hard-working. (The Chinese and Asians in general are really hard-working people, a lot more so than frequently ‘soft and lazy’ Western society folks. I’ve been around more decades than I care to think about and it seen things change, and I “can’t begin to tell you” how many employers and workers even in their 40’s have complained to me over and over, that the ‘Current Generation’ just ‘Doesn’t Want To Work’ when they hear what the ‘pay is’. However, one of them just said to me a couple of weeks ago: “These Indians (the nation of India) on the other hand, “They are HUNGRY!” If we don’t get our act together in the West here (ref: Will’s ‘Rant’ in one of his recent “Ask me anything” long videos), they are going to ‘Eat Our Lunch’.
One final thing (I could say more but I will leave that for another post at another time), In my ‘browsing around’ over the past few days, I managed to come across some information from a Cell Manufacturer addressing the problem of ‘swelled cells’. Basically, the explanation which I found quite credible was that: “This is not uncommon, BUT IN NO WAY WHATSOEVER REPRESENTS A SAFETY HAZARD” and they went on to state that: “As long as the cells are not leaking, not cracked, and when tested, ‘meet specs’, THEY ARE PERFECTLY SAFE TO USE!” If I can find that statement again, I will post it.
Obviously, one would prefer Absolutely Pristine cells BUT: if it was going to be a real hassle and/or cost me any money to rectify that issue, personally I would have no hesitation in putting them into service.
Cheers.