Here's what I learned the hard way dealing with DHgate.com:
Ordered an electronic item through DHgate.com [Beijing, China] from one of their vendors. Paid in full by credit card. The vendor had a 100% satisfaction rating (don’t trust it). Vendor sent the WRONG item and, worse, it DID NOT WORK. There was no manual in Chinese or English. No warranty. No UL approval or FCC compliance rating. How could the United States allow this to be sold and delivered?
Important first step, called my credit card issuer. Filed dispute charge claim. My credit card issuer was the ONLY help I got. If a consumer pays by check, money order, wired funds or money-gram they won't have help. If you have DHPay account, I urge you to go to your bank and cancel it. It authorizes direct wire funds from your bank account.
Next I contacted DHgate customer service.
I got the robo-chat "Tang Tang" ... don't waste time. Click to live chat to explain the problem. Though polite, this person texted she couldn't handle my issue. I had to chat with a supervisor. Silence. No supervisor. Chat ended. I read other customers got the same annoying diversion.
Next I sent a message through DHgate member message box to the DHgate Resolution Center. I received a reply from "Barbie" outlining all the steps I would need to complete a "Return and Refund" proposal form. There I uploaded my photo/video evidence. My “proposal”: full refund, no return. That’s the last I heard from “Barbie”.
Then I messaged the vendor they had shipped me the wrong item and it did not work. I “proposed” a full refund and no return. I got this message: "This is DHgate Customer Service Center ... we contacted vendor by email, please pay attention to the recent reply." I checked. There was NO reply from vendor. The vendor never once replied to my messages. Vendor can accept or refuse buyer’s proposal. Vendor is not required to reply. When vendor does not reply then your "case" automatically goes into DHgate "mediation".
Do not waste time messaging DHgate customer service. DHgate policy does not allow them to help and they CAN NOT help. All they can do to is send the same polite messages instructing customers to go to chat again or message the vendor again or complete another "Return and Refund" proposal.
I am sure my history with the repetitive "assistance" offered by DHgate customer service has taught me their real "customer" they represent is the vendor, not the wronged buyer. And I believe DHgate Customer Service invests a lot of time and effort protecting the public image of DHgate.
Then a Customer Service Representative instructed me to click "Request DHgate Mediation". Click it and read the following offensive automated reply: "You cannot request DHgate mediation for your dispute yet."
A buyer in dispute with a vendor has no choice. Only conform and submit to DHgate’s fixed system and time schedule. DHgate can take up to 90 days to resolve a case! I was not going away! So I endured their endless loop of messages and forms. I wasn't about to forfeit my money lost to the vendor's scam!
I think they tried to bully me away. A DHgate Customer Service Representative messaged, "All correspondence with our Chat Team are recorded, checked every day. Any misinformation will result in appropriate actions from our management." Doing business with DHgate could mean vendors who send the wrong or defective merchandise can count on DHgate to frustrate and threaten buyers with a complaint!
I had no more doubt. A DHgate vendor had tried to cheat me in a "China Scam" known by:
(1) sending wrong merchandise or no merchandise,
(2) sending defective merchandise (especially electronics or anything with moving parts),
(3) sending false shipment tracking numbers,
(4) bureaucratic delays in processing orders or refunds,
(5) no returns permitted,
(6) partial or no refund, and/or
(7) no communication or blocked communication.
Then DHgate.com blocked my member message box:
"ACCESS DENIED: You don't have permission to access "...dhgate.com myaccount..." on this server. Reference #184..." When I was allowed back in I discovered DHgate had deleted all my messages from my message box.
Too late I did a little internet research on DHgate. They are a business-to-business sourcing site. Businesses listed on the web site are independent of DHgate. The buyer is supposed to research the individual company for themselves. Good luck with that. Most are in China. DHgate is not a vendor and is not a scammer, but DHgate enables vendors who are scammers. Vendors who do scam customers have a partner in DHgate who will advocate for their dishonest actions. I learned the hard way that DHgate is not impartial and does not support their customers like Ebait or AmerZone.
WARNING: It may be legal in China to swap a purchased item with a similar item of equal or greater value if the purchased item is out of stock! It is not legal to sell merchandise in China that does not work. It seems suppliers change names, get a new business license or "chop", when fraud charges start to mount up.
WARNING: Brand name merchandise are often cheap counterfeits. If you order clothes, jewelry, or electronics you have a good chance of being disappointed when you open the shipment. Some consumers might deal with a reputable company, looks like more than a few DHgate vendors cannot be trusted.
WARNING: DHgate policy may prevent a buyer from opening a dispute with a vendor, especially if the item ordered is a personal product or a custom-made product (wedding dress), or item was received late (“held up in customs”) or order has been closed (the “gotcha”) and payment has been released to vendor.
I have noticed negative posts about DHgate on some web sites get covered over by brief and incredibly favorable "five star" DHgate.com posts. Buyers on some scam alert sites will see many favorable DHgate reviews before coming to an honest negative one. My guess is they are posted by compensated or intimidated DHgate employees. It speaks volumes to me about DHgate integrity.
Someone in DHgate management should decide it would be better to improve customer service and streamline the refund process rather than risk losing more buyers.
Just before mediation was scheduled to begin, I received a message to send a "more convincing video proof that the item I received from the vendor was not the item ordered". They asked for a video of me as I first opened the shipment box! The best I could do was make a video of my receipt that pictured the item I ordered and then the obviously different item received. They also needed a video showing that the item did not work; that showed that my batteries worked in another device! I think DHgate is counting on a buyer of an inexpensive item to decide not to go through all the hassle. I considered mine a moderately expensive purchase. I not only sent the video to DHgate mediation, but I emailed it to my credit card fraud investigation department. The email also made it clear that “it would be in my favor to remove any negative internet reviews” about DHgate. That is probably very effective in China, but not here in the USA.
DHgate mediation took five weeks. No communication. No replies. Finally, DHgate emailed me their decision: partial refund in the form of a credit from the vendor I had ordered from. I’ll never use it. No return of the wrong and malfunctioning merchandise. Only a recycler will take it.
The good news is DHgate’s decision did not matter in my case! In the US, buyers who pay by credit card can have their card issuer “chargeback” for items shipped they didn’t order or items that arrive broken. The video I had emailed to my credit card fraud investigation department was enough for them the remove DHgate’s charge. For more information, because there are limitations and restrictions, do an internet search for “chargeback”.
It wasn't over! DHgate was not through with me. Nine days after DHgate mediation had settled my case I received an email from DHgate Trust and Safety Department. Over two months after my credit card issuer had contacted them, DHgate wrote, “we found that you have filed a chargeback via your Credit Card company … tell us more information so that we can look into the case further and help you solve it … send the order back to the seller…” Just to get them current, I emailed the DHgate Trust and Safety Department a copy of the email I received about DHgate’s mediation decision. That was the last I heard from them.
I was not permitted (and I assume other buyers who have a dispute are not allowed) to give an approval rating for the vendor. That’s one reason most vendor approval ratings are high. I do not trust a vendor’s approval rating!
Yes, I finally filed a complaint at eConsumer.gov who, when enough complaints are received, will do something better than collect complaints. If you have been scammed by a DHgate supplier please go to eConsumer.gov and file a complaint.
And yes, I filed a complaint with the FTC. Though AVS. International INC./DhGate.US. in Chino Hills, CA, the DHgate headquarters is in Beijing, so the FTC can offer limited help ... consumer is on their own.
I know how attractive some advertised prices are. I know now not to trust a vendor’s approval rating. I really regret that I did not take time to read reviews about DHgate before I placed my order. I hope some people who read reviews about DHgate will give the advice serious consideration before they place an order.
I ordered a wig from DHgate and when I received it, it had a bald spot at the back. I immediately went to the site and wrote a message to the seller. The seller asked that I provide pictures of the wig and I did, then the seller promised to send me a new wig and a week and a half later I had not heard anything more from the seller. I decided to write again and I was asked to go through the same process again, which I did, and that was when I was offered a discount on the second order. I refused to place another order while I had paid for a wig I can't use and lost money at that. After that, the seller ignored my messages. I wrote DHgate and they said I should communicate with the seller and reach an agreement. After two weeks of on and off messages DHgate told me to open an after sales dispute. Each time I tried, it didn't work. I wrote back and each time was told to open a dispute. Between communicating with the seller and DHgate a few weeks passed then they wrote to say I should have opened a dispute within seven days of receiving the wig, and that nothing can be done for me at this point.
Purchased a key cutting machine on Nov. 01, 2020 from DHgate.com, paid CAD $277.54, did not use it for 10 months. In Sept. 2021, tried my best to cut a key but failed. Contacted DHgate.com and seller many times, even sent them two machine operating videos, no solutions come.
I am a handyman and do not like complaint, if this machine works 80% its job, I could tolerate keeping it, just it is not doing anything and even waste my key blanks
They sold and sent me a FAKE LV purse on DH GATE and on top of that it is terrible quality. They advertised it as a genuine leather purse and it is FAR from genuine leather. I filed a dispute and they agreed to a refund, BUT they wanted me to pay to send it back to them in China. The return address they provided was not correct, therefore I believe that they would claim that they never received it because it was a bad address. I sent them several email messages recinding my agreement to send back to FAKE LV purse but they never responded. I googled the address and found them on this website so there has to be truth to them being a SCAMMING Vendor.
The company would not discuss a refund and used all lies to cover for a company they represented. I have tried for months and now I give up. I will NEVER order anything from them again. That the account was considered closed.
I have tried everything with this company, they are not honest. I tried to get a refund, or return the mesh bags, get them replaced, they only like you when you are paying them.
All 3 products I have ordered from DHGATE have proven to be a scam – fake tracking ID’s where the seller uses the tracking ID of someone else’s parcel also going to NZ.
All 3 parcels have been addressed to other people, and delivered to other addresses far from us.
You already refunded one parcel, please can the other 2 be refunded urgently as this scam has put me to immense work and financial pressure. The 2 sellers are already well known to you from other complaints by other people.
DHgate has a big problem occurring across the board on dhgate, scammers are setting up storefronts, selling products they don't have, guitars, sports products, electric bicyles, and all kinds of items, for about three weeks, posting fake tracking numbers, then completely disappearing.
Then adding insult to injury, DHgate policy sides with the seller, making the customer who was scammed jump through hoops and wait weeks or months to get a refund. It makes a person think dhgate themselves are 100% in on the scam.
DH Gate Ordered a 15 piece dewalt tool set. China tracking said delivered in my mailbox. A 15 piece cordless toolset in my mailbox.... smh. No item never received their tracking shows delivered to total different zip code. And wont refund me my money Nothing Statesville NC
More than one report on this scam website. I suppose not sending items at all or at least people not receiving them might be tough to prosecute. And I know this site hosts sellers, so they likely blame the sellers individually for their woes.
However it is not individual sellers, but rather the site itself, which blatently and outright lies to customers to take their money.
The site displays the location an item is in as part of the listing. They list the items as being local on purpose. They aren't. In the case of my individual order, they just give me the run around but refuse to address the misrepresentation as they seemingly not just allow these customer manipulations, but rather encourage them. The seller won't refund my money of course, customer service for the site itself ignores that the lies are what make people make the purchases in the first place.
My money along with so many others' is gone, but that's not my goal at this point. Hopefully this report will reach someone who puts all the multiple reports against this organization together and actually does something about it.
Again, might be tough when it comes to long shipping times or merchandise not received (though on that latter part it shouldn't be) however surely -absolute lies in print on the website- used to take people's money are easily provable, and hopefully illegal.
Willing to cooperate further in any conceivable way. Thanks!
I had bought handbags and clothing from this website! The merchandise looks great as shown on there website, but when I received it !!! The bags looked like total garbage made poorly and yes clothing sizes were super small.
Ok tried to return immediately cause I did not want. I messaged and messaged no result they do not answer and now stuck with 100.00 dollars worth of junk. So please do not trust this sight it has bad business practices
Don't trust dhgate for any thing. They don't look after the customer's best interest although they claim they do. They say that they'll hold your money in trust and not release money to the seller, but it's not true at all. One of the problems with the Chinese market is that they cannot come up with standard measurements for clothes. Their sizes are outrageous: 4XL, 6XL. Second, the body measurements don't match anything we are used to in the US. Third, the sellers don't help because they have a certain axe to grind. They'll never commit to what size they're sending you. The chest, sleeve size etc is in centimetres. They'll ask you to choose the size, which I can guarantee will be smaller. Later they profess innocence because you chose the size. Dhgate wants you to send the clothes back if you want a refund, but the catch is that you need to use a trackable courier, which costs $89 from the US. You'll have to be a medically-designated idiot to spend $89 to get $20. Dhgate is nowhere to be found later. So please AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS!!
If any problem occurs with tailor work quality - the store is by default on the seller's side and buyer always has to prove that problem exists by following complex agreement routine for return: correct measurement, taking the right images and uploading them. All must be done in very short time interval - 7 days (usually buyer during this time already not available, attending the event). Usually upon arrival - it is already too late to provide proof.
Very complex workflow for dispute, again protecting and assisting only seller and DHGate, against buyer again. Usually DHGate takes the side of the seller anyway or issues very small amount of compensation to buyer (dress was 120$ and compensation was 15$, didn't accept my return). If buyer has to ship item back - DHGate gives just 4 days for shipping and uploading receipt. Shipping must be with tracking number(!!) which is astronomically high to China.
Workmanship. We ordered several dresses (paid more than $1000) - no one was without serious tailoring problems or defects. All sizes were incorrect. The quality level was like a student / beginner, who just started to learn to how to tailor. As a result we had to buy dresses in local stores (amazingly local stores served better, prices were not higher than in DHGate, if something is wrong -return is not a problem)
These are answers from seller veralove999 when i provided her with images showing problems with sizes (all were wrong): "Hello friend, you need to go to the tailor store to measure,your way is wrong,before we send the item to you,our QC checked many times,pls do it."
I can provide more examples of communication with DHGate stores upon request. The main problem is they manufacture clothes with defects, all with incorrect sizes - clothes that does not fit.
I completed a survey then received an offer of a reward for the survey. I chose an electronic cigarette. I was to pay $8.00 shipping. I received the kit as promised. Then my credit card was charged $8.00 + $3.00 (foreign trans. fee) +$99.95 (FRAUD) for a total of $110.95. My bank (Amegy) insisted that I try to “work things out” with this disreputable merchant. Max vapor online offered a partial refund of $70.00 which they did issue. Now Amegy considers the matter closed， although I was charged $32.95 which was never authorised. I am fighting with Amegy for the credit and expect this matter will end when I close this bank account. They are more concerned to protect the fraudulent merchant than their 20 + year customer. Do not have any dealings with Max Vapor and consider your choices when you chose to bank with Amegy Bank.
DHGate guitars is a Ripoff...Why they hold your money to collect interest off it...For months... Never send the Guitar...Tell you its on it way...I saw a Firebird nice liked it...Been playing 40/years like this guitar they had...So at Christmas ..I went for it ...Little did I know what I was getting into...A lot of waisted time...Don't deal with this company you will never get your Guitar...I tried two times to get one of these guitars... Never received one...Your just giving a loan to Dhgate to collect interest.... god bless
I'M STILL COUNTING THE COST OF DHGATE'S BROKEN GUARANTEES AND PROMISSES
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.
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.
Local Gallery in CS Colorado purchases from a storefront out of Dhgate 60 Par 20 warm LED lightbulbs. The Gallery is a small co-op with little operating profit and need to save money and be green at the same time. This is why we went to using LED lighting for Gallery. Lighting is used about 8 hours a day and are not on dimmers. They are only switched on at the begining of the day and turned off at the end.
After about 2 weeks of usage we lost 3 bulbs - 4 more were lost 1 week after that - We were credited these bulbs from the store front only if I purchase more bulbs. After 90 days Dhgate will not honor refunds.
It has been 3months and we have lost a total of 30 bulbs out of 60. They get dim and then quit. I have documented the failures in the form of a video on Youtube
Unless you want TOTAL aggravation! BUYER BE WARE! THEY WILL TAKE YOUR MONEY AND YOU WILL GET NO SATISFACTION IF THE ITEM DOESN'T FIT OR MEET YOUR NEEDS. My daughter found a flower girl dress she wanted me to buy for her wedding. The dress arrived looking just like the picture...except it weighed nearly 2 lbs! It was bulky, heavy and totally impractical. It would be extremely uncomfortable even for an adult to wear, let alone a little girl. Buying a product seen online is a risk, and I mistakenly assumed it would be easy enough to return promptly (as with every other retailer I've done business with!). WEEKS into a "dispute" after hashing it out with a Chinese seller who would not budge and refused to accept a return, then the DH Gate company making me jump hoops with their "wait and see" policy,...dispute, they review and then demanding of you with threats of closing the case. They demanded that I provide "proof" which included a photo of the dress. When that was provided, they said it wasn't good enough (even though it showed hand scale with dress to prove weight) and they responded by giving me ONE day (a day I happened to be gone) to get them a picture. It is VERY OBVIOUS this is a sham company! I will NEVER do business with this company again. I am now disputing the charge with my bank in hopes of getting them to fight for me with this AWFUL company called DH GATE.
Shall we begin? Dhgate turned a just less than $90 dollar purchase into a longwinded insulting circus act. Months of time wasted too. The Seller shipped me 4 very tiny ic boards that had a usb jack on them, some of the jacks were badly bent from being expected to make it overseas in a standard letter size envelope lined with bubblewrap. What I hoped they were really going to ship me was what i paid for instead, that being 4 CNC controller cards and the proper cabling that was written in the sellers ad. Anyhow, they felt like promoting themselves today as suggested the email that arrived in my inbox, so I felt compelled to reply back to that sent email with this: It is somewhat insulting for you to send me this email. Especially because your resolution dept completely blew me off about getting a refund processed. Alot of back and forth wastes of time with maybe 15 different resolution dept workers over months and months, all over a 90 dollar purchase for 4 cnc controller cards that never got delivered. I got robbed! You, helped the seller rob me! Thats awesome.. And you never ever looked at the picture I sent to you even once of the wrong much smaller items that did arrive in the mail. I heard on the news today that China is starting to really crack down on crime and fraud there. Well look at me, a friggin day late and dollar short when it comes to them cracking down on your dishonest business!
P.S. the resolution dept 'supervisor'/manager is just as corrupted as the seller on your service for refusing to follow through..always only first names, never any last names, and never any way to expect to only be catered to by ONLY ONE resolution dept worker, rather than spread the claimed case so thinly amongst 15 other employees, as to never create a proper understanding of what is going on. Instead, I had 15 different dhgate resolution workers, repeating the same questions they asked me each and every time a new worker seemed to pick up where the last one left off! Should I write something about this in a bunch of online review websites? hmm... I wonder if you will respond back to prevent that from ever happening. You're scam supporting thieves until proven otherwise, its no wonder you do not have a world wide 1-800 phone number for concerned customers to reach you at, I mean if i was a scammer running a profitable website, I might not ever pay for a 1-800 number to be attached to my company, besides, if customers were able to actually contact you, well then that would mean you would have to step up your game when it comes to being honest. In a effort to save honest people any financial hardships plus insults to injury, anyone reading this should avoid dhgate.com until further notice.
DHgate.com Reviews
Here's what I learned the hard way dealing with DHgate.com:
Ordered an electronic item through DHgate.com [Beijing, China] from one of their vendors. Paid in full by credit card. The vendor had a 100% satisfaction rating (don’t trust it). Vendor sent the WRONG item and, worse, it DID NOT WORK. There was no manual in Chinese or English. No warranty. No UL approval or FCC compliance rating. How could the United States allow this to be sold and delivered?
Important first step, called my credit card issuer. Filed dispute charge claim. My credit card issuer was the ONLY help I got. If a consumer pays by check, money order, wired funds or money-gram they won't have help. If you have DHPay account, I urge you to go to your bank and cancel it. It authorizes direct wire funds from your bank account.
Next I contacted DHgate customer service.
I got the robo-chat "Tang Tang" ... don't waste time. Click to live chat to explain the problem. Though polite, this person texted she couldn't handle my issue. I had to chat with a supervisor. Silence. No supervisor. Chat ended. I read other customers got the same annoying diversion.
Next I sent a message through DHgate member message box to the DHgate Resolution Center. I received a reply from "Barbie" outlining all the steps I would need to complete a "Return and Refund" proposal form. There I uploaded my photo/video evidence. My “proposal”: full refund, no return. That’s the last I heard from “Barbie”.
Then I messaged the vendor they had shipped me the wrong item and it did not work. I “proposed” a full refund and no return. I got this message: "This is DHgate Customer Service Center ... we contacted vendor by email, please pay attention to the recent reply." I checked. There was NO reply from vendor. The vendor never once replied to my messages. Vendor can accept or refuse buyer’s proposal. Vendor is not required to reply. When vendor does not reply then your "case" automatically goes into DHgate "mediation".
Do not waste time messaging DHgate customer service. DHgate policy does not allow them to help and they CAN NOT help. All they can do to is send the same polite messages instructing customers to go to chat again or message the vendor again or complete another "Return and Refund" proposal.
I am sure my history with the repetitive "assistance" offered by DHgate customer service has taught me their real "customer" they represent is the vendor, not the wronged buyer. And I believe DHgate Customer Service invests a lot of time and effort protecting the public image of DHgate.
Then a Customer Service Representative instructed me to click "Request DHgate Mediation". Click it and read the following offensive automated reply: "You cannot request DHgate mediation for your dispute yet."
A buyer in dispute with a vendor has no choice. Only conform and submit to DHgate’s fixed system and time schedule. DHgate can take up to 90 days to resolve a case! I was not going away! So I endured their endless loop of messages and forms. I wasn't about to forfeit my money lost to the vendor's scam!
I think they tried to bully me away. A DHgate Customer Service Representative messaged, "All correspondence with our Chat Team are recorded, checked every day. Any misinformation will result in appropriate actions from our management." Doing business with DHgate could mean vendors who send the wrong or defective merchandise can count on DHgate to frustrate and threaten buyers with a complaint!
I had no more doubt. A DHgate vendor had tried to cheat me in a "China Scam" known by:
(1) sending wrong merchandise or no merchandise,
(2) sending defective merchandise (especially electronics or anything with moving parts),
(3) sending false shipment tracking numbers,
(4) bureaucratic delays in processing orders or refunds,
(5) no returns permitted,
(6) partial or no refund, and/or
(7) no communication or blocked communication.
Then DHgate.com blocked my member message box:
"ACCESS DENIED: You don't have permission to access "...dhgate.com myaccount..." on this server. Reference #184..." When I was allowed back in I discovered DHgate had deleted all my messages from my message box.
Too late I did a little internet research on DHgate. They are a business-to-business sourcing site. Businesses listed on the web site are independent of DHgate. The buyer is supposed to research the individual company for themselves. Good luck with that. Most are in China. DHgate is not a vendor and is not a scammer, but DHgate enables vendors who are scammers. Vendors who do scam customers have a partner in DHgate who will advocate for their dishonest actions. I learned the hard way that DHgate is not impartial and does not support their customers like Ebait or AmerZone.
WARNING: It may be legal in China to swap a purchased item with a similar item of equal or greater value if the purchased item is out of stock! It is not legal to sell merchandise in China that does not work. It seems suppliers change names, get a new business license or "chop", when fraud charges start to mount up.
WARNING: Brand name merchandise are often cheap counterfeits. If you order clothes, jewelry, or electronics you have a good chance of being disappointed when you open the shipment. Some consumers might deal with a reputable company, looks like more than a few DHgate vendors cannot be trusted.
WARNING: DHgate policy may prevent a buyer from opening a dispute with a vendor, especially if the item ordered is a personal product or a custom-made product (wedding dress), or item was received late (“held up in customs”) or order has been closed (the “gotcha”) and payment has been released to vendor.
I have noticed negative posts about DHgate on some web sites get covered over by brief and incredibly favorable "five star" DHgate.com posts. Buyers on some scam alert sites will see many favorable DHgate reviews before coming to an honest negative one. My guess is they are posted by compensated or intimidated DHgate employees. It speaks volumes to me about DHgate integrity.
Someone in DHgate management should decide it would be better to improve customer service and streamline the refund process rather than risk losing more buyers.
Just before mediation was scheduled to begin, I received a message to send a "more convincing video proof that the item I received from the vendor was not the item ordered". They asked for a video of me as I first opened the shipment box! The best I could do was make a video of my receipt that pictured the item I ordered and then the obviously different item received. They also needed a video showing that the item did not work; that showed that my batteries worked in another device! I think DHgate is counting on a buyer of an inexpensive item to decide not to go through all the hassle. I considered mine a moderately expensive purchase. I not only sent the video to DHgate mediation, but I emailed it to my credit card fraud investigation department. The email also made it clear that “it would be in my favor to remove any negative internet reviews” about DHgate. That is probably very effective in China, but not here in the USA.
DHgate mediation took five weeks. No communication. No replies. Finally, DHgate emailed me their decision: partial refund in the form of a credit from the vendor I had ordered from. I’ll never use it. No return of the wrong and malfunctioning merchandise. Only a recycler will take it.
The good news is DHgate’s decision did not matter in my case! In the US, buyers who pay by credit card can have their card issuer “chargeback” for items shipped they didn’t order or items that arrive broken. The video I had emailed to my credit card fraud investigation department was enough for them the remove DHgate’s charge. For more information, because there are limitations and restrictions, do an internet search for “chargeback”.
It wasn't over! DHgate was not through with me. Nine days after DHgate mediation had settled my case I received an email from DHgate Trust and Safety Department. Over two months after my credit card issuer had contacted them, DHgate wrote, “we found that you have filed a chargeback via your Credit Card company … tell us more information so that we can look into the case further and help you solve it … send the order back to the seller…” Just to get them current, I emailed the DHgate Trust and Safety Department a copy of the email I received about DHgate’s mediation decision. That was the last I heard from them.
I was not permitted (and I assume other buyers who have a dispute are not allowed) to give an approval rating for the vendor. That’s one reason most vendor approval ratings are high. I do not trust a vendor’s approval rating!
Yes, I finally filed a complaint at eConsumer.gov who, when enough complaints are received, will do something better than collect complaints. If you have been scammed by a DHgate supplier please go to eConsumer.gov and file a complaint.
And yes, I filed a complaint with the FTC. Though AVS. International INC./DhGate.US. in Chino Hills, CA, the DHgate headquarters is in Beijing, so the FTC can offer limited help ... consumer is on their own.
I know how attractive some advertised prices are. I know now not to trust a vendor’s approval rating. I really regret that I did not take time to read reviews about DHgate before I placed my order. I hope some people who read reviews about DHgate will give the advice serious consideration before they place an order.
So CAUTION! AVOID! DHgate.com
Won't Refund Promised Shipping Cost, instead you will receive a Credit from a company you'll never buy from again!
不会退款发货，而是您将收到一家您再也不会购买的公司的信用卡！ Bù huì tuì kuǎn fā huò, ér shì nín jiāng shōu dào yījiā nín zài yě bù huì gòumǎi de gōngsī de xìnyòngkǎ!
DONT use this company, as always the deal is too good to be true!
不要使用这家公司，因为一如既往，这笔交易太棒了！ Bùyào shǐyòng zhè jiā gōngsī, yīn wéi yīrújìwǎng, zhè bǐ jiāoyì tài bàngle!
Doesn't matter WHAT you purchase, they make you ship it back and THEN tell you after the fact that a refund can only be issued in
the form of a shopping credit on DHGate.com.
It took months for a refund to come thru for the defective product, but no shipping refund.
I contacted them and there was NO explanation the first contact that was what they were going to do.
I contact them again, and suddenly because the credit card was not used thru their website for the SHIPPING, ?!
they can not due to their defunct banking system, refund the shipping.
Of course, that means that EVERYONE gets screwed like this ! And DHgate and their vendors WIN! by loads of money
in credits sitting there which will never be used! I won't deal with this again. So $51 dollarsGONE on a $120 defective item....
Don't buy from them, pay more use reliable sources such as the big E and A and now Wally World online.
I ordered a wig from DHgate and when I received it, it had a bald spot at the back. I immediately went to the site and wrote a message to the seller. The seller asked that I provide pictures of the wig and I did, then the seller promised to send me a new wig and a week and a half later I had not heard anything more from the seller. I decided to write again and I was asked to go through the same process again, which I did, and that was when I was offered a discount on the second order. I refused to place another order while I had paid for a wig I can't use and lost money at that. After that, the seller ignored my messages. I wrote DHgate and they said I should communicate with the seller and reach an agreement. After two weeks of on and off messages DHgate told me to open an after sales dispute. Each time I tried, it didn't work. I wrote back and each time was told to open a dispute. Between communicating with the seller and DHgate a few weeks passed then they wrote to say I should have opened a dispute within seven days of receiving the wig, and that nothing can be done for me at this point.
I bought jeans from them for $44. I was sent the wrong size. I opened a case. As expected they favored the Chinese seller
I have been following up with [email protected] with no response back. This person is not escalating my issue. Very evident trying to hide the matter
Purchased a key cutting machine on Nov. 01, 2020 from DHgate.com, paid CAD $277.54, did not use it for 10 months. In Sept. 2021, tried my best to cut a key but failed. Contacted DHgate.com and seller many times, even sent them two machine operating videos, no solutions come.
I am a handyman and do not like complaint, if this machine works 80% its job, I could tolerate keeping it, just it is not doing anything and even waste my key blanks
Sent me a machine that worked for 6 weeks. Then stopped working. They refuse to fix it, replace it or give me a refund.
Do not do biz with them. I wasted $2700.
They sold and sent me a FAKE LV purse on DH GATE and on top of that it is terrible quality. They advertised it as a genuine leather purse and it is FAR from genuine leather. I filed a dispute and they agreed to a refund, BUT they wanted me to pay to send it back to them in China. The return address they provided was not correct, therefore I believe that they would claim that they never received it because it was a bad address. I sent them several email messages recinding my agreement to send back to FAKE LV purse but they never responded. I googled the address and found them on this website so there has to be truth to them being a SCAMMING Vendor.
The company would not discuss a refund and used all lies to cover for a company they represented. I have tried for months and now I give up. I will NEVER order anything from them again. That the account was considered closed.
I have tried everything with this company, they are not honest. I tried to get a refund, or return the mesh bags, get them replaced, they only like you when you are paying them.
Do not waste your time or money.
All 3 products I have ordered from DHGATE have proven to be a scam – fake tracking ID’s where the seller uses the tracking ID of someone else’s parcel also going to NZ.
All 3 parcels have been addressed to other people, and delivered to other addresses far from us.
You already refunded one parcel, please can the other 2 be refunded urgently as this scam has put me to immense work and financial pressure. The 2 sellers are already well known to you from other complaints by other people.
They are:
saf61x51fx2
and
guzhizhu
DHgate has a big problem occurring across the board on dhgate, scammers are setting up storefronts, selling products they don't have, guitars, sports products, electric bicyles, and all kinds of items, for about three weeks, posting fake tracking numbers, then completely disappearing.
Then adding insult to injury, DHgate policy sides with the seller, making the customer who was scammed jump through hoops and wait weeks or months to get a refund. It makes a person think dhgate themselves are 100% in on the scam.
Dhgate is a ripoff scam company
DH Gate Ordered a 15 piece dewalt tool set. China tracking said delivered in my mailbox. A 15 piece cordless toolset in my mailbox.... smh. No item never received their tracking shows delivered to total different zip code. And wont refund me my money Nothing Statesville NC
More than one report on this scam website. I suppose not sending items at all or at least people not receiving them might be tough to prosecute. And I know this site hosts sellers, so they likely blame the sellers individually for their woes.
However it is not individual sellers, but rather the site itself, which blatently and outright lies to customers to take their money.
The site displays the location an item is in as part of the listing. They list the items as being local on purpose. They aren't. In the case of my individual order, they just give me the run around but refuse to address the misrepresentation as they seemingly not just allow these customer manipulations, but rather encourage them. The seller won't refund my money of course, customer service for the site itself ignores that the lies are what make people make the purchases in the first place.
My money along with so many others' is gone, but that's not my goal at this point. Hopefully this report will reach someone who puts all the multiple reports against this organization together and actually does something about it.
Again, might be tough when it comes to long shipping times or merchandise not received (though on that latter part it shouldn't be) however surely -absolute lies in print on the website- used to take people's money are easily provable, and hopefully illegal.
Willing to cooperate further in any conceivable way. Thanks!
Ordered 2 jackets small & extra large. got 2 small. can not get refund or exchange
I had bought handbags and clothing from this website! The merchandise looks great as shown on there website, but when I received it !!! The bags looked like total garbage made poorly and yes clothing sizes were super small.
Ok tried to return immediately cause I did not want. I messaged and messaged no result they do not answer and now stuck with 100.00 dollars worth of junk. So please do not trust this sight it has bad business practices
Stay away from DHgate. They took my payment and never sent merchandise. A big RipOff! I filed a complaint with econsumer.gov.
They are fake! Do not BUY products from them. They are accepting payments and then blocked you!!!! A complete group of slammers and fakers!
Never received item. Was ripped off like others. Company needs prosecuting for fraud.
SCAM!! You will not receive your order if you order from there.
No reaction to e-mails. Never shipped. No help. No refund
Don't trust dhgate for any thing. They don't look after the customer's best interest although they claim they do. They say that they'll hold your money in trust and not release money to the seller, but it's not true at all. One of the problems with the Chinese market is that they cannot come up with standard measurements for clothes. Their sizes are outrageous: 4XL, 6XL. Second, the body measurements don't match anything we are used to in the US. Third, the sellers don't help because they have a certain axe to grind. They'll never commit to what size they're sending you. The chest, sleeve size etc is in centimetres. They'll ask you to choose the size, which I can guarantee will be smaller. Later they profess innocence because you chose the size. Dhgate wants you to send the clothes back if you want a refund, but the catch is that you need to use a trackable courier, which costs $89 from the US. You'll have to be a medically-designated idiot to spend $89 to get $20. Dhgate is nowhere to be found later. So please AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS!!
If any problem occurs with tailor work quality - the store is by default on the seller's side and buyer always has to prove that problem exists by following complex agreement routine for return: correct measurement, taking the right images and uploading them. All must be done in very short time interval - 7 days (usually buyer during this time already not available, attending the event). Usually upon arrival - it is already too late to provide proof.
Very complex workflow for dispute, again protecting and assisting only seller and DHGate, against buyer again. Usually DHGate takes the side of the seller anyway or issues very small amount of compensation to buyer (dress was 120$ and compensation was 15$, didn't accept my return). If buyer has to ship item back - DHGate gives just 4 days for shipping and uploading receipt. Shipping must be with tracking number(!!) which is astronomically high to China.
Workmanship. We ordered several dresses (paid more than $1000) - no one was without serious tailoring problems or defects. All sizes were incorrect. The quality level was like a student / beginner, who just started to learn to how to tailor. As a result we had to buy dresses in local stores (amazingly local stores served better, prices were not higher than in DHGate, if something is wrong -return is not a problem)
These are answers from seller veralove999 when i provided her with images showing problems with sizes (all were wrong): "Hello friend, you need to go to the tailor store to measure,your way is wrong,before we send the item to you,our QC checked many times,pls do it."
I can provide more examples of communication with DHGate stores upon request. The main problem is they manufacture clothes with defects, all with incorrect sizes - clothes that does not fit.
I completed a survey then received an offer of a reward for the survey. I chose an electronic cigarette. I was to pay $8.00 shipping. I received the kit as promised. Then my credit card was charged $8.00 + $3.00 (foreign trans. fee) +$99.95 (FRAUD) for a total of $110.95. My bank (Amegy) insisted that I try to “work things out” with this disreputable merchant. Max vapor online offered a partial refund of $70.00 which they did issue. Now Amegy considers the matter closed， although I was charged $32.95 which was never authorised. I am fighting with Amegy for the credit and expect this matter will end when I close this bank account. They are more concerned to protect the fraudulent merchant than their 20 + year customer. Do not have any dealings with Max Vapor and consider your choices when you chose to bank with Amegy Bank.
DHGate guitars is a Ripoff...Why they hold your money to collect interest off it...For months... Never send the Guitar...Tell you its on it way...I saw a Firebird nice liked it...Been playing 40/years like this guitar they had...So at Christmas ..I went for it ...Little did I know what I was getting into...A lot of waisted time...Don't deal with this company you will never get your Guitar...I tried two times to get one of these guitars... Never received one...Your just giving a loan to Dhgate to collect interest.... god bless
I'M STILL COUNTING THE COST OF DHGATE'S BROKEN GUARANTEES AND PROMISSES
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.
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.
Local Gallery in CS Colorado purchases from a storefront out of Dhgate 60 Par 20 warm LED lightbulbs. The Gallery is a small co-op with little operating profit and need to save money and be green at the same time. This is why we went to using LED lighting for Gallery. Lighting is used about 8 hours a day and are not on dimmers. They are only switched on at the begining of the day and turned off at the end.
After about 2 weeks of usage we lost 3 bulbs - 4 more were lost 1 week after that - We were credited these bulbs from the store front only if I purchase more bulbs. After 90 days Dhgate will not honor refunds.
It has been 3months and we have lost a total of 30 bulbs out of 60. They get dim and then quit. I have documented the failures in the form of a video on Youtube
Unless you want TOTAL aggravation! BUYER BE WARE! THEY WILL TAKE YOUR MONEY AND YOU WILL GET NO SATISFACTION IF THE ITEM DOESN'T FIT OR MEET YOUR NEEDS. My daughter found a flower girl dress she wanted me to buy for her wedding. The dress arrived looking just like the picture...except it weighed nearly 2 lbs! It was bulky, heavy and totally impractical. It would be extremely uncomfortable even for an adult to wear, let alone a little girl. Buying a product seen online is a risk, and I mistakenly assumed it would be easy enough to return promptly (as with every other retailer I've done business with!). WEEKS into a "dispute" after hashing it out with a Chinese seller who would not budge and refused to accept a return, then the DH Gate company making me jump hoops with their "wait and see" policy,...dispute, they review and then demanding of you with threats of closing the case. They demanded that I provide "proof" which included a photo of the dress. When that was provided, they said it wasn't good enough (even though it showed hand scale with dress to prove weight) and they responded by giving me ONE day (a day I happened to be gone) to get them a picture. It is VERY OBVIOUS this is a sham company! I will NEVER do business with this company again. I am now disputing the charge with my bank in hopes of getting them to fight for me with this AWFUL company called DH GATE.
Shall we begin? Dhgate turned a just less than $90 dollar purchase into a longwinded insulting circus act. Months of time wasted too. The Seller shipped me 4 very tiny ic boards that had a usb jack on them, some of the jacks were badly bent from being expected to make it overseas in a standard letter size envelope lined with bubblewrap. What I hoped they were really going to ship me was what i paid for instead, that being 4 CNC controller cards and the proper cabling that was written in the sellers ad. Anyhow, they felt like promoting themselves today as suggested the email that arrived in my inbox, so I felt compelled to reply back to that sent email with this: It is somewhat insulting for you to send me this email. Especially because your resolution dept completely blew me off about getting a refund processed. Alot of back and forth wastes of time with maybe 15 different resolution dept workers over months and months, all over a 90 dollar purchase for 4 cnc controller cards that never got delivered. I got robbed! You, helped the seller rob me! Thats awesome.. And you never ever looked at the picture I sent to you even once of the wrong much smaller items that did arrive in the mail. I heard on the news today that China is starting to really crack down on crime and fraud there. Well look at me, a friggin day late and dollar short when it comes to them cracking down on your dishonest business!
P.S. the resolution dept 'supervisor'/manager is just as corrupted as the seller on your service for refusing to follow through..always only first names, never any last names, and never any way to expect to only be catered to by ONLY ONE resolution dept worker, rather than spread the claimed case so thinly amongst 15 other employees, as to never create a proper understanding of what is going on. Instead, I had 15 different dhgate resolution workers, repeating the same questions they asked me each and every time a new worker seemed to pick up where the last one left off! Should I write something about this in a bunch of online review websites? hmm... I wonder if you will respond back to prevent that from ever happening. You're scam supporting thieves until proven otherwise, its no wonder you do not have a world wide 1-800 phone number for concerned customers to reach you at, I mean if i was a scammer running a profitable website, I might not ever pay for a 1-800 number to be attached to my company, besides, if customers were able to actually contact you, well then that would mean you would have to step up your game when it comes to being honest. In a effort to save honest people any financial hardships plus insults to injury, anyone reading this should avoid dhgate.com until further notice.