The overwhelming majority of parcels from the most popular Chinese online store successfully find their addressees. But there are cases when you are waiting for your parcel, but it is still not there. So that in the end the buyer is not left without money and goods, AliExpress has a buyer’s protection function, which provides an opportunity to return money if the goods have not been delivered to their destination at the time set by the rules of the trading platform.
It is important to open a dispute before the end of this period in order not to lose money and return the paid order value. But if you still hope that the package is about to show up, you can try to extend this service-guaranteed period.
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How Buyer Protection Works
Many online stores try to protect their customers in one way or another. There is such a mechanism on AliExpress – after paying for the order, the money will not be credited to the seller’s account until the client confirms the fact of receiving the parcel with a serviceable product that matches the description. In other words, AliExpress acts as an intermediary that guarantees mutual compliance with the terms of the transaction.
If the buyer has problems with the order, he can dispute the transaction and return the money. But under one important condition: it is necessary to open a dispute before the end of the period during which the seller undertakes to deliver the goods. Usually this period is several times (3-4) longer than the average delivery time for a parcel. If everything is fine and the buyer has no complaints about the product, after receiving the parcel, he must confirm this in his office in the “My Orders” section. In this case, the “frozen” money goes to the seller’s account, and the deal is closed.
That is why it is so important to regularly monitor purchase protection times, as well as read notifications in which you will be warned about the imminent end of guaranteed delivery times.
When an Extension of Buyer Protection May Be Required
Delivery errors do happen, but rarely. The main goal of introducing protection on AliExpress is to prevent the possibility of deceiving buyers, since unscrupulous sellers have been, are and will be. Before this feature appeared, such scammers simply did not send the goods, hoping that they had caught a gullible inexperienced buyer who would not do anything until the very last moment. And this calculation was often justified. Such cases are rare nowadays, thanks in large part to the protection of buyers. Nevertheless, if the seller behaves suspiciously and after payment is in no hurry to send the track code, coming up with various excuses, or sends a “left” number, which can be difficult to find, or asks not to open a dispute, giving your arguments – you need to “sharpen ears ”- most likely, you have come across just such a dishonest seller.
In such cases, you should not wait for the end of the delivery time – feel free to open a dispute and apply for a refund.
But it also happens that you do not doubt the decency of the seller (there are many positive reviews with photos, you yourself have repeatedly made orders), and the package is really delayed. Then it makes sense to extend the delivery time on your own initiative: it is better to wait a little longer than to waste time – until you get your money back, while you make a new order, until it arrives …
The seller has the right to extend the delivery time. He often does this on his own initiative, if he sees that the package is delayed. But you still have the opportunity to open a dispute if you believe that there are grounds for this.
The buyer cannot change the delivery time, but he has the right to ask the seller about it, who can agree or refuse. For example, if he knows that the package has already been delivered to its destination, but you are in no hurry to pick it up. He, of course, is interested in receiving money, and if you justify your request (for example, lack of time), then he will most likely give in to you.
You can find out the protection period on AliExpress for a specific order in your personal account. And if this boundary date is already close, and the parcel is still on the way, as follows from its status and track code data, you should not wait until the last day. If the seller does not get in touch for more than 2 days, do not delay opening a dispute – it is better to send an application 4-5 days before the deadline ends.
If you want to extend it, the site has a special form that allows you to send a request to the seller without having to explain something in English.
How to Extend Buyer’s Protection Time on AliExpress
The time allotted to protect your order is set depending on the terms of delivery. Most often, users choose free shipping, which reaches Russia on average per month. Therefore, the term of protection is chosen in such cases for large cities located near the entry points, at the level of one and a half months, and if it is a settlement located in depth – 2 months. Usually, the time it takes for a parcel to travel from the supplier to the borders of Russia is short, but inside the country, the parcel can take a long time to reach its destination.
The maximum validity period for the order protection feature is 120 days.
If the delivery time is coming to an end, and the status of the parcel is unknown (often tracking is possible only to the borders of the Russian Federation), you need to ask the seller to extend the date, and this can be done in three ways:
- by pressing a special button;
- asking the seller about it in the correspondence;
- by opening a dispute.
The latter option is not the best, since AliExpress is quite critical of users prone to conflicts. And if this is not your first argument or your arguments seem unconvincing, there is a chance that your account will simply be blocked, and this is the worst case of all.
Do not allow a situation when the deadline has expired – the money will be credited to the seller automatically, and the administration of the online store will not be able to help.
Manual Buyer Protection Renewal
If there is about a week left until the end of the delivery period, we recommend using this method. To get started, contact the seller, he must answer you no later than 5 days from the date of sending the message. If he does not, your claim will be approved. It should be noted that in China, on large holidays, which can last several days, many do not work, and sellers usually report this. Some of them, especially scrupulous, themselves extend the delivery time in such cases. But not everyone does this.
So make sure in advance that your request will be answered that local holidays will not interfere with this, otherwise send it before the holidays.
Personal message to the seller
You can extend the protection of your order on AliExpress simply by contacting the seller in private messages. If this is a respectable reseller, you will be answered tomorrow (it is customary for the Chinese to process correspondence in the morning). Most likely, your request will be satisfied by agreeing on new terms. This option is less preferable, since you will have to correspond in English, and the option with automatic translation is bad by definition.
Here is an example text of such a message:
Here, instead of 14 days, you can put down the number you need.
For users of the mobile application, this method will be the best, since there is no opportunity to extend the delivery of the parcel through the form here.
If the seller is new or small, you need to be especially careful with him and start communicating in advance – they may simply not answer you, and you must have time to open a dispute. Large stores value their reputation and usually extend the date without any problems.
Dispute opening
Increase the order protection time on AliExpress through a dispute – this method should be resorted to as a last resort, only when the seller ignores your messages or the deadlines are so tight that there is practically no time left to communicate with the reseller.
If the seller in private messages begins to persuade you to close the dispute, convincing that the parcel will arrive in a day or two, do not fall for these persuasions. If you have used one of the other two options before and they were not satisfied, this will be a strong argument in your favor, and the chances of getting a refund will be very high.
We hope you understand that just tracking a package is not enough, you should also keep track of the delivery times for that order. And if the deadline ends, do not sit idly by, otherwise you may be left without money and without goods.