AliExpress Online Shopping Experience in Saudi Arabia

I am not into online shopping, I prefer seeing/feeling physically before buying something. I had heard a lot about AliExpress being a competitor of eBay and that some things are available at very good rates.

To test this I thought to order something useful but cheap. I came across "Small Tactical Belt Bag", which I wanted for some time. While searching I saw that same product was available from multiple sellers at different rates. I explored the cheapest, the seller had very good ratings and I don't think I could find that bag in that price in KSA thus I proceeded with the order.

Product:

Larger Capacity Tactical Molle Pouch Belt Waist Pack Bag Small Pocket Military Waist Fanny Pack for iPhone 7 Pocket for Samsung-in Climbing Bags from Sports & Entertainment on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group Cheap pocket military, Buy Quality pouch molle directly from China pocket samsung Suppliers:     Larger Capacity Tactical Molle http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Larger-Capacity-Tact… View Now

I paid online on 21st June 2016 and received the following email:

"Dear 

Payment for Order no. 76xxxxx has been accepted.

Currently, your payment is 'Being Verified'. Payments are usually verified within 24 hours. After verification, the supplier will begin to process your order.

During this time, you are unable to do any operation on your order. 

Sincerely,

AliExpress.com 

2016.06.21 07:58"

On 22nd June 2016 I received the following email, looked straightforward and safe:

"Your Order 76xxxxx has been shipped

Dear Nauman Khan,

This is an e-mail notification to inform you that your order .76xxxxxx has been shipped by the seller on 2016.06.22 01:08. You are advised to contact the seller for shipment information.

The Purchase Protection of order .76xxxxxx  will end on 2016.08.21 01:08.

1. If you are satisfied with the items you have received, then you can click  'Confirm Order Received'.

2. If you have not received your items, or you are not satisfied with your items, you can click ’Open Dispute.’ before Purchase Protection deadline or Purchase will be automatically finalized.

3. If you would like to extend your Purchase Protection you can contact the seller directly or click  'Request to extend Purchase Protection' to ask for the seller's approval.

Please note if there is no action taken within Purchase Protection, your order will be automatically finalized with payment released.

Sincerely,

AliExpress.com 

2016.06.22 01:08"

I noticed that the tracking number didn't work on any tracking website. Considering the price of the item, I preferred to wait but contacted the seller after some time:

urShadow

2016-07-18 00:03:14

Hi, According to 'Track Order', the item has still not left China, will I get the item in time?

HL

2016-07-18 18:36:36

Dear friend,

Thank you for your message.

We just checked your parcel, the shipping information is as below;

2016-06-24 12:00 

Exchange Bureau in Guangzhou, have been exported to opem

Could you kindly wait the parcel for some days? in normal conditions it needs 20-60 days,

If you have any other concerns please feel free to contact us, we are here glad to help you.

Have a nice day.

Best wishes.

urShadow

2016-08-14 01:40:39

Hi, I would like to inform you that I have still not received the order, the Tracking Information is also not showing anything, I will have to open a dispute if I don't receive it by coming Sunday.

Email received:

"Seller has extended Purchase Protection for you.  

Dear Nauman Khan,

 This is an e-mail notification to inform you that the seller has extended Purchase Protection for you for Order 76xxxxxxx .

Currently the Purchase Protection of Order 76xxxxxx will end on 2016.09.20 01:08.

1. If you are satisfied with the items you have received, then you can click 'Confirm Order Received'.

2. If you have not received your items, or you are not satisfied with your items, you can click ’Open Dispute’ before Purchase Protection deadline or Purchase will be automatically finalized.

3. If you would like to extend your Purchase Protection you can contact the seller directly or click  'Request to extend Purchase Protection' to ask for the seller's approval.

Please note if there is no action taken within Purchase Protection, your order will be automatically finalized with payment released."

Sincerely,

AliExpress.com 

2016.08.15 00:27"

HL

2016-08-15 00:28:13

hi friend 

just extend delivery date for you 

we had contact local post to check,and they tell us the package has been deliveried to your city 

please contact your local post to confirm receive it or not 

some package arrived to local and wait for you take away 

could you please cancel dispute at first?think can recieve it soon 

thanks for understand

urShadow

2016-08-15 00:54:48

Hi,

The tracking number you provided does not work on the tracking website thus plz share what details should I provide to the local post to identify the package?

HL

2016-08-15 01:47:41

Dear customer,this is the correct tracking number 70xxxxx

urShadow

2016-08-15 01:50:10

I have opened a ticket with Saudi Post, waiting for their response.

HL

2016-08-15 03:12:26

OK,any problem please feel free to conatct me.

urShadow

2016-08-16 00:59:45

Hi,

Saudi Post is saying the following:

عميلنا العزيز، نأمل التكرم بتزويدنا برقم الشحنة المكون من 13 خانة ( المكون من حروف وأرقام ) وذلك لنتمكن من خدمتكم بشكل أسرع.

نشكركم ونتطلع لخدمتكم

فريق الخدمة العملاء

Google Translate:

Dear Valued Customer, We kindly hope to provide us with the package number, consisting of 13 characters (consisting of letters and numbers) in order to be able to serve you faster.

We thank you and we look forward to serving you

Customer service team

The tracking number you provided me and which I provided to Saudi Post is of 11 characters "70xxxxx". They are looking for a tracking number which looks like "RR123456789CN‎" (13 characters).

Also as I informed you before, I am not able to track the package using the tracking number you provided, plz see the attached snapshots:

Plz guide what should i do?

HL

2016-08-16 01:04:44

Dear friend,

You should check the tracking information in this website http://intmail.11185.cn

Have a nice day!

urShadow

2016-08-16 01:33:40

I have just checked, it is not showing that the package has been delivered to Saudi Post Riyadh, plz see the snapshot

HL

2016-08-16 01:38:15

Dear customer,

Please don't worry about it.

The tracking information update very slow.

The carrier can check it in them own system.

Could you please pick up the parcel in the local post office first?

Thanks for your understanding.

urShadow

2016-08-17 01:14:46

Hi,

I just visited Saudi Post office, they said the Tracking number should start with letter 'R' and should end with letters 'CN', CN means China. They showed me several packages which had such tracking numbers. They said to bring such tracking number and they can track the package for me, else they cannot track it.

Plz provide me the Tracking number starting with 'R' and ending on 'CN'. Sample: "RR123456789CN‎"

HL

2016-08-17 02:09:01

Dear friend,

This is really the correct tracking number.

We sent it with China Post Ordinary packet.

Now this is an important point, China Post Ordinary and China Post Registered Air Mail are different. The tracking number I have been requesting "RR123456789CN‎" belongs to China Post Registered Air Mail, whereas the shipment method used by the seller is China Post Ordinary which is not trackable, although the shipment method mentioned on the product was China Post Registered Air Mail. This gave me an idea how the seller was able to sell this product at such a rate. So when you are purchasing something, I would recommend to talk to the seller and get a confirmation that China Post Registered Air Mail will be used so that you or Saudi Post can track it when required.

urShadow

2016-08-17 04:39:12

Hi,

The shipping method of this item is mentioned as "China Post Registered Air Mail" (see snapshot as well), from the internet I have found that:

"China Post Register Mail is an economical and slow shipping service. Normally it will take about 2 to 4 weeks to arrive destination country from China. Register Airmail tracking number is a 13-digit tracking code starting with letter "R" and ending with "CN". i.e. RR123456789CN." - http://track-chinapost.com/

If you can arrange such Tracking number then let me know, else I will have to open dispute, as I have waited for 2 months and I have not received the package.

urShadow

2016-08-17 05:05:22

Hi,

GOOD NEWS!!!

I have finally received the package, it is in perfect condition, thanks!

But the shipment method you used in not trackable, plz see the attached picture. If this package would have not reached me, I had no method to track it.

HL

2016-08-17 18:40:20

Dear friend,

Thanks for your message. 

We sent it with China Post Ordinary packet,it really a little solwly.

Thanks for your understanding.

Have a nice day!

Considering the price of the item, the quality is very good so if the item is sent using China Post Registered Air Mail then I guess there should be no issues ordering items from AliExpress.

-urShadow