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Q: Returning Fake Electronics on Taobao..What was your experience?
So it finally happened to me. I bought a fake phone from Taobao. It was my fault I suppose, i heard that it's better to shop on JD.com or TMall for authentic electronics, but given the fact that everyone here always tells me I spend too much every month and that I am addicted to "over-spending", I wanted to be thrifty and buy from Taobao so I could show people that I can actually spend less money, but I just choose not to.
Anyway, I bought a Xiaomi Mi3 for RMB 1050. I got a nice portable charger, headphones, flip cover case, and screen protector. That should have actually been my first clue, that I was getting way too much for the amount of money I was spending. But I digress, after playing with the phone for the past 2 days, and trying, unsuccessfully to download Google Play, and even other simple apps like games and such, I realized something was wrong. Off the bat I noticed that the processor was not the same one that comes loaded on the Mi3, so then I downloaded the Anti-Fake (JianDing) app from the Xiaomi website, ran the scan, and of course it's a FAKE. I wasn't even upset, I actually laughed. Oh China, why do you like to screw me in so many ways? Haha. Anyway, so I'm going to go through the process of returning the phone to the seller, and buy a real one from JD or Xiaomi directly. What should I expect?
---UPDATE---
My friend just told me that the shop I bought the phone from on Taobao has disappeared and he cannot find it. So at this point am I basically screwed? Will contacting Taobao even be worth it?
I heard Baotao does 'cash return' home deliveries to all 'big spender' unsatisfied customers.
'ready or not, here I come, you can't hide.....' with 'Fugees' blasting....
You should be able to return it. If the seller refuses you can report him and ask for Taobao to step in and mediate.
Does the seller's page have the 7-day return guarantee? That helps. If it's a no hassle return, be sure to select "other" for the reason. There actually is a "fake goods" option when choosing the reason for return, but a seller -for obvious reasons- will not be pleased if you choose it. They have the option of declining a return and will not hesitate to do so. If it's more complicated than that, do you have the Ali Wang Wang chat app? You'll need to start a dialogue with the seller before initiating a return. If your Chinese is up to the negotiations, go for it. If not, absolutely get someone to negotiate on your behalf. Fortunately sellers on Taobao these days are so obsessed with their ratings and feedback that returns aren't the high drama they once were. Often maddening communication, typically head-shaking logic, but as long as you get the money...oh yeah, the money will go back to your Taobao account, not your bank.
I'm curious how you discovered the processor wasn't correct. I guess you didn't disassemble the phone. Do you have an app to query the hardware?
And never mind the freebies, how did you think 500-600 RMB off the street price of a Xiaomi -a company famous for scarcity marketing and selling at near manufacturing cost- could be anything but secondhand or fake?
WanderingTeacher:
I was being stupid and cheap..which is against my nature..in America, we have a natural repulsion to anything cheap and believe the cheaper the price, the worse the quality is, but I don't know, I just lost my mind for a second and thought maybe I was getting a good deal...really sometimes I just forgot what country I'm in.
I ran CPU Z, which pulls up all the hrdware and software information, and immediately I knew something was wrong..but even when i went to settings > About phone, and looked at the processor it said the same thing, but I thought maybe it was wrong, but CPU Z confirmed it was in fact correct...I then downloaded the Fake or Not Verify app from Xiaomi http://www.miui.com/zt/jianding and it confirmed that i was in fact a fake.
Honestly I'm trying to find the seller now but my Chinese is still very bad, I don't know who it was I bought from. I had my friend buy it for me, since I can't read Chinese, so I will have him handle it. It's really unfortunate that the money will go back to his Taobao account instead of his card, because that means I will now have to try and find a real legitimate phone on Taobao...fuck..
My friend just told me that the shop I bought the phone from on Taobao has disappeared and he cannot find it. So at this point am I basically screwed? Will contacting Taobao even be worth it?
Stiggs:
I think you're screwed. The guy has unloaded all his cheap fakes and has now disappeared.
Best just to treat it as a life lesson which could have been much worse ( it's only a phone, not a car or something) and move on.
icnif77:
Maybe,
your 'guanxi' could help
?
Once, I met hand shoe maker in Silk Road in Shanghai. I asked him, if he could make me (showed him pics) 2 pairs of shoes. He confirmed, and demanded 3000 Rmb for work. I was very happy, because I felt similar as I would be in London, and paid cash in total.
After 'one fitting', he mailed both pairs to my address in Anshan. Shoes were made too small. A size or 2 too small. Fake leather. No refund of course, buTT..I asked!
He's still working in Silk Road. My only option was/is 'pick the biggest stone on the floor, and throw it in the store's window'. Roughly, I have to get at least 10 stones, and repeat the action, after every new window is installed, to get even for 3000 Rmb.
I would be even embarrassed to tell Chinese 'guanxi' friends about it. Was contemplating to rename myself to 'ben'.
Isn't Taobao known for having fake electronics? Everyone that I know here has repeatedly advised me to NEVER buy electronics from them.
You can find the store.
It's still in the My Purchases list of your Taobao account. It's also in the transaction record of your Alipay account.
The store may have been taken down by Taobao after receiving complaints, so your next step would be to contact Taobao Customer Service with all the details.
You still have options, but it also depends how much time and patience you have.
WanderingTeacher:
I'm over it..i just ordered a new one from Xiaomi directly...which i what I should have done in the first place..oh well now i know. Upside is, I was going to buy a new eBike and the local shops here, for whatever reason, are taking 800-1000 off the sale price of eBikes if you give them your old phone. So now that I have will have two old phones to give them, I am sort of, in a way, getting my money back regardless. So no harm no foul. The guy who cheated me on Taobao needed the money more than I did.
Your shanzi phone works doesn't it? Whether it is a Da Mi or O mi, who cares? If you can make a phone call, look at a webpage on the train and access wechat, what else do you really need for 1000rmb? Call it lesson learned.
Google playstore can be added to your apps but really doesn't do much nowadays on any phone.
On a side note, I once had a friend buy a Blackberry on taobao for a bargain few grand. When it arrived it wasn't a phone, it was a blackberry look a like toy called Blackterry but you could maneuver little fish through and obstacle course in the water filled screen. When he tried to contact the store, shock, horror, it had closed down. The comedy was worth the money....for his friends at least.
WanderingTeacher:
That's not the point..I wanted this specific phone for a specific reason..Maybe you only use your phone for making calls, accessing wechat, and loading a webpage on a train...but I don't. I am and have always been very particular about my phones because I need a phone that has a certain level of camera capabilites such has mp. full hd, fps, dual flash, true hdr, etc. I also need certain processor speed, resolution, etc. There are many things, but verything I needed and wanted, the Mi3 had, so if I could get what I wanted for 1000rmb, then why spend 4000rmb on another phone? Also, on this fake/clone...I can not get Google play or any Google apps on it..which is the main problem I have with this phone, besides it's shitty camera and sub par processor, because I use my Google apps every day..and yes i have already tried every method of sideloading them onto the phone and the install always fails...even other apps that should not have a problem such as QQ, does not install only the phone...it's just bad. But it's cool, I'm over now, I've already ordered a new phone from Xiaomi..so lesson learned..always buy from the manufacturer..this is another reason why i bought a cheaper phone in the first place..because this is China and I don't trust any thing here..so if it broke or something happened...I wouldn't be overly pissed about it
iWolf:
Erm...nothing Google related works nowadays regardless of what phone you have unless you use a vpn and to my knowledge, as I have one, the vpn options on xiaomi aren't viable for anything.
WanderingTeacher:
Maybe you are not using a good VPN, or you don't know how to correctly sideload google apps onto the phone, But the only other Chinese phone I had before tihs fake Xiaomi, I had sideloaded with google apps as a backup in case my American phone's battery died or something (like i said I use Google apps a lot, every day), and even on my Chinese phone, my google apps worked fine, with the exception of Google translate's Live Translation being slow at time, but all the other apps worked perfectly..some didn't need the VPN, and others did..but regardless, they worked. The reason I don't just stick with the old Chinese phone, is because the screen is too small and I need a phablet sized screen to do what I need to do. When I first bought it, i never intended to use it for anything other than making and receiving calls. The other reason I wanted Xiaomi, which you may want to consider if you do want to use your google apps, with or without your vpn, is that I can easily flash my device with a different ROM version..such as the MIUI Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, etc versions. All of which comes loaded, and seamlessly integrates with, Google Play services.
njren:
Any decent VPN will offer an Android option. The OpenVPN protocol does play nice with Android. The Xiaomi Mi- series offer a "stable ROM" and "developer ROM" with the developer option giving a whole lot more control. The Xiaomi Redmi series phones do not offer that choice.
Anyway, appears it's a closed topic, so good luck to all. I am not a fan of Xiaomi or their business model, but MIUI does have global user support if you choose to take it home (and buy the WCDMA version) or if not, easily sell it to someone here since the things are so darned popular.
iWolf:
Thanks for you tips but I have tried a few different vpns, all with varying degrees of success on my xiaomi.....none very good. So I have accepted my fate and learned to live without google services.
I'm thinking that xiaomi have some sort of arrangement with the admin at the great firewall.
And yes, I do understand how to use a vpn.
Go to your My Purchases page and look for this: 订单详情 (purchase order details) in the record for the Xiaomi. Click on that link. The page that opens will have all the details.
