ALAlibaba.com★★★★★
Alibaba Trade Assurance: Three Disputes, No Answers, and No Refund
This is my third full review of Alibaba Trade Assurance. My first was titled “Alibaba Trade Assurance Ignored Evidence of SELLER FRAUD – €2,072 Refund Refused.” My second, “Alibaba Trade Assurance – Senior Review Offered, Evidence Still Ignored,” documented the failure to address my evidence and explain a proposed deduction.
I am writing again because the latest developments reinforce my concerns about how Trade Assurance actually works when a buyer needs protection.
THE TRANSACTION
On 9 May 2026, I paid USD 2,367 (€2,072.68) as a 30% deposit for a new 2026 Infinity FE915 mini excavator, order 300584319001029346. The excavator has never been delivered.
The contract specified the machine's configuration, pre-shipment evidence and a shipment deadline. During production, I raised concerns about discrepancies in the machines shown in the supplier's evidence, components and documentation. I submitted extensive evidence, including the contract, dated correspondence, photographs and technical documents.
TWO DISPUTES, THEN A PROMISED SENIOR REVIEW
After two unsuccessful disputes, Alibaba publicly stated that the matter had been escalated to a senior team for proper review.
The senior team offered USD 1,600 from my USD 2,367 deposit, leaving USD 767 unexplained. Despite repeated requests, Alibaba never provided a satisfactory explanation of what this deduction represented or which contractual provision justified it.
Alibaba then asked me to initiate a third dispute, indicating that the highest-level dispute team would take over. I cooperated and submitted it on 30 September, expressly focusing on that unanswered question.
AND NOW WE ARE BACK TO SQUARE ONE
The supplier privately offered USD 1,000. I rejected this and requested a full refund. The supplier then confirmed in writing that it would refuse my request for a full refund.
On 9 October, the formal dispute record showed the supplier proposing USD 0 refund and asking to continue the order. It claimed production was complete and that I had failed to pay the outstanding balance.
Alibaba has now requested evidence from both parties again, including product information and proof of a breach of the shipping deadline.
After two disputes, extensive evidence, a purported senior review and Alibaba's own request for a third dispute, I am once again being sent through another evidence process. The original question remains unanswered.
The refund positions have moved from Alibaba's USD 1,600 offer, to the supplier's USD 1,000 private offer, to a formal proposal of zero refund. None explains why my deposit should be retained.
WHAT DOES TRADE ASSURANCE ACTUALLY PROTECT?
Alibaba advertises protection when orders fail to ship or products have problems. My experience has been profoundly different from the reassurance those promises create.
I have spent 4 months assembling evidence, challenging decisions and asking for explanations, only to repeat the process without receiving a reasoned answer. I cannot know Alibaba's internal motives, but the practical effect has been an exhausting, repetitive process that raises serious questions about impartiality, accountability and the protection buyers can realistically expect.
MY WARNING TO OTHER BUYERS
Do not assume for one moment that “Trade Assurance” guarantees meaningful protection when something goes wrong. Read the terms carefully and preserve every message and document. Consider what happens if a dispute becomes a prolonged cycle of repeated submissions and unexplained decisions.
I am 70 years old. I should not have to become an expert in dispute procedures simply to obtain a reasoned explanation of why my money is being withheld for goods never delivered.
I continue to request a full refund of USD 2,367 and a reasoned decision identifying the contractual basis, if any, for retaining my deposit.
This is my third full review because the first two did not produce a satisfactory resolution.
Alibaba: stop sending me around the same process and answer the questions I have repeatedly asked.
Buyers deserve more than reassuring promises. They deserve transparent decisions, meaningful examination of evidence and accountability when Trade Assurance fails to deliver the protection they expected.
2026-10-11Helpful 1
ALAlibaba.com★★★★★
Alibaba Trade Assurance Failure
Alibaba Trade Assurance – Senior Review Offered, Evidence Still Ignored
This is a follow-up to my previous Trustpilot review regarding Order 300584319001029346.
I paid USD 2,367 (€2,072.68) deposit, through Trade Assurance for a new 2026 Infinity FE915 mini excavator. The machine has never been shipped or delivered.
I have now been dealing with Alibaba for 4 months and have submitted two full refund disputes with extensive evidence on top of scores of emails.
The supplier fraudulently presented two different machines as mine (Machine A and Machine B). The supplier then lied that Machine A had been dismantled, while its own evidence showed otherwise. The supplier later claimed the machine was “custom-built”, despite the contract identifying the product as the supplier's advertised Infinity FE915 2026 model. I did not order a specially designed machine.
The supplier lied about the travel motor brakes, safety, their CE documentation did not comply with EC standards, they lied about the dates of production. I provided evidence for all of these issues.
Alibaba repeatedly avoided addressing the actual evidence and instead focused on individual and irrelevant issues that did not answer the main complaint.
After I posted my first Trustpilot review, Alibaba publicly stated that it had escalated my case to its senior team and would conduct a proper review.
The senior team then offered me USD 1,600 instead of the USD 2,367 I paid.
I asked a very simple question:
Why is Alibaba retaining USD 767?
If the deduction is because Alibaba believes this was a customised machine, I asked them to provide the evidence proving that it was customised.
If the deduction is for production costs, I asked them to explain the costs and the contractual basis for deducting them.
Alibaba did not answer those questions.
Instead, after I had already submitted two disputes and extensive evidence, I was told to start a THIRD dispute so that another team could review the same matter.
I have now declined to repeat the same process again without an explanation of the deduction.
The contract itself identifies the machine as the Infinity FE915 (2026 model), requires it to be new, unused and manufactured in 2026, requires it to match the agreed specifications, and expressly provides that the buyer may request a full refund in specified circumstances.
I am not asking Alibaba to simply agree with me. I am asking Alibaba to address the evidence and explain the contractual basis for keeping USD 767 of my money.
So far, it has not done so.
This is no longer about a complicated technical question. It is about one simple question that Alibaba has repeatedly avoided:
WHAT IS THE CONTRACTUAL AND EVIDENTIAL BASIS FOR THE USD 767 DEDUCTION?
I will continue to seek a full refund of the money I paid.
UPDATE 26-09-2026
After my detailed follow-up, Alibaba publicly acknowledged that my core question had not been answered and promised another review. I have now been told that even the previously offered $1,600 refund cannot be processed unless I start a THIRD dispute. I have asked Alibaba to explain exactly what the third dispute is supposed to address, since the first two already contain the evidence. This is frankly a joke!
Update 10 Oct. Having being promised in an email that by submitting a THIRD dispute that they would address the deduction, so I submitted it only to be sent back to square one asking to resubmit 5 months of evidence previously submitted. So I will make another review, see above.
2026-09-23
ALAlibaba.com★★★★★
Trade Assurance Ignored Evidence of Seller Fraud – €2,072 Refund Refused
Trade Assurance Ignored Evidence of Seller Fraud – €2,072 Refund Refused
Alibaba Trade Assurance – two disputes, extensive evidence, no meaningful review
I am writing this after almost three months trying to obtain the return of a USD 2,367 deposit (€2,072.68) paid through Alibaba Trade Assurance for a new 2026 Infinity FE915 mini excavator.
The machine has never been delivered to me.
I used Trade Assurance because Alibaba presents it as protection for buyers when an order goes wrong.
My experience has been very different.
I submitted extensive evidence in two separate refund disputes. The evidence includes serious allegations against the seller, including:
• Evidence of two different machines with different pumps, different engine and each with the same serial number were presented as my machine, the first to fraudulently extract final payment, the second, the real machine, was only half finished.
• Evidence contradicting the seller's explanation that Machine A had been dismantled to explain the above.
• The seller's later claim that the machine was "custom-built", although my order was for their New 2026 FE915 model no changes were made to their specification at all.
• Contradictory evidence about when the machine was completed.
• A serious safety issue concerning the travel motors and the seller's false statement about a hydraulic-release spring brake.
• CE documentation problems, including a CE document dated 2023 for a machine sold to me as a new 2026 model. The document itself states that it cannot replace the EC Declaration of Conformity.
I provided evidence for all these matters in addition to several breaches of the Alibaba contract. The seller has never properly answered or refuted the above allegations.
Yet Alibaba's decisions repeatedly reduced the dispute to one question: whether I had specifically ordered a particular travel motor.
I did not ask the seller to install a cycloidal motor. I discovered during construction that a cycloidal/orbital motor had been installed and then raised safety and technical questions about it well before the machine had been completed.
That is a completely different issue.
Alibaba also said that it had "carefully reviewed all evidence". If that is true, I cannot understand why the evidence concerning the two machines, the dismantling explanation, the custom-built claim, the completion date, the safety statement and the CE documentation has never been properly addressed.
I also submitted six additional complaints to Alibaba Customer Service on 14 and 15 July. I received no substantive response to them.
I repeatedly asked for escalation to a senior/specialist reviewer. Instead, Customer Service repeatedly directed me to submit another refund request.
I have now been told several times to submit a third refund request, I have repeatedly asked but nobody has explained what would be different from the first two. The complete evidence is already there.
I am not asking Alibaba to agree with me simply because I am unhappy with the decision. I am asking Alibaba to answer the evidence.
This is a USD 2,367 deposit for a machine I have never received. I will not pay the remaining 70% and continue an order when serious safety, CE compliance and supplier-integrity issues remain unresolved.
Alibaba: please stop sending template responses and have a senior person actually review the existing evidence.
Order: 300584319001029346
I chose Trade Assurance because I believed it provided meaningful protection. After almost three months, I am still trying to obtain a proper review of the evidence.
UPDATE 1 SEPTEMBER 2026: Alibaba has now publicly responded to this review stating that they have “escalated this matter” and that their “senior team will contact you directly” and “conduct a proper review” of my case. I welcome this and will wait for the promised senior review. I have already submitted extensive evidence in two refund cases, including evidence concerning Machine A and Machine B, the disputed dismantling claim, the later “custom-built” claim, contradictory completion dates, the travel-motor safety issue and serious CE documentation problems. These matters have not previously been substantively addressed. I have also repeatedly been directed to submit a third refund request without any explanation of what would be different. I hope the promised senior review will examine the existing evidence and complete history rather than simply repeat the previous decisions. I will update this review after the senior team has contacted me.
UPDATE 7 SEPTEMBER 2026: No contact or response received from Alibaba's promised senior team. I will update if that changes.
UPDATE 26-09-2026 See above a new review has been made to continue the saga!
2026-08-31Helpful 1
