Beware, purchases aren't "safe"
Beware, purchases aren't "safe" Firstly, worst case of all: Ordered DC generators from Chongqing Xinbate Machinery Co., Ltd. Received the generators. They were much bigger and more powerful than the ones ordered, and were unfit for their application due to being oversize. I asked the seller for a swap or refund, but he refused, and begged me not to open a refund. Decided not to press charges as the generators generally did seem like a bargain. Fast forward three months, I found an alternative application, and as I get to use, generators don't work. What Chongqing Xinbate Machinery Co., Ltd. stated to be "minumum chargine voltage is 64.8V, and the maximum is 86.4V." turns out to be "Our engineer said that this generator can only charge batteries with a maximum of 70-71V,". Seller is refusing to cooperate on any form of compensation or refund, and I have no use for a "72v generator" which can't charge a 72v battery. Decided to contact support, but they rid themselves of all responsibility, since 30 days have passed, something along the lines of "you can try to reach an agreement with the seller" and since 60 days have passed, I can't even leave a negative review for the supplier who ships random crap around, so he can continue leading his scam business through Alibaba, everyone is happy and making profits, customer isn't important. In other cases, whenever anything goes wrong in an order, opening a dispute is a real hassle. Don't even try it if you don't have bulletproof evidence. Not a single time did they acknowledge seller's fault and refund the money. Average dispute time is probably 15-30 days, even when seller is clearly at fault, for example a) Ordered very cheap solar panels, seller disappeared. Messages aren't read let alone answered. To the dispute team he provided some random photos of materials and a lousy explanation that some machine broke down. According to prior agreed upon terms, he had to compensate my container holding charges, but of course, the seller didn't answer anything. In the end, wasted 3 weeks, held my container for 3 weeks which incurred a heap of surcharge, and Alibaba kept their 3% credit card fee. b) Ordered parts for an excavator, VERY clearly specified what I needed in the order. Supplier sent 1 track instead of 2 and the other item he sent was incomplete. Still, took me weeks to get the refund settled. Basically it seems like they are doing all they can to make life easy for sellers, and making refund process as difficult as possible so little people go through with it. And the rating system is a literal scam. I understand why refunds might be time-limited (funds release and so on) But there is NO REASON at all to limit reviews to 60 days, when you oftentimes need more time to even get the item shipped to your door. And even so, if an item I bought a year ago breaks due to lousy manufacturing, I should absolutely have the right to write a bad review for the item, but of course, this would damage sales, so Alibaba doesn't permit it, instead, we give the users illusion of "safe" purchases which aren't safe at all.