Buy British - From China

[Penlan]

Thought I would get some forehead temperature strips (for babies etc.,) off Ebay
States 'Buy British', Union flag displayed prominently, invoice/receipt in Chinese 
We will see when they arrive, might have to wash them in Vodka.......

[96701]

I ordered some items off ebay because it specifically said that the items are in Manchester, and the company address is Manchester. Delivery date came and went, no goods. Email came from Paypal:

We would like to remind you that we'll be contacting your bank to collect the payment soon for the purchase you made from 山峰 贾 on 8 Mar 2020.

 

I responded via ebay:

You indicated on your ebay page that the item was in Manchester. I now find Chinese characters on the email that warns me that Paypal will remove money from my account. I do not want to do business with liars and charlatans.

 

2 days later from ebay:

The seller has issued you with a full refund

[Crosland]

Very often the goods are in the UK, even if the seller is Chinese. It may have been a genuine mistake.

 

The delivery time is usually the giveaway. If the goods are in UK warehouse they will be able to deliver within a few days.

[96701]

1 hour ago, Crosland said:

Very often the goods are in the UK, even if the seller is Chinese. It may have been a genuine mistake.

 

The delivery time is usually the giveaway. If the goods are in UK warehouse they will be able to deliver within a few days.

Had quite a short lead time, failed on the delivery date by a week or more, and still hadn't arrived.

[AY Mod]

It happens quite a lot; drop warehouses in the UK bring in bulk amounts and make available to sellers worldwide. Therefore a seller based in China handles the transaction with the warehouse shipping on their behalf. I had a few items recently which were similarly delayed, probably because the seller was movement and communication restricted. A couple were refunded after non-arrival after chasing. One subsequently turned up.

 

[big jim]

I had similar last week, bought an indicator for the Touareg as it said UK seller, got the invoice and low and behold China/HK seller but the item arrived after 2 days 

 

as Crossland said look at the lead time, it said delivery by fri 20th and sure enough it arrived as promised 4 days before that date, there were plenty of similar items from China With exactly the same pictures in the advert with 3 week lead time for £3-4 cheaper but i needed it ASAP so paid the extra few quid for ‘uk seller’ knowing pretty much it would be a China based business with a uk warehouse of sorts 

 

I’ve had a lot of bits like that off eBay and have had no issues with it from my previous experience as long as you check the delivery time 

 

 

Edited March 19, 2020 by big jim

[96701]

21 minutes ago, big jim said:

as long as you check the delivery time 

 

 

 

But I did, and it just didn't turn up. As I say, liars and charlatans.

[big jim]

48 minutes ago, 96701 said:

 

But I did, and it just didn't turn up. As I say, liars and charlatans.

to me, re-reading your experience it sounds like your PayPal may have been set to the ‘payment after delivery’ setting as normally money comes straight out after purchase, I’ve bought a few items where that has been the default and I’ve changed it to pay immediately, as you say it didn’t arrive but I wonder if the ‘liars and charlatans’ as you put it have some way of making it look like something has been delivered (ie fake delivery reference) to claim the ‘On hold’ money from PayPal (what benefit to them it would be I don’t know though?) 

Edited March 19, 2020 by big jim

[John Isherwood]

1 hour ago, 96701 said:

 

As I say, liars and charlatans.

 

I sincerely doubt it.

 

I buy a lot of items from China-based outlets, including via AliExpress. Some have extended projected delivery times - which are invariably adhered to or bettered.

 

Others have delivery dates a few days ahead, and an indication that the items are in the UK - again, delivery dates are adhered to.

 

It's easy to tell where the goods come from - packages from China are easily identified.

 

Delays in despatch / delivery happen - especially under current world-wide conditions.

 

Have you never had a UK-sourced order delayed?

 

Liars and charlatans? No - just life.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[96701]

32 minutes ago, big jim said:

to me, re-reading your experience it sounds like your PayPal may have been set to the ‘payment after delivery’ setting as normally money comes straight out after purchase, I’ve bought a few items where that has been the default and I’ve changed it to pay immediately, as you say it didn’t arrive but I wonder if the ‘liars and charlatans’ as you put it have some way of making it look like something has been delivered (ie fake delivery reference) to claim the ‘On hold’ money from PayPal (what benefit to them it would be I don’t know though?) 

Indeed, my Paypal is set to pay after delivery. No supplier has  commented on this, in this case they claimed that the goods had been dispatched. Obviously not. I don't mind buying stuff from China at all, provided it is declared and the delivery time reflects the fact.