Bad "Alibaba" experience

--INTERMISSION--

As my heading suggested, YES, I'm going to expose Alibaba's service.
But also, it's a nickname I gave to someone.
(I will get to that soon)

It has been 2 days and my voice has gone unheard, 

so I feel the need to expose what the seller has done and what #Alibaba or #Aliexpress is (not) doing.

After all, I'm the victim of a fraud.

So...

I recently tried using Alibaba, because I wanted to find an OEM manufacturer for my brand that I want to make and sell on my own website. I had a look around, everything looks cheap, but it's China quality, so I was weighing the option of whether I should test it out first. It is my first time using Alibaba, so I was skeptical of the promised quality the merchant said they can deliver. So, I decided to buy a bandage dress that would have otherwise cost me around USD 200 on a label like #CelebBoutique or over USD 2,000 on Herve Leger (if they are on sale that is)
for USD 54.11 (not bad!)
Just so I could test the quality of this manufacturer.

I first own 4 pieces of bandage dresses through helping out my then "best friend" when she was in need of cash. These dresses I bought from my friend was AUD 80 each from Celeb Boutique, and they were a better quality. 

But she sold me this cream dress with stain on without telling me, 
so thank you for being honest.
It is still a defect.

A bit of drama here:

Before I get into Alibaba issues, I'd like to rewind back to what made me had enough with this getting screwed over by people whom you are suppose to trust.

So, the word "SOLD" on the picture above is from this story I'm about to tell you.

Me and my then BFF got into an argument, over petty issue. To wrap it up, I told her off (because I had enough) that she has been saying inappropriate things over many times, without even consider my own feelings, and now that it got to an issue with money, petty money indeed, she made herself looks as if she has a price tag on our friendship.

She even managed to escalated it into a cat fight (by calling me names)...

Yes, it's unbelievable how your BFF could be so nasty. Be careful who you call friends!

So after I just couldn't take it anymore,

(considering the fact that I was the one who spent so much on this trip; flew all the way from Thailand to Australia to visit her,

and even cover her when she's short on money on so many occasion...

(as always have done since our college year)

She fucked me over.

I was one who never ask for her to "PAY BACK",

let alone bring any good deeds of mine up to rub it in her face.

But this time, she provoked me to finally ask for a refund for the 4 dresses back. 

And to my astonishment, she had the audacity to say "no".

Mmm, I mean, if you think about it, 

who would want to wear something you bought from someone whom you had an argument with!? 

It's a trash! 

So not worthy of the money spent. 

She then proceeded to reason that she wouldn't refund,

because the reason I bought them in the first place, cuz I said I look good in them. 

She also proceeded to say that she doesn't need my charity,

but she's also not going to give me back my refund

(mmm...wait what?? That doesn't make sense tho?) 

You don't need my charity, but why are you keeping the money? 

I'm so confused until today.

However,

I think of it as a donation to her poor soul, 

so she could finally afford a snow trip with her Boyfriend 

(oh there's more about that snow trip)

<<But let's leave it as that>>

The highlight at the end

That's exactly why everyone has warned me that she's a stingy person. 

In the end, she managed to tell me to "fuck off"
after she called me superficial and materialistic.

(Between us, she's more like a girly girl who has to dress up and follow the fashion trend,

She knows who the famous blooggers are, what's in?
And she follows rich socialite girls and said she wants their life,
and complain about her own.
She even look at this rich princess and said she's jealous of her,
and she was the one who introduced me into the world of jealousy and "superficial".

And me, well, I'm just a slow one to adopt a fashion.
I own a few brand name bags, but they are for when I attend social events,
or when I attend important function with my parents,
and my mom bought them for me long time ago.
I didn't go out of my way for them.
Didn't had to, unlike her, who owes her ex-bf's credit card debt from online shopping,
and even refused to pay him back ;)
(see the pattern here? Queen of stingy)

And I didn't follow the trend, or even know the trend!
I didn't know who Herve Leger was until this year,
or who Dion Lee was until she told me,
let alone knows what Ombre hair is until she told me.
Or even knows anything about what's in at the moment! But she knows it all.
And I admired that quality of her to be a hypocrite to call me materialistic
when I'm just, well, being this boring old me.
And she is everything but ordinary.
(She's the real materialistic one)


On an interview of a fashion magazine in Thailand,
I even gave her credit and spoken of my admiration to her out in public:
"My best friend is someone who dresses so well and can foresee a fashion trend, we love each other so much and always share everything about fashion tips"
I just can't believe the person she has become that day, that trip I took to visit her was an eyeopener.

<<Me in Dichan Magazine photoshoot from couple of years ago
which I also gave an interview about my BFF>>



Back to the story:

And this is why she has to sell me her fake Herve Leger in the first place, 

because she's bought so much stuff now that she's on the verge of moving back to her home country,

 she can't take all of her "materials" in her closet back with her.
She tried to sell me a lot of things... but I didn't mind helping.
So... for calling other people materialistic and superficial, this post should rub it in her face for her to think twice before saying anything.
Because my whole point of argument to her was that:
she chose the wrong time to ask for a pay back,
chose wrong wording,
and wrong way to deliver it.
And to get over her own ego,
because a good friendship doesn't need that.
And I no longer wanted to be her friend.
I was the one who called it off,
unless she fixed it... but no.
She got nastier, and called me names...
She even said I'm a liar.
Because she couldn't accept her own fault,
I understand perfectly well now that money is a big issue for her.
And to get a dime back,

{Hallelujah! Good luck with that!}

So as for my 4 Celeb Boutique dresses I bought from her:

Well, now you understand why they've been "SOLD".

The other 2 are still in my possession,
but I don't know when I feel like wearing them.
Probably never?
Or perhaps, I could use them as experiment for my textiles class.

Now, that I've enrolled in a fashion school,
I'm a fashion student
And educated myself in all things fashion.
And in the future, my brand is going to sell to people like her.
Except that, my customer will be treated with utmost respect, and honesty from me.
No defect quality, unlike how she took advantage on my trust.

So I have nicknamed this ex-Bestie "Alibaba" because of the buying experience I had related to Alibaba as well.

So getting to the point about Alibaba:

Even if it's your best friend, someone you could trust, some one you know better,

REFUND is virtually impossible.

Refund is a BITCH and so is this bestie-turned-foe, and the Alibaba seller named:

Cuckoo Huang, and Anny Duan

My Order Number: 63821087803949

Email: annyduan@cnshengyilang.com

Company: Guangzhou Shengyilang Garment Manufacture Co., Ltd.

Address: 4th Floor, Bldg A, Shegnwang Industrial Estate, Xiamao 15th Community, Shijing, Baiyun District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (Mainland)

I'm just a victim of GREED over another

This is what GREED does to selfish people, they make them fuck you over for their good sakes. 

And, now it's a pay back time for me, and pay back is a bitch. Literally!

It's amazing what internet can do to damage someone's reputation.

So, I'm going to warn you not to buy from this seller.

If you do so, you do it at your own risk.

Anyways,

This is the bandage dress I bought from Anny Duan or Cuckoo Huang (is that even her real name?) 
with a gradient effect.

As soon as I received the package, I opened it, and to my amazement...

A melting fabric, with wrinkles everywhere...

It's not the wrinkle from it being in a package, from logistic issue,
it's from someone stretching it!!
OMG!! What in the world?

<<It's suppose to be a size S!>>
<<It came in size M... that's how bad it's been stretched>>

It came in as if someone really large has worn it, or it has been on a really humungous mannequin!

<<Umm, why is the hem melting?>>

<<the texture is so wrinkly and elasticity is poor.>>

<<If it's the seller's vagina, it would be this loose>>

<<and when I tried it on, it's not fitted, unlike what bandage is supposed to be for>>

<<It's as if it's even been used, washed, and ironed on>>

Story unfold...

I contacted the seller back immediately, and no reply until now.

I was new to Alibaba and didn't know how everything works,

but basically when I receive the product, I clicked "receive order" or something of that sort.

You know, that button you only press when you are satisfied with the product?

Yes, I didn't know!

To my horror, it was Game Over for me!

Human are so prone to error, and it would've helped if Alibaba was more user-friendly.

The websites are full of text, and it's completely mind boggling to read everything on the page.

So, after you press that button, it's a dooms day for you.

Because, if you didn't, you could still "open dispute".

Now what's going to happen if I can't open a dispute?

I tried to contact Alibaba's customer service of course...

Alibaba Customer Service is a robot that circles the answer around until you give up!

(very cheeky way to deal with customer problems)

The confusing thing was, when I received my order confirmation, it was through Aliexpress.com:

But I bought from Alibaba.com 

(they're the same company, just different, Aliexpress is for non-wholesales):

Now, as you can see, the status is finished, after I had click the receive order, 

and there is no "open dispute" button for me. 

So I navigated my way around, until I found this page and managed to file a complaint:

(so there on "complaints submitted", that's the one that's in the process, and now Alibaba have not contacted me back. Probably due to its high quantities of emails they receive daily?) 

-- But to be honest here--

there is no email to contact Alibaba,

nor a telephone number for CS whom you can call and speak to someone

What I did instead was called up my Bank.

It's now in the process of suspending the debit amount to this seller.

But I still have to send the dress back to her.

The next step I'm taking is to enquire Thai Post about the cost of sending this package back to China.

The seller even managed to remove the URL for the product page:

http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/wholesale-checkout_1949843514.html

I'm not going to give up, I will update my story, once I get the money/or don't get the money back. But I will share with you some of helpful tips if it does work this time.

Fingers crossed for me...

But as of the leftover 2 Celeb Boutique dresses I bought from that bitch,

I'm never getting my refund back ever for sure.

Never underestimate the power of human greed.

Have a good day everyone!

The Accidental Blogger - Most favourite city visited Part I

This is a book I've recently picked up from a bookstore around the corner,

it's called "The Accidental Adventurer" by Ben Fogle. 

He inspired me so much, as an adventurer in his own right, 

that after touching base with his memoir,
I want to start my travel blog right away.

Although, I haven't survived the worst and lived to tell all,
but I do have my own pictures from all the travel that I have done to share on my first post. 

When I first started out travelling, these are the 10 places I wanted to go,

it was a short bucket list.

Something intentional and random all together.

And I've accomplished them all.

(Though, not in order)

Let's start with my most favourite city to sight see so far, no. 1.  Budapest - Hungary!

The Fisherman Bastion is located on the Buda side of Budapest.

The Bastion takes its name from the guild of fishermen that was responsible for defending this stretch of the city walls in the Middle Ages.

This neo-Gothic/neo-Romanesque look out tower is so fairy-tale-like.

The fortification were built in 19th Century to serve as the look out for best panoramic view of Budapest, overlooking the Danube river and the whole cityscape.

You can even get up close with the Pest side by looking through this spectacle.

The Hungarian Parliament - it is by far, the tallest and largest building in Hungary, situated on the bank of river Danube

Our fellow companion on the cruise along the Danube River, David Arquette,

and his co-host while on the set of filming "Miles High" travel show.

We got to rub shoulders with the star himself, 

and shared a few conversation with his brother,

whom had been living in Thailand and has attended my father's concert before.

It is a coincident we met on that cruise, that somehow, 

he is a big fans of my father's rock band in Thailand!

Someway, it is a cool feeling to have known that someone from the Hollywood industry is your father's biggest fans, (apart from Steven Siegal that is, no offence!)

On the fashion side - David's red wool scarf really do stand out among us!

I think he picked the right colour for his filming day.

I really love my mother's black gabardine accompanied with that black faux fur, 

(yes, it's faux - we don't support animal cruelty for the sake of fashion).

My choice of wearing a black cardigan over my turtleneck wool top, with a pair of wale pants,

was an accidental match to my mother's outfit in this photo.

On a harsh weather, I was always wearing my favourite green parka.

I guess it's safe to say that this picture did everyone's outfit justice!

In the evening... I decided to catch some breeze up on the Gellért Hill.

Such a spectacular view it was for me to have witnessed this sunset in its glorious peak;

topped off the moment when the sky casted pink flaxen colour across this city.

Everything soon came to life in a blink of an eye.

I told myself I must come back to this city again... 

and immerse more into the local culture of the Magyars.

1 year later, I met my boyfriend, and told him to visit this beautiful city.

He planned to with his lads anyways without me telling him,

but you see, it's the magic of Budapest that has drawn people with great mind alike to her.

I'm not baffling about its magic, or the moment it has taken effect on me...

You'll just have to visit her to see it for yourself <3

Moving on...

"Imagination is more powerful than knowledge" - Albert Einstein