yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[ZenFone 2 General] analyticbastard:
I received a letter from DHL claiming 26 GBP from me, for VAT payment and administration fees.

ET explicitly stated they would use Singapore Post or the like, which makes it easier for the item not to fall in hands of customs, whereas DHL just pays customs automatically. I did not request it nor I wanted it, and they used DHL anyway.

I'd be willing to pay VAT, but I will kindly tell this delivery company to claim the money from the seller. I am fed up of the bull**** coming from this seller and will never deal with them again, and will advice anybody who asks not to.
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
i wouldn't accept it i have had long conversations with aliexpress regarding this sale and every and each time they stood out for my right. i am still aiming for full refund after not receiving in 60 days. eternal team is giving me hell but with patience and communication i will bow their heads down. these seller has no dignity whatsoever. if you are feeling disappointed stand up for your right! dont pay for THEIR mess! contact aliexpress for help.

---------- Post added at 12:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:16 PM ----------

51 days have passed. on 5th to july i get refunded or else and believe me they try to deceive all way long
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
a quick update fellas. i have contacted aliexpress multiple times and after getting a lot of idiots with automated messages on i have got someone that explained their behaviour. the 60 days on delivery protection is actually 70 days. they just don't mention it nowhere because they know it might pull of buyers. so now i have to wait to the 16 of july (!!!!! WTF) 70 after i have ordered in order to get a refund. WTF. i have tried to file a complaint on alibaba but it couldn't get my order number and the help desk chat guy drove me crazy with automated answers which basically worth nothing but endless circles of fruitless communication. tbh i will never order on aliexpress again this whole place has no honesty. 9 out of 10 orders are alright but who needs to take chances when he can just order from a good place eh? if anyone like me here is frustrated or angry or really disappointed with this order i am open for sharing. this is horrific. i have spent so much time and energy over this automated idiots. sorry for the foul language i am just really fed up with these clowns, they play dumb all of the time as if they understand you and can't deal with truth or any way near it. what a joke of a shop hub. whatever.

please share.
[ZenFone 2 General] chooks06:
[MENTION=6669034]yurgade[/MENTION]...man that's a real **** deal.. you have a right to feel pissed about the whole thing.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
61 days after order:

1. my phone broke 5 days ago and i have no replacement

2. phone didnt arrive and i cant see any progress

3. no refund
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
If they won't refund why don't you demand they send another phone. They might be an a-hole shop but the phone is still worth having.
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
they wont send another phone... i followed the line that i want my money back... might save it for the opo 2
[ZenFone 2 General] chooks06:
Looks like the refund is the only option for you if they are not resending.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
it seems that at last the zf2 will come tomorrow. should i pick it up or fight for a refund via my credit card company? are you satisfied with the device?
[ZenFone 2 General] chooks06:
For myself I'm satisfied with the device even though I have sold it to a friend who wanted to try it out. Got myself another when I contacted with my Telco but hit it replaced cuz the battery had some problems.

Heard ASUS is working on 5.1 and that should solve the battery issue which actually is not too bad after all the updates . My friend commented that the battery was good.

If based on the principle of the matter - that you got your phone very late I would seek a refund. But given the extra hassle and the further lead time to resolve it (without assurance you get what you want) and (if,) the phone is working fine then I would consider keeping the phone. Just my personal opinion.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
with all honesty i will push for a refund
[ZenFone 2 General] chooks06:
Go for it mate. All the best! Hope you get it resolved fast.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
Push for the refund by all means. But keep the phone. If you return it you will have nothing and you will still be fighting for your money months from now.

I was successful in my dispute over postage fees for dhl but have not had the refund from aliexpress yet.

The phone is good and works perfectly with the CN firmware. There is a little bit of effort to get it set up but nothing major. I have not even rooted yet as I'm perfectly satisfied with it as it is. I'm happy to advise you how to resolve any issues (there have been a few but nothing too complicated). There is actually less bloat built into the CN firmware than the WW but if you do want to switch I'm sure some of the other contributors to this thread will assist you.
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
hey thanks

i am pushing for refund and waiting for the credit card company to solve this. the thing is it has arrived today and i have to pay customs in order to collect it. the question is if i collect it now i might not have a good case vs aliexpress, what should i do?

also, what are the first things to sort out when i am first using the zf 2 ?
[ZenFone 2 General] chooks06:
I guess it would be to update the firmware OTA. There is a fair bit of update. After that, anything you don't need can be uninstalled or disabled.

Edit - I agree with [MENTION=2539550]corrsea[/MENTION].

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
The initial setup should allow you to choose English (or any other supported language).

I went through all the preinstalled apps in order one by one. With most of them you will get an initial pop up asking you to allow or deny location services and to remember your decision. Some of the pop ups are in Chinese. Just tick the same boxes as you did with the English pop ups. (In my case allow and remember decision). Some apps such as Baidu maps you can uninstall right away. You can also uninstall any other apps that remain in Chinese.

The Asus browser will initially show lots of Chinese results. Just open settings and set your homepage to Google. Also set your preferred search engine to Bing (it does not give the choice of Google as it's banned in China.) After that it will work fine.

The biggest issues are with playstore. They have preinstalled it with an app called Google installer. It installs an older version which throws up some issues. Android pit has links to the latest playstore and Google services framework. Download and install these and all will be well. You can then download and install any Google (or Asus) apps you want from playstore.

At some stage you will get a pop up from Google wanting to allow location and/or collect anonymous information. When you make your choice you will also get a pop up from Baidu asking for basically the same permissions. Deny this.

At this point everything should be working well.

You will have 2 or 3 system updates waiting. The installation screen will have both Chinese and English writing but it's perfectly easy to understand. Take the updates sequentially and you will be all up to date and good to go. :)

You won't be able to import Google contacts so save them to your old phone first then to sim, then import them from the sim when you put it in the zenphone. (Or you can just enter them manually) You will be able to import Facebook contacts if you want to.
[ZenFone 2 General] vrnsr:
Hi all

Well, got the phone and the dispute is on it's final arbitration now.

My main claim against ET is that I was denied the option to cancel the order after they failed to send the phone in time.

They continue to lie (claiming they did send it on the 17th) despite SingPost logs that clearly show they got the parcel on June 3rd...

The main problem is that AliExpress is really focused only on the fact that I got what I've ordered within the time limits and that the phone is not damaged, not taking any interest in my claim to cancel before shipment actually took place.

I can see that my dispute will not yield any results- AliExpress do not care for honesty.

Anyhow, despite the lousy buying experience, ET did provide what I've ordered- a new and working smartphone. I guess we could do a lot worse and I can say that they're not the worse scammers I came in contact with. Just a small white lie regarding whorehouse explosion.

I think I'll just try to put this behind me then.

If anyone have a better luck with disputing those MF I'll be happy to hear about it:)
[ZenFone 2 General] chooks06:
[MENTION=5862719]vrnsr[/MENTION]..buddy on the bright side there is closure. Not a very happy experience by at least closure. Enjoy the phone.

[MENTION=6669034]yurgade[/MENTION]..how's your situation mate?

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
heys, i have just got my zf 2 today - 69 days after ordering. i am exactly at the same situation as vensr but i have also contacted my credit card company as i understood aliexpress back this farce up. the device itself is very impressive, as i am moving up from a motorola defy... i am enjoying it. i wish i knew how to make my pictures more sharp... the phone doesnt heat up, battery is working much better after updates. i was playing 30 mins for 15 % or so battery life. the thing is that this deal stinks for me because of the price drop on the usa. i kinda blew 130$.... but thats life. if nobody will want to buy it off of me i will be happy with the zf 2. i feel the reviews i saw from gsmarena and other sites are bit harsh, i think its a very solid choice for the price i just regret i got it on aliexpress and not from amazon...
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
Yea the price drop was a bit annoying. But I have since ordered one of amazon for a friend and taking into account shipping and exchange rate fluctuations the price difference was quite minimal. I'm also quite glad now that I got a CN version as battery life appears better than WW. I've seen at least one person on xda switch back to CN from WW for that reason. As to eternal - well let's just say they won't have my custom again.
[ZenFone 2 General] chooks06:
Great to hear mates! I was also a tad disappointed with the price drop but over here it would cost the same as what I paid but the 4GB/64GB variant is exclusive to a single Telco. Battery life on my WW is much better now. My friend is also reporting good battery life on the ET piece which is still on the flashed WW firmware.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD
[ZenFone 2 General] jmw6773:
I received a message from Eternal Team today saying they would refund $5 if I revised my feedback to a more positive one. (Not going to happen.) Has anyone else received a similar offer?
[ZenFone 2 General] chooks06:
Nope, not me.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD
[ZenFone 2 General] aziz07:
I bought once a chinese made phone from AliExpress and it wasn't up to the advertised specs. They are cloning even chinese phones lol The cpu was an old dualcore (showup 8 core 4gb ram in android but when going in bios at boot, shows dualcore 512mb ram) advertised 8core mtk but at least it was 80$ for a 5.7'' phone enough for talk/text and music after uninstalling all bloat, seller sent rooted firmware. Since then, I only use AliExpress a.k.a AliBaba for small <40$ stuff. Many sellers advertise they have stock but in fact they don't. I also ordered cloths from there, after a week, seller said your shoes are in production and will be shipped after another week Rofl

Its good for gadgets and some clothings but no way yet for expensive items.
[ZenFone 2 General] eliasif3:
same thing happened to me ! not gonna happen

here is a screenshot

http://prntscr.com/88zsaf
[ZenFone 2 General] jmw6773:
It looks like they finally stopped messaging me after nearly a month of daily messages to get me to improve my feedback review. I sent a complaint in to AliExpress customer support, but I don't know if that helped or not. Good luck.
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
I doubt if its a scam as they have over 100,000 positive reviews. However we may be waiting a while for our phones. There is no ability to log a dispute with Ali express for 60 days. Also their disputes process is crap in my experience.
[ZenFone 2 General] arnoldys:
I ordered on the 7th and on the 15th I messaged them that it's been a week since the order was placed and paid. One hour later my order was marked as posted and given a seemingly fake DHL tracking number. now it's the 21th, the tracking number still do not work. no reply to email msg. they only reply chat session with standard answer "be patient", "We are urging the shipping company".

my patient grows very thin now.

when do you think we can open a dispute and request a full refund?
[ZenFone 2 General] Drew442:
It might be possible that their supplier is selling to them (ET) for more than the new $299 RRP (hence the $336 being a 'discount') and they're trying to get the price down before they ship (probably drop ship).
[ZenFone 2 General] analyticbastard:
A lot of things might be possible, but I don't care, they are bound by contract. If the can't deliver, they should cancel the order right away. Especially since the phone is actually "discounted" in the US.
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
i don't mind buying it in the US. just want to get over with it...
[ZenFone 2 General] analyticbastard:
It is unbelievable. We need to bear in mind that THIS THING WAS ON ALI EXPRESS MAIN PAGE!!!!!
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
i still think chinese and us markets are completely separated by asus and that this is a legit sale. lets wait and see
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
I would guess they are aware of this thread. It would be nice if they made a statement of what the position actually is.
[ZenFone 2 General] veronr:
they just sent me a message, so i guess they are alive, they told me that that they shipped the order and it's the shippings agent fault that they haven't updated the tracking information....

But this is another BS from their side, i've shipped with UPS before and they updated the tracking information within the day that they took the order from my office.

But let's hope for the best, at least I got a response, it calmed me down a little
[ZenFone 2 General] analyticbastard:
It is EVIDENT that it is bull****, none of their tracking numbers work, independently of them being UPS or not. One shipping agent could be faulty, but not all of them.

My trancking number is not UPS and it never took so long for me to get info on 17track.

Veery bad seller, I don't understand how he has that much reputation.
[ZenFone 2 General] dodongobongo:
I ordered Zenfone 2 32GB from Eternal Team around the end of April. Prior to ordering I messaged to ask if the phone was in stock, and the seller replied that it was indeed in stock and would ship in 2-3 days. It shipped out 3 business days after I placed my order and I received it about a week after that. (I used DHL shipping.) I'll confess I got a little anxious because they seemed to get a lot of one-star feedback in the beginning, though I don't know exactly what the problem was as these people giving negative rating didn't go into any details.
[ZenFone 2 General] arnoldys:
How long do you guys think we should wait till opening a dispute?
[ZenFone 2 General] Drew442:
In the interest of finding out if our tracking details are bogus. Did anyone else get a DHL number ending 772 ?

Maybe we should post up the last 3 digits of our tracking numbers and the carrier name so we can compare and see if there's fake tracking details being sent to up. If you're using post instead of a courier then leave the country code off the back.
[ZenFone 2 General] arnoldys:
My DHL tracking ends on 755
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
DHL 940
[ZenFone 2 General] analyticbastard:
Not DHL, mine is like RCxxxxxx792MY, still not showing up on any system. The format implies its being shipped from Malaysia??? This is ridiculous.
[ZenFone 2 General] vrnsr:
Mine is via Singapore Post

RFxxxxxx129SG

Says in the box on the right that it takes 5-10 days till it shows on tracking, so I think of openning a dispute after 10 days
[ZenFone 2 General] analyticbastard:
If they fail to provide a correct tracking number in that time, we should open the dispute at the same time. As many people as possible. Ali Express would need to get involved.
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
mine isnt working yet either
[ZenFone 2 General] veronr:
my carrier is ups and ends in but still no update from them, it says though From: SZX CN
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
I've had a reply from them to a question I asked about the shipping number not registering. They claim it has been delivered to an agent and it will be online next week.
[ZenFone 2 General] Renioo:
Had the same response. At least they are responding day by day.
[ZenFone 2 General] veronr:
so when do you guys think we should open a dispute, if unfortunately comes to that, the processing time for me is 3-7 days, so on tuesday morning expire the 7days. Or should i wait untill everybody can open a dispute at the same time?
[ZenFone 2 General] Renioo:
I would go for 10th working day since the tracking should be updated. The Aliexpress says it may take up to 10 days to update (sic), and they told us the parcels are shipped. If nothing shows up to this date it is obvious that they lied. Since it was on main page of Aliexpress they might take care of it.
[ZenFone 2 General] analyticbastard:
I agree. I will let people in other forums know.

It has never taken this long for a tracking number of this kind to update.
[ZenFone 2 General] buge boyo:
I ordered mine from eglobal express in China on Tuesday night and by yesterday evening Friday I received the parcel it took 3 days by UPS and it wasn't even express delivery. I ordered the 4gb and 32gb version £181.99p was all I paid.
[ZenFone 2 General] Drew442:
I wonder if this means they're using a freight forwarder or they're using a drop ship warehouse. Interesting none the less...

I suppose that explains why they're not responding to our messages, they need to coordinate the responses with their supplier/forwarder
[ZenFone 2 General] mrcamp:
If you will be using it in the US, you may want to cancel your order, if possible, and just order the US version which is now available via several outlets. And probably cheaper too.
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
you think i can still cancel it? after shipping?
[ZenFone 2 General] analyticbastard:
Hi! Would you care to explain? I donñ't know anything about that and I am interested in it.
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
I've just noticed on their site that they are now saying a shipping time of three days. Previously it was 7. I'm taking this as a sign that they actually have them in stock now and we should see some movement in the next couple of days. They have still received no feedback, unlike other sellers on Ali express, which to my mind means no one has actually received one yet.

Another explanation for the delay could be that they are flashing WW firmware before dispatch - A lot of the other sellers have done this according to feedback comments. Personally I hope they haven't as I would prefer to do it myself. I wouldn't be suprised if they even came rooted.
[ZenFone 2 General] mrcamp:
Don't know. Was just a suggestion. Nothing wrong with asking them. At least with ASUS, Amazon, B&H photo, etc selling the US version you know what you are getting into. It just seems like there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding this retailer. I bought my US version from ASUS' website.
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
this is outrageous price now is 270$
[ZenFone 2 General] Renioo:
They propably installed WW. I received message from them, to quote : " We've installed multi-language firmware on it."

However with the price we were being screwed. I don't think we should leave it like this, cause we don't even have our phones shipped for 330$ and now you can buy them for 270.
[ZenFone 2 General] mrcamp:
What is $270. Model/version? I bought the Black $199 version. http://store.asus.com/us/category/A26847?_ga=1.255952971.1707793784.1422033273
[ZenFone 2 General] Renioo:
270$ for 551 2.3ghz/4gb/64GB
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
i have asked them if i can cancel my deal for full refund as i dont want the parcel... lets see what they answer...
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
Where are they being sold for 270?
[ZenFone 2 General] Renioo:
If you click on your auction, then on the "current product" it shows their new auction with lower price.
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
I'm not seeing it. Even going directly to their store under sale items it's showing at 356 for the 64 GB version.
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Orig...-Z3580-2-3GHz-4GB-RAM-64GB-5/32333601266.html
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
Still not seeing that price lol. They must not like me.
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
refresh
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
Got it. Had to go in from a different device through a VPN. I guess this it's to try and undercut the U.S. 299 price. The rest of the world get the old rate.
[ZenFone 2 General] mrcamp:
Even ASUS is selling the US version for $299. If this is legit, then it's an ok deal. Has a single soul that ordered from these folks received their order?
[ZenFone 2 General] corrsea:
Nobody yet.
[ZenFone 2 General] analyticbastard:
It is a glitch, upon ordering the price resets to 359

They sent me another tracking number ending in 300 with no letters, unlike any other chinapost/free shipping number I had seen. What's their deal now? Couldn't they just even inform me about what happens?

They address to my as "Sorry guys". "sorry guys"? As in they are following us here?
[ZenFone 2 General] Renioo:
It might be Yanwen shipping, I heard they are like 4px (RF...SG) working for Singapore Post.
[ZenFone 2 General] Renioo:
Ok I just got mad and reported them directly to Aliexpress (they confirmed that tracking number is invalid and even did not hesitate to take a report...) and started dispute as this isn't propably going anywhere.

Give it a massive try, at worst you can cancel it and open new dispute later.
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
they haven't answered yet. i consider to open dispute as well...
[ZenFone 2 General] Renioo:
You can always cancel it and later open another, so don't think to much I guess... I mean they aren't worth waiting at all.
[ZenFone 2 General] analyticbastard:
Be patient guys. If we all open a dispute at the same time the chances of Ali Express failing in our favor are better.

Let's wait a couple of days.
[ZenFone 2 General] chooks06:
I ordered mine on 7th of May. Item was shipped on 17 May via EMS. Till now I too am unable to get any tracking info. EMS is also under Singpost.

They have not responded to my query yet.
[ZenFone 2 General] veronr:
I thought if you open a dispute you shouldn't close-cancel it because it means that you are confirming that all the problems are fixed and confirms it that the packet is received.
[ZenFone 2 General] chooks06:
Yup..that's right.
[ZenFone 2 General] Renioo:
You cannot agree with seller, but you can simply cancel it. Then you can open another dispute within protection time.
[ZenFone 2 General] yurgade:
well i didnt get an answer yet... annoying
[ZenFone 2 General] arnoldys:
I had a chat session yesterday and they said that the "agent" will update the shipping information this week.

that's all. I'm really tired & annoyed to this delaying tactic and dishonesty.
[ZenFone 2 General] veronr:
I'm waiting till wendsday, i wanted to open dispute today but willing to wait if we all agree on the same day
[ZenFone 2 General] arnoldys:
I'll wait till Thursday Australian time and that will make it exactly 3 weeks from when I ordered and paid
[ZenFone 2 General] Renioo:
Ok so I cancelled it and will wait till wednesday/thursday. Also reminded them that they have to provide proof of sending packages till that day.
[ZenFone 2 General] arnoldys:
Did you do this by opening dispute or messaging them?