TLDR: I thought they were great but it seems more and more like a scheme, order with caution
-So the first time I ordered from Gearbest it was an expensive order, close to R10k, no issues, shipped fast, finally I had Chinese store I could rely on with fast shipping at an affordable rate.
-The second time a smaller order of multiples of one type of item, it dispatched a bit slower but then arrived fast with no issues.
-The third time I ordered a mixed bag of item's, mini amps, cables etc. I also took micro sd cards that seemed too cheap to be real, I assumed maybe they didn't meet the factory spec but it's cheap enough to risk ($20 for 512GB/1TB), however the order just wasn't dispatching, after I enquired they told me certain items were out of stock (they don't tell you this, you have to enquire) so I could wait or exchange, yet some we're items listed as in stock with fast dispatch. I chose to wait for them, they still didn't arrive by the next date they said they would, so they partially shipped some items and I waited for the rest, another 2 weeks later and they still didn't receive stock except for one bag of plastic automotive clips which they then shipped using normal post, they refunded my Gearbest account with credits of which I also had to follow up on.
Recently I bought an i7 mini PC from them, https://www.gearbest.com/mini-pc/pp_009778094439.html , before this could ship I enquired about the stock status of the Xiaomi Mi 9 phone which I also wanted to order, the agent told me that it was in stock and I should go ahead and place the order, yet on my side it showed out of stock and I wasn't able to add it to the cart, I showed them a screenshot and they said try in 48 hours... hmm this triggered something I thought about last time...that they don't actually ever get stock of some of these items and some of the ones that do exists and they list as in stock and ready to dispatch in a day or 2, they actually don't have yet.
So I enquired about the status of the mini PC I ordered on the 12th, it should have been dispatched on Monday or Tuesday, they then tell me that its out of stock and that they will receive stock on the 9th of May! Nearly a month later for something supposed to be in stock. At the time of enquiry, 5 days after my purchase, the mini PC was still listed as in stock and available for purchase, whilst I'm talking to the agent it gets listed as out of stock.
Here's the convo with their generic idiotic responses:
I have checked your order and it?s unfortunately out of stock for the meantime, however, it's expected to be restocked again from 9th of May.
Please accept our apologies for the delay in delivering your order.
Would you like to wait or exchange your item for another product instead?
This is completely unacceptable, this is the second time Gearbest has done this to me. Gearbest still lists the product as in stock and ready to ship in 2 days yet it is not, this is deceitful, you take peoples money and sit with it, sounds like an investment scheme. I have already started purchasing the accompanying parts for this item that you don't even have in stock, if I do not receive my item soon I will be exposing Gearbest and it's schemes on every online platform I know.
I do understand how frustrating this incident might be.
I apologize to you on behalf of Gearbest.
But the demand for this popular item has exceeded our expectations, and our stock is depleted. However, we will receive a new shipment, which we will expedite to our customers.
I believe this to be lies and a generic response because you are still listing the item as in stock, this sounds more and more like a scheme
I am terribly sorry for that, yet, when we are dealing with technology there is always a margin of delay in synchronization.
Hence, I can see that it is showing up as available for sale on the website but this is because the website is not updated immediately with the actual information on the system.
We are working around the clock to resolve this issue. We kindly ask for your patience regarding this and please rest assured we will ship your order as soon as we can.
Once your order has been shipped you will receive an email notification to your registered email address.
Do they think people are that stupid or are they that stupid thinking these excuse and lies will work. The system is large and automated, there is never somebody manually updating the website after each sale, neither is there any such lag on an online shop
Now if you imagine thousands of people buying bargain micro sd cards etc, that don't exist, at $20 a pop it's a fast way to pool huge amounts of money. A nice scheme to collect money, give you a longer arrival date, when that date comes and goes they give you another story and another date...all the while you're out of thousands while they're probably leveraging or investing it
It may or may not affect your purchases from them but it's a heads up.
It's very unfortunate given their perceived product range and shipping value, I won't be ordering from them again.
-So the first time I ordered from Gearbest it was an expensive order, close to R10k, no issues, shipped fast, finally I had Chinese store I could rely on with fast shipping at an affordable rate.
-The second time a smaller order of multiples of one type of item, it dispatched a bit slower but then arrived fast with no issues.
-The third time I ordered a mixed bag of item's, mini amps, cables etc. I also took micro sd cards that seemed too cheap to be real, I assumed maybe they didn't meet the factory spec but it's cheap enough to risk ($20 for 512GB/1TB), however the order just wasn't dispatching, after I enquired they told me certain items were out of stock (they don't tell you this, you have to enquire) so I could wait or exchange, yet some we're items listed as in stock with fast dispatch. I chose to wait for them, they still didn't arrive by the next date they said they would, so they partially shipped some items and I waited for the rest, another 2 weeks later and they still didn't receive stock except for one bag of plastic automotive clips which they then shipped using normal post, they refunded my Gearbest account with credits of which I also had to follow up on.
Recently I bought an i7 mini PC from them, https://www.gearbest.com/mini-pc/pp_009778094439.html , before this could ship I enquired about the stock status of the Xiaomi Mi 9 phone which I also wanted to order, the agent told me that it was in stock and I should go ahead and place the order, yet on my side it showed out of stock and I wasn't able to add it to the cart, I showed them a screenshot and they said try in 48 hours... hmm this triggered something I thought about last time...that they don't actually ever get stock of some of these items and some of the ones that do exists and they list as in stock and ready to dispatch in a day or 2, they actually don't have yet.
So I enquired about the status of the mini PC I ordered on the 12th, it should have been dispatched on Monday or Tuesday, they then tell me that its out of stock and that they will receive stock on the 9th of May! Nearly a month later for something supposed to be in stock. At the time of enquiry, 5 days after my purchase, the mini PC was still listed as in stock and available for purchase, whilst I'm talking to the agent it gets listed as out of stock.
Here's the convo with their generic idiotic responses:
I have checked your order and it?s unfortunately out of stock for the meantime, however, it's expected to be restocked again from 9th of May.
Please accept our apologies for the delay in delivering your order.
Would you like to wait or exchange your item for another product instead?
This is completely unacceptable, this is the second time Gearbest has done this to me. Gearbest still lists the product as in stock and ready to ship in 2 days yet it is not, this is deceitful, you take peoples money and sit with it, sounds like an investment scheme. I have already started purchasing the accompanying parts for this item that you don't even have in stock, if I do not receive my item soon I will be exposing Gearbest and it's schemes on every online platform I know.
I do understand how frustrating this incident might be.
I apologize to you on behalf of Gearbest.
But the demand for this popular item has exceeded our expectations, and our stock is depleted. However, we will receive a new shipment, which we will expedite to our customers.
I believe this to be lies and a generic response because you are still listing the item as in stock, this sounds more and more like a scheme
I am terribly sorry for that, yet, when we are dealing with technology there is always a margin of delay in synchronization.
Hence, I can see that it is showing up as available for sale on the website but this is because the website is not updated immediately with the actual information on the system.
We are working around the clock to resolve this issue. We kindly ask for your patience regarding this and please rest assured we will ship your order as soon as we can.
Once your order has been shipped you will receive an email notification to your registered email address.
Do they think people are that stupid or are they that stupid thinking these excuse and lies will work. The system is large and automated, there is never somebody manually updating the website after each sale, neither is there any such lag on an online shop
Now if you imagine thousands of people buying bargain micro sd cards etc, that don't exist, at $20 a pop it's a fast way to pool huge amounts of money. A nice scheme to collect money, give you a longer arrival date, when that date comes and goes they give you another story and another date...all the while you're out of thousands while they're probably leveraging or investing it
It may or may not affect your purchases from them but it's a heads up.
It's very unfortunate given their perceived product range and shipping value, I won't be ordering from them again.
