Forum

Am I Being Scammed ? by a TaoBao Seller
 

I sent $1000 by western union for product keep emailing him after sent money kinda hard to get a responded back

Chat Log:

Seller(2012-12-09 17:41:01):
so i have to ask for the ship company again

ME(2012-12-09 17:42:18):
I need these hats right away can you handle the shipping ?

Seller(2012-12-09 17:42:37):
yes,i will ship tongiht by DHL

ME(2012-12-09 17:43:31):
Please Rember you past the 24hrs you siad they`ll be shipped please promise me you`ll have them shipped tonight

Seller(2012-12-09 17:43:43):
ok.

ME(2012-12-09 17:44:21):
Dose your shipper have the hats inhand ?

ME(2012-12-09 17:44:33):
or do you have them?

Seller(2012-12-09 17:45:28):
yes,the hats had been in ship company

Seller(2012-12-09 17:45:59):
before ship ,they ask for me and told me ,if ship to your post code by DHL.IT IS NOT SAFETY.SO I HAVE TO TELL YOU

Me(2012-12-09 17:46:44):
It`ll be fine get me the right tracking number please

Me(2012-12-09 17:46:56):
call them up & ship it now

Me(2012-12-09 17:47:03):
ok.

Me(2012-12-09 17:49:00):
when will you call them?

Seller(2012-12-09 17:49:07):
i had called just now

Seller(2012-12-09 17:49:12):
they said they will ship today

Seller(2012-12-09 17:49:21):
and give tracking number in 2 days

Seller(2012-12-09 17:49:39):
because DHL tracking number,ususally ship company will give us in 2 days

Me(2012-12-09 17:50:35):
You know what ship the Hats by EMS then

Me(2012-12-09 17:51:35):
EMS AIR

Me(2012-12-09 17:54:59):
I wait for your Reply

Western Union, Really? Unless he is a supplier that you have had a successful history with, I would kiss it goodbye, but I could be wrong. If the hats are NE hats, I would find it ironic how the scammer got scammed.

I thought it was near impossible to order directly from a taobao seller. You should use an agent who accepts PayPal since taobao is ideally meant for people only in China to order directly from/

And I don't think DHL is the safest for shipping branded items...(assuming they're replica hats).

Just keep on him and hope that they keeps his end of the deal.

For the future: WU is a big NO NO...

Is this a sample order or large order?

He might just be stalling. I've had this happen. They tell you they have the inventory in stock when they still have to manufacture it.

Question seller said it takes 3 days to get a tracking number from shipping agent

Please also note he said they have package

Alot of these suppliers will lie to you like you are stupid. Sometimes they are not in a position to deliver as soon as they promised but don't want to lose the sale. So they will make up some step that they don't even have to go through to buy themselves more time. If they were truly scammers the minute you delivered the money, you would not hear from them again.

Seller Emailed me this:

ONCE WE GOT THE TRACKING NUMBER
WE WILL SEND TRACKING NUMBER TO YOU

BECAUSE WE USUALLY GOT TRACKING NUMBER IN 3 DAYS

WU is always bad unless you have prior experience with the seller. Im not talking about 1/2 experiences either. I got wary of WU after sending about 5k with them. They were asking for WAYYYYY too much info and I think they made a mistake when they mentioned money laundering and a couple of other key words to me after I kept asking questions...

G ment seems to be all over WU stuff.

Sounds like he is a middle man.

Deliveries within China take about 3 days on average.

To me, sounds like he is waiting for the hats to arrive to him - so he can box em and ship em to you.

He will have the tracking number once he has got the hats and he has posted them out.

Very common for TBao seller to offer things they don't have in stock in my experience.

You're saying the g ment keeps tabs on WU? Does WU send reports to the Feds? Man, privacy in this country is going down the S hole. F.

If you send funds under 2k you don't need to give up any ID, etc.

not here in CA. If you send over 5k is seems they are asking for ID and SSN, business records and more stuff.

Seems like they are keeping tabs on you or maybe its just in CA but after that I never use WU again...

Buyer (2012-12-12 14:47:33):
??????

Buyer (2012-12-12 14:47:53):
背

Buyer (2012-12-12 14:48:17):
I need the hats this week before Christmas

Seller (2012-12-12 14:56:28):
i asked for ship company

Seller (2012-12-12 14:56:40):
they said they will have tracking number soon

Seller (2012-12-12 14:57:20):
because before christmas.every year,this time,the ship company is busy

Buyer (2012-12-12 16:27:44):
Please tell me you have the number now

Seller (2012-12-12 16:28:54):
THE SHIP COMPANY TOLD ME WILL HAVE IN 3 DAYS

Seller (2012-12-12 16:29:06):
NOW EVERY SHIP COMPANY IS VERY BUSY NOW

Buyer (2012-12-12 16:32:56):
When you say ship company you mean factory?

Seller (2012-12-12 16:33:11):
SHIP COMPANY

Buyer (2012-12-12 16:34:01):
This is going to hurt me if I cant get hats

Seller (2012-12-12 16:34:25):
I HAD CALLED TO SHIP COMPANY

Seller (2012-12-12 16:34:39):
YOUR PACKAGE HAD BEEN IN HONGKONG DHL SHIP COMPANY

Buyer (2012-12-12 16:35:33):
Why is their no tracking number if they have the package?

Buyer (2012-12-12 16:38:19):
Plase answer my question

Seller (2012-12-12 16:40:04):
YES,

Seller (2012-12-12 16:40:23):
YES,DHL HAVE DHL TRACKING NUMBER

Seller (2012-12-12 16:40:36):
DHL IS NOT THE SAME WITH EMS

Seller (2012-12-12 16:40:51):
IF I SHIP EMS.I HAVE THE TRACKING NUMBER IMMEDIATETLY

Buyer(2012-12-12 00:29:40):
ok

BUYER(2012-12-12 00:30:51):
Whats DHL HongKong phone number want to call & check

I'm not surprised the seller is getting frustrated with you, you're emailing him 3 times a minute!

If you contact him before you understand We are all good got the package

You don't want to piss off your supplier...especially if they could easily run with your money if paid by WU

I had this same issue with my supplier recently.. But I didnt pay by western union it was by credit card.. It took him 3 weeks of sending me messages like that until a real tracking number came threw. Then when I got the products 4 out of 7 had issues! SMH!

When they keep saying they shipped already and are waiting on tracking is what p!sses me off lol.. Im sure they get a tracking number when package is dropped off just like we do.

Not the way it works in China.

Sellers use shipping couriers who forward your package to the respective shipping companies, dhl, ems, etc...

When you place an order, your seller boxes it, and hands it over to there courier/forwarder.

With DHL they receive a reference number at this point, they do not receive a tracking number until DHL scans receipt of the package. So ask your supplier to at least provide the DHL referrence number.

Generally would not pay through WU for new member.Unless you have prior exp with seller,don't send by WU.

I once got scammed by people in China 5 years ago I did Western Union like you did. And then I got online translator and put in chinese, and told them I knew a friend at the Chinese Embassy, and emailed them with Chinese writing lol. They got scared and sent me my stuff. But hope it works out for you! I don't trust china no more!

I got arrested last year for assaulting a WU agent who was being rude and obnoxious. I was sending $500 to supplier in China and the agent wanted to see ID. I told them no ID for transaction under $1000 is WU policy. She insisted so I gave her my drivers license - photo ID. She said it wasnt good I put Tom on the form and my license had Thomas. I flipped out and said I was gonna get her. She calls cops. I get arrested for assault and public disturbance. Costs me $2100 for a lawyer and court fees.

So that is why I tell you WU SUCKS - do not use them.:nono:

^^^ lol wow...

My supplier says this regularly, and I pay with WU, never had any trouble. They send me tracking code in 2/3 days, I think it's because they have to travel to post by DHL where as EMS they can post locally. Hence all the transfers before it getting on the plane.
But yeh, WU isn't good if you haven't ordered before. Always do a few sample orders, build up your money and make sure anything you send you don't mind losing, and always make sure there isn't another supplier who can provide the same product for the same price with paypal :)

I start paying my supplier by Western Union only after receiving from them at least 5 packages. First 5 packages, I pay by paypal only. If they insist, I would just dump them and mover to another supplier.

Let me just add something here.

You are correct. High volume sellers in China do use forwarding services BUT they also subscribe to a plan with the shipping companies (usually China Post, EMS and Hong Kong Post) so they already have the envelopes and boxes with the tracking numbers that those companies assigned them to use. That's why most of the time you have to wait up to 5 days for the tracking number you already have to start working, which occurs when they scan it at the company.

In this case, with DHL (I'm assuming he used DHL Global Mail), you could easily ask the seller for the reference number, that is available long before the package reaches the shipping company, and use it in the second box on this website: https://www.globalmail.dhl.com/web/portal-asia/traceit

in my opinion one should stick to paypal or CC, this checks one point that the supplier accepting paypal will be a little serious, though i hate paypal from the core of my heart, still i will suggest first few payments must be using a CC in anyway.

Please close the thread got package all is well

Excellent GWW :)

@OP, nice that the shipment worked out.

Thank you! :)

glad to hear it, taobao sellers have been reliable in my experience

Look guys - to be blunt. All this debate is pointless. Fundamentally you've got to be a complete fool to pay 1k $ by WU to somebody you don't have a long term relationship with. Much better to pay them via paypal and offer them the 3$ transaction fee on top so they receive 1k $. That 3% is worth it for the transaction being on paypal.

Frankly it's very simple. If they don't want to trade on paypal you have to ask why....i'll tell you the answer. Because they're trying to scam you. Done. Sorry to be brutal but i import things from china and always pay on paypal. DHL do not take 3 days to give the tracking number...they take 3 seconds.

Wake up. Your ego is getting involved and will get you burnt. No matter how good these hats are, you can't make any money with no hats, cheap or not ;-)

So don't do it again. And write it off.

3 percent of 1k is $30

You have to understand how shipping in China works before you go off on your supplier that way. ALSO, think of how much sh*t is coming out of China around Christmas. And now that their Lunar New Year is in a couple days, they were scrambling to ship everything out of the country by the end of January.

They box your stuff up, give it to a courier...that courier then gets it over to DHL, FedEx, etc. and helps it pass customs in CHINA. Then from there, they get the tracking number from DHL, FedEx, etc. and give it back to the company you bought from. With the number of packages they have to be a middle man for, it can take a day or two to get your tracking number.

It's no wonder people are having problems with their sellers...the way you talk to them. A bit of professionalism goes a long way to create a good relationship with them. The fact is, most sellers do NOT want to scam you...they want to provide good service so that you will come back. If he sh*ts on you over $1000, what's the point? Maybe when you order $5000 next time then he will take the time to sh*t on you - but why do it before the big orders roll in?

Also, take a look at their ratings beforehand. Good ratings, they won't screw you. Shipping time, MAYBE they will be slow, maybe they need to manufacture first....but they will hardly ever screw you.

Don't pay by Western Union for starters. All sellers accept PayPal; they usually just prefer not to because of high fees.

Am I Being Scammed ? by a TaoBao Seller
 

I had a bad experience with taoboa last summer.
Did the same thing send $3000 via western union. Stopped hearing from the guy, I called his Chinese number over 20 times a day. Luckily with persistence and threats of contacting police via instant messenger I got my products;

However, I had to pay customers duty for $150 the products were the lowest quality ever meaning uneven cuts it was a mess never heard from the guy again simple apology none worst business dealing.

Lesson learned make payments via PayPal or other services escrow so you don't get scammed was lucky to get the order shipped at least compared to losing $3000.

good luck hope you get in touch with the seller soon