Sylvester Franklin felt it was time for some new equipment in November, so he ordered a drill from AliExpress. The Savannah resident was shocked by what he received.
He told WTOC, “They sent me this. A picture is what they sent me.” He added, “I paid $22.47 for a pressure washer, and this is what I get. It’s a screw.”
Franklin informed the outlet that he has been in contact with AliExpress since ordering the items in November and has yet to obtain a refund.
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WTOC Investigates began digging into AliExpress and discovered that it is a subsidiary of AliBaba, also known as China’s Amazon.
The source claims that AliExpress was added to the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s list of “Notorious Markets” for “Counterfeiting and Piracy” in 2021. In 2024, three complaints against the company were received by the State of Georgia’s Consumer Protection Division (CPD).
One of the complainants stated that they “never received the item purchased.” Another said that their purchase was shipped with a “fake tracking number” and was never delivered, costing them more than $400.
In all three cases, customers claimed they sought to get their money back from AliExpress but were unsuccessful until they reported their experiences to the Consumer Protection Division (CPD).
Franklin has unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a chargeback from his bank and a refund from AliExpress.
Even though he only spent about forty dollars, he wants his story to teach people about the downside of internet shopping.
He commented, “This is not good. This is real bad. All this is bad, you know what I mean? Don’t scam nobody. I don’t like to get scammed, because you spend your money, you want to get what you paid for.”
